Faithfully (12 page)

             
“It’s okay. You can have your wine with dinner. I am fine in this type of setting and having alcohol around.” I was feeling bad again for Johnny, and I knew I would be feeling like this a lot the next few weeks on his behalf.

             
My mother walked over to Johnny and gave him a hug. This shocked me, but lately my mother was doing a lot of things I felt were out of character for her. I knew Alex shared stories about the guys and Sam with her. She knew he had recently been in rehab.

             
“I’m Julia, and you must be Johnny. It’s nice to meet you finally.” At least someone was going to be nice to him.

             
The girls were tugging on me to show me some crafts they made. I looked over at my mother and Johnny to see if I should leave them. I saw Johnny make a motion with his hand for me to go. Currently my mother was starting a conversation about her meatloaf.

             
I looked at all the crafts the girls made and was happy they had a good time. They, of course, were asking if I brought them anything. I told them they would have to wait until we got home. I told them Alex would be back Saturday night with Sam, and the girls were excited. They loved Sam, even though they had only spent a short time with her. Something about Sam drew people in and made you want her around.

             
I tried to steal a minute with my dad, but he made sure the girls were around. I was sensing he was upset with me, and I was pretty sure it was due to the fact I blindsided him with Johnny.  

             
I heard my mom call us all to dinner. Johnny sat in Alex’s seat across the table from me and next to my mother and Josie. My parents both set at opposite ends of the rectangular table. Jasmine insisted on saying grace before we ate. The girls spent a lot of time asking Johnny questions about his life, California, and the ocean. Johnny was a great sport, but my dad ended it by telling the girls he had enough. My mother looked at him, shocked. After that, dinner was pretty quiet. My girls had never really heard my dad get upset or be stern with them. Thanks to that moment, it left an uncomfortable feeling over the whole dinner. My mother tried to continue the conversations, but nobody seemed to respond back.

             
The end of dinner didn’t seem to come soon enough. The girls and Johnny cleared the plates and placed them in the kitchen. They asked if they could show him their scooters. The temperatures were dropping, so I made them bundle up before heading outside.

             
When they left, I turned to my dad. “Could you be any ruder?” I was upset and embarrassed by his behavior.

             
“He’s lucky I even let him step foot in this house.” I could see he was upset, and I knew he wouldn’t let the Portland incident go so easily.

             
“What am I missing? What is going on?” I didn’t want to get into it with my mom and explain things again. I wanted this all to be put to rest.

             
“Nothing, dad and I need to talk.” I was feeling bad because we kept my mom in the dark a lot, but this was for the best.

             
“Fine, I’ll get the girls packed up and down to the house. I’ll do baths. That should give you time to talk.” I gave my mom a look of thanks.

             
“It won’t take long. I’ll be there for stories and to tuck them in.” I walked over and hugged my mother.

             
The three of us worked on cleaning of the rest of the table and scraping plates to place in the dishwasher. When the girls finally entered the house, their noses were bright red. “I see that it is getting colder out.”

             
“I know. Johnny said he couldn’t take it anymore and that he needed to get warmer clothes, so he left to go to Alex’s.” Lily was blowing hot air into her cupped hands.

             
“Come on, I’ll take you home for a warm bath while your mom and papa clean up.” My mom was walking over to the coat hook to grab her jacket. The girls turned and raced out the door, and when I looked out, there was a three way fight for the front seat. I kept watching and saw that nobody won. My mother just placed them all in the backseat.

             
I then turned to my dad, knowing the conversation had to start or Thanksgiving was going to be an uncomfortable mess. “I get why you hate him. I honestly hated him too, until I finally talked to him.” I was hoping my dad was really hearing me out. “He is actually a good guy.”

             
“No. No good guy hits a woman.” My dad placed both hands on the bar, gripping the sides tightly. He had a point, and it would be hard to change his position on his feelings for Johnny.

             
“You know how you tell me I can’t hold what some of the guys say at the pub against them?” I didn’t wait for a response. “You have always told me it’s not them, it’s the booze talking.” My dad was shaking his head, I think because he felt this was different. “Dad, it was more than booze on his end. It was cocaine and whatever else he could put in his system.” I paused briefly before I started talking again. “I wanted to hate him. I did hate him, but then I really talked to him. The guy in Portland is not this guy.” I stopped talking. I needed to check my voice. I was almost begging my dad to like him.

             
“Do you know how hard it is to look at someone who has hit your child? I hope you never have to be in my position with those girls.” I hated how he was turning the tables against me. “The last thing I want to do is be nice to him, and I can’t believe Alex allowed him to come here. Allowed him to share our family holiday and the fact that he forgave him. It makes me question Alex.” I had to jump in and stop this. I had to defend Alex now along with Johnny.

             
“Alex wanted to kill him, but Alex also knows he is a good guy.” I wasn’t sure what I could say to change my dad’s mind. “You have always taught me about forgiveness and second chances. This is his second chance. He is just starting his sobriety and he needs help. Turning our backs on him won’t help anyone.” I walked over to my dad’s side. “If Bruce started using and did something awful, could you turn him away, knowing that it wasn’t his true character and knowing the good guy you have always known was in there someplace?” I stopped talking, and there was a long silence before my dad spoke.

             
“I’ll start being nicer, but he has to prove to me he is a nice guy.” At this point, I was feeling like this was a victory on my end. I reached over and hugged my dad. He lightly kissed me on the top of the head. “Now go home, those girls missed you like crazy.” I said my goodbyes and grabbed my jacket as I was heading out the door.

             
When I got there, the girls were getting their hair braided by my mother. The twins already had books picked out and holding them on their laps. My mom finished up and kissed the girls good night. She gave me a hug, but never asked what anything was about. I figured she would be questioning my dad when she got home.

             
I agreed to let the girls all sleep with me. I don’t usually do that, but knew they needed some time and I missed them. We all crawled into my bed and I read until they fell asleep. I was feeling exhausted too, but dragged myself to take a shower. When I was done, I crawled back into bed and was out.

~12~

I woke the next morning to my alarm blazing. I was feeling the effects of the busy weekend. I wanted to hit snooze, but knew it wasn’t an option.
Instead I grabbed my phone and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. When I checked my phone, I saw a half dozen missed Face Time calls from Alex and a few texts messages. My heart sank; I had wanted to talk to him last night, but I was so tired I don’t know if I would have even had a decent conversation.

I scrolled through the texts and they were all the same. How he loved and missed me and hoped the week would go by quickly. I quickly shot him a quick text before I jumped in the shower. When I got
out, my phone was ringing.

“Morning
, beautiful.” It was Alex. I loved hearing his voice in the morning.

“Morning
? Isn’t it like three in the morning there?” I was counting backwards in my head, and it had to be close to six in the morning now.

“Yeah, I got in a little bit ago. It has been a long and frustrating day.” I could almost
hear defeat in his voice.

“All you need is a good night sleep
. Tomorrow will be better. I miss you.” I was trying to pep him up, but I’ll admit I’m not good at it. I’m not the friend people go to if they need to be cheered up. I never know the right thing to say, and many times I stuck a foot in my mouth.

“It won’t be a better day
. We are thousands of miles apart. I miss you like crazy.” He paused and let out a breath. “This Paige is a fucking trip, too. She can’t handle constructive criticism and freaked out when I brought in a voice coach today. I’m about to throw in the towel and head home.” I was feeling frustrated for him, but couldn’t help enjoy the flutter in my stomach when he referred to here as home.

“If anyone can get through to her and help
, it is you. You are amazing with people. Just think that once you go to bed, it will only be six more wake ups until you are here.” Ever since I had the girls, I referred to time as wake ups.

“Six? That sounds like too many. I don’t know if I can wait that long
,” Alex practically whined.

“You are whining right now. You are overly tired. It has been a long day and you have basically been up twenty four hours. Now go to bed. I love you, but you need sleep.” I was using my mom voice on him.

“Fine, I’ll call you when I break for lunch tomorrow. You should be done with school by then.” I made a kissing sound into the phone and hung up. I finished getting ready and went into my room to get dressed. The girls were already watching cartoons in my bed.

I ran over and jumped in with them
, giving morning kisses like crazy and tickling them. I finally broke away and kicked them out so everyone could get dressed. I could hear the twins arguing over a dress and who it belonged to. I started staying out of those squabbles and thought they needed to learn to figure it out.

Once I got
ready, I met them in the bathroom so I could fix their hair. We made it downstairs and I got the girls breakfast, my usual cereal and toast. They enjoyed it in the living room as I waited for my coffee to brew.

I heard the door open while I was in the kitchen and wasn’t sure who it was. I knew it had to be someone with a key. I was walking towards the door when I saw Lexi come in. Her eyes were puffy and she looked like crap. I didn’t have a chance to get anything out of my mouth before she came in for a
hug and started crying. I didn’t know what to say, so I just held her. When the crying started to die down, I pulled away and held onto Lexi’s arms.

“What is going on? Are you
okay?” I didn’t know what to think. All her grandparents had already passed.

“I can’t do it anymore, I’m done.” I was now thinking it was either Todd or her job, but I knew she loved her job. “
Abby, he criticizes everything. I can’t wear certain clothes because he thinks I’m trying to pick up guys. If I go to the store and it takes longer than he thought it should, then he picks a fight. I’m seriously walking on egg shells all the time, waiting for him to explode.” She stopped talking and walked over to get a cup of coffee. I followed her.

“When did it start?” I understood
how she felt. David was like this in the beginning, but towards the end he was always texting, wondering where I was and who I was with. I think back now and wonder if it was to control me or so I wouldn’t catch him fooling around.

“When he
started talking about moving in.” Everything with them happened pretty quickly, but so did mine and Alex’s relationship, so I couldn’t talk. I just knew Todd didn’t care for me, and instead of making Lexi feel uncomfortable around both of us, I backed off a bit.

“Has he hurt you?”

“No, God no, but at times, I think if he did, it would be over and done with. He can literally bitch me out all night for a skirt or blouse I wore to work.” Lexi has always been independent. She had never changed for a guy as long as I knew her, and for her to be dealing with this as long as she had, actually surprised me. “At first I thought it was cute. A little jealousy here or there, but it is getting to the point it isn’t cute anymore.” She took a sip of her coffee. I wasn’t sure if I should talk or just listen. I went with listening for now. “I told him last night I couldn’t deal with it anymore and he needed to get out.” Her voice started to shake a bit so I reached over and grabbed her hand. “He went crazy and busted a bunch of stuff, and then he cried and begged me to take him back, but I can’t, I won’t.” I didn’t blame her.

“Why didn’t you come over last night? Where is he now?”

“He left last night, so I thought he was gone, but he came back around two this morning. He’s sleeping now, so I thought I’d sneak out. I called into work, too.” She was visibly upset.

“
I have to get to work. I wish I knew sooner. I would have taken the day off.” I felt awful leaving her now. “Stay here today. Don’t go back until someone is with you. We can go after school.” I had plans with Johnny to grab groceries, but that could wait. He would understand.

“I can’t stay here. This will be the first place he looks once he sees I’m not at work.” Lexi was scared of him and it scared me.

“Go to my parents or Alex’s.” Her parents didn’t live here, or even close, so that was not an option.

“Do you think Alex would care?”

“Oh my God, no, he would be happy to help.” It was true. Alex really liked Lexi, and if he were here he would probably go over to Lexi’s house and lay Todd out. “Johnny is in the guesthouse, so he will be around in case Todd decides to check there.”

“Johnny came back with you?” I
forgot I hadn’t filled her in either.

“Yes, he is a really great guy, you’ll like him. I promise.” I crossed my heart with my fingers. I got up and got Alex’s key off my keychain. I handed it over to her. “I have to get going,
but if you need me call me at the school. My parents are around and, honestly, Johnny will be more than willing to help out.” I hugged her and then yelled to the girls to put their dishes away and get ready. “Get in the shower, grab some of my clothes and head over to Alex’s.” Lexi didn’t say anything, but agreed by shaking her head. I was wishing I had the wisdom of Derek on my hands. He was good at handling situations like this.

I loaded up the girls and got to school. Once I was
there, I sent Alex and Johnny a text letting them know Lexi would be hanging at Alex’s for the day. I told Johnny to check on her and I told Alex I’d explain later.

The day was busy. I
t always seemed to be after I took a day off, but I made sure to text Lexi at my lunch hour. She swore everything was fine and that she and Johnny decided to go pick up groceries. The thought of this made me happy. I was glad she wasn’t sitting around and that they must be getting along.

At the end of the
day, the girls asked if they could still take the bus to my parents to do homework with my mother. I hadn’t planned on running, but I agreed. I texted my mom and let her know I would be there by four thirty to pick up the girls. She sent one back telling me to get to Alex’s and that my dad was already there. My stomach immediately dropped and I ran to get my stuff so I could leave. I might have actually beaten the bus out of the parking lot.

When I pulled into
Alex’s, there were a lot of cars in the driveway, including the city police car. I was about to freak out, but then I saw Johnny, Lexi, and my dad all standing next to Logan, the town police chief. When I parked and climbed out of the car, I finally saw Todd in the back of the police car. I wasn’t sure what happened, but happy everyone was safe. I jogged up to Lexi and gave her a hug. I was mad at myself for not taking the day off. I didn’t think it would have mattered, but at least I would have been there for her.

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Lexi
pulled me off of her. “At least nothing a little wine won’t fix.”

“What the hell happened?” I
stepped back from Lexi and looked at everyone.

Logan began to speak first. “Mr. Bell wanted to speak to Ms. Adams.”
Lexi interrupted.

“You have known me how many
years? Call me Lexi. I don’t know why you need to be so formal.” Logan blushed a bit. I always felt he had some interest in Lexi, but he wasn’t the type to put himself out there.

“Fine, Lexi was in the house with
…” Logan stopped and looked at his notes. “Johnny, when Todd came over and started beating on the door, yelling for her to answer. When Lexi refused, Todd got upset and pounded harder. At this time, Lexi called the police. Then Todd broke the side window next to the door. Johnny came out and restrained him using adequate force.” He was smirking when he said adequate force. I wanted to hear Lexi’s version. “Right now I am arresting him for disorderly conduct, attempted breaking and entering, and malicious destruction of property. I will need to talk to Alex to see if he wants to press charges. I can hold him for the night without talking to him, but I need to talk to him by morning for the charges to hold.”

“Yes, he’ll press charges.”

“You don’t own the property. I’ll need to talk to him.”

“Logan, he will do what I ask, so it’s like talking to him.”

Logan had a smile on his face. “Abby, I’m sure it is, but I have to talk to him. Can you try to call him? He didn’t answer earlier.” I looked over at Johnny and my dad; neither of them had said a word yet. What I saw was a small cut above Johnny’s eye. He must have seen my change in expression because he finally spoke and told me he was fine. I told them I would call, but in my rush to join them, I left my phone in the car.

Walking back to the
car, I refused to look over at the police car with Todd in the back. I hated him right now and was wondering what he would have done to Lexi if he had gotten to her.

I reached in the car and grabbed my phone. I saw that Alex had actually tried calling six minutes ago. Quickly, I unlocked my phone and called him back.

“
Hey, beautiful, I am so glad to hear your voice. I need some sunshine on my shitty day.”

“Well, I’m only going to make it shittier. So listen, I am fine, everyone is fine, but I’m putting Logan the police chief on and all you need to do is
say is, ‘I want to press charges.’ Can you do that?” I knew he was going to freak out.

“What the fuck happened? What do you mean press charges? You better start explaining.” I could tell he was worried and freaking out.

I was almost back to the small circle. “Logan will do a better job explaining. Now repeat back to me what I told you to say.” The four of them overheard, and when I got there they were chuckling.

“Fine, I want to press charges, now put him on the phone.” I handed the phone to Logan and he walked away from the circle to explain everything to Alex.

My dad was the first one to talk. “It was a good thing you were with Johnny. He would have hurt Lexi if he got to her.” He turned to Lexi. “Why don’t you stay with Julia and me for a while?” I knew this was not going to sound good to Lexi, but she was too polite to refuse, so I had to step in and save her, quickly.

“We are having an old school slumber party tonight. With Alex gone I have the whole king to myself
, so she can sleep with me.” I gave her a wink.

“I’ll stay with Abby for a few days until I get things figured out. I need to get
the few things of his out of my house and change all the locks, too.” Lexi was so calm like it wasn’t a big deal. I was still a tad freaked out.

“We’ll get things figured out. I’ll follow Lexi to get her things,
and then I’ll swing by and get the girls.”

“It’s Monday, you are supposed to have dinner at my house
, remember?” My dad was looking at me like it was common knowledge without saying it.

“Crap, it has been so
crazy, I wasn’t thinking. Think you can forgive me if we miss this one?” Rarely did we miss a Monday night.

“I suppose.” My dad leaned in and kissed my forehead. Just
then Logan returned with my phone and handed it back to me.

“Mr. Morgan is pressing full charges so I can keep Todd over night until he is arraigned in the morning.
Lexi, I suggest you apply for a personal protection order against him. It won’t keep you completely safe, but it should deter him from doing anything stupid again.” Logan handed Lexi a business card before speaking again. “I’m going to get him booked now. Try to have a good night.” Logan turned and walked to his patrol car.