CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Lindsey
“I’M BEGGING YOU to reconsider,” Maggie said. “You should have seen them. They were all loaded and telling each other their darkest secrets. John was so broken up over losing you.” “So, because he’s all broken up, I’m supposed to just forget what he did?” “No, not forget, but try talking to him. It’s been a few weeks. Just see if you’re still just as pissed. At the very least, go talk to him and get some closure.” “Maggie, I’m not staying. I’ve decided that when the house is finished, I’m going to sell and leave town.” “What?” she gasped, holding her hand to her chest like she was in actual pain. “You can’t. You’re his shoelace or something like that.” “What?” “You don’t want to know,” she waved me off. “Please, just promise me you’ll talk to him. At least let him know your plans. He deserves that much.” “Why does he deserve that?” I snapped. “He did take you in and make sure you had everything you needed when no one else was there for you.” She was right about that. Plus, I still had to give him the check to pay him back for all the stuff he had bought for me. With the last of the insurance money coming through, I could finally pay him and be done with it. There would be nothing left to tie us together. “Fine, I’ll go see him right now.” “Uh, maybe you want to wait a day.” “Why?” I asked as I slipped on my jacket. “I’m pretty sure he was drunk for twenty-four hours. He’s gonna be in a shit mood.” “Well, this isn’t about him. This is about me. I need to move on and there’s no time like the present.” Twenty minutes later, I was pulling up to John’s driveway with a hell of a lot less confidence than when I left my place. The thought of seeing him again was too much. I wasn’t sure I could do this, but just as I was about to put the car in reverse and peel out, John walked out carrying a few garbage bags. He stopped when he saw me and just stared. Sighing, I opened the door and got out, walking over to him as naturally as I could. “Lindsey,” he croaked out. He cleared his throat and looked at me hopefully. “John, I just came to give you a check. The insurance money came through.” His face fell and he looked like he would be sick, but I wasn’t sure if that was from the drinking or my news. “Come on in,” he said, waving his hand toward the door. “Right here is fine.” I pulled the check out and handed it over to him. He took it and stared down at it for a long time. I didn’t know if I should just leave or wait for him to say something. “Well, I’m gonna go.” He finally looked back up at me, but this time, he was pissed. “That’s it? Here’s your check. See you later?” “What did you expect?” “I don’t know, but not this,” he said quietly. “I just, I thought we’d be able to work it out.” “I’m leaving. When the house is fixed. I’m going to sell and move on.” “You’re just fucking leaving? Where are you going?” “I don’t know. I still have some time to figure that out, but I know I can’t stay around here with you. It’ll hurt too much to watch you move on.” He laughed slightly and shook his head. “You think I’m just gonna move on? Is there any part of you that actually knows who I fucking am? Did you not pay attention to a damn thing I said?” “Yeah, I heard you. I also saw the evidence for myself.” “One time. One fucking time-” “Is all it takes, John. I’m not going to just pretend that none of that happened.” “You’re a fucking coward,” he said harshly, his face morphing into something mean and hateful. “I thought that you were all alone because your parents died and the town had turned against you. The truth is, you do this to yourself. You could have fucking made people know what was happening back home. You could have fucking told them, but you chose to be the martyr. And now you have friends here and you have me, but you’re fucking walking away without looking back because you think what I did was so wrong. It was a fucking mistake and I wish every day I could take it back, but we could have worked it out. The truth is, you want to be alone because if you’re alone, you can’t lose anyone. You’re gonna fucking destroy yourself all so that you don’t have to feel.” My eyes pricked with tears as he yelled at me, but I refused to give in. He was angry and lashing out. “John, I’m sorry-” “You’re not fucking sorry,” he yelled. I flinched back at his anger and took a step away. “You don’t know what it’s like to be fucking sorry. You think this is the worst thing that’s ever happened in your life? You think you have problems? My friends had their wives and girlfriends taken. They would give anything to take away that pain. Maggie had her fingers cut off. Those are fucking problems. You’re walking away because of a fucking kiss that didn’t mean a damn thing. Don’t give me that sorry bullshit. You’re not fucking sorry.” He scoffed at me as he turned away. “You really are the princess I thought you were.” He walked back into his house and slammed the door behind him, leaving me in the cold and wondering what the hell just happened.
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I was completely devastated, but more than that, I worried that John was right. I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I was running away again, but he was right. I should have confronted things head on in my home town. Maybe I would have had some friends. Maybe I would have met someone. I wanted to call John and tell him that maybe was right, but my pride wouldn’t let me. Admitting that I was running away was more than I could take right now. I spent the next few weeks putting the finishing touches on the house with Jake. I thought about sticking around and even went so far as to buy a bedroom set for my room. Maybe if I could get my shit together, I could talk to John and work things out with him. If not, he was right, I had friends here. I didn’t really want to leave. I liked the town and I liked the new house I had. “I’m heading out of town for the weekend,” Jake said as he packed up his tools. “Okay. Where are you headed?” “Home. My sister had a baby.” “Aww, you know, I don’t really know a whole lot about you.” “Well, you know I worked for The Toolman and I like plaid.” I flushed in embarrassment, but he just laughed. “I’m so sorry about that.” “Don’t worry. It’s not the first time I’ve heard it. What can I say? I like plaid.” “Well, have a good trip.” “I should be back by Monday and we can finish up. There’s not much left to do around here.” “Yeah,” I sighed. “It’s nice to see it all coming together so well. What are you going to do when you finish this project?” “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it too much. I might stick around and see if I can find some more work.” “Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.” “Really?” “Of course,” I laughed. “You practically worked free of charge. You have a place to stay for life.” He grinned and gave me a hug. “I appreciate it. Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?” “Sure,” I waved off his concern. “Why don’t I believe you?” “I can handle a few nights alone.” “Well, just in case you get lonely, I picked up something for you while I was out today. Hold on.” He walked out of the room and returned moments later with a small teddy bear. I laughed and snatched it from his hand. “Thank you, Jake.” “Anything for you.” I nodded and looked down at the bear, wishing that it was John saying that to me. But I pushed him away and now I was alone. If only I could get over my stupid pride. Jake left an hour later and I spent the night playing games on my phone and wishing that I had at least a TV to keep me company. It was lonely in this big house and I began to wonder if I could really stick around here by myself. What if Jake decided to move on? I would be by myself again, but I would be alone if I left also. It was an ongoing battle in my head that I hadn’t been able to figure out and would probably take me a little while longer to really come to any conclusion on.
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The quiet of the house woke me up. When I lived in my old B&B, I had a fan going every night. I couldn’t sleep without it. When I moved in with John, the sounds of nature lulled me to sleep. Now that I was in town, passing cars and the hum of electricity were my only solace. But tonight, there was none of that. I listened intently for any sound that would let me know the house was up and running, but I couldn’t hear a thing. I flipped on the nightstand light, but the room remained dark. A thunk in another room had me groaning in frustration. This old house made more noises than any other house I’d ever lived in before. Over the past few months, Jake had chased off more wild animals than I ever thought possible. You would think they would have left us alone, but they kept finding a way in the house. I really hoped it wasn’t a bat or opossum. I grabbed my phone off the table and flipped on the flashlight feature. I could hear the thunking as I walked down the hall and slowly opened the door to the room at the end of the hall, startled when I realized that the intruders were not of the animal variety, but the human. Before I could sneak away, they caught the light from my flashlight and spun around. They were trying to break into the old wall safe. I hadn’t even gotten into it yet. I knew I was in trouble when they started toward me. I quickly ran from the room, pulling up John’s number as I ran. It rang twice before he picked up. “John!” I shouted before he could even say anything. “Get the bitch!” one of the shouted from behind me. I ran for the main staircase, determined to run right out the front door and find someone that could help me. “Lindsey, what’s wrong?” “There are two men,” I huffed out as I ran down the first set of stairs. One of the men caught up to me and yanked on my hair, making me stumble. I screamed in pain as I was jerked backwards. My phone went flying from my hand, tumbling over the railing and clattering somewhere below. I spun, digging my elbow into the intruder’s stomach. When he released me, I ran down the steps, slipping as I rounded the corner. My hand shot out, grasping for the railing, but I couldn’t get a grip. My ankle twisted as I tried to gain my footing, but it was too late. I was propelled forward down the long staircase, my body slamming into each stair with brutal force. My head bounced painfully off several of the stairs. Everything happened so fast. I didn’t even have a chance to try and protect myself. I landed at the bottom of the stairs with a hard thud. I briefly thought about how I needed to get up, but my body ached and I felt like I was floating away. As my eyes slid shut, I saw black boots stomping down the staircase. My eyes closed and when they opened again, the boots were stepping toward me. I whimpered, trying to say something, anything, to plead that they leave me alone, but I couldn’t get any words out. My eyes slid shut again just before I registered the pain of a boot to my stomach. Bile rose in my throat, but before I could even think about trying to hold it back, I passed out from the intense pain ripping through me.