Chapter Five
The first time Becca walked in on Todd with another woman, she didn’t leave him.
She knew she should have. She should have cussed him out, called the girl a whore, and packed her bags. She should have filed for divorce. That’s what any other woman in her position would have done. It was what she’d always said she would do if she ever caught her husband cheating on her. It was what the heroine of any good book would have done. But she wasn’t a character in a novel and her life was so much messier than that. She was only twenty-three at the time and barely married two years. She would have been humiliated to have admitted to the world, and even worse, her family, what Todd had done. Divorcing him would have been like taking out a billboard. Everyone would have known their business. And Becca was so in to looking like the perfect wife with the perfect life that she didn’t think she could let people in on the truth like that. She didn’t know if she could bare the whispers and looks they would have given her. They’d all know that she had failed. And Todd had sworn that it was a mistake. He’d said that he was drunk, and the girl meant nothing. He’d sworn that he loved only Becca. So, she stayed.
The second time she’d walked in on Todd having sex with someone else, she didn’t even flinch. She truthfully wasn’t surprised at all; in fact, she had suspected for a while that he was fooling around on her again. She had suspected that he’d never stopped. For a long time, she pretended things between them were normal. She kept the blinders on and acted like she didn’t notice him sneaking into other rooms to text on his phone or that she didn’t hear him whispering and then go dead silent when she’d walk down the hallway in their tiny apartment. No, the day she walked into her bedroom and saw a naked woman in the middle of her bed, on her favorite comforter her Granny had bought her as a wedding gift, back arched, head thrown back in ecstasy as Todd had his head buried in her crotch, her first thought had been, You lying prick. You said you hated giving oral.
Becca had marched over to her nightstand and yanked the iPhone charger out of the wall. She’d said, “Don’t stop on my account. Just grabbing my charger.”
The woman’s eyes had flung open and her head snapped up. At the same time, she’d slammed her legs close, nailing Todd in the jaw with one of her bony kneecaps.
Todd yelped in pain.
The woman ripped at Becca’s Granny’s comforter, trying to cover herself. “Who-who are you and how did you get in here?” she demanded.
Todd sat back on his knees, rubbing his face. “That really hurt,” he whined.
Becca looked at him and then returned her gaze to the woman. “I’m this asshole’s wife. You’re in my bed, and, ugh, seeping God knows what all over my grandmother’s comforter.”
The woman looked down at the comforter in her hand in her horror, then up at Becca, and then over to Todd. “You’re married?” she shouted at him. “What the hell, Todd? We’ve been dating for six months. What the fuck is this?”
Todd grabbed his boxers off the floor and stood up. “Everyone calm down,” he said as he slipped them on.
Becca rolled her eyes.
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” the woman screamed at him. “Is this your wife?”
Todd looked at Becca as though he just noticed her standing in their bedroom and then back at the woman. “Well, yes, this is my wife. But I think we could all sit down and talk about this…”
The woman practically leapt out of the bed, grasping at her dress that hung casually on the corner bedpost. She slipped it over her head and jammed her undergarments into her purse. “Fuck. You. Todd,” she said. She grabbed at her heels on the floor near the door. “Go fuck yourself and never fucking call me again,” she yelled as she scrambled out of the room. A moment later, they heard the apartment door slam shut.
Neither Becca nor Todd said a word. Todd sat down at the foot of the bed and put his hands on his knees and stared down at their ratty brown carpet.
Becca hated that carpet.
Becca could see Todd’s mind racing, trying to come up with some bull shit story to tell her. Becca practically laughed, wondering what story he’d try on her. She was just a friend who had lost a valuable piece of jewelry in her vagina and he was just trying to help her fish it out? He wasn’t wearing his contacts and when he came home and saw a blurry naked woman on the bed he naturally assumed it was Becca? Or, wait, he was taking a nap when the woman knocked on the door and he thought this was all just some racy fantasy and he was still actually asleep.
“Becca,” Todd begun, “I know what you’re thinking and you’re right. I am an asshole. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I think I have that problem, you know, that sex addiction? I caught a few minutes of Dr. Phil one afternoon and he talked about it on there. It’s a real thing you know. It’s an illness. A disease. I can’t help myself. I need treatment and support. We married for sickness or health, remember? I need you now, Baby, you have to stand by me. Maybe I can check into a rehab somewhere. I heard of a place down by the beach we could try. It might be a little expensive but if it gets me the help I need, we can swing it, right Baby?”
Becca blinked at him. Without a word, she turned and walked out of their bedroom. She went into the bathroom, the only other room with a door in the apartment, and locked the door behind her. She was shocked. More shocked than when she walked in on Todd and the woman just minutes ago. Her husband, her “best friend” was such a monster jack ass that he thought not only should she forgive him, again, for cheating on her, but that they should pay for him to “rehab” at the beach. He was out of his fucking mind.
Becca took a seat on the toilet, her thoughts racing. She was done. She’d felt it in her gut. That was it. She wasn’t going to let him make a clown out of her any longer. She no longer cared what her friends and family would think. She wasn’t going to spend another day under the same roof as Todd.
She stayed where she was until she heard the door to their apartment slam. Todd must have gone out. She’d let herself out of the bathroom and checked the apartment. She was alone. As fast as she could, she’d hauled out all of their luggage and threw it onto the bed. She’d run around the apartment, grabbing everything that was dear to her and filled the suitcases. All of her favorite knickknacks, books, clothes, toiletries, and her laptop. She grabbed all of the emergency cash that she and Todd had kept in the house, their checkbook, and her purse. She had two credit cards they never really used but she’d take them now in case she needed them. She’d eyed the comforter and her stomach flipped. Ew, she’d thought. But she just couldn’t leave it. She’d run to the kitchen and yanked a hefty bag from under the sink. She shoved the blanket into the bag and then pushed it into her luggage. She was ready. Becca dragged all of her belongings down to her little Beetle convertible and somehow managed to make it all fit.
With that, Becca had turned over the car’s engine and started the long road trip from San Pedro, California, to her parent’s house in Snowy Ridge, Wisconsin, the last place on earth she’d want to return to, but, the only option she could see at that point.
It felt like a whole different lifetime to Becca now. One where she was single and broke and trying to figure out how she was going to do life on her own. But she would do it. She was doing it. And starting a new job was another step in the plan to flip things around. She was excited about starting work at Starlight, despite the crap day she’d had. She’d meet new people. She’d make extra money, and with that would come the opportunity to eventually get her own place. And she’d keep herself busy. One of the worst parts of being divorced was the loneliness that came with it. Becca never had to check in with anyone anymore and no one much cared how her day went or what was new in her life. Except for her one friend in Snowy Ridge, Luci. And now Becca would be working with her. Hanging bumper or not, this was all going to work out.
“Honestly,” Luci was saying to Becca, “the job is super simple. You basically bus the tables after you see the diners leave, and wash dishes in the back in-between.”
Luci and Becca were standing in the small kitchen at Starlight and Luci leaned against the sink, which was already stacked high with cups and plates.
“Luckily, I’m an excellent dishwasher,” Becca said with a grin. “Really, Luci, I’m so happy to be here. I know it’s going to be so much fun. I don’t care how many dishes I have to wash.”
Luci returned her own smile. “I’m glad you’re here too. It’ll be like old times.”
“Except we won’t steal any beer from the tap, promise.”
“Pssh,” Luci said. “Take as much beer as you want. Well, after your shift anyway.”
“Noted.” Becca looked down at her short-sleeve black tee with the loopy silver writing splayed across her chest. “And I love this Starlight shirt,” she added. “I look adorable.”
Luci giggled. “It is cute. That’s one good thing about being a mostly female operation. We pick out cute outfits for work.”
“Super cute,” Becca agreed. She glanced over at the stack of dishes. “Okay, I guess I’ll get started then. What time are you getting off tonight?”
Luci checked her phone. “In just about an hour. I have a date with Evan so I’m cutting out early. If you’re comfortable that is,” she said checking Becca’s face.
“I’m fine, promise. Besides, Jessie is around tonight, right?” Jessie was Luci’s younger sister and co-owner of Starlight with their mom, Diedre.
“Yep, she’s closing.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Becca insisted. “You and Evan have a great time.” It was only minorly weird seeing Evan and Luci together since Becca technically dated him first. But she was so over that whole situation. True, Luci had been the one to set Becca up with Evan in the first place but the two of them never clicked. He was a nice guy and easy on the eyes but he was head over heels for Luci and Becca could tell right away. It had made for an awkward date to say the least. Luci had been really worried that she and Evan getting together would ruin her and Becca’s friendship but Becca didn’t really care. She only went on the date with Evan to try to force herself out of her shell. She knew her ex was dating and she wanted to move on with her life, too, so she’d gone for it. And it didn’t work. She wasn’t going to force herself to date any other random guys. If and when she was ready to date again she figured she’d feel it.
Becca finished washing the last dish in the sink and set it in the drying rack. She grabbed the big beige tub off the nearby shelf and pushed through the swinging doors out of the kitchen and into the dining area of the pub. There were several tables with recently departed parties and dirty dishes piled high. Shoot, she thought to herself. I’ve got to be quicker. But first, a quick post to Instagram. Pics or it didn’t happen, right? She set the tub down on the ground and pulled out her phone.
There were two glasses of beer, still half full perched on a table near the picture window that overlooked Main Street. She positioned the glasses closer together and crouched down to get a more in-line view. With the sun down now and the white twinkle lights outlining every store and the nearby trees outside in the background, it made for a beautiful picture. Becca took the shot and uploaded it to her Instagram account, choosing the Hudson filter for a softer effect. She captioned it, “Summer nights #happiness.” She purposely left it vague but hoped the average Instagrammer would think she was having a wonderful evening. And technically it was a pretty good night. Sure, it was work, but it had been fun so far. Becca slipped her phone back into her pocket and picked up the tub. Back to work.
She set to bussing the tables and worked her way around the room. As she passed a table of guys, she almost tripped over one of the big feet that was out in the walkway.
“Hey, pull it in there, buddy. This thing is heavy.”
The guy with no qualms in blocking aisles turned around and looked up at her.
Becca readjusted the tub on her hip and a smile of recognition played across her lips. “Hey, Lead Foot. Didn’t think I’d see you twice in one day.”
“You…work here?” the guy from that morning’s car accident asked, slowly. He looked sort of miserable about coming face-to-face with her.
“Well, if I’m going to buy a new bumper for my car I do; I’ve got to earn some extra cash,” she told him.
“Wait a minute,” one of the guys at the table said. He pointed at Becca. “This is the little old lady that hit you? The one in the rush to get to church?”
Both of the guys at the table with Lead Foot were laughing now. “Where’s your rolling walker?” the second guy asked.
“Little old lady,” Becca repeated. “Who you calling old? Did your friend tell you he hit me?” she asked the guys.
“I did not hit you,” Lead Foot insisted.
“Yeah, okay. Why didn’t you text me? I didn’t even get your name, you know.”
“This is Cooper Stone,” one of the guys said. “And we’re his brothers, Cash and Cade.”
Becca looked at each of the men. “Ah, Cade,” she said, studying the face of the super cute one with the scruffy beard. “I actually didn’t recognize you at first. You’re Jessie’s boyfriend, right? We met once before.”
Cade gave her a quizzical look.
“I’m Becca,” she reminded him. “I’m good friends with Jessie’s sister, Luci?”
A look of recognition crossed his face. “Oh yeah, hey there. So, my brother hit you? Sorry to hear that.”
“Slammed right into me,” Becca said and shifted the tub of dishes to her other hip. “I have a bumper hanging off the back of my car because of him.”
Cooper sighed and shook his head. “I did not hit you. And I didn’t text you because I decided to just take care of the dent myself. I was trying to be nice. You seemed really upset.”
“What are you a mechanic or something?” she asked.
“Or something.”
Becca noticed that Cooper’s brothers were hanging on every word of their conversation and seemingly loving it. And she also noticed they were an extremely hot group of men. They all looked tall, at least over six feet she’d wager, with dark hair and dark eyes. They were broad shouldered and slim in the waist and their jeans seemed to hug them in all the right places. The good-looking genes ran strong in this family.
“Oh, come on, Coop,” his brother Cash said. “She seems nice. And about sixty years younger than you described. Why don’t you help her out with her bumper?”
Cade nodded. “Sounds like you owe her, man.”
“Why is everyone ignoring the fact that I didn’t hit her? She hit me,” Cooper said.
“Why did you tell your brothers I was a little old lady?” Becca asked.
Cooper shook his head. “I just…I…I don’t know.”
Cash burst out in laughter at his brother’s fumbling for words.
“Fine,” Cooper said. “Bring your car in to our shop. Triple C Snowmobile Repair. Do you know it? We’re just a ways down Main Street here.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it,” Becca said. “Never been in there though.”
“I’d think we would have remembered you,” Cash said.
Cooper shot his brother a disapproving look and then looked back up at Becca. “Come by Sunday afternoon,” he said.
Becca hesitated. “Really? I mean, it’s not trouble?”
Cooper looked like he wanted to say something but had stopped himself. “No, it’s no trouble.”
Becca considered his offer and figured she had nothing to lose. It wasn’t like she had the money to fix the bumper herself any time soon. “Okay. I’ll come by then.” She shifted the tub of dishes again. “Right now, these dishes are getting heavy, so I’ve got to get them back to the kitchen.” To Cooper’s brothers she said, “See you all around.” To Cooper she said, “See you Sunday.”
Cooper nodded and turned to give one of his brothers a look.
Becca walked toward the kitchen.
“You’re welcome, dude,” she heard Cash say. “She’s hot.”
Becca smiled to herself as she pushed through the swinging kitchen door.