Chapter 35

Ally

“You have got to be kidding me,” Kelly said, slamming her palms onto my coffee table and leaning forward to glare at me. “He did that? He used your mother against you? This is seriously grounds for a restraining order. This guy is out of his fucking mind.”

“I still don’t know what my options are. I think I need to talk to a lawyer.”

“You’re never going to see him again,” Kelly replied, folding her arms like that brought an end to the issue for good. “Please assure me you’ll never see him again. If not, I’m going to have to lock you in the bakery.”

“Don’t worry, Kelly. I’m never going near that sleazebag again.”

Kelly nodded her satisfaction, then settled back on my sofa. She grabbed a cushion and pulled it onto her lap, then started picking at the threads sticking out of the seam. “And what about Gabe?”

“I don’t know.” I walked around the coffee table and sank down beside her. “He seems to evoke every emotion I possess, even though I’d wish it were otherwise. The minute I think we might have something special, lies get in the way. Or Faith. It’s like the Universe is telling me it’s not right for Gabe and me to stay together.”

She patted my hand, then took it between hers, like she was trying to warm me from my cold thoughts. “I think you both just need to sit down some place quiet and uninterrupted for a few hours and hash it out. You haven’t tried that yet. You’re both running away.”

“If I’m running, I have no idea what I’m running from. Maybe what’s between Gabe and me just isn’t meant to be.” My gut wrenched at the thought of never seeing him again. Never touching his fevered skin or inhaling his unique scent. Or, his weight pressing me into the mattress. Skin to skin. Desperate to give me pleasure and take his own.

I shivered as if Gabe’s actual hand had just stroked across my skin. “I don’t know, Kelly, I just can’t take all this drama. I want to focus on the bakery, just like you said, but it’s as if a three ring circus has come to town and popped the big top right in the middle of my life.”

“Then let the fat lady sing.” Kelly let me go and tugged at the threads furiously now as she held my gaze. “You obviously want nothing to do with Matthew, so tell him to take a hike.”

“I’d like nothing better than to put him in his place and tell him his twisted game is over. But I can’t help feeling guilty about my mom. What if he actually dummies up some false evidence against her? With her sordid past and inability to pay for a decent lawyer, she’d get the book thrown at her again. How could I live with myself if she left the prison in a pine box?”

“Ally, your mother made her own bed when she decided to traffic drugs. It’s not your job to continue to save her,” Kelly was using her no-nonsense tone again. The one she used when she was right. And she knew it. “Kind of like a role reversal. You’re so used to taking care of her that it feels normal to you. It’s not normal.”

I gave a bitter laugh. “You’re talking like they’re people I can just box and sort out. I might be able to ignore my mom and Matthew, but I don’t know what to do about Gabe. He won’t even say more than a few random sentences to me.”

“Hmm,” Kelly said, then sighed. “Hmm.” She picked at more threads, fueled by her nervous energy so I snatched the cushion out of her hands and playfully bonked her on the head with it.

“Ally! You’ll give my hair static cling, you silly goose.” My phone buzzed to life and I jumped. “Hold that thought,” I said as my voice deepened. This couldn’t be anything good. I wasn’t expecting anyone and the bakery was closed.

“Oh god, what now?” Kelly groaned and went back to worrying my cushion. “It’s like watching a story line in The Bold and the Beautiful.”

“Through the sands of the hourglass so are the days of our lives,” I joked as I rose and hurried over to the phone. I picked it up and showed her the name on the screen. “It’s Matthew.”

“Answer it,” Kelly said, narrowing her eyes and pushing her lips out. “Yeah, give that tool a piece of your mind.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Answer it, Ally.”

I answered the phone and squared my shoulders. “What do you want, Matthew?” I spit out the words, pissed that I hadn’t thought to remove him from my contacts and block him.

“I take it you were expecting my call, sexy,” Matthew crooned into the phone. “I’ve been waiting all day to call you. I couldn’t wait any longer. I love hearing your name on my lips, just like back in the day when I had my cock buried between your legs.”

Fuck you.

“I only answered because I have caller ID and I have something I want to say to you.” I rubbed my eye with one hand then steeled myself for the smack down. And subsequent fall-out. I had no idea what lengths Matthew would go to get his way. What he was capable of doing to me.

Kelly gave me a double thumbs up.

“Missed me already? Gabe not getting it done?”

Don’t you even mention Gabe’s name.

“I want you to stop contacting me, Matthew. No texts. No calls. No in-person visits. Stay away from me and my bakery or I’ll lawyer up.”

He laughed. A long, drawn out laugh that resembled a howl in some places. “What do you think your cut-rate lawyer could do to me?” He laughed again. “I’m law enforcement, Ally. Union. Untouchable. And don’t even think about calling internal affairs. I already paid a visit to the Chief of Police to tell her some crazy bitch was making crazy accusations against me. I’ve been a valued member of the force for years. Hell, I have a medal of valor.”

“Maybe they won’t believe me, but Kelly is sitting right here and you’re on speaker. I also got a call from my mom today. You think internal affairs would discount three witnesses all giving the same story? Two of them being respected business owners and members of the Chamber of Commerce. Not to mention what Gabe might have to say about you.”

An extended silence was the only indication that I’d hit a nerve. He hadn’t thought his diabolical plan through very well. “What did your mom say?”

“That you’re trying to control me by threatening her. That you’re trying to keep me away from Gabe even though you don’t really want me for yourself.” I needed him to admit it.

“Oh?” He sounded genuinely surprised, probably that I hadn’t caved and started kissing his ass. I was stronger now. Braver.

I tapped my foot twice and the anger inside me built up momentum. “Seriously, who the fuck do you think you are? You come over here and tell me that you cheated on me, try to ruin what I have with Gabe, then bully my incarcerated mother? Don’t you think her life is shitty enough?”

“Baby, it’s because —”

I raised a finger along with my voice, even though he couldn’t see me. “Don’t call me baby, Matthew. I am not and never will be your baby. I don’t think I ever was and I am damn glad to be free of you. You’re sick. You don’t understand what love is.”

“You’d better slow down or I’ll —”

“Or what?” I half-shrieked it, then moderated my tone at Kelly’s frantic gestures. “Or what? What’s next on your perverted list of things to do to me? Rape? Murder? Just how far are you willing to go?” I couldn’t stop firing the questions. Questions without answers.

“I’ll go as far as I need to. As far as you push me. Ally … we belong together,” he replied, and his tone was sullen. Like a fat kid who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Well, I was done catching him with his hand anywhere. “I know I was the one who threw it all away, but I’ve had a change of heart. What I did was wrong. Let me make it up to you.”

“And I’ll report your sorry ass to your superiors if you don’t back the fuck off,” I replied, then took a measured breath and forced a smile, “Goodbye, Matthew. Don’t contact me again.” Then I hung up.

Kelly leaped off the couch and pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! That was perfect. I loved the part about me hearing the conversation and being willing to back you up. I am, you know. I’ll always be here for you, bestie.”

I put my phone down and took a step towards her, then stopped. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I couldn’t stop at this, I had to finish it somehow. So I could move on with my life.

I grabbed my phone and walked for the door.

“Where are you going?” Kelly called out. She followed me to the front door and stopped. “Ally, where are you going?”

“I’m going to talk to Gabe. I have a feeling that he and Matthew’s rift goes deeper than either one of them are letting on.”

“Really?” Kelly asked as she grabbed her phone.

“Are you coming with me, or not?” I asked.

She slid her purse off the counter by the strap and shouldered it. “You bet your ass I am.”