A Love Like This (Book 1) (35 page)

“
Why is she crying?
 
Did she fall again?
”

“
No your son, daughter and that one over there,
”
 
She points at Samantha have been terrible.
 
 
“
All of you get out,
”
 
she says in a shrill voice.
 
They walk towards the door.
 
Mr. Bradley shakes his head and strolls back to his office.
 
 
“
Come on,
”
 
Joan says leading me back to the bedroom we were in earlier.
 
She goes into a cabinet and takes out a thick robe and towel.
 
 
“
Clean yourself up and we
’
ll talk about
 
this later.
 
If you still want to go after you
’
ve had a chance to relax I
’
ll drive you myself.
”
 
 
She kisses my cheek and leaves the room.
 
I stand there blubbering like an idiot for a few more minutes.
 
I want my sisters. I want to laugh with my uncle, hug my daddy and
 
lay my head on my mom
’
s shoulder and have her tell me everything will be fine.
 

I drag myself into the bathroom; it
’
s fully stocked with every toiletry and hair supply imaginable.
 
Naturally none of the products are made for my hair but I
’
ll make it work.
 
I
 
lock the bathroom door, place all of my things on the marble counter and step out of my shoes, dress and underwear.
 
I look at my sad raccoon eyes in the mirror.
 
I
’
ve cried more this week than I had all year.
 
I take bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash
 
and
 
some sort of facial scrub into the shower and stand under the water scrubbing and soaking until I
’
m squeaky clean and all wrinkly.
 
I fish around in my purse for the overnight bag that
 
Pookie
 
packed the other day.
 
I u
se my lotion and deodorant before
clean
ing
the mess I made and
wrap
ping
up in the
robe
.
 
I pull my wet hair into a bun and sit on the bed to wait for Joan to come back to the room.
 
It
’
s dusk out and I can see the sun setting behind the bay from the bedroom window.
 
I lay my head on the pillow intending to just close my eyes for a minute but I fall asleep almost instantly.
 
 

*****

I wake up disoriented.
 
I have a blanket over my legs and the room is completely dark.
 
I feel around the night stand and switch on a lamp.
 
I
 
feel a little light headed when I sit up in bed.
 
I can
’
t remember the last time I
 
ate.
 
I climb out of bed tighten my robe and pad down the cold hardwood floors towards a light in the kitchen.
 
I clear my throat when I see Mr. Bradley rummaging around in the refrigerator.
 
He jumps and turns to face me.

“
I
’
m sorry I didn
’
t mean to startle you.
”

“
That
’
s alright how did you sleep?
”

“
I slept well, I forgot where I was.
 
I guess that
’
s an occupational hazard for us prostitutes.
”
 
 
He tilts his head to one side and looks at me blankly.
 
 
“
That was a joke,
”
 
I say.

“
I
’
m very sorry about the misunderstanding.
 
Let
’
s just put it behind us and start over. You must be starved.
 
Come
 
sit
 
and have a midnight snack with me.
”
 
 
I look up at the clock on the wall and sure enough it
’
s a quarter to midnight.
 
I walk over to the kitchen table and sit down.
 
 
“
What would you like?
”

“
What do you have?
”

“
The caterers brought salmon, grilled asparagus and brown rice pilaf.
 
But I was planning to have a roast beef sandwich.
 
I had the chef hide it in back of the refrigerator.
 
I
’
ll share it with you
 
if you promise not to tell Mrs. Bradley.
 
She
’
s got me on a strict diet.
”

“
You have my word,
”
 
I say crossing my heart.
 
The sandwich is as big as my head.
 
He gets out two plates, cuts the sandwich in half and slides a plate in front of me.
 
He turns around to get two bottles of juice from the refrigerator.
 
By the time he sits down across from me my half is nearly gone.

He looks at me surprised.
 

“
So Joan set you up in Tucker
’
s old room?
”

“
Yes,
”
 
I say polishing off the last of the sandwich before he
’
s had a chance to take one bite.
 
He slides his half over to me.
 
I should refuse but I
’
m so starved that I wolf down the other half in just minutes.

“
Joan told me what happened earlier.
”
 
 
I take a drink of my juice and nod.
 
 
“
Yeah but I
’
ll be out of your hair first thing in the morning.
”

“
Don
’
t be silly.
 
When Tucker and Samantha broke up he called Mike and Riley and they all went out partying.
 
The next day Tucker showed up with a new girl.
 
There has been a multitude of women from that day on.
 
 
His mother and I didn
’
t think he
’
d ever settle down.
”
 
 
Mr. Bradley stands up and takes my plate to the sink.
 
 
“
He left the house tonight and
 
came back an hour later.
 
He
’
s checked on you four times
 
since then.
 
He took an extra blanket into the room.
 
He left a bottle of water near your bed then he sat at
 
this table texting while waiting
 
for you to wake up.
 
He gave up about an hour ago.
 
He
’
s in the pool house now
.
”

My heart leaps in my chest.
 
Mr. Bradley smiles,
 
“
You should go talk to him.
”
 
 
He says patting my shoulder as he walks by.

I wait for Mr. Bradley to climb the stairs to his room.
 
When he
’
s out of sight I
 
walk back to Tucker
’
s room.
 
I check my phone and
 
see that I have five messages. The first message is from Tucker.
 
It says,
 
“
Please call me.
”
 
 
The next message from Tucker says,
 
“
Call me when you wake up.
 
The third message simply
 
says,
 
“
I
’
m sorry and I love you.
”
 
 
I don
’
t recognize the number for the next two messages so I put the phone away and walk into the bathroom to brush the taste of roast beef from my mouth.
 
I adjust
my
 
bun, p
ut on lip gloss and mascara,
tighten my robe and head across
the house
towards the pool house.
 
 
I haven
’
t thought about what I
’
m going to say or do when I see him.
 
 
 
I
’
m standing outside the door contemplating my next move
 
when the door swings open.
 

Tucker is wearing pajama bottoms that hang low on his hips and no shirt.
 
He runs his fingers through his messy hair.
 
He says,
 
“
Baby,
”
 
in a low raspy
 
voice.
I cross my arms and walk past
him.
 
 
The pool house is the size of a large studio apartment.
 
It has a full kitchen, a bathroom and a king size bed.
 
 
I stand in the middle of the room and try my best not to look at his ripped chest.
 
He strolls over towards me.
 
I take a step back.

“
You gave me someone else
’
s ring,
”
 
I say looking at the floor.

“
We had just gotten married.
 
You were lying next to me looking so beautiful.
 
I just put the ring on your finger.
 
I didn
’
t think about where it came from or who it almost belonged to.
 
You
’
re my wife I want to give you the world.
”

“
You chose her first,
”
 
I say feeling insecure.

“
Because I hadn
’
t met you yet,
”
 
He says.
 
I look up at his face.
 
He flashes the dimples
 
and
 
I
’
m a goner.
 

“
You know you
’
re not going to be able to smile your way out of every argument,
”
 
I say pushing him backwards towards the bed.
 
He falls onto his back and I stand in front of him.
 
I unlace the string on his pajamas and pull them down to the floor.
 
I sit on his stomach and kiss him.
 
I brush my tongue over his ear and down to his neck.
 
He loosens the band on my robe and cups my breasts in his hands rubbing my
nipples
 
between his fingers.
 
I pull my robe off and kiss his chest and stomach.
 
I tug at the band of his boxer briefs until he
’
s completely naked.
 
I kneel down in front of him and lick the top
 
of his hardness
 
tentatively feeling my heart race with excitement because I
’
m doing something I
’
ve been told only bad girls do.
 
I slowly twirl my tongue around the tip before taking him into my mouth.
 
Tucker is moaning my name with more intensity than ever before.