Hideaway Hill (6 page)

“
I’m sure I’ve said too
much, again. Time to go back to work.”

Watching Hayley go back to
her desk, Veronica let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to
talk about Blake’s and her past, and truthfully, she didn’t want to
talk about who he did or didn’t date. The day she got out of his
car, she told herself that if he wanted to be free of her, then so
be it. She had wanted nothing more than to have a family with
Blake, and in a matter of moments, he helped throw that all out the
window.
Why should I care if he hasn’t
found the right woman by now?
It’s too
late to go back and change the past.
If she
had to live with the scars from a teenage romance gone wrong, why
shouldn’t he?

The rest of her day went by slower than
most. She was rather surprised when she looked up about five
minutes before it was time to go home and saw Arthur standing there
holding a huge bouquet of flowers. Giving her a sheepish grin, he
leaned over her desk to place a kiss on her cheek. He said quietly
enough for only her ears to hear, “I’m sorry.” Setting the flowers
on the desk, he turned and called over his shoulder that he would
be waiting for her in the car. After putting the flowers in water
and arranging the spray, she placed it on her desk. Veronica then
went to meet Arthur in the car. She knew they would make up
tonight, and she was happy to have him back in her bed.

Chapter 4

Against her better judgment, Veronica
decided to go out with Hayley and her sister, Jessa, for an early
dinner. She called and left a voicemail for Arthur on his cell
phone and personal work phone, to make sure he received the message
she wouldn’t be home for dinner. But she feared he wasn’t going to
hear either of the messages. They made up two nights ago and the
last day or so everything seemed fine. Placing her worries aside,
she tried to concentrate on what Hayley and Jessa were talking
about. It wasn’t an easy subject for Veronica, but she put her game
face on and attempted to be civil.

“
I just want to make sure
you’re set for the shower next week. I’m sure everything’s under
control, but I feel left out of the loop, that’s all.”

Veronica could tell Jessa was the older
sister. She wasn’t doing it on purpose, but in her eyes, Hayley was
always going to be her kid sister. And for that reason, Jessa was
having trouble leaving the plans for her baby shower in the hands
of her younger sister by eight years.

“
Jessa, everything is under
control. The cake is ordered, and all the decorations are sitting
in my closet. Plus I’ve already made a down-payment for a stripper.
The balance isn’t—”

“
A Stripper!”

Jessa’s voice was loud enough to make the
people at the tables next to them go quiet, as they turned to see
what the commotion was about.

A worried look crossed Hayley’s face as she
sat back in the booth.

“
Isn’t that what you do for
a baby shower? I researched it online at work, and they said it was
best if I could find one that would dress like a delivery room
doctor.”

Veronica noticed Hayley trying to keep the
perplexed look on her face. She needed to turn her head so Jessa
wouldn’t see her struggle to keep the smirk off her face. Out the
corner of her eye, Veronica caught Jessa absentmindedly rubbing her
belly. Hayley must have spotted it too.

“
Wow, Jessa, calm down. I’m
joking. Really, give me some credit. I have him coming after the
gifts are opened. Hopefully by then, the moms and other old ladies
will have left.”

Realizing her sister was joking, Jessa
reached up and pushed Hayley. To keep from falling, Hayley needed
to grab the table.

“
That wasn’t funny,
Hayley,” Jessa grumbled.

Veronica and Hayley burst into laughter, and
doubled over holding their sides.

“
Umm, yes, it was. You
should have seen your face.” Hayley claimed, as she wiped the tears
from her eyes and sat up straight. “No, seriously. Don’t go into
early labor. Everything is set. It’s not like I’m five and you are
thirteen, and I’m in charge of bringing out your birthday cake. I
promise, I won’t drop the cake this time.”

A few more giggles slipped from the ladies
before they were interrupted by a male’s voice. Their heads whipped
around to see who spoke. Hayley’s and Jessa’s faces sobered. At the
end of the table was Miller grinning like a silly school boy.

In unison both sisters spoke, “Hey,
Miller.”

Rolling their eyes, they began to occupy
themselves with things on the table. Miller chuckled at the
outright dismissal the Mowers sisters gave him, and turned his
attention to Veronica.

“
Hey, Vee! I was wondering
when I would get a chance to see you. How have you been?” He
stretched his arms out and waited for Veronica to hug
him.

She, too, rolled her eyes, but stood and
embraced him.

“
Hey, Ulfred.” Veronica
gave him a quick hug and was back in her seat before she finished
speaking. “You know you’re the only one that’s allowed to call me
by my first name.”

Veronica laughed. “Yup, I know.” Eyeing his
gun she said, “Your pride isn’t what worries me.” She pointed at
his gun and cringed. “Has the town gone mad? Who thought it was a
good idea to give you a gun?”

This got more giggles out of the girls, and
Miller snickered.

“
I happen to be one of the
finest deputies here in Surpatch, thank you very much.”

“
There’s only four of you,
isn’t there?”

Hayley and Jessa roared. Miller staggered
back with his hand over his heart.

“
Hit a guy where it hurts,
Vee.”

“
I aim to please. I bet my
aim is better than yours.” Veronica smiled and reached to take a
sip out of her drink. Miller narrowed his stare at the women, and
straightened his shoulders.

“
Whatever. Guess it’s time
to take my leave. It’s good to see you again, Vee. I’ll see you
around. Jessa, Hayley.” He nodded, and sulked away.

As Miller faded into the crowd, Hayley shook
her head.

“
I don’t think I’ve ever
seen him try to get away from a group of women so fast. Nice job,
Veronica! If you can keep that up, we’ll have to bring you around
more often.”

Veronica waved her hand to dismiss the
compliment. “Over the years with him being Blake’s best friend, I
just learned how to send him running with his tail between his
legs. He’ll be back with a good comeback in an hour or so.”

The table erupted into laughter again, but
Veronica stopped abruptly when she felt a heavy hand come down and
clamp her shoulder hard. She jumped, but then figured it was just
Miller with his retort. Her mouth dropped open when she saw it was
a very upset Arthur clutching her so tightly.

“
Hey, sweetie,
did…”

“
Veronica do you know I was
worried sick about you? I’ve looked all over town for
you.”

“
I’m sorry. I left you two
messages. I tried to catch you to tell you I was having dinner with
Hayley and her sister tonight.” In an effort to defuse the
situation, Veronica waved her hand toward the ladies.

Arthur squeezed her shoulder tighter as he
spoke through gritted teeth.

“
Can I have a word with you
outside?”

Jessa and Hayley became quiet watching the
interaction between them. Veronica was well aware of the scene
Arthur was causing in front of her co-worker and sister.

“
Ladies, will you excuse us
for a minute?”

She attempted to get up gracefully, which
was no easy task since Arthur had yet to loosen his grasp. Halfway
out of the booth, he let go and they headed outside, where most
wouldn’t be able to hear their conversation. The moment the door
shut behind them, Veronica spun around with a fierce look on her
face.

“
Arthur, we talked about
this the other day. You told me you wouldn’t freak out on me
anymore. What is this all about? I left you two,” she thrust her
fingers in the air to emphasize the two, “messages, telling you
what my plans were for the night. Why are you here acting like you
didn’t get either one of those voicemails?”

Arthur’s face reddened, as he talked through
gritted teeth. “I’m here because you left me alone tonight. You
must keep forgetting, I don’t have any friends in Surpatch. I’m the
new guy. I just can’t pick up where I left off like you. Did you
ever stop to think how I would feel, once I got home and found out
I wouldn’t have a warm dinner on the table? Or maybe I had a long
day and wanted nothing more than your company? You’re going to be
my wife soon. There are things I’ll be expecting from you, like a
home cooked meal after a hard day’s work. Hanging out with the
girls is for those fast and loose floozies. I really expected much
more from you than this, Veronica.”

Talking to her like she was six years old,
and was caught sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar, only pissed
Veronica off more. Yet, she did see his point. How would she have
felt if Arthur had moved her to some strange town he’d grown up in,
and then left her to fend for herself? She remembered how lonely
she was when she first moved to Alabama. Veronica tried to calm
herself down. Arthur wasn’t going to back down. Spending her
evenings with him was the least she could do, seeing he only knew
her in the town. She could only hope he would soon start to branch
out and make friends too.

“
You’re right, sweetie. I
should have given you more warning about my outing today. Let me go
inside to tell the girls I’m calling it an early night, and we’ll
go home and have dinner. My meal hasn’t come yet.” Arthur slowly
unclenched his teeth, now that he knew Veronica was giving
in.

“
I’m glad you see it my
way.” He smirked, and headed for the car, calling over his
shoulder, “I’ll see you at home, Veronica.”

Not waiting for her to respond or offering
her a ride—not that it was far to walk—Arthur climbed into the car
and drove home. Veronica rubbed the bridge of her nose as Arthur
drove away. This was not how she wanted her evening to go. With a
small sigh, she made her way back inside.

On her way in, she jumped from a tall shadow
standing in the doorway.

“
Is everything okay,
Vee?”

Had Miller been standing
there the whole time?
I didn’t hear the
door open again.
Out of embarrassment more
than anger from him eavesdropping, Veronica brushed by Miller with
a brief answer, “Yes, Ulfred.”

She approached the table, thankful the girls
seemed to be talking about something else, and hopefully missed the
rest of her and Arthur’s altercation.

“
Sorry about that.”
Veronica tried to smile, but failed.

Hayley gave her a troubled look.

“
Is everything all right?
Arthur seemed extremely pissed.”

“
Yes, everything’s good.
There was just a misunderstanding, that’s all. I’m going to have to
cut tonight short.” Reaching into her purse, Veronica pulled out
enough money to cover the bill for the evening.

“
Here, dinner is on me.
Hayley, I’ll see you Monday at work. Jessa, it was nice seeing you
again.”

Before either girl could respond, Veronica
walked away. At the exit, the door opened before she could get her
hand on the handle. Not seeing her in the passageway, Blake had
opened the door to let Lindsay enter. The women almost collided. As
she moved to let the couple walk in, Veronica felt herself blush
from Blake’s oceanic-blue eyes gazing at her.

“
Veronica.” He nodded and
held the door for her to walk through.

“
Thanks, Blake. Hi
Lindsay.”

The small entryway was not big enough for
the three of them. Out of her comfort zone, Veronica walked briskly
out of the Watering Hole and towards the house.

Upon her arrival home, her shoes came off
the second she walked in the door. Veronica wanted nothing more
than to sit down and rub her feet. Walking any distance in four
inch high heels would kill anyone’s feet. Instead, she went to find
Arthur in the computer room—her old bedroom.

“
I’m home. Do you want to
come down and we can cook dinner together?”

At first, she wasn’t sure if he heard her
since he hadn’t looked up when she walked in, but then in a cool
monotone voice he responded.

“
No, I’m not hungry. I ate
when I got home.”

Disbelief washed over her,
and she realized she was close to tears. It took everything in
Veronica not to cry. She had been through worse. With a hand on her
temple, and her eyes closed, Veronica chewed the inside of her
cheek until it ached.
Things were supposed
to be easier here. What am I doing wrong?
As the question bounced around in her head, she walked down
the hall and entered the bedroom.
Perhaps
a shower will help.
After her shower,
Veronica’s mind was still in a haze. Since she lost her appetite
for the second time since moving back to Surpatch, she crawled into
bed, in hopes a good night’s sleep would do the trick.

Due to the tossing and
turning that consumed Veronica’s night, she knew Arthur came to bed
about twelve thirty, and fell into a deep slumber moments after his
head hit the pillow. She wondered how he was able to sleep so
peaceful after being so awful to her. Apart of their discussion the
other day, they agreed even if she was mad at him, she wouldn’t
lock him out of the bedroom anymore. She pondered if she’d locked
him out, and he slept in the hallway, would he still have slept
just as soundly as he did in the bed. Giving up her battle to sleep
around five A.M., she decided to get up and start cleaning the
house. When they stayed together in Alabama, Arthur used to
complain if the whole weekend went by, and she didn’t spend time
cleaning on Saturday mornings. Not to say the house was ever a
mess, it was just something that he wanted worked on during the
weekends. Completing the task that would make the least amount of
noise, Veronica tried to keep her mind off of the night before.
Around eight o’clock, Arthur stirred upstairs. She readied herself
for another fight, but when he finally came downstairs—forty-five
minutes later—he walked over and kissed her on the cheek like
nothing was wrong. Her body didn’t move in response to his
greeting, but her eyes watched him in surprise as he headed out the
back door and into the garage. A few minutes later, the lawnmower
started up.
Did I imagine the argument
yesterday? Is Arthur playing some sort of mind game with me?
Pulling the collar of her shirt down, she checked
her shoulder for the fresh bruises he left from Gilligan’s. They
were still there.