Whiskey Lullaby (14 page)

Chapter 2
8

Julie

I am walking through the Piggly Wiggly when my phone rings. Dean has already called twice today
, so I get nervous every time I hear it ring. My stomach is in a knot until I see Bethany’s name flash across the screen. I slide it on and put it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Guess what I figured out today?”
she says, excitement in her voice. 

“What?”

“You are off work the same week as Jenny and I are out for Spring break!” she shouts. 

“I thought you were off the week after I was?” I know that
’s what she told me. 

“I did to
o, but I was looking over the school calendar this morning and realized that I had the dates mixed up.”

Th
is is wonderful news! I’ve been wanting to take them to Chattanooga ever since we moved back to Cromwell. “We can go to the mountains!”

“That’s what I was thinking. I even looked for cabins online. I found one with three bedrooms and a Jacuzzi on the deck.
You and Jase can have some fun after me and Jenny go to bed,” she says with a laugh. 

“Oh crap, I didn’t even think about Jase.”  He is not going to like this idea at all. 

“What about Jase? Please don’t tell me that you don’t want him to go with us?” she asks and blows out a frustrated breath.

Leave it to B
ethany to always think the worst. “Of course I want him to go with us. I just don’t think he’ll like the idea of me being away from home. By that time, I’ll be nearly eight-months pregnant. You know how protective he is.”

“Oh, I never thought about that
,” she says. 

I hear sadness in her voice and immediately feel guilty. I know she needs to get away. It will do her good.
“I’ll call the doctor and see what he thinks before we even mention the trip to Jase.”

“Yeah!”
she shouts, sounding more like a ten-year-old kid than the twenty-eight-year-old woman she is. 

As soon as we hang up, I call the doctor’s office. Luckily, his receptionist is one of Jenny’s friends’ mom. I explain what
my plan is, and she lets me talk to the doctor right away.   He gives me the all clear. Of course, I have to spend twenty minutes listening to what I could and could not do. 

After we finish talking, I go back to shopping. I start to pick up some chicken
, but then have a better idea. Meatloaf. Yes, definitely meatloaf. I grin to myself. It’s what I always cooked in the past whenever I wanted Jase to do something for me. Today’s the perfect occasion. I reach over and grab a package of hamburger meat and head for the potatoes. 

*****

Jase

I’ve always loved my job, but now the days seem to be getting longer and longer. I never used to mind working until six every day, but I used to be alone. Now, I want to be at home by four. I know my girls will be there, and I want to be there too. Now that the day’s finally over, I'm virtually running out the door.

I’m home in less than ten minutes, but it seem
s to take forever. As I walk into the house, I hear some crappy pop music coming from the living room. I also hear female laughter.  I close the door quietly and walk towards the sound. 

Julie, Jenny and Bethany are doing some sort of fucked
-up dancing. Bethany is moving her arms in a swimming motion, while shaking her whole body. Jenny is bent at the middle, booty in the air, swinging it from side to side. Julie is attempting the moonwalk, while twirling her arms like a wind mill. It's the funniest shit I've ever seen. I shout out in laughter, holding my stomach. 

All three girls freeze and look at me. Then Jenny starts to laugh and asks me to join in.  Before long
, I'm crazy dancing with all my girls. It's the most fun I've ever had.

After our dancing marathon is over, we eat dinner. Julie made meatloaf and mashed potatoes. She
’s always hated making meatloaf, because she said using her hands to mix it all together is gross.  She knows it’s my favorite meal. Back in the day, she only made it when she wanted something, so when I see what she’s made, I give her a ‘what do you want’ look.

“Bethany and I were talking today. The school’s spring break is coming up in two weeks
, so Bethany and Jenny are out. Mr. Friedman is going to be out of town and the office will be closed the entire week, so I’m off too. Well, she and Jenny have never been to the Smoky Mountains. I thought maybe we could go to Chattanooga. I already talked to the doctor and he said it was fine.”

I look around and all three of
the girls are wearing huge grins. Shit! I hate to ruin this for them. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You guys don’t need to be off on your own until we figure out what your ex is doing.”

“What do you mean, on our own?”
asks Bethany.

“You three
in Chattanooga alone. It could be dangerous.”

“
Jase, we want you to go with us,” Julie says with a smile. 

They want me to go on vacation with the
m, like we’re a real family. I stare at Julie for a moment and she’s still smiling at me. I look around the table. Jenny and Bethany are smiling too. That’s when it hits me. We are a real family.  

“I’ll talk to Pop in the mornin’.
I’ll take the time off.” I look around the table at my little family and smile. “We’ll have a ball.”

Chapter
29

Jase

We’re leaving for the Smokey
Mountains tomorrow. I cannot fucking wait. I’m going to make sure my girls have the best time ever. We are all getting packed tonight. Most of my clothes are at Julie’s, but I need my suitcase from home. I head over to my house. I’m in my room grabbing the suitcase out of the closet when I hear the door open and footsteps down the hall.

“Jase?”
a voice calls from the hallway. It’s Bec. What the fuck is she doing here? She pokes her head into the room. “We need to talk,” she says, looking down at her feet.

“
What the fuck are you doing here?” I wait for an answer, but she refuses to look up. “We don’t need to talk. I need to get back to my family,” I say as I start to walk past her.

“Please, it’s important
,” she says, pleading.

I stop walking and cross my arms over my chest. “You have five minutes.”

She sits on the bed and shakes her head. “I did something wrong. So very wrong.” She takes a breath. “We never slept together, Jase. Only that one time at the shop, that’s it. All the other times, we’d just drink together. After you passed out, I took off your clothes, so you’d wake up naked. I let you believe we did. I wanted you to think that. I wanted what you and Julie had. I’m sorry.”

My heart
is hammering in my chest. I stumble onto the bed beside her and place my head in my hands. “It gets worse. The time we were together at the garage. I set you up.  I knew Julie was going to be there and when. I made sure to be there at the same time, and I did everything I could to make sure she caught us having sex. I thought if she left you, that you would turn to me,” she says as tears fall down her face.

“How could you do this?” I ask, trying to resist the urge to strangle her.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve lived with this for so many years. It was killing me. I had to finally tell you.” She pauses and looks at me. “When your mom died, you fell apart. I was already broken.  I thought you were someone I could talk to. As we got to know each other better, my feelings for you started to grow. I was so messed up that I would have done anything to be with you.” Bec takes a deep breath and continues. “I was going through such a bad time. I told you all about it when we hung out, but you were so drunk most of the time that you don’t even remember. I was too nervous to tell you when you were sober.”

“Do you really think I give a fuck what you were going through? Look at what I’ve been through the last nine years. Fuck you! Fuck you
, Bec!” I scream and jump up. I have the urge to do some damage. It’s a good thing that I’m not the kind of guy that hits women. I start to walk toward the door, but her words stop me. 

“I am sorry
, Jase. You have no idea how much.” She’s looking at me with pain-filled eyes. That’s when I notice the change in her. She looks different, less made up. She isn’t dressed like a slut. She looks like the Bec I knew from high school, only sadder.

“Fine, tell me. Tell me why you fucked up my whole life
,” I finally say.

“There was a guy
,” she says with a nervous laugh.  “Isn’t that how all these stories start?” 

I’m unimpressed so far. I raise an eyebrow at her. Do
es she seriously think I give two fucks about some asshole?

She shakes her head a little then continues. “This guy told me he loved me, but he said we had to keep it secret. I was best friends with his sister, and he was afraid she would be mad if she found out.”

Oh fuck. It has to be Brandon or Will. My guess is on Brandon, because Will has been with the same girl forever. She even left with him when he joined the military. 

“This guy and me, we were together for years. He even left town, but he would come back and see me. It went on for years. Then all of sudden, he quit coming back.” She looks away, but I can see that she is crying. “That’s when I found out I was pregnant.”

Fuck! Pregnant? When the hell was Bec pregnant? “I don’t remember you being pregnant.”

She looks at me and gives me a sad smile. “You wouldn’t. My parents made sure of that. When
Mom and Dad found out I was pregnant, they sent me away for a few months. I came back after I had the baby. He was beautiful. I loved him so much. My parents wouldn’t let me keep him though,” she finishes in a whisper and breaks into sobs.

What the
hell do I do? Yeah, I hate what she did to Julie and me. But shit! I can’t just stand here and watch her cry. 

I make my way to her and wrap my arms around her. 

*****

Julie

“Do you really need all this stuff for a six
-day trip?” Jase says while looking at the three suitcases laid on our bed. 

“I
’m a woman. I need a lot of things,” I explain. Jase just shakes his head and smiles.  He picks up Jenny’s princess shoes that are lying beside the only empty suitcase. 

“
Remind me again why Jenny has to take fake shoes with her? Do you really think she is going to wear these while we are in the mountains?”

“I doubt it, but she loves them.
They’re her favorites.” I walk over and place my arms around him. “This is our first family vacation. I want it to be perfect for Jenny. If she wants her princess shoes, I want her to have them.” 

Jase smiles down at me. “I understand
, baby.” He kisses the top of my head. “I’ll just run over to the apartment and grab my suitcase.”

He backs out of my arms and places his hand on my bulging stomach. “Don’t move those suitcases. I’ll get them
myself. I’ll be right back,” he says and walks out of the room. A few minutes later, I hear his truck pulling out of the driveway. 

I
’m so busy packing that time seems to fly by. I look at the clock; it’s nearly nine. It’s strange; Jase went to his place over an hour ago. All he went for was one suitcase. He should be back by now. I’m trying not to worry, but it just doesn’t make sense. I need to check on him. 

I walk down the stairs and see Bethany on the couch. “Bethany, I’ll be right back. I’m going to Jase’s.”

It only takes ten minutes to get to Jase’s. I pull up and I freeze. There is a car parked beside Jase’s truck. It’s Bec’s car. I jump out of the car as fast as my swollen body will allow.  My heart is racing as I make my way into the apartment.

I walk in and look around, but I don’t see anyone. Where
’s Jase? I quietly walk upstairs and open his bedroom door. What I see has my heart feeling like it’s coming out of my chest. Jase and Bec are hugging.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I scream.

They jump away from each other and look at me. “Baby, this is not what it looks like,” Jase says pleadingly.

“Oh, just save it. I should have known you wouldn’t change. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Isn’t that
what they say?” I shout. I can’t stop the sneer from escaping. I can’t fucking believe it. How could he do this to me again?

“It’s really not what you think
, Julie,” Bec says quietly.

“
Screw you, Bec. You ruined my life once. What? Figured, you’d have another go at it? Maybe mess it up even more this time?”

I start to walk out
of the room, but I’m pulled back by Jase’s hand. “Julie, stay, we all need to talk,” he pleads.

His hand makes me flinch.
“Get your hand off me,” I scream as I yank my arm out of his hand.

“Just listen
, baby!” he begs.

“
No. It’s over. We’re over. No more chances. This was it. I’ll let you know when the baby is born, and we can work through lawyers about custody. I never want to see you or talk to you again.” I jerk his mother’s ring from my finger and place it in his hand. I just need to get out of here. I need to get away. My heart is shattering with every step I take. I need to hold it together.

I back out of the complex and drive to a hotel just outside of town. I need some time
alone, to try to figure out where I go from here. Should I leave? I know I can’t until after the baby is born. Can I take Jenny and the new baby away from Jase, away from all our family? 

I finally feel able to talk
, to breathe. It’s almost midnight. I call Matty and Bethany and let them know what happened and where I’m staying for the night. Matty is mad as hell. I figure he will be having a word with Jase soon. Bethany’s just hurt. It sounds like Jase broke her heart as much as he has mine. 

I’m exhausted.
I lay down and know that I’m broken, just like before. I should have known that this would happen. Everything was perfect. Too perfect. I can’t help the tears that I feel rolling down my face.

****

I’m suffocating and reach for what’s covering my mouth. It’s a hand. Oh my God; it’s Dean. He found me. How the hell did he find me? I have no idea what time it is. All I know is that I must have fallen asleep and that I’m in deep shit.

“Shut up!” Dean screams, but I’m not saying anything. His hand is over my mouth, and his body is covering mine. The only thing I can think of is keeping my baby safe. 

“I should have known that you were a slut. We haven’t even been apart a year, and you are pregnant with another one of his bastards,” he sneers. 

“Now, you listen to me very carefully. We are going to get up and go to your house.  Then, I’ll g
et my little bitch of a sister and Jenny, and then we will go home. If we see someone, I don’t want you saying word. If you do, I’ll cut that baby out of you. Do you understand?” His grip tightens on my mouth and he raises his hand to show me the knife he is holding. 

I nod my head and try to keep from crying. Dean has always loved it when I cried. It excited him, and it led to things that I do not even want to think about right now.
I don’t want to cry now. I can’t.

S
lowly, he removes his hand, watching me to see if I will comply with his order. He stands up and pulls me alongside him. “Get dressed.”

I squat down to grab my pants, and Dean back hands me. I land on my ass hard. 

“Why are you on the floor?” he asks with a sadistic smile. I know better than to respond.  I pull my pants on as quickly as I can. I know I have to be careful, be slow. I also know not to piss him off any more. The thought of him seeing me in my panties makes me sick. I slowly pull myself up. 

“Where are your shoes?”

I nod my head towards the door, refusing to speak to him.

He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door. He
’s moving too fast and I stumble to keep up. 

M
y shoes on, we walk out of the room. Dean looks around the hallway, then bends down to my ear. “Don’t forget what I told you. If you make a sound, I will have this knife in your stomach before anyone can get near us.” He emphasizes his point by poking the knife into my ribs. He doesn’t cut deep, just enough to make me realize that he is serious. As if I would question him? I know exactly what he’s capable of.

I keep my eyes on the ground as we walk to the car. Once we are there, he makes me climb through the driver’s side door. As soon as I get in my seat, he climbs in. 

As we pull out of the hotel parking lot, I look out the window trying to think of some way to get away. I have no idea what to do. How am I going to survive this? The last thing I want to do is go home to Jenny and Bethany. I hope like hell they’re not at home. Dawn is barely breaking. It’s still too early, and there’s no school. I know that my wish is in vain. 

“It was pure luck that you stayed at that hotel
last night. If not, I may never have had a chance to get you alone. I have been watching you for days, and I was beginning to think that man was never going to leave your side,” Dean says with a chuckle. 

His words make me
think about Jase; they also make my skin crawl. I think about what I saw last night. I remember the way Bec looked. The tears in her eyes. I remember the way Jase sounded. Him begging me to listen. Maybe there was some excuse? Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like? God, I wish that I had listened to what he had to say earlier. If I did, I may not be in this position now. 

Twenty minutes later,
Dean pulls into my driveway and tugs me out of the car. My legs are heavy. I don’t want to go, but I know better than to resist. When we get to the door, he pulls out a key and opens my door.  What the hell?  How in the hell did he get a key? I look up at him, I’m sure with disbelief written all over my face.

“Not everyone wants you back in this town
,” he says with a smile, then pulls me into the house and locks the door.