Page 93 of Down Shift (Driven 8)
But I can’t push away the train of thought. I realize I haven’t thought about the box or the bullshit it’s caused in my life in days. All the noise that had been screaming in my head fell silent. Why is that?
Because of her. Beautiful. Brave. Goddamn Getty. For the first time in the three hours we’ve been here, her eyes meet mine and hold across the distance.
All she gives me is a soft smile and a subtle nod in acknowledgment. But it’s the words she mouths that sucker punch me harder than anything: “Thank you.”
Two words. So damn simple and yet they could be for so many things: for helping her. For being patient. For letting her put her mask on. For being here. For showing her not all guys bruise women.
I nod back, completely tongue-tied with a woman and I’m not even close enough to speak to her.
Her attention is pulled elsewhere, but I can’t get the one thought out of my head that keeps circling. I threatened to kill a man tonight. For her. The woman with the knee-high socks, the soft brown eyes, and the laugh that you can’t help but smile at. Funny thing is, I feel absolutely zero remorse for how much I meant my threat.
Does that make me more my father than I ever thought I was?
Another shot. To kill the thought. To drown out the comparison.
But then I look at Getty and I can’t help but think back. To my mom. My dad. To what happened. And all I can think is that maybe somehow I righted a wrong tonight. Made some kind of amends in my fucked-up universe. I sure as hell don’t know what Ethan’s intentions were, but if Getty was somehow forced to go back with him, isn’t that the same?
Her smile. Her laughter. Her confidence. Her spirit. Her sexuality. He’d take them all without thought and wouldn’t that be just the same as killing her slowly?
Parallels. They’re fucking everywhere all of a sudden. There’s no escaping them. Me to my dad. Getty to my mom.
And yet I don’t want any of that. I just want whatever this is here on a clean slate. Getty needs her new life. I need to get over my old life.
That makes what I came here to do all the more important.
For Getty to see why this isn’t her fault.
And for me.
For me to realize it wasn’t my fault.
Goddamn parallels.
Chapter 27
GETTY
The summer of storms—that’s what Liam has deemed it. The continual onslaught of wintry-type weather hitting the island has taken a toll on the tourism-dependent economy. And by the looks of the sky, another one is about to rattle the island. Good thing my shift is over and I’m free to watch the storm snuggled on the couch looking out the windows of the family room.
After walking home from work, I pass my car parked in the driveway on the way up the front path and have to smile that the sight of it brings such a different response now. Before, the blue heap of metal represented the liberty to make my own choices, an escape, a chance at freedom. Now, a week after Ethan’s appearance, all it signifies to me is a means of transportation. A way to get around the island if I want to explore.
And I also see Zander. Because this car is a reminder of the moment I started to fall in love with him. Running my hand over the fender, I’m tempted to try to deny it, but know it’s no use. I knew what I was getting into when we started this “friends with benefits” thing more than a month ago. I just thought I’d be able to keep the emotions in check.
But in retrospect, it was this car that started it all. When I stepped out into the alley behind the bar to find this old car in front of me, and Zander, the handsome and unexpected stranger, beside me. Who would have thought I’d remember that moment the most? Yet every night when I lie in bed with the sound of the surf beyond the windows and his soft snores beside me, it’s the one memory I keep coming back to. The one I can pinpoint as being the moment when I started to fall for him.
When he fixed my car, gave me the chance to run, and I chose to stay.
Because he gave me a choice without ever knowing it.
The thunder claps above. I jump at the sound, a part of me taking it as a warning that I’m only going to be hurt in the end. But at the same time, what I’m feeling is a first in my life. And you never forget your first, so I’m glad in a sense my first real love was Zander.
Carpe diem, Getty. Carpe diem.
I shake off the thought and enter the house, feeling tired and hungry. Once I shut the door, I listen to the silence for a minute, just to make sure. . . . It’
s been over a week and I know Ethan’s not here, but I’m still a little freaked.
Blowing out a sigh, I toss my purse on the counter and purposely don’t look at the to-do list slowly losing items on the counter next to it. My virtual hourglass telling me time is running out.
