Page 93 of Chains
“So, you know it’s out of character for me. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” There was another cough, then a long pause. “How are you doing? I didn’t break anything, did I? Please say I didn’t.”
“No, but I look like hell. I had to miss a day of work, and I haven’t been out of the house since you hit me.”
Bret groaned loudly. “I hate even hearing you say that. I’ve never hit a woman. I don’t know what happened.”
“Neither do I. You seemed so angry about your brother.”
“Yeah, well, he pisses me off. He thinks he’s some fucking stud around the ladies. Every girlfriend I had in high school just wanted to date him. I don’t know why women like men who are losers.”
“The point was, you didn’t trust me. I never cheated on you—that’s never been my way. You should’ve known that.”
“When it comes to him and women, I always wonder. I just lost it when I saw you with him at Chianti’s.”
“You were with your ex-girlfriend. Anyway, you broke up with me.” Autumn stood up and walked over to the coffeemaker. If she was going to continue talking to Bret, she’d need caffeine for sure.
“Teresa’s just a friend. I’m not back with her, and I never cheated on you while we were together—I swear it.”
“Thanks for telling me that.” She inhaled the scent of the dark roast.
“I don’t know, I freaked out about settling down for life, and my mom was really pushing me to get married.”
“I was kind of freaked about it too.” Opening the cupboard, she took out a mug.
“You were? You seemed so into it,” he said.
“It was the hype from your mom and mine. Anyway, you and I were fighting too much for a couple who was about to be married. It just sucks that I paid for a lot of it already, and canceling everything is going to be a real time sucker. I’m grateful Sadie’s offered to help me out with that.”Are you going to offer to pay me back for some of the expenses? I bet not.
“How’s the clinic going?”
I called that one. Jerk.“Fine.” Grasping the handle, she brought the coffee pot over to the table, then poured the dark liquid into the cup. At the first sip, she closed her eyes, savoring the rich flavor.
“I’m still on a business trip—I’ve been on this one for the last couple of days. I’ll probably be gone for a while.”
“Oh.”Why the hell’s he telling me that?
“If you talk to my brother, you can let him know that.”
Huh? Strange.“I should be going,” she said before taking another sip.
“Autumn, I’d like to take you out to dinner when I get back in town. I think I made a mistake… I miss you.”
Didn’t seethatcoming.“Youthink? You don’t know?” Autumn chuckled softly. “The truth is, getting married would’ve been a disaster for both of us—I see that now. We don’t really mesh.”
“What the fuck does that mean? We’ve been together for over a year, and have known each other for two, and you’ve just discovered that we don’t fuckingmesh?” Anger punctuated his words.
“Sometimes people stay together because they’ve been together for a while. I think that was our case. Face it—you never liked my friends or wanted to go out with them, and I thought your friends acted like they were still living at the fraternity house. It’s best that we go our separate ways.”
Bret didn’t say anything, and if she hadn’t heard his rapid breathing, Autumn would’ve thought he’d hung up. A tense silence crackled over the phone, then he said in a low, terse voice, “You’re with Chet, aren’t you?”
Autumn finished the coffee, stood up, and walked over to the sink where she rinsed the mug and put it in the dishwasher. Licking her lips, she looked out the window into the backyard. The bare branches of the oak tree swayed slightly, and she saw Tommy—the six-year-old from next door—running around his yard with a small green ball, laughing like a hyena.
“Your silence means you are.”
Bret’s voice echoed in her ear, reminding Autumn she was still having a conversation with her him.
“My silence means what I do or don’t do is none of your business anymore. If you want to know anything about your brother, go ask him. I hope you have a good life.” Then, with a single tap on the screen, Bret disappeared.What an asshole. The decent thing would’ve been to offer to help me cancel all the damn wedding plans and pay for half of it.
Bret’s call threw her off balance because it wasn’t in his nature to do something like that. Heneverapologized while they were together, so she couldn’t quite figure out what had prompted him to do so now. Maybe he was worried she’d call the police, or that Chains would come after him.
Autumn snapped her fingers and nodded.Of course—he’s scared Chains will kick his ass. That’s why he told me he wasn’t in town. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were laying low at Teresa’s house. How ridiculous to be that afraid of a sibling.She glanced over at the wedding notebook she’d been keeping, and groaned. Come Monday, she and Sadie would have to start calling the various vendors and canceling the orders. “I’m going to take a real financial hit on this,” she muttered under her breath while walking out of the kitchen.
When she reached the second floor, Autumn grabbed a large green towel out of the linen closet and stepped into the master bathroom. A nice hot soak in the tub was just what she needed, replete with scented candles and Enya playing in the background.
She slipped out of her nightshirt, noticing more love bites than ever on her body. The one on her neck would have to be covered before she went to Eli’s Delicatessen to buy some things for their lunch. Turning on the faucet, Autumn sprinkled some bath salts that Sadie had given her for her birthday in the summer. While the soaking tub filled, she lit several candles, turned the music on low, and switched off the ringer on the phone.
When the tub was sufficiently full, she sank into the steamy water, slipping beneath the surface to wet her hair. She came up blinking water from her eyes, then settled back and let the warm water swish around her.
Autumn rested her head back and thoughts of Chains floated in her mind. How had he become such an integral part of her life in so short a time? And why the hell didn’t she feel one scintilla of guilt about dating Bret’s brother so soon after the breakup? Talking with Bret earlier made her happy that he was out of her life. What she needed now was to find out who the hell Ruby was and what the hell those club girls were all about. Suddenly, she found herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy.
Not wanting to think about Bret, or the strong possibility of Chains crushing her heart, Autumn closed her eyes and let the music take her away.
