AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can start without me. I want to shower before I sit on your sofa.”
“Good idea,” she said. “The hallway bathroom should have soap, shampoo and fresh towels. Yell, if you need anything else.”
“Thanks,” he said and disappeared down the hallway, carrying his backpack.
Bernie held the remote in her hand, fully intending to start the movie. Instead, she listened for sounds coming from the bathroom, her imagination going through the motions Gerard must be performing.
The sound of the shower running flooded Bernie’s mind with images of Gerard. He’d be standing tall and naked beneath spray, water running over his head and shoulders, dripping down over his torso. As rivulets ran lower, they would slide over the jutting evidence of his desire.
The bathroom door opened before Bernie realized the water had long since stopped running.
Gerard stepped out, wearing only a pair of gym shorts, no shirt.
Bernie grabbed her beer, tipped the can back and took a long swallow, hoping the alcohol would take the edge off her anxiety. It helped…to an extent.
Gerard pulled a T-shirt over his head and settled on the cushion beside her. “You didn’t start the movie.”
She gave him a crooked smile. “Thinking.”
“About?”
The way you make me feel.
Bernie stared at the television. “Everything that happened today.”
“Hard not to, huh?” He started the movie, setting the volume low, and passed her the package of cookies.
Bernie sipped on her beer, hyper-aware of Gerard’s thigh brushing against hers.
He leaned back and draped his arm over the back of the couch, his fingertips brushing against her shoulder.
The television could burst into flames, and Bernie wouldn’t notice. Her focus was homed in on the hand brushing against her shoulder and his thigh bumping into hers.
“Besides the resort trying to but you out, do you have any other enemies who want to harm you?”
She shook her head. “Other than my father walking out on me and my mother when I was a baby, I’ve led a pretty normal, boring life.”
“What about your husband? Did he have any enemies?”
“No,” Bernie said. “His family has been a part of this community for decades.”
“What about your father?” Gerard asked. “Does he keep in touch?”
Bernie shook her head. “I haven’t heard from him, ever. He disappeared out of our lives, and I’m okay with that. The only good thing he did for me was provide the sperm to make me. From what I’ve learned over the years, he was the town bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. My mother had the misfortune of falling in love with him. She spent the rest of her life paying for it.”
“How so?”
“Being a single mother in a small town doesn’t offer many options. She couldn’t afford to go to college and had to work two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. She couldn’t move out of town because she didn’t have backup for childcare.”
“That had to be hard for your mother,” Gerard said softly.
“It was,” Bernie said. “As an infant, I stayed with my grandparents. Once I started school, I’d get off the bus at their house. Only they were older, having had my mother later in life. My mother and I lived in a garage apartment for years until I was a teen and earning a little money of my own. I was able to buy my own clothes from a secondhand store in New Orleans, and I saved my summer work money for a car. It wasn’t much of a car, and it drank oil, but it got me around to other jobs. We were able to move out of the garage apartment into a house we rented on the edge of town.”
“You and your mother sound like fighters,” Gerard said.
“We were,” Bernie said. “Only there was one fight my mother didn’t win.” She swallowed hard on the lump in her throat. “A head-on collision with a drunk driver.”
Gerard reached for her hand and curled his fingers around hers. “I’m sorry.”
