“It happened a couple of days after she moved back home. My parents called from the hospital. My sister was—” He cleared his throat. “She’s fine now. Her ex was arrested for what he did, though the mandatory jail time was only ten days. I’d made it back before they were up. He showed up to apologize, but she didn’t want to see him. She got a no-contact order to stop him from coming around after, and that ended up working.” He squeezed my hand. “I wasn’t upset with you, but what you said was similar to what she said before she met with him. That she owed him. I’m not saying your situation is the same. But please promise you’ll take someone with you if you need to talk to him. It doesn’t have to be me. Take Sean or one of your other friends, anyone you’re comfortable with. Don’t go alone, even if you don’t think he’s like that. People can do crazy things when they’re upset.” He withdrew his hand. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I stared at him, my throat too tight as panic whirled in my mind. “He wouldn’t hurt me.” That’s what I wanted to believe. I really wanted to believe it. But did I? His voicemail hadn’t been an apology. It had sounded like he wished he’d kept going that morning.
“You say that, but I’m not so sure,” Jack said, his voice hesitant. He glanced toward the living room, looking at the records. “What he did… It was intentional. Thinking about how long it must have taken, how focused he must have been to break each one.” Jack’s jaw clenched. “He wanted to hurt you, Hailey. It may not have been physical, but he knew what would hurt you most.”
“I don’t want to talk to him.” The words escaped before I could pull them back. I shivered, wrapping my arms around my torso. “I know I should. He’s hurting and confused. He doesn’t understand. Talking would help him. I should—”
Jack rounded the counter, pulling me against him, and I stopped talking, pressing my face against his chest. He smelled of palm trees and coconut and lavender, and I closed my eyes, breathing him in.
“You don’t have to talk to him. You don’t, Hailey.” Jack sounded so sure. “He hurt you. You don’t owe him anything.”
“He tried to—” The words wouldn’t come. Doubts swirled in my mind, creating a fog. “He was so mad I’d slept at your place, and then he—it was like that time at the bar. Only he says it wasn’t. He says I’m overreacting, that I’m making too big of a deal about it. Maybe I confused the two together? Only he didn’t stop until I fell. Every time I see my wrist wrap, it feels real again.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m scared to be alone with him. That’s the truth. I’m scared of him, but that’s not fair, is it?”
“God, Hailey.” Jack pulled me in tighter, covering more of my back. “If you need someone to tell you it’s okay never to see him again, I’ll tell you that. You’re not confused. Being scared is a form of protection. That you’re scared is all the proof you need that it happened.”
My racing thoughts slowed. I nodded against him.
We stayed like that for a while. When I pulled back, his hold loosened.
“Sean said you need coffee.” I glanced at his mug. “Is it still warm enough?”
He lifted his coffee, taking a sip. “It’s fine.”
I turned, pouring my own mug.
“So you really like it black?” Jack asked. “I thought you were just being polite that night.”
I hesitated with my mug almost to my lips.
“I see. Youwerebeing polite. How do you normally take it, then?”
“With cream but no sugar,” I admitted. “I just haven’t gone shopping to stock the apartment yet. I’ll do that today.”
“Do you want help?” he asked.
My eyes widened as I stared at him. “You’ve done enough, Jack. It’s just grocery shopping. I can do it.”
“I know you can, and it’s okay if you want to handle it alone. But if you want company, today’s my day off. The bar is always closed on Sundays.”
Jack was offering to spend even more time with me. He wasn’t sick of me yet? I studied him. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I was planning to go shopping today anyway.”
“You were? Do you need groceries, too?”
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “No.” He stared into the living room. “I thought I’d surprise you, but maybe this is better. I was going to go around to all the local places that sellrecords and see if I could find some of the ones you lost. Is that something you’d like to do?”
My coffee cup felt too heavy. I lowered it to the counter. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
I frowned, my gaze moving to the record player. “They wouldn’t be the same.”
“Would that make it worse?”
I thought about listening to the music again, and some of the tightness inside my chest eased. “No. That’d make it better.”
“We could place the new records inside the old sleeves. You’d still know, but at least you’d have that much. Unless you want to keep the broken ones as well?”
