She rested her forehead against the wheel.
“How are you feeling?”
“Scared.”
My heart bottomed out. “Of them?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” She turned and gave me a wary look. “You can leave if you want. I can have Annie drive me back.” She sniffled and rubbed her nose, refusing to look me in the eye. “It’s not a big deal.” She started twisting her fingers together in her lap.
I blinked at her for a beat. “Yeah, that’s not happening.” When I reached over to her, she flinched, and something inside me died a little for her. I touched her chin and gently pulled her gaze to mine. “I’m not mad about it. In all honesty, I’m relieved.”
Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
“You’re still married,” I said simply, and the very last puzzle piece fell into place. “That’s why you got weird when I brought up marriage?”
She pressed her fingers into the corner of her eyes. “Are you mad?” she whispered.
“At you? No, of course not, baby. We’ll figure it out.”
“We will?” She gave me a doubtful look.
I nodded. “We will. You don’t have to be nervous to tell me anything, okay? And I’m sure we’ll get mad at each other sometimes in the future, but it’s not a big deal. It’s not something you ever have to be afraid of with me, okay?”
She gave a hesitant nod. “I don’t want to be married to him,” she blurted out. “He refused to sign the papers, and I never wanted to call him or come back to face him, and the attorney was expensive, so I just…I forgot about it. I was young and dumb.” Her voice broke. “I didn’t care until…”
“Until us?” I guessed.
“Yeah. Until us.” Her eyes flashed up to mine. “I’m scared. Maybe we should go back to Chicago?”
“We will if that will make you feel better.” I paused, searching for the right words. “But you look so happy with your family. You just asked to stay longer. I don’t want him stealing anything else from you, Ali. I won’t let anything happen to you, all right? He’ll never touch you again. I promise.”
“I’m sorry,” she wheezed out.
“Don’t be,” I said, squeezing her hand. “We’ll figure it out. Let’s just enjoy the day with your family.” I forced a smile.
But as we walked up the porch steps, my brain was already moving, detailing a list of what I’d have to tell my lawyer. I had a feeling this problem wouldn’t be going away anytime soon…
________
Even though Ali was already pregnant, her grandma was extremely upset when I tried to enter Ali’s bedroom that night.
“There’s a couch downstairs,” the little old woman said with a pointed look before closing herself into the guest bedroom.
As soon as the hallway was silent, Ali’s eyes found mine. “I’m sorry,” she squeezed out. “Are you—”
“I’m not mad,” I said with a small grin before she could finish asking. I kissed her quickly before heading back down to the living room with an extra pillow and blanket.
But trying to sleep on a couch with my arm in the sling was pretty horrible. I was tempted to take it off, but I knew that could slow my healing. I stared at my phone, willing my lawyer, Johnny, to text me back about Ali’s divorce situation, but I knew it wasn’t right to expect a text back on a holiday. Then again, I also knew Johnny was probably across town at his family’s house for Thanksgiving. The boys and I played hockey against Johnny for years growing up, then ended up on the same team as him in Ontario. Johnny didn’t make it to the NHL himself, but he now represented a bunch of guys he played with in the past.
Dropping my phone, I closed my eyes, willing sleep to come, but instead, my mind went back to the grocery store earlier today. The last time I’d seen those guys, Mark’s goons, they were wearing matching black suits in a church…
____________
2014
“I want you there. You’re my best friend. I’m happy, JP. I just want to stay happy, and this is how I do it, okay?”
“You’re not thinking clearly, Ali. This is stupid.”My head was pounding from stress. I wanted to scream. I wanted to chuck my phone away from me. I wanted… I wanted to block out the last five minutes and pretend they never happened. Because then I could go on living my life without the knowledge that my best friend, and the girl I was hopelessly in love with, was going to marry a total douchebag.
