A sense of relief washed over me as I pulled out of the driveway. I felt as if I’d been sinking fast in quicksand and someone had finally thrown me a rope.
The cabin was a five-hour drive. Jackie and I stopped mid-way to fill up our gas tanks. I made sure I paid with cash because I didn’t want Eric to be able to trace my credit card.
I checked my cell phone to see how many messages I’d received. There were several.
10:00: Hope you’re feeling better.
11:10: You were a good girl last night.
11:15: Why aren’t you texting me back? Are you sleeping?
No asshole. I left you! I thought this to myself, but I held off texting him back.
Jackie saw I was checking my phone. ‘How many messages?’
‘Four messages and three voicemails.’
‘How about grabbing a bite to eat at the diner next door?’ Jackie asked.
I nodded. I wasn’t hungry, but I could use a cup of coffee.
We walked inside the diner and sat in a booth near the back. ‘The last time I was in a retro-looking diner was with Eric.’ I sighed.
‘If you want to eat somewhere else we can,’ Jackie said.
‘It’s okay.’
A waitress walked over. ‘Hi, ladies.’ She handed each of us a menu. ‘Can I get you something to drink?’
‘I’d love coffee and a glass of water,’ I said.
Jackie opened the menu. ‘Make that two.’
I didn’t open my menu.
‘Have you eaten anything today?’ Jackie asked.
‘Not much. I can’t eat when I’m depressed.’
‘But you have to keep your strength up. Diners have great comfort food.’ She looked at her menu. ‘How about tomato soup and grilled cheese? Or macaroni and meatloaf?’
The waitress returned with glasses of water and a carafe of coffee and filled our mugs. ‘Are you ready to order?’
Jackie ordered a burger and fries and I settled for a cup of tomato soup and the grilled cheese.
Jackie sipped her coffee. ‘I was thinking about everything you told me and I feel terrible I was the one who encouraged you to do the whole online dating thing. Maybe if I hadn’t, none of this would’ve happened.’
‘Jackie, it’s not your fault. Eric presented himself as the Great Oz and we all fell for it. It was only after we were married and the curtain was pulled back that the real man emerged. I met him at a time in my life when I was lonely and broken. I don’t think I’d ever gotten over the rejection I felt when my marriage to Scott ended. If I’m honest, I didn’t have a lot of self-esteem.’
‘Then along came Eric, the man of your dreams,’ Jackie said.
‘Exactly. I was easy prey. He did and said all the right things. And the sex was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I truly thought he was my white knight, the soulmate I’d been praying for.’
I stopped talking while the waitress returned to see if we needed anything.
‘What made it even harder is that he treated me like a queen in public,’ I continued. ‘Who would believe me? Everyone loved him and they, too, thought I’d found my happily ever after.’
‘I know I sure did,’ Jackie said. ‘Remember how I told you he needed to give Bruce some pointers?’
I nodded. ‘I kept trying to make the marriage work, thinking that if I did what he wanted me to things would change. But they only got worse.’
‘You should have told me sooner.’
‘I wanted to, I did. It was hard for me to admit I’d made such a huge mistake, and I worried that people wouldn’t believe me. He’d send flowers to all the women at work and I’d hear for days what a great man I had. If only they’d known what my life was really like.’
Our meals arrived and I ate more than I thought I would. ‘Did you call Bruce?’
‘I did but it went into his voicemail. I left a message telling him that something came up and I’d be with you the entire day. He should soon be home, so I’m going to call him then. I thought I’d spend the night with you.’
‘You don’t have to do that. You’ve done enough.’
‘Nonsense. I already called into work and told them I needed a few days off to take care of some personal business.’
‘Jack, I’m so sorry I’ve dragged you into this whole mess, but I had no one else I could trust.’
‘That’s what best friends are for. Remember when we were teens we had a secret code word?’
I smiled. ‘I haven’t thought about that in years.’
Jackie and I came up with a word that we’d use when we needed help. It was Jackie’s idea. We were going to our first high school party and she insisted we have a secret word that if either of us said out loud the other would know something wasn’t right. We settled on pizza, our favorite food. I never used it, but Jackie used it once when a guy was getting a little too friendly and she didn’t want me to leave her alone with him.
‘We should have a code word now,’ Jackie said. ‘Just in case.’
I pushed my plate aside. ‘Okay. Any ideas what it should be?’
‘It can’t be something you’d normally say and yet it would have to fit the conversation. Or feel natural if said.’
‘What about a sentence or phrase?’ I said. ‘Like, maybe, I twisted my ankle.’
‘That could work. You don’t twist your ankle often, do you?’
‘No, which is why I never wear high heels, except when Eric made me wear them along with sexy lingerie, which got raunchier over time.’
‘You should’ve spiked him in the nuts with your heels,’ Jackie said.
‘Believe me, I thought about it a time or two.’
We laughed and I realized how ridiculous it felt, considering the mess my life was in. And yet, laughing was good. It was a sliver of light in an otherwise dark day and I was thankful for Jackie, who I trusted with my life.
We finished our lunch and hit the road again. An hour later, I felt my car pull to one side and heard a flapping sound. I pulled over to the side of the road and Jackie, who wasn’t that far ahead of me, did, too. I turned on my emergency flashers and got out of the car.
Damn! I had a flat.