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Ty retreated, signaling to Josh with a placating motion of his hand. “Calm down. I fucked up. I’m sorry. If you tell me y’all are still together, I’ll respect that. I’m sorry, man.”
“We’re still together,” Josh said through clenched teeth.
“Does she know that?”
“She will.”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you were any other person, you’d be dead right now. You understand that?” Josh thundered.
“She didn’t kiss me back. In fact, she pushed me away, so be angry with me, but what you’re thinking about her is wrong.” Ty answered.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? You put your fucking tongue in her mouth. She’s mine. All mine. Nobody had tasted her except for me, and you fucked that up. Forever. You fucked that shit up forever.”
“It was just a kiss—”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Josh, listen. You really want her to go through her entire life without being kissed by another dude? You want her to wonder her whole life what else is out there? At least it was me … and I’m telling you she felt nothing. And there was no damn tongue involved. Her lips were sealed tight and she pushed me away.”
“Are you insane? You’re trying to make me feel better with that trivial defense?”
“She was crying. I snapped. I’m sorry.”
Josh had wasted enough time on this bullshit. He needed to see Hannah before she left town. He pulled his keys from his pocket and prepared to leave. “If you ever touch her again, I mean put a single finger on her, I’ll beat the shit out of you so bad you’ll be in the hospital for a month. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Josh gave him one last disparaging look and left to go find Hannah.
****
Josh called Hannah on the drive to her house and she picked up on the third ring. “What?” she asked curtly.
“How’s your mom?” Josh asked.
“Not good.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Her tone sounded sullen and Josh began to feel tension pounding in his head. “I’m coming over.”
“No,” she said adamantly.
“Hannah—”
“I don’t have time to do this right now. I need to be with my mom. Her mother just died, Josh. She’s taking it hard. Grandma was only sixty-five.”
“I need to see you, we need to talk about what happened last night.”
There was silence before she spoke. “Talk about the way you made me feel like shit for something that I can’t do anything about?”
“You need to understand my side of things, Hannah. You’re not getting it.”
“You’re right. I’m not getting it. I guess I need some time.”
He felt her words like acid burning through his gut. “Are you throwing that back in my face?”
“Take it however you want. I’ve got to go now. I’ve got a pile of laundry to do before we can pack.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“About a week.”
“When you get back, we’re going to get this shit straight between us.”
She was silent on her end of the line.
“Hannah?”
“You hurt me, Josh.”
She wasn’t seeing his side of this at all. “I hurt you? What the fuck? You let Anderson ram his goddamn tongue down your throat. You don’t think that hurt me?”
“Oh my God. He didn’t get that far. I pushed him away.”
“Yeah? Are you telling me the truth?”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Hannah asked with venom.
Josh was silent for a moment but a sense of relief was running through him as well. “It still hurt,” he admitted curtly.
“You shouldn’t have broken up with me.”
“I didn’t break up with you!” he snarled.
“It felt like it last night when you wouldn’t say we were okay,” she maintained.
“Look, I’m sorry. We’re okay, all right?” Josh felt his head throbbing like a pickaxe against his forehead while he waiting for her answer.
“We’ll see,” Hannah said.
Josh almost lost it right then and there. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“We’ll talk about it when I get home.”
“Hannah, I’m warning you, and you better listen up and listen good. You’re mine. Every sweet little inch, understand me? You belong to me, and no matter what kind of fight we had … while you’re gone you best remember that you belong to me. And just so you’ll know, just so we’re on the same page about this and you don’t have any doubts in your head … I’m going to be here waiting for you when you get back, because I’m yours and nobody else’s. Is that clear enough for you? We’re together and if you don’t remember that then there will be hell to pay.”
“Threatening me isn’t helping any, Josh. But don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything wrong. My grandmother just died, remember? What do you think I’m going to do? Go out partying?” Josh heard her ragged inhalation. “I’ll see you when I get back, okay?”
“I don’t guess that I have any other choice.”
Chapter Fifteen
Hannah had been gone almost a week when Josh was stopped by none other than Rebecca Sutty after he left the feed store for his lunch break. He gave her a disparaging look and before she could even open her mouth, he said, “I’m with Hannah. Leave me alone.”
She glanced around, her eyes darting to and fro, and then she looked at Josh again. “I know that. I need to talk to you.” She glanced around again and Josh could almost feel her immediate fear. “You’re going to be a cop, right?”
“Yeah,” he said with a slight question in his voice.
“I need to talk to you about Jesse.”
That name induced the same fury in Josh now as it always had. There was absolutely no question in his mind that Jesse had done something to put the fear in Rebecca’s eyes. And although he had no respect for Rebecca and didn’t like her as a person, he knew that nobody deserved the kind of treatment that Jesse had been known to hand out. He pointed to a bench on a vacant lot between two buildings that had partial privacy. The city council was trying to beautify the town, and whenever property went unattended, they planted flowers and put benches out. The little ‘mini-parks’ now dotted the town.
They sat down and her fear remained evident as she spilled out her story. She brushed away tears and Josh was shocked that he could feel such concern for a person he disliked so intensely. Her story began to end. “It’s turned into all out rape and he won’t let me break up with him. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared to death of him. He gets more violent every day.”
“You’re never going to willingly see him again and you’re leaving here to tell the sheriff, that’s what you’re going to do.”
She dragged in a breath. “I’m so scared. Will you go with me?”
“Yeah.”
****
It was perfect timing that Katie had driven in for the beginning of her winter break from college that afternoon. After work, Josh cornered her in her bedroom and told her what had happened. “No more bullshit, Katie. Somebody’s going to wind up dead. You’re going to go to the sheriff tomorrow and make a statement, got it? I’ll go with you, and hold your hand the entire time if you want, but it’s happening. I swear to God, you’ll thank me later. You want some girl’s rape or even death to be on your conscience?”
Katie’s face had lost all color. “No, I don’t.”
Josh hated to cause his cousin pain but she had to do this. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
“Will you go with me and promise to stand beside me?”
“Yeah.”
Katie gave him a determined look. “Okay, we’ll do it tomorrow.”
****
The funeral had been miserable. Her grandmother had literally passed away on her own birthday, and so close to the coming Christma
s holidays that everyone had been even more saddened. Hannah couldn’t believe that the dates on her grandmother’s tombstone were the exact same except for the year. Who ever heard of dying on your own birthday? But evidently, it wasn’t all that uncommon. Women, especially, were known to somehow manage to live until a major milestone, and then quietly let go. Hannah just hoped that her grandmother had died in peace.
Coming back home was bittersweet. Zach had accompanied them and stayed with them at her grandmother’s house in Shreveport and even though the reason for it was sad, Hannah enjoyed the time with her brother. She hated to say goodbye when he went back to Dallas. He was still bitter about the tragedy that had happened, and Hannah knew the funeral had been rough on him.
Hannah had missed Josh every time she’d thought about him, but luckily, she’d been so busy helping her mother get through the week that she hadn’t had time to dwell on the fight they’d had. But the minute she got back home, it all came roaring back and her stomach was tied in knots.
She realized that she’d been rough on him, even while knowing that he’d been rough on her as well. And maybe she should have pushed and screamed and thrown a fit when Ty had kissed her, but she hadn’t and she couldn’t go back for a re-do.
