CHAPTER 12
Lia
Zeke had been right about nothing changing much when we arrived back in Seattle.
Really, nothing was different except for the scenery.
We didn’t spend as much time together because we were both back to work, but once we got home, the craziness between us just continued on. Zeke and I had been back home for a week, and we craved each other like we were still in Playa.
“You’re quiet,” Ruby observed as she arranged some of her amazing pastries in the glass case. “Is everything okay?”
My shop was small enough that I closed down for an hour during midday for lunch and restocking. Normally, I’d restock Ruby’s pastries myself, but she’d stopped in to bring some heavenly Korean food for lunch.
We’d wolfed it down before I started getting things ready for the next rush of coffee lovers.
My manager was working out well, but she had the day off. So I was running the shop solo today.
“Stuart is coming by to pick up his ring. He apparently wants to give it to the new woman in his life.”
Ruby slammed the full case closed. “Asshole,” she snapped. “An engagement ring is special. They aren’t made to be recycled.”
I shrugged. “He doesn’t feel the same way. And I have no problem returning it.” The ring was gaudy and ostentatious, expensive, but it had never been my style.
My hand went reflexively to the ring currently on my finger, the gorgeous diamond that I’d recently learned was one of a kind. Because Zeke knew me, it was so perfect, and had quickly become a part of me. A symbol of the relationship I had with Zeke.
I kept replenishing cups and lids as Ruby said, “Are you going to be okay? It’s the first time you’ve seen him in a long time.”
I smiled at her. “I’m good. Stuart doesn’t own me anymore.”
“He never did,” she answered adamantly.
“Maybe not,” I agreed. “But looking back on it, I felt like a prisoner.”
“God, I’m so glad you ended up with Zeke.”
“Me too,” I confided. “Even if it’s only temporary.”
Ruby put a hand on her hip and stared me down. “Why does it have to be? You love him, right?”
I nodded. “I do. But he’s going to get tired of the hot sex eventually.”
“Lia, there’s a lot more to your marriage than sex. You’ve been friends forever. You know each other. You understand each other. If that isn’t a great relationship, I have no idea what is. If you love him, it’s perfect.”
“I think I always have loved him. I was just in denial because the man I really wanted would never be available.”
“I don’t get it. Zeke adores you. And you’re married to him now.”
I startled as I heard someone pounding on the door.
I turned my head to see Stuart waiting impatiently at the locked door. “He’s here,” I said, unable to completely brush off the twinge of fear that zinged through my body as I looked at him.
“We can talk later,” Ruby said. “Are you okay being alone with him? Do you want me to stay?”
“This is something I think I need to do alone,” I replied.
Ruby nodded. “I’ll be around. I’m here if you need me.”
My heart swelled with love for the younger woman. Ruby had been a steadfast friend who never judged. She was just always…there for me.
I moved forward and hugged her tightly before I followed her to the door. “Thank you,” I said in a quiet voice as I unlocked the door.
She shook her head. “Don’t thank me. You’ve done a lot for me, Lia. You gave me purpose when I needed it, and you’ve encouraged me to keep doing what I loved. I’m happier, and I’m healing because of your friendship. You never have to thank me for being your friend.”
Ruby had grown so much over the course of our friendship that she was almost unrecognizable as the timid woman who had offered to help me find better products for my store.
She’d blossomed tremendously because Jett had stood beside her, loved her unconditionally, and encouraged her every step of the way.
My eyes lifted to see Stuart right in front of me as I pulled the key from the lock.
My relationship with my ex had been a far cry from what I had now with Zeke, and what Ruby had with Jett.
I flinched as he pushed on the open door, nearly knocking me on my ass.
Ruby slipped out as Stuart barged in. I locked the door behind him since I had some time until I re-opened.
“I’ll get the ring,” I told him stoically as I headed toward the counter.
“You’re looking elegant as usual,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “My God, Lia. When are you going to learn to present yourself as a woman instead of a sloppy child?”
I reached behind the counter and snatched the box from the place that I’d left it, and then moved back to Stuart again.
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard his criticism about the way I dressed for work. My place was a casual one and I was wearing a pair of jeans, a pretty jade sweater, and a pair of sneakers that didn’t kill my feet by the end of a twelve-hour day.
One of his biggest complaints had always been the ponytail that I always sported to keep my hair out of my way while I was running around the store.
“Luckily, the way I look or act isn’t really your concern anymore.” I held out the boxed ring, anxious to get rid of it…and Stuart.
He snatched the offering, popped open the lid to make sure the ring was there, and then dropped it into his pocket. “You can’t blame me for looking for something better,” he said in the critical voice I hated. “Look at you. You have very little higher education, and you spend your entire day as nothing more than a barista.”
My temper started to flare, and that was something that had never happened before when Stuart was berating me. I’d kept it buried to avoid an escalation of his humiliation.
I was afraid of him. I was always scared. I sensed that things could get physical if we argued.
The sudden realization of my true fears slammed into me with a force that rocked my body, and I tensed up more.
Stuart was an abuser. Maybe he’d never done anything except shove me around occasionally. But I was starting to understand how much the verbal abuse had scarred me, even though he’d never really hurt me physically.
“I’d rather be a barista than a common bully,” I shot back at him.
“I thought maybe you preferred to be a slut since you married another man within a few days of our wedding,” he said angrily. “Not that you really have any skills at satisfying a man. That’s one of the reasons I wanted another woman.”
Every single mean word he’d ever said to me rose up to the surface, as my hand flew through the air, landing with a satisfying smack as it connected with his face.
Fueled by fury, the slap had snapped his head to one side, and I felt nothing but gratification as I watched his face turn red with wrath.
“You think you found a better woman?” I asked angrily. “Well, I found a way better man, too. I’m glad I didn’t marry you, and I feel sorry for the next bride you have lined up.”
“You ungrateful bitch,” he hissed. “I made you. You were nothing before I took pity on you.”
“I wasn’t nothing,” I informed him as I strode to the door. “I was something. And you tried to beat me down until I thought I was the one with the problems. But it didn’t work.”
Maybe Stuart had bent me, but he had never broken me. It had just taken the affection of a better man to remind me that I had been okay just the way I had been. And his nasty comments about how cold I was couldn’t even break the surface anymore. I knew better.
I shoved the key into the door. “Get out. We’re done here,” I said briskly.
“You fucking hit me!” His voice boomed around the small space.
“It’s nothing compared to what you deserve. You’re a bully, you’re abusive, and you’re a twisted prick. I want nothing except your absence.”
I’d be damned if I’d show him even a twinge of fear. I was done with that.
“You’ll be lucky if I don’t sue you,” he snarled.
I shrugged. “Feel free. I have the best defense attorney in the country as a husband.”
I opened the door and waited for him to exit. I wasn’t about to flinch, even though my heart was racing with fear that he might try to physically hurt me.
Stuart was not a guy who let anything he perceived as an insult go unpunished, but he’d definitely made me pay enough for the last few years.
My body was tense as I watched the indecision on his furious face.
I could tell he wanted to get his revenge, but because I wasn’t willing to back down, he was hesitating.
“Get. Out,” I said firmly.
“Someday, you’ll get what you deserve,” he rasped as he left the store.
“I already did,” I said softly as I quickly locked the door behind him.
I had Zeke, and maybe he was more than I deserved, but I never felt inferior to him. He didn’t hurt me. He didn’t try to make me into something I was not.
Tears of relief started to trickle down my cheeks, with the realization that I made a pretty lucky escape.
I leaned against the door and swiped away the tears, determined that once I’d let go of my anger with a good cry, Stuart would never be allowed to take up space in my brain ever again.