Chapter 12
“The papers were served yesterday morning?” Kate asked her assistant to give her an update on Vanessa and Chris' divorce.
“Yes,” Shelley said. “According to the process server he found him at his office.”
“Thank you,” Kate said, hastily returning to her office. She hadn't heard from Vanessa in a couple days and she started to panic about where exactly her friend was. She picked up her cell and called her.
“Hello,” Vanessa answered.
“Where are you?”
“On my way to see you actually,” Vanessa said. Kate let out a relieved breath.
“Did you see Chris? I know the papers were served yesterday. Why didn't you call me or come over?”
“I'm okay,” she told her. “I wanted to talk to him about it all. Terrible idea,” she added.
“What happened?” Kate asked.
“I'll be there in a few minutes and fill you in.”
“Should I call Will?” Kate asked. She knew that some situations required all of them. This might definitely be one of them.
“Not yet,” Vanessa said. “I'm not ready for everyone to know yet.”
“I can meet you at my place,” she said.
“That sounds good.”
They said their goodbyes and Kate's sense of worry declined, knowing that Vanessa was okay. Her problems also seemed small compared to hers. She didn't know why it was bothering her so much that Deacon had been asked to take her out. It shouldn't have. She should have been grateful to Hope for sending a nice guy in her direction, but she couldn't shake the anxious feelings it had given her since finding out.
“Shelley,” she said as she walked out of her office. “Can you cancel my appointments and hold my calls for the next couple hours. I'll be back in a little while.”
“Yep,” Shelley told her. “Don't forget you have that parole hearing at two.”
How could she have forgotten? She never forgot her appearances. Her mind was a jumbled mess of her friend's heartache and her own. This is exactly why didn't have time for a relationship. If she would have missed a court appointment she would have definitely moved down the list of potential partners.
By the time she made it to her apartment, Vanessa was waiting in the lobby for her.
“You could have gone up,” she told her, wrapping her arms around her.
“I left my keys at home,” she said, letting her chin rest on Kate's shoulder. “I kind of had to make a quick getaway.”
“What do you mean?” Kate asked, pulling back to look at her. She examined her for any sign that things turned physical. She couldn't see any marks on her face or arms. As they walked onto the elevator, she took her hand.
Vanessa waited for the doors to closed before she started to describe her night.
“I wanted to see him, to talk to him about why I wanted a divorce,” she stared. “I thought maybe, just maybe, the papers would be a wakeup call and he'd realize what he was about to lose, you know?” Her eyes began welling with tears as she talked.
“Of course,” Kate said. The doors opened and they walked into the Kate's apartment.
“I was hopeful when he actually came home at a decent time,” she said, taking her jacket off and laying it on the back of Kate's sofa. She turned to face Kate, the tears streaming steadily down her face. “But he walked in and I knew that that wasn't the case.”
“What happened, Ness?” Kate said, taking her friend's hand and walking around so they could sit. “Did he put his hands on you?”
“No,” Vanessa said. “I mean not really. He walked in calmly and placed his hands on my shoulders.” She sniffled. “I hoped he was going to say that he loved me and that he'd made a mistake,” she continued. “But... he didn't.” She shook her head as Kate listened. The pain she felt was seeping into Kate's soul and she wanted to kill Chris for making her hurt like this. “He didn't. He looked me dead in the eye and said 'get the fuck out of my house.'”
“It's not just his house,” Kate said.
“Well tell him that.”
“So you just left?”
“If you could have seen the look in his eyes, Kate,” Vanessa said. “I was scared and I've never been scared of him before. He hates me and he let me know that I was making a mistake walking away from him.”
“What an asshole.”
“Maybe I'm making a mistake,” Vanessa said, grabbing a tissue from the box on the table behind the sofa.
“You're not,” Kate told her. “You've tried talking to him. You've let him know that you're unhappy. He didn't try to do anything different to make things work between you two.” Kate leaned in and gave Vanessa a hug. “You tried, honey. You're making the right decision.”
“I hope so,” she said. “Because right now I feel like the worst person in the world.”
“You're not,” Kate told her. “Think about what Hope said. He wasn't ever going to change and do you really want to wake up fifty years from now to a man that doesn't treat you the way you should be treated?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she thought about Deacon. She thought about how she'd been so quick to shut him out. It had been four days since she'd talked to him or responded to his calls or texts. Her behavior was falling into the Chris category and she didn't like it.
“Kate? You home?” A voice called out from the entry way and Kate's attention piqued, hoping Deacon had come to force her to work it out. Instead, Greyson walked in. When he saw Kate and Vanessa sitting on the couch, Vanessa trying to hide her crying eyes, his expression fell. “What's the matter?”
Kate looked to Vanessa, trying to figure out what the right thing to tell Greyson would be. She said she didn't want anyone to know about her divorce yet.
“I'm getting a divorce.”
“God, V,” he said, walking over to sit next to her. “Come here,” he offered up his arms and Kate watched as Vanessa fell into his hug. Her sobs started back up the second her head hit his shoulder. He always did give good hugs, but there was something extra meaningful happening between them. Greyson and Vanessa had been friends since they were kids. They had history. They'd seen each other at their worsts and their bests. Kate was glad that he was there.
Vanessa finally pulled herself together enough to tell him what had happened the night before.
“Do you want me to go kick his ass?” Greyson asked. “I will if you want. I've got some friends,” he said. “I mean were all soccer dads and not really in prime fighting shape, but we could at least rough him up a little.”
“No,” Vanessa said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “That won't be necessary.”
“Don't worry,” Kate said. “I've totally got your back, Grey. I took a kick boxing class... once.”
“See?” Greyson said. “We're like the Avengers. Throw Willa's crazy ass in and we can take anyone out.”
Vanessa laughed and it was the best outcome that Kate or Greyson could have hope for.
“I know this hard, but it will get better,” Kate said.
“I hope so.”
“It will,” Greyson added. “I knew something was up when this one wasn't in her office,” he said, pointing to Kate.
“I'll be okay,” Vanessa said.
“Where'd you go last night?” Kate asked.
“I drove around. Went down to the pier. Thought about the mess I was in.”
“You should have come here,” Kate said.
“I know. I just needed some time to sort it out. Plus, I didn't want to interrupt if Deacon was over.”
Kate pursed her lips at the mention of his name. She wasn't ready to dive into her drama with her friends yet. Besides, there was enough going on at the moment.
“You're always welcome here no matter who is over.”
“Thanks,” Vanessa said.
“You should stay with me,” Greyson said. “My house is plenty big and, if you're up for it, I could use some help with the kids. I'm meeting myself coming and going with work, soccer and dance class.”
“Are you serious?” Vanessa asked.
“Yeah,” he said with a serious shake of head. “I will literally give you free room and board if I don't have to sit in that dance moms' waiting room one more time. Those women are something else. They are either talking about what happened with Hope or ogling me like a piece of meat that's back on the market. It's painful.”
“Really?” Kate said. “She's only been gone a little over a month.”
“Yeah, but she was sick for more than a year,” he told her. “It's like some of them have been chomping at the bit.” he said. “I mean, I know I'm cute, but damn. I'm not even remotely close to being ready to even think about moving on.”
“I've heard some of them at yoga,” Vanessa said. “One asked me if I'd give him her number when he was ready to start dating.”
“Ruthless bitches,” Kate sneered.
“For real,” Vanessa agreed.
“Seriously though,” Greyson said. “You're more than welcome. I know the kids would love it.”
“Okay,” Vanessa said without much hesitation. “Beau and Marli might be able to help me take my mind off the divorce.”
“They are great distractions,” he said with a smile. “And super cute like their dad.” He laughed. He stood up and pulled something from his back pocket. “Before I forget the real reason I came here,” he said, handing Kate an envelope. Hope's perfect penmanship scrawled her name on the front.
“Just what I need,” Kate scoffed. She hated that she'd been dreading her next letter. The last one had sent her world into a tailspin and the odds of this one being any better were slim to none. “Did you give Deacon a letter?” she asked.
“No,” he told her. “Well, not exactly. Hope had it all ready to go. I just dropped it in the mailbox.”
“She sent him a letter?” Vanessa asked as she caught herself up. “Is that good or bad?”
“I don't know,” Kate said. “It's confusing.”
“What isn't?” Vanessa replied with shake of her head.
“For real,” Kate said. “Before we get too deep into my romance drama, let's go get your stuff from the house,” Kate suggested. “I don't want you going back there alone.”
“I'll go with you,” Greyson said. “Do you know how much stuff you can fit in that minivan?”
“We're about to find out,” Kate said. “We're taking half of everything.”