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“I’ve been driving all over looking for you.” Dale glared at Josh but I’d met him halfway to the car and guided him back toward it. He looked back over his shoulder at Josh. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“He works here, remember?” I looked over and saw Josh going back into the store.
“Right.” Dale’s gaze didn’t leave the store front. “And I’m sure he jumped at the chance to ‘comfort’ you, didn’t he? Did he come on to you?”
Then he looked at me. I think it was the first time he really saw me since he’d blazed into the parking lot. His eyes softened and his brow knitted.
“Did I do that?” He touched my cheek. I winced and so did he. “Oh Sara. I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” I let him pull me into his arms. The comfort I found there was like nothing else. Josh’s arms around me had been nice, but not like this. Dale’s arms around me felt like something clicked into place. We fit together like two puzzle pieces. In so many ways, good and bad, we fit together.
“I wasn’t crying about that.” I touched my cheek and laughed. “I told Josh, that was the highlight of my day so far.”
“You told him?” Dale groaned, gathering me closer. “What do you mean it was the highlight of your day?”
“I’ll tell you in the car.” I didn’t want to be anywhere near this place when I told him. “Come on.”
“What about yours?” Dale asked as he opened the passenger door for me, nodding to my Dodge Dart.
“We’ll come get it later.” I got in, waiting for him to get in too. “Let’s go.”
“Where to?” He put the key in the ignition.
“Just drive.” I leaned back in the seat, closing my eyes. My face was hot and swollen from crying. My heart was shattered into a million pieces, but it was still beating in my chest.
I felt Dale’s hand slipping into mine and opened my eyes, turning my head to look at him.
“You didn’t hit her, did you?”
“My sister?” Dale snorted. “No. I wanted to. But no. Not after you…”
“Good.” I gave a satisfied nod. “It’s what she wants.”
“I know.” Dale squeezed my hand. “You know… the things she said…”
I winced again, and this time it wasn’t because my face hurt. Thinking about what Chrissy had said made me nauseous.
“The thing is. Everything she said. It was about her. Not about you and me.” He took his eyes off the road for a minute to look at me. “You know that, don’t you?”
I shook my head. It still hurt too much to not take it all very literally.
“She’s keeping a huge secret.” Dale sighed, taking a left at the light. “And that’s not easy. I know.”
I knew too.
“And she’s in so much pain. All she wants is for Tyler to acknowledge her. I accepted a long time ago that wasn’t going to happen. But that’s what she really wants.” I looked over and saw his eyes gleaming. Tears? He’d never talked about his sister this way. “So I blamed her for choosing him. You know, Chrissy and I were close, once. Before.”
I didn’t know. The way he talked about her, with so much anger and hatred, I never would have guessed.
“But she chose him.” He shrugged. “Just like my mother.”
“Instead of you,” I whispered. He’d been abandoned not only by his mother but his sister too. And I knew Chrissy was right, in a small way. There were small bits of truth in what she said, wrapped up in anger and pain, sugar coated razor blades. Dale was trying to prove himself.
“That’s how it felt at the time,” he agreed and I actually saw a tear slip down his cheek.
“I’m so sorry.” I wanted to reach over and pull him into my arms, but he was driving—besides, there was something about it, the car moving, both of us facing forward, that made it easier to say these things.
“Is that why I was such a challenge?” I asked. My voice cracked and even as I asked, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer. “You wanted me to choose you instead of Tyler?”
