A Fresh Start for Two (7 page)

All three stared at the sketch pad.

“A couple of chairs,” Jake said.

“For what? There are already some chairs in the try-on areas.”

“For the guys to sit in while their wives shop.”

Lucia looked at Julia, “I think it’s a good idea. What do you think?”

“What would guys do while their wives shopped?” Julia asked Jake.

“I don’t know. Check their phones? Watch sports on a tablet?”

“Eat?” Lucia said. “If they’re anything like my brothers, they’d eat while they were waiting.”

He laughed and shrugged. “Guilty as charged. Guys can always eat. That’s a great idea.”

“Maybe we should have a small counter, like in the old diners, but for ice cream or milk shakes? What do you think?” Julia stared into his eyes, amazed at how intently he was watching her.

He thought for a moment before responding. “I think it’s a great idea. Tourists are always looking for ice cream. Or coffee in the winter. Or maybe iced coffee, smoothies. But we might want to move that up front.”

Lucia said, “No. If it’s in the back, they’ll pass all these things they might be tempted to buy.”

Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. You ladies decide. Women are the shopping experts.”

His radio went off, so he said, “Gotta run. See you in class.”

He hurried down the street and Julia followed him with her gaze, wanting to drink in everything about him. She noticed his cruiser parked not far down the street, and Bill leaning up against it. Jake had such a nice body, even in uniform. What she wouldn’t give to…

Lucia poked her, forcing her attention back to her. “Julia, you need to break up with Vincent. I know we just met him, but I think you and Jake were meant for each other.”

Julia stared after him, lost in thought. Lucia’s phone went off, so she waved to Julia and headed outside to answer it. She sighed, something she often did when Jake Ramsay was around. He made her heart flutter and her body heat up in an instant, but—and she knew this for the contradiction it was—she felt an aura of peace whenever he was near. It felt like a safety net, yeah, something like that. She would give anything to have the chance to find out more about him, to spend time with him, to be wrapped in his arms once more. Jake inspired her to want to become more connected with life, and what a wonderful feeling that was.

But was she really willing to give up everything? Including her relationship with her mother and sister?

Yes, she would, she decided. They had made their allegiance—or lack thereof—clear to her. Her mind was made up. She would even risk getting beaten just to break free from him. She just had to make the timing right so the damage would be minimal.

The door opened and she cringed. Vincent stalked straight toward her. Lucia was trailing directly behind him, her eyes wide.

“Julia, we need to talk.” He stood next to her, not openly threatening her, but much too close, using his presence to intimidate her.

“What is it? I thought we were finished for today.” She crossed her arms and stepped back, always aware of how close she was to his hands. “Did you follow me?”

He gripped her elbow and encouraged her to go outside by pinching her tender skin. She wanted to fight him, but then she decided maybe this was just the opportunity she needed. He wouldn’t beat her in public, would he? Witnesses could guarantee jail-time if she decided to press charges. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to take that risk. She decided to go with him, but she would not get into his car.

As soon as they stepped outside, she stopped. “This is as far as I go, Vincent. What is it?”

“Julia, look. I know you’re going to make me say it, so I will. I’m sorry. I don’t know what made me lose my temper, but I shouldn’t have hit you.”

“Vincent, lately you have a temper about everything. I no longer feel safe with you.”

He wiped his brow with his arm. “Please, Julia. I know you’re upset, but I promise this will never happen again. You know I love you. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. We’re getting married. I want you in my home every night when I finish working, in my bed when I go to sleep. I know you’ll take good care of me, and I promise to take care of your mother. Please. Can’t we just forget this ever happened and start over?” He whispered so low, she could barely hear him, but she knew why. He didn’t want anyone else to hear him apologize.

This was it. The time had come. She was on the street. She noticed Jake’s police car hadn’t moved yet from its spot down the street, though she couldn’t tell if he was in it or not. She hoped he hadn’t gone far.

“Vincent.” She reached for her engagement ring. “This just isn’t working for me. I can’t marry someone who would hit me. I’m giving this back.” She grabbed his hand and placed the ring in his palm.

Fury lit his eyes. “I make one mistake and you crucify me for it, huh? I told you it would never happen again. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” His words sputtered through clenched teeth, while his one hand kneaded the engagement ring, his other hand in a white-knuckled fist at his side.

“It happened once, and that was too much for me, but then you hurt me again.” She pulled her sleeve back to show him the bruise on her wrist. “Look what you did to me this morning. Maybe you don’t always realize you’re hurting me, but you’re so much stronger than I am.”

He grabbed her arm above the elbow and tugged her close. “You will
not
break up with me,” he snarled in her ear so no one else could hear him.

The pain in her arm made her want to scream, and she tried to stand on her tiptoes to get some relief. Out of the corner of her eye, she managed to see Jake climb out of his police car with his partner. Oh how she hoped he was watching. If not, she might have to yell for his assistance, despite the fact that Vincent would probably put a fist into her jaw if she tried.

She closed her eyes as Vincent twisted her arm and the pain darkened her vision, threatening to pull her under.

Chapter Seven

Jake and his partner rushed across the street, stopping traffic.

Before they crossed, Bill grabbed his arm and said, “You under control, Ramsay?” He stared into his eyes as he said, as if he were a human lie detector.

“Yep.” It was true…barely.

As they reached the other side of the street, Bill shouted, “Problem, Miss?”

“Take your hands off the lady, Sir,” Jake warned. Julia looked as if she was on the verge of passing out and it took every ounce of control he had not to wale on the man in front of him. He stood to one side of Nye, while Bill stood on the other. Though his attention was purely focused on Julia, a part of his mind registered the shop door opening and Lucia creeping out of it. She stood to the side, sensing the danger of the moment.

Vincent dropped his grip from Julia as he turned toward them. Her eyes opened, and the fear on her face punched Jake right in his gut.

“There’s no problem, officers. Just talking to my fiancée.” He took a second glance at Jake, then said, “You again?”

“That’s right. We’re the same officers who watched you belittle and berate your fiancée not too long ago. You don’t know how to treat a woman, do you?” Jake got right into his face, not able to stop himself from doing at least that.

“She’s my woman, and she’ll tell you I treat her just fine. Isn’t that right, Julia?” Vincent never took his eyes off of Jake.

When Julia didn’t answer, Vincent turned to face her. “Julia! Answer the man. Explain we’re fine.”

“Actually,” she stepped around Vincent and glanced at Lucia. “Unless you need me for anything, officers, I was just leaving.”

“Julia, don’t do this.” Vincent’s voice shook with fury.

“Vincent, we’re done. Please stay away from me.” She grabbed Lucia’s hand and started to leave.

Bill stopped her, “Miss, do you wish to press charges? Did he hurt you?”

“No, not this time.” She gave Vincent a pointed look, then spun on her heel and left, her hand clutched tightly in Lucia’s.

“Julia! This is not over!” he yelled after her.

Jake shoved him back against the wall and said, “Looks to me like it is. We both heard the lady ask you to stay away from her.”

Vincent’s face turned beet-red. “Can I go now?”

Both officers stood in front of him to prevent him from leaving until Julia had disappeared into the distance. Jake knew the guy would follow her. But, hell, he couldn’t help but smile. Julia was no longer engaged to her bully of a fiancé. Now they would actually have a chance together.

When he released him, Jake said, “If I find you following her, I’ll arrest you for harassment.”

“What is she to you?” Vincent growled. “That’s what I want to know. She’s been acting strange lately.” He straightened his shirt, still glaring at Jake.

“Got nothing to do with me. My guess is it might have something to do with the bruised eye and wrist. You like to beat your women to feel like a big man?”

“Can I leave now?”

The two officers stepped back. “You’re free to go, but stay away from the lady,” Bill said. “You don’t know what you’re taking on.”

Bill and Jake watched him leave, and Jake took down the guy’s license plate number before they returned to their police car.

Once inside, Jake asked, “What the hell did that mean, you don’t know what you’re taking on?”

“It means I’ve seen you go off on someone who beat his wife before. I’ve noticed the way you look at her, too. You want her, plain and simple, and I’m afraid you’ll lose perspective. I meant what I said, and I hope you’re a little smarter than you were that first time. You’re an officer of the law, not a vigilante.”

“I was new, Bill, and fresh from the army. I’d seen enough over there. I didn’t need to see it here, too.”

“You don’t need to explain to me,” Bill said as he started the car. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again. Any piece of shit who beats a woman deserves what you did, but if you want to keep this job, you can’t do it. And I don’t want to have to pull you off anyone again either. You fight like hell, Ramsay. I don’t want to find myself in front of your fist. I hope she has smartened up. Sounds like she broke it off, but…”

“I know what you’re thinking. He could go after her.”

“Exactly. He looks like the type. I hope she realizes that.”

Jake pulled a toothpick out of his pocket and chomped down on it, unable to shake the rage burning inside him. His partner was right; this situation with Julia
was
making him feel as out of control as he’d felt that first year on the job.

Jake had only been with Bill a couple of months when a domestic call came in from three different people reporting that a husband was beating the crap out of his wife. They had arrived on the scene and immediately called for an ambulance. The man was having a cigarette while his wife lay battered on the kitchen floor of their apartment, unconscious, bleeding all over. He laughed when he saw them, clearly high on something, and said she’d
asked
for it. Jake had been unable to speak over the mounting desire to kill the man, but Bill had remained just as calm as could be. He’d asked, “What’d she do?”

Her husband had answered, “She burned my dinner.”

Jake, comparing that guy to Vincent, said, “This is a different situation. Nye is stone sober. I don’t think he was on anything.”

“I agree. He may have had a couple of drinks the first time, but he was clean today. That makes it worse, in my eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because he knows exactly what he’s doing. There’s no remorse, and he is cold and calculating. The other guy didn’t even remember what he did.”

As Jake thought about Bill’s answer, his mind wandered back to the original situation that had set him off. The woman had survived, and they had gone to the hospital to interview her later that night. She did the unthinkable and refused to press charges. Jake had heard about situations just like this in the academy, but he hadn’t thought he’d ever see one in real life. He was convinced she had been heavily medicated, so he went back the next morning to talk to her, and she said the same thing. No charges, even after repeated counseling. They were forced to release the bastard the next day.

Two weeks later, they had been called to the same address. Jake and Bill had flown up the stairs to the small apartment, knowing what they would find. The husband had the wife flat on her back on the kitchen floor, his hands wrapped around her neck, choking the very life out of her, but this time they were too late. He had choked her to death a little while ago. She was dead.

Bill had asked, “Burned your dinner again?”

The husband had laughed and said, “Yep, but she won’t do it again, will she?”

Jake had gone ballistic. He went after the man, pulling him off the dead woman and tossing him to the floor. He pummeled his face and split his lip open. The guy was half crazed, and he took every punch Jake threw with bright eyes and a smile on his face, which made beating him unsatisfactory to say the least. Unfortunately, that had fueled him even more, and it had been a real feat for Bill to pull him back.

The case hadn’t been caught by a cell phone recording or anything, so he had lucked out. The guy had been so high, he had come away from the incident with no recollection of what Jake had done. But his captain had wanted to strip him of his gun and badge. He had gone on a temporary suspension, and the only reason he was still cruising was probably because of Bill standing up for him and because of the short time he had been on the force. He just hadn’t hardened himself to the work yet.

But he sure had been teased about it by his fellow officers. Some had been sympathetic, but most thought it was hysterical, so whenever the department caught a real bad ass, the answer was usually the same. Send in Jake Ramsay, he’ll take care of him for you. Ryan had talked to him a few times, told him to forget about it, but it had been tough.

And even though he knew what it might mean for his job, he would never let that man touch Julia Ross again. He would kill him first.

***

Julia scurried into class with Lucia, glancing over her shoulder all the way in. Vincent had texted frequently, but she had ignored each missive. He had called a few times, too, but she had only answered once, asking him to please leave her alone.

The chill of his words on the phone had stayed with her, and they echoed in her mind when she least expected it.

“I’m giving you a few days to come to your senses, Julia. You need to call me and I’ll give you the ring back. If you’re not wearing it by then, you’ll live to regret it.”

She had hung up on him, but it wasn’t possible to forget the not-so-subtle threat. Her mother continually pleaded with her to go back with him, but she had steadily refused. Unable to take her eyes from the various bruises on Julia’s body, Tiffany had finally hugged her, saying she was glad she broke up with Vincent. After tasting a bit of freedom, she could never go back.

Sliding into the seat next to Lucia, she scanned the room, but didn’t see Jake. He sailed in a few moments later and took the seat behind hers. He nodded to each of them before settling his laptop in front of him. “Julia, are you having any problems with your ex?”

“No.” But she couldn’t look him in the face and say it, so she just glanced at him over her shoulder before returning to her notebook.

“Yes, she is.” Lucia glared at her. “Why aren’t you being honest? He needs to know.”

“
What
do I need to know?”

Julia interjected, “Lucia, it’s not his problem, it’s mine.”

Lucia leaned over toward Jake. “He told her he would give her a few days to think about it, and if she wasn’t back with him by then, she’d regret it.”

Even hearing someone else say the words felt like a vice tightening around her.

Jake raised his eyebrows at her. “True, Julia? You know we can provide protection for you if you need it.”

Glowering at Lucia, she shook her head. “I’m fine.”

The professor came in and began his lecture, so she tried to focus on the topic—balance sheets. It was so important to her that she do well in this class, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus. Her head throbbed, so she rubbed her forehead as the professor continued, trying her best to comprehend what he was saying and take good notes. She didn’t have a good laptop like Jake and most of the other students in class, so she had to take her notes by hand.

But while she tried to think about accounting and balance sheets, all she could do was try to come up with a foolproof plan for when Vincent finally approached her, as she knew he would. She didn’t know what to do other than dial 911. And what would she say to the person on the other line—my ex-boyfriend is here? If he wanted, he could knock her out before she managed to pull out her phone.

She sighed before staring at the board again, trying to understand what the professor had just said about the differences between balance sheets and income statements, but she just wasn’t able to wrap her head around anything that wasn’t related to her present quandary.

Jake leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll help you. Copy his notes down and we’ll work on it later.”

She glanced over her shoulder and mouthed the words, “Thank you,” hoping he couldn’t see the tears she was holding back. She would pass this class and be successful, no matter what it took. Besides, if she failed, it would only give Vincent the satisfaction of knowing he’d interfered with her ability to study and focus, which would make him as proud as a peacock.

When the class finished, everyone got up to leave, but she stayed in her seat, hoping Jake had meant what he’d said and would help her.

Jake and Lucia waited until everyone else had left the room. She turned sideways in her seat so she could glance at both of them. “I’m lost. I’m so sorry, but I don’t understand this.”

Lucia said, “We’ll help you. Do not worry. We can do this later. Manana, manana.”

“No, we don’t have to wait until tomorrow.” Jake said, taking her hand in his. “I’ll help you tonight.”

“But I have to go,” Lucia said. “Can you give her a ride home, Jake? I don’t want her walking alone. That man makes me very nervous.”

“I’ll stay and take you home. We’ll go sit at the tables in the hallway. Or better yet, let’s go over to the Student Union and we’ll get something to eat and work there. How does that sound?”

Julia, still rubbing her forehead, whispered, “Thank you. I’d like that.”

“Call me tomorrow, amiga.” Lucia gave her a hug. “Bye, Jake. Thanks for taking care of my friend.”

Once she had left the room, Jake brushed Julia’s hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just a little headache.” She licked her lips as she gazed up at him, surprised by the warmth in his gaze. He took her hand from over the ridge of seats, and they walked out like that—their hands clasped over the seats until the row ended.

The toothpick he had placed in his mouth at the mention of Vincent disappeared into a nearby trash can when they left the room, and he flashed a smile at her after he got rid of it. “Bad habit, I guess. You sure you’re okay with going to the Student Union, or is your headache too bad?”