Trix
Four days since I last heard from Chris. Four days I’ve had to myself just thinking. I completely forgot I was supposed to start working at Eden’s diner two days ago, but she told me not to worry about it, said the job would be there when I felt ready to work.
Now, I’m sitting here thinking I should give Chris another chance. I thought about the days, even months, after Lola passed away. I can’t blame him for drowning his sorrows and making a drunken mistake. Yes, I’m still pissed it took him two years to tell me what happened, and what resulted from that mistake, but he’s my husband. The roles could have easily been reversed.
I got calls from my parents all morning, telling me that they will support me no matter my choice, but my dad did say if Chris ever hurt me again he wouldn’t hesitate bringing out his hunting rifle and using Chris as target practice. I also dodged a few calls from Chris’s mom, but of course that hasn’t stopped her from filling up my answering machine.
I call Lilly, figuring she’d be the best person to get advice from. “Hey, Trix,” she answers.
“Hey, you have time to come over today to talk? I need some advice.”
“Sure, I have a client coming in a few minutes, but as soon as I’m done with her, I’ll be right over.”
“Perfect, thanks.” I hang up and decide to clean the house while waiting. Halfway through, my doorbell goes off. Thinking it’s Lilly, I open it up and smile.
It’s not Lilly. “Mason, hey, what are you doing here?” He’s not the friendliest of guys, so I’ve rarely ever talked to him. His eyes and short cropped hair are so dark they look black, and he looks to be in competition with Jasper on who has the better beard. I won’t ever say this to Mason’s face, but Jasper’s beard … well, there is no competition.
“Came by to make sure you were good, and to tell you that you don’t have to worry about Lacey around town anymore. I took care of it.”
My eyes narrow at him. “You took care of it? What exactly did you do Mason?”
“It’s better you don’t know. Just know she won’t be a problem for you or Chris ever again.” With that, he taps the side of my house and walks away.
What is with the Angels Warriors guys coming to my house giving me all this vague shit?
I am worried about what Mason just said though. He’s known as Reaper in the club because, before they switched over to the Angels Warriors, he was known for delivering death to whomever the club told him to. Apparently, it’s what he was best at. And him saying he took care of Lacey has me thinking he did the same to her.
I go back to cleaning and finish up just as Lilly pulls into my driveway.
“Hey, I’m here, I brought some club sandwiches from Boston Pizza.” I smile and thank her, as I grab the bag from her.
Boston Pizza has the best Club sandwiches. the bread is actually pizza bread, which is greasy and makes a mess everywhere. “Let’s go to the kitchen, these sandwiches are messy and I just vacuumed my living room.”
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
I tell her everything Chris told me and then ask, “You forgave Vinny for what he did with my cousin. So, what do you think I should do? It’s not like he set out to hurt me, but we had just lost Lola. He was hurting and drunk and it happened.”
She takes a bite of her food as she thinks about it. “Eden and Moira would say to move on, but I’ve been there. Only difference was Vinny loved both Kayla and me. Unlike Chris—Chris hates Lacey, and I do feel it was a mistake. You’re still only finding out, though. It took me forever to forgive Vinny. Hell, it took me getting kidnapped and almost murdered to forgive him.” The club went through some bad shit years ago—lots of deaths. Including my cousin, Kayla, and Mason’s first wife, Hilary. But Vinny never actually cheated on Lilly, they were broken up all the times he went to my cousin.
“So, you think I should try and work it out?”
“Yes, and I’m saying this because Chris is not a cheater. He made one mistake, okay, a couple if you include him not coming to you after he found out about Lacey’s daughter. I think you still owe it to your marriage to try. Now, if he was a serial cheater, I would tell you to run for the hills.”
She’s right, we can work through this. I have to have faith that my marriage can survive.
“Do you love him, Trixie?”
“Of course I do,” I tell her immediately. Even after everything we’ve gone through, are still going through, her question was easy to answer. It’s not the same love I once had for him, that all-consuming, butterflies in my stomach at the mere mention of his name, but I do still love him.
“Then that’s your answer. Talk to him. Meet that little girl, she needs a good role model, a good mother in her life, and you can give her that,” she says. “Don’t dislike her just because you hate Lacey and what Chris did.”
I nod, and give her a hug.
“Oh, Mason stopped by this morning,” I tell Lilly as we clean up from our supper.
“About Lacey?”
“How’d you know?”
She shrugs. “Everyone knows. He threatened her, told her to get the hell outta town and not come back. To let Chris and you raise Lita, and that if she ever came back or tried to get that little girl, he’d kill her and no one would ever solve the murder, because no one would give a shit if she was dead. They’d probably throw a parade.”
I laugh, relieved. “The way he said it, I thought for sure he already did kill her.”
“He’s not like that anymore.” Lilly pauses. “Okay, that’s a lie, he just perfected the whole ‘make it look like an accident’ thing. We’re all pretty sure he’s the reason one of the dad’s that the club investigated last month is dead.”
I shake my head. “Remind me never to get on his bad side.”
We laugh and she hugs me again, promising we’ll get together for another girls’ night soon and leaves.
I guess it’s time to call Chris and ask him to come over.