Protector - Laurel Dewey [158]
“Well, the ones I knew sure did. And maybe they’re right. In the end, it’s up to you and you alone to get away and not make that same mistake again.”
“What happened to your sister?”
“She stuck with him until she got pregnant again. She was fourteen weeks along when he got worked up because there was a dirty cup in the sink. He started kicking her in her stomach—”
“That son-of-a-bitch—”
“He damn near killed her. If I hadn’t gotten over there, she’d probably would have bled to death.” “What happened to her baby?”
“She lost it and she probably won’t be havin’ any more kids.”
Jane couldn’t help but feel empathy for Dan’s sister. “What did she do?”
“She got smart. She got the guts to grab the kids, file for divorce, get a restrainin’ order and move to another state. She also got some therapy. It helped straighten out all those backward thoughts in her head about what love really is. After about two years, she wrote her ex one of those letters that you don’t mail. You know, they’re just meant for yourself so you can get the words on paper and get them out of your head.”
“I bet that was one letter that would make a sailor blush!”
“No, not at all. She read it to me over the phone. She talked about how she was finally aware that she was responsible for allowing him to treat her the way he did. How she should have gotten help or gotten out of the relationship early on to save herself so much grief. At the end, she said she forgave him for all he’d done to her. Then she burned the letter and she was finally free.”
“Mom?” Emily called out.
Jane didn’t respond. Dan’s words were still filtering through her head.
Dan looked over at Emily. “Hey, your kid’s callin’ you.”
Jane turned to find Emily. “What is it?”
“Can I get a bag of popcorn?”
“Yeah, sure!” Jane hollered as Emily stood in the concession line.
“You got family you can talk to?” Dan asked.
Jane really thought about his question and then realized the answer. “No.”
“No mother? No dad?”
“My mother died when I was ten. And my dad,” Jane turned away, looking off into the flickering carnival lights. “He just recently died.” The words sounded new, as if they did not belong to her yet. “So, I guess I’m an orphan.” The appreciation of her new reality struck an emotional chord. Although Jane tried to fight it, she felt her guard coming down.
“Any brothers and sisters?”
“A brother,” Jane replied. She looked over at Emily, who was five people away from the front of the line. “His name is Mike. But, he’s not exactly available.”
“Why not?”
“He’s got this new girlfriend. Lisa.” Jane said, sounding like a catty female.
“You don’t sound as if you like her.”
“She’s . . .”
“She’s what?”
“She’s . . .” Jane searched for the end of the sentence and kept coming up short. “She’s there!” Jane felt the need to explain. “My brother’s track record with women is lousy. Half of them look like they crawled out of the sewer. The other half can’t put three intelligent words together.”
“Which half does Lisa fall into?”
“Not sure. I’ve only met her once and talked to her on the phone—”
“You must have an idea. I was able to pin my ex brother-in-law from the get-go.”
“Well, okay, so far she hasn’t fallen into either category. But, you know, she’s this clean-cut, Martha Stewart looking, reformed drunk who’s dragging my brother to weekly AA meetings. She’s got a brother who’s a PI and apparently, he used to be some bounty hunter. Big deal! She makes some kind of jewelry for a living and sells it at outdoor art shows.” Jane rolled her eyes.
“Maybe I’m missin’ somethin’ here. So far, none of that sounds bad!”
“Oh, come on, Dan!” Jane said in a cajoling manner. “AA! Jewelry?”
“Unless she’s sellin’ crack at AA meetings and makin’ her jewelry out of stolen diamonds, this girl ain’t bad! I think you need to dig a little deeper and figure out what’s really holdin’ you back from likin’ her.”
“What in the hell does that mean?” Jane was sitting tall on her high horse.
“Look, let’s just drop the subject, okay?” Jane was not used to losing arguments. However, she wasn