Page 9

9

ISLA

Kavanaugh drove away with the last of his things. Pulling the sweater tighter around my body, I glanced down the road, looking for IKE, but he wasn’t there. Had he given up on me?

Riley stepped onto the porch and followed my gaze. “Huh. Look at that.”

“What?”

“Your lover boy isn’t there.”

I sighed. “What do you think it means?”

She blew out a harsh breath, rocking back on her heels. “Boy, that’s a tough call. It could mean that he’s tired of waiting. I mean, it’s been what? A week since you got out of the hospital? Maybe he’s wondering why it’s taking you so long to decide if you want him.”

“You think?”

She shrugged. “Then again, it could be that he saw Kavanaugh leaving and he thought he’d have a word or two with him. You know, man to man.”

My brows furrowed in thought. “You think he’d go after Kavanaugh?”

“He wants you. That much is clear.”

“But he said he’d wait.”

“Well, that was before when he had you in the hospital. He spouted his undying love to you in so many words. I’m sure he thought you’d come home and end things immediately. It took you three days,” she pointed out.

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” I snapped. “Should I have come home and kicked Kavanaugh out immediately?”

She held up her hands, backing up. “Hey, I’m just saying, maybe he’s a little upset you have to think about it.”

“I don’t,” I bit out. “I mean, I just want to make sure my head is in the right place. It wouldn’t be fair to jump out of one relationship and into another.”

“Well, you are still married,” she winced. “Ooh, maybe he went to kill off Shawn.”

I sucked in a breath. “No…”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “Shawn did try to kill you.”

“I know.”

“Multiple times.”

“I know,” I gritted out.

“I mean, what did you think he was going to do? Sit around and wait for him to try again?”

I chewed on my lip, wondering if I should call him. I really didn’t want him going after Shawn for me. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I don’t want anyone avenging me.”

“Relax. He might not be avenging you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he’s just clearing the playing field,” she said nonchalantly as she strode back into the house.

“That is not helpful!” I shouted, following her inside and slamming the front door.

“Oh, relax. Did you ever think that maybe he was tired of sitting in the cold? Or maybe he was hungry? Or maybe he really had to pee? And remember that he was injured. It might be uncomfortable sitting outside in a car all day, waiting around to see if you’ll grace him with your presence.”

I stopped short, glaring at her. “You were riling me up?”

“Well, someone has to do it. And since Bowie went back to work, I’m the only one to do it.”

“You’re mean.”

“So I’ve been told,” she grinned. “You seriously need to stop focusing on men. One was constantly lying to you and the other is stalking you. What you need is a day out of the house where you don’t think about them at all.”

“And I suppose you have something in mind?”

“Of course I do.”

“I hate to point this out, but it’s winter. What could we possibly do for fun in the middle of winter?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you doubting me?”

“No, I’m?—”

“Because it sounds like you’re doubting me.”

“No, I’m simply pointing out?—”

“I can’t believe you would doubt me after all this time! When have I ever steered you wrong?”

“James Marco, sophomore year.”

“He was cute,” she argued.

“He wanted to sleep with me!”

“Some would be happy about that!”

“I wasn’t even sixteen,” I snapped.

“How was I supposed to know you weren’t a hoe bag at fifteen?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Because you’re my sister and we shared a room!”

She pretended to think about it. “Okay, I may have been wrong about James, but that was one time.”

“Sledding by the pasture?” I said with a grin.

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. “Are you trying to find the worst things that ever happened?”

“I nearly had my head chopped off by that wire on the fence!”

“You ducked in time,” she said, her tone completely indifferent. “Call it an early life lesson.”

“It would have been an end-of-life lesson if I hadn’t ducked.”

“And then I wouldn’t have to be having this tedious argument with you right now,” she countered. “Are we going or do you want to continue to stand here and argue?”

I snapped my mouth shut and glared at her. Twenty minutes later, I was bundled up and sitting in a lukewarm car, praying whatever activity she had planned didn’t end up with me missing a finger.

I pursed my lips as I sat in the passenger seat, ignoring the way she gleefully sang along to the music without a care in the world. I slowly turned to her, my eyes filled with malice as she grinned at me.

“Grandpa’s woodshed.”

Her smile dropped and her nostrils flared. “You just had to ruin my good mood.”

“You set it on fire!” I argued.

“Only because you gave me matches to play with.”

“If I gave you a bridge, would you jump off it?” I asked as we walked into the center of town.

She snorted as snow lightly fell around us, barely coating the streets. It would be gone by the end of the day. “Okay, Mom. And just so you know, you can’t give me a bridge. It’s too big.”

I stuck out my tongue at her and continued walking, ignoring her childish behavior. Okay, I was being just as childish, but that’s the way we were together. “So, what are we doing here?”

“It’s the town Christmas market. You would have known about it when they announced it, but you were too busy being kidnapped and held in a shipping container.”

I smacked myself on the forehead. “What was I thinking?”

“Clearly, you weren’t. That’s why you have me looking out for you.”

The whole of Main Street was blocked off and vendors were situated on either side of the street, selling everything from ribbons to wreaths to handmade outdoor decorations. There had to be at least forty vendors lined up, which probably didn’t seem like much, but this was a small town.

Riley dragged me from one booth to the next, haggling with the vendors to get the best prices. She just couldn’t stop herself, even when they said it was the lowest they could go. Eventually, I wandered off, anything to escape the fight that was about to ensue.

“Apple cider?” a little girl asked.

She was running the drink stand about halfway down one side. I smiled at her, handing over the dollar they were asking for, then took the cup. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”

Her toothy grin was welcome on such a cold day. The temperature had just dropped again, reminding me of how lucky I was that I hadn’t been caught in that shipping container on a day like today. I would have frozen for sure.

“You’re that lady that was in the paper,” she said, cocking her head to the side curiously.

“Um…”

“Marla!” her mother scolded, hurrying over from where she stood just a few feet back. She smiled at me uncomfortably. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. Kids,” I said uneasily.

“It’s nice you were able to come out today,” the woman continued. “I hope you’re able to contribute to the foundation. Every bit helps.”

“The what?” I asked in confusion.

“Oh, I assumed you knew. All the vendors here are donating a share of their profits to the Children’s Wing at the hospital for Christmas this year.”

She placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and a sharp ache filled my chest as I looked closer at her. Pale face, big eyes accentuated by the lack of eyebrows…

I looked back at her mom and saw the pain in her eyes. Her daughter was sick. Maybe cancer. “I’m sure I’ll find something that I love. Christmas is the best time of year.”

“It’s my favorite time, too!” Marla exclaimed.

“Did you already see Santa?”

“No, it’s too early for that. But we’ll see him soon. I’m making my list now.”

“Well, I hope you’ve been good this year.”

She shrugged. “Mostly.”

I burst out laughing. That was the kind of answer Riley would give.

“Ugh!” Riley grunted, marching up to me with a wreath in her hand. “You would not believe what I had to pay for this from that old hag.”

“Riley—”

“Forty bucks. Can you believe it? I could have gone to Hobby Lobby and bought all the stuff myself.”

I bit my lip, wishing the ground would swallow me whole. “Riley!”

“She tried giving me some song and dance about how this was all for charity. Can you believe that? There would have been a sign or something, right?”

I slapped her arm, then pointed behind the woman and her daughter where the sign hung. Support the Children’s Wing of St. John’s Hospital this Christmas!

Riley cleared her throat uncomfortably, then noticed the girl and nearly passed out. She gripped my arm hard, her face going an unnatural shade of red. “Forty bucks was…so cheap. And…I could have gone to Hobby Lobby, but there’s no way I could have made anything as nice as this. I’m just…gonna go back and give that woman another forty dollars.”

“Make it fifty,” I countered.

She gave a tight smile, then turned on her heel and vanished into the crowd. When I turned back to the woman, she was grinning at me.

“That wasn’t necessary, but I appreciate it.”

“Call it payback. She dragged me out in the cold today.”

The mom chuckled at that. “Well, I’m glad it all worked out.”

I held up my cup. “Thanks for the cider.”

I wandered along to the next stall, checking out some wooden signs when Riley bumped into me. “Thanks a lot, Isles. You could have warned me before I opened my mouth.”

“I tried to, but you kept interrupting me.”

“That wasn’t a warning. You could have slapped a hand over my mouth or pointed to the gigantic sign. Hell, a big nudge to the ribs would have worked.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

I spotted a sign and laughed out loud, handing it over to Riley. “This is for you.”

“Most likely on the naughty list.” She shot me a sarcastic evil look. “Thanks. If anything, I should give this to Bowie.”

Yeah, I already knew he belonged on the naughty list. I had a front row seat to his dirty talk every single night. I was beginning to think I needed to find another place to live.

“Did you say Bowie?” A blonde asked, cocking her head at us.

“Um…yes,” Riley answered.

“Tall, brutish, sexy…”

“Definitely him,” Riley grinned.

The blonde nodded, looking Riley up and down. I was confused as to what was happening.

“How do you know him?” Riley asked.

“Because he’s my husband, you bitch!” The woman leapt over the table, tackling Riley to the ground.

I screeched, dropping my apple cider as I grabbed the woman by the hair, trying to tug her off my sister. “Get off her!”

“You slutty husband-stealer!” the woman shouted, pounding her fists into Riley.

I tugged really hard on her hair, gasping in surprise when her hair ripped free and I fell backward, landing on my ass. The woman spun around as she reached for the back of her hair that was now in my hand.

“My extensions!”

With a nervous smile, I held them out, hoping she would just take them and run away. Hope was a tricky thing. I jumped to my feet, holding out my hands.

“Now, just hold on a minute. We didn’t do anything to you. You need to calm down.”

The beast roared to life, turning feral right in front of my eyes. “Calm down? Did you just say I had to calm down?”

“I—”

She tackled me hard, her head slamming into my stomach. I was shoved backward into a table. Decorations went flying into the leg of the tent. I screamed as Riley rushed in just as the whole thing collapsed on us.

“Riley!”

“I’ve got her!” she screamed.

I felt someone yank hard on my leg. “Get off her, you bitch!”

“That’s my leg!” I shouted, still fighting off the fists flying at my face. A punch landed right on my mouth and I tasted blood. I wasn’t normally a violent person, but enough was enough. I slammed my elbow up into her face, breaking her nose. Blood squirted all over me, and with the tent over us, it was impossible to escape. I shoved her off me, desperate to escape, when I was yanked to the ground.

“Ow!” I screamed as a snowman’s fabric nose poked me in the eye.

“What is going on in there?”

“Someone get that tent off of them!”

“Isles! I’m pinned under a reindeer!”

Bright light suddenly appeared as the tent was yanked off us. A gnome sat on my chest and I held onto it as I grabbed the hand that was offered. Getting to my feet, I turned around, wincing at the destruction. The seller was fuming, glaring at me like I started it all.

I smiled at her, handing her the gnome. “I saved one.”

I knew I was in trouble when she didn’t immediately grab it. “You know, I think I want to buy this one.” I looked at the tag. “Twenty dollars?” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Thirty is probably better.” Still nothing. “You know, how about I just write you a check.”

Kavanaugh strode over to me, a smirk on his face that told me he thought this whole thing was hilarious. “You get rid of me for one day and look what happens.”

I was holding an ice pack to my mouth and had my eye squeezed closed. It was still burning from that stupid orange snowman nose. “It was her fault,” I mumbled, pointing at Riley.

“My fault? She attacked me!”

“Who attacked you?” Bowie asked, walking up a few seconds later. But when he looked past where we were sitting to the vicious blonde who attacked us, his face paled and he stumbled back a step.

“Carly.”

“Husband.”

“Not your husband,” he muttered. “We’re divorced.”

“ That is your ex-wife?” Riley snapped. “Seriously, do you have no standards?”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Bowie exclaimed. “I was trying to get rid of her for Duke, and I wound up in Vegas. I don’t even remember getting married!”

I had a feeling there was way more to the story than that, but I wasn’t about to get involved in it.

“She attacked me for no reason.”

Carly stood and stormed over to Riley, but the police officer blocked her. “You stole my husband!”

“We’re not even married!” Bowie yelled.

I rolled my eyes, tossing the ice pack back on the bench. The officer beside me eyed it, nodding when I shook my head that I didn’t need it anymore.

Kavanaugh got down on his haunches and ran his thumb over my lip. “That’s quite the bruise you’re gonna have.”

“I was attacked by a tent. And a fist.”

“Looks like the fist won,” he grinned. “Come on. Let’s get you home before you destroy anything else in town.”

I hesitated as he held out his hand. I hadn’t even wanted him to show up, but it wasn’t like I had anyone else to vouch for me. Besides, once he got wind of it, there was no stopping him. I put my hand in his and allowed him to help me to my feet. As soon as I was standing, I pulled my hand away, ignoring the hurt look on his face. I couldn’t handle it today.

“So, have you had enough for today or did you want to see if the shelter needs you to kick a few puppies?” he teased, trying to change my mood.

“Ha ha,” I said mockingly. “It’s all her fault. I didn’t even want to come out today.”

“Why not?”

I shrugged. “Too cold.”

“It’s just brisk.”

Brisk . That’s what they all thought. I never wanted to be cold again. In fact, right now, I was considering a permanent move to the southern states just so I never had to feel that bone-deep chill ever again.

“I’ll take you for some hot cocoa.”

“Actually, I’d just like to go home. With all the excitement, I’m kind of worn out.”

I knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as he turned that inquisitive gaze on me. It wasn’t often that Kavanaugh picked up on exactly what I was feeling. In fact, most of the time, I was pretty good at hiding it from him.

“When do you go back to the doctor?”

“I don’t. I’m fine.”

“But you said you’re tired,” he pushed.

I sighed, wishing he would let it go. “Yes, I’m tired because I came out today and got in a fight with a woman, took down a tent, and I’m crabby. I didn’t want to come out today, anyway, but Riley kept pushing me to leave the house.”

“Because she’s worried about you.”

“I don’t need her to worry about me.”

“Hey,” he said, stopping me from walking any further. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is I want to go home. There’s nothing wrong with me. I just don’t want to stand in the freaking cold anymore.”

“It’s not that bad outside,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, not that bad. I was only in a freaking ice box for four days. So pardon me if I don’t want to stand in cold weather all afternoon for fun.”

I turned and stormed away, knowing I was overreacting. But I couldn’t help it. I was in a pissy mood and my lip hurt. And who got poked in the eye with a cloth nose?

“Hey!” Riley shouted, running to catch up to me. “Is everything okay?”

“No, everything’s not okay.”

“I’m sorry for dragging you out here. I shouldn’t have?—”

“No, it’s fine,” I sighed. “It’s not you.”

“Then what is it?”

I saw Kavanaugh walking across the street with Bowie, returning to their vehicles. Kavanaugh didn’t look too happy, but neither was I. “I just…didn’t expect to see him. I needed some time and distance, and then he showed up and he was being sweet.”

“Ah, yeah, so you had to ruin it.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “It wasn’t just that. It was like he was trying to pretend we were okay. Like nothing had happened between us. It’s too soon for any of that. And…I just lost it.”

She slung an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer as we walked. “Well, the good news is that you’ve just been through a horrible ordeal, so we can chalk your psychotic behavior up to your kidnapping.”

“Maybe it is because of that.”

“Then we’re not lying,” she shrugged.

“And what about your psychotic behavior? I’m not the one who stole another woman’s husband.”

“Yeah, well, the bitch had it coming. Did you see the color of her hair? She’s a bottle blonde.”