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“I didn’t plan this, Tom. I don’t even know what’s actually wrong yet. I got out of the car after it shut off, and all I know is that there was a trail of oil all the way down the road,” I explained.
There was another groan before he clipped, “Fuck. I’m on my way. This is really not what I need to be dealing with right now.”
I rolled my eyes and mumbled, “Thanks.”
Once I hung up the phone, I stood there feeling nothing but anger. Tom and I had been married for just under three months now, and I thought we were supposed to be in the honeymoon phase of our relationship.
We weren’t.
In fact, it seemed that once we returned from the actual honeymoon, things started to take a turn. It wasn’t all at once, nor was it often, but I was finding that it was the littlest things that were setting Tom off.
Things like me having car trouble.
The thing was, this was just as unexpected and inconvenient for me. It was a brand-new car, a gift from Tom given to me the night of our rehearsal dinner. I’d brought it in for an oil change. That was all this was supposed to be.
It was my turn to sigh as I sat down in a chair in the waiting room.
Ten minutes later, Tom walked in. He glanced over at me as he made his way to the front desk.
“Hi, Clara,” he greeted the woman behind the desk. “Any word on what happened to Dakota’s car?”
“Oh, yes. Unfortunately, when Gary changed the oil, he must not have tightened the drain bolt. As Dakota drove, the fluid leaked out and starved the engine of oil. It was our mistake, so Dave said we’ll be taking care of replacing the engine and getting everything up and running again.”
With a smile planted on his face, my husband nodded and replied, “It’s okay. Things happen. I appreciate that Dave is willing to cover the cost of the repairs, especially considering there are gauges and warning lights in the car that indicate oil pressure. I’m not sure why my wife didn’t notice it.”
Clara giggled nervously as I narrowed my eyes on my husband.
Was he honestly suggesting that this was my fault?
At his declaration, I stood and cleared my throat to get his attention. Once his eyes came to mine, I turned and walked out the door to his car.
By the time Tom got in the car, I was fuming. But somehow, I managed to keep it all bottled up inside. Maybe I wasn’t as angry as I was hurt by his words and actions.
Worst of all, Tom didn’t say a word to me the entire drive home.
When he dropped me off and left again for work, I spent the rest of the day wondering why he would ever speak about me like he had in front of someone I considered a stranger. Granted, he’d known Clara, Dave, and the rest of the mechanics for quite some time, but I didn’t know them beyond knowing their names and that he’d been going to them for all of his routine car maintenance for years.
Tom’s hurtful actions stayed with me all afternoon, and when he came home from work that night, he seemed oblivious to the hurt he’d caused. I thought it would be a one-time thing, but what happened that morning was only the first in a very long line of what was to come over the next two years.
Present Day
A knock came at my front door.
Considering my track record lately with unexpected situations, I wasn’t the least bit excited to answer the door.
But given that I was currently living in a mostly isolated cabin in the middle of the woods, I had to admit there was a small thought at the back of my mind about who I might find on the other side of the door.
The thought terrified me.
The craziest thing about that was that I wasn’t terrified because I lived in a mostly isolated cabin in the middle of the woods.
Nope.
I was worried that I’d open the door and find Jack on the other side.
And while I didn’t fear for my safety around him, I couldn’t say the same about my heart.
The truth was, Jack was proving to be quite the guy. He’d already saved me from certain doom when I’d encountered that wild bison, and just two days ago, he’d gracefully accepted my apologies for how I’d treated him afterward.
