“You and Steve? You used to be friends?” she asked dumbfounded.
“That surprises you, doesn’t it? Yeah, I suppose it is pretty hard to believe, now.” Justin pulled out a cigarette and bent his head, lighting it with a flick of a lighter. He shoved the lighter in his pocket and took a drag off the cigarette, leaning back against the car. “That summer, Rita’s parents took the family on one of those cross-country ‘see-America’ family vacations. She was gone until the weekend before school started. Maybe that’s why Steve and I became friends, we were both lonely that summer.”
Justin took another hit off his cigarette and stared down at the glowing tip. “Steve had just bought a car, a ’65 Plymouth Roadrunner. My dad owned this place back then, and I worked on cars with him.”
“At seventeen?”
“Yeah. He let me help out starting when I was old enough to lift a wrench.” Justin smiled. “Anyway, Steve came in needing parts to fix his car. We ended up working two days straight on it. By the time his car was running again, we were buddies.”
“So, what happened?”
“Rita came home,” he said, looking her in the eye.
Summer watched the emotions warring within him.
“School started. I introduced my new friend to my girlfriend. The next thing I knew, she was his girlfriend.”
Summer could see the anger and hurt just under the surface, even after all these years he still felt the pain of the betrayal.
“I really loved her. She was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, but I was too young and foolish to fully realize it at the time.”
He was quiet for a few minutes, staring at the floor, and Summer thought he wasn’t going to tell her anything more. “Please go on.”
He took another drag off his smoke, his eyes on Summer as he tilted his head back and blew the smoke out toward the ceiling. “You sure? It’s not a pretty story. There’s no happy ending.”
“Yes. Please.”
“When Rita met Steve, well, I should have seen it from the start. She fell hard for him. They were married right after graduation. Soon after, I found out she was pregnant. I kind of thought, well, that’s the reason, that’s why she married him. I thought maybe if things didn’t work out between them that I might still have a chance with her. By then I guess I’d realized just what I’d lost, and I let her know it. I let her know how I felt about her, that I loved her, still. That I wanted her, still.”
He studied the expression on Angel’s face. “Don’t look at me like that. Yeah, I knew she was married. But, all’s fair in love and war, right? Besides, I kind of figured I had had her first. I had a right to try to win her back. I had loved her first.”
Rich ground out the cigarette. “But she had made her choice. He was the one she wanted. She made that very clear to me, and I backed off. I never made another move on her. But Steve, he would get so jealous. He didn’t want her to even talk to me anymore. That wasn’t right. We were friends. It was hard enough that I had to give her up, but then to know he didn’t even want us to be friends anymore? That was too much to take. I guess, I can’t blame him for not trusting me with her, but…”
“But what?” Summer prompted.
“He would fly into rages. God, but those rages were bad. I remember one time she was in town, and a gasket on her car had blown, and needed to be replaced. I own a garage. It’s what I do. So, she came in to see if I could fix it. He happened to drive by and saw her here.”
“What happened?”
“He dragged her out of here by the arm. I wasn’t going to just stand here and let him manhandle her like that. So, I tried to calm him down, and I tried to explain, but before it was over he and I ended up in a fist fight.”
“Did he ever hit her?” Summer couldn’t help asking the question on her mind.
“Not that day. I would have killed him. But, if you’re asking did he ever hit her? I’m not sure. She never told me that he did, but I always wondered what went on when he got her alone.”
They were both silent for a few moments. Justin, reliving the past, and Summer, trying to absorb all she’d been told. “Justin, what do you think happened to her?” she asked softly.
He turned and looked out the open bay doors a moment, his jaw muscles clenched. “I think he killed her,” he said, turning back to look her dead in the eyes.
“Did you and she ever…I mean, after she was married…did you…”
“Did we sleep together? Is that what you want to know, Summer? Huh?” Justin pressed her for a response, and then finally replied. “That’s really none of your business.”
“No. Maybe not, but I still need to know.”
“Why? Huh?” he came towards her, backing her up against his tool rack. “Are you sleeping with Steve?”
The question took her by surprise, and her mouth opened with a gasp. But she wouldn’t answer him and couldn’t hold eye contact with him.
He reached up and turned her face back to him. “Or maybe…maybe it’s because you’re afraid, afraid because it might just give Steve a motive for killing her. Wouldn’t it? Well let me tell you something, darlin’. Steve wouldn’t have had to catch us in bed together to fly into a rage and kill her.”
“Please give me a straight answer.”
“I’ve got work to do. You know you’re way out,” Justin snapped, turning away from her and bending back over the engine.
“Justin,” she called.
He turned back.
“You said you’d do anything to get back at Steve. Was what happened between you and me…was that all just a way to get at Steve?”
“No, Summer. That was real.” He turned back to the engine.
“I’m sorry, Justin,” she softly whispered. For a moment, Justin didn’t say anything. Summer thought maybe he hadn’t heard her, but then he looked at her.
“For what?” he asked softly.
“That things turned out the way they did.” Her sympathy made him uncomfortable, and he went back to work on the engine. After several moments, Summer took the hint and quietly left.
Justin sensed the minute she was gone and stopped what he was doing. He threw the wrench in his hand across the garage with a vicious curse, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
A few minutes later, Summer found herself sitting in the truck, staring through the windshield at the front of Margie’s diner. She’d been in such a daze after leaving Justin’s shop that she couldn’t drive. So, she’d pulled over in one of the diagonal parking spots on Main Street and parked. She’d thought about going inside and getting a coffee, but so far she hadn’t moved. She just kept going over in her head everything that Justin had told her.
My God. They’d been friends. And Steve had stolen his girl, no, not just his girl, the girl he’d hoped to one day marry. No wonder there was so much bad blood between them. This went back years. It had nothing to do with her except for the fact that now they seemed to be fighting over her, as well. It was history repeating itself.
Summer swallowed as she thought about something that Justin had told her. He thought Steve might have killed his wife. Was it possible? She couldn’t believe the man she knew would be capable of such a thing. He was a good man. He loved his daughter, his father, his farm. He’d been so kind to her, taking her in. It couldn’t be possible. Justin was bitter, that was all.
But, Steve did have an anger problem. At least, anytime Justin was in the vicinity.
A tap at the window startled her. Her hand flew to her chest, and she about jumped out of her seat. Turning, she saw Cary standing there. He made a circular motion with his hand, gesturing for her to roll the window down. She did.
“You okay, Summer?”
“I’m fine. You just scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry, darlin’. I was on my way to the hardware store. Saw you just sitting here in the truck, not moving. Is something wrong?”
She looked away, biting her lip.
Cary could read her expression. Something was wrong. Without a word, he walked around the front of the truck and climbed in the passenger seat, the vehicle shifting under his weight. He slammed the door shut and looked over at her. “Talk to me.”
“The bad blood between Steve and Justin…”
Cary’s head came up a couple inches. They were around the corner from Justin’s garage. Now it made sense. “Let me guess. You had a long talk with Justin.”
“Is it true, Cary?”
He looked off into the distance and then at her. “Which part of it?”
“All of it, any of it.”
“Shouldn’t you be asking Steve that?”
“I’m asking you.”
“Don’t believe everything they say about him, Summer. Give him a chance before you try, convict and hang him.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” She stared through the windshield.
“Wouldn’t you?”
“No.”
“Then go home, and ask him. Now. Today. Don’t let the bullshit Justin told you sit and fester in your mind. Get Steve’s side of it.”
“He won’t talk to me about it.”
“Make him.”
She looked over at him.
“Straight up, Summer. Make him.”
She swallowed, and nodded.
Cary reached for the door handle. “You okay to drive?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, sweetheart. See you back at the farm.” He climbed out, and watched as Summer backed out and drove home. He watched the truck disappear down the street and hoped to God they worked it out. They were good together. He just hoped the past wasn’t going to mess up the future they could have together.
Angel pulled in the yard and shut the truck off. She stared through the windshield at the barn. She could see a silhouette of a man inside, working. A tall muscular man, hefting bales of hay, one after another, stacking them. No way could it be Pop. Had to be Steve.
Taking a deep breath for courage, she reached for the door handle, climbed out, and headed inside the barn.
It was cool inside, and the fresh smell of hay assailed her. She walked down the center aisle. The doors on the opposite end were open, backlighting Steve as he worked. As she got closer, she saw that he’d taken his shirt off, and sweat glistened on his muscular chest. His hands were encased in cowhide work gloves. He heaved another bale of hay and stacked it.
Twisting his torso, he saw her coming toward him and stopped what he was doing. Lifting an arm, he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his glove. “You need something, babe?”
She nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“I’m kind of busy here. Can it wait?”
She shook her head. “No. Actually, it can’t.”
That gave him pause. “Okay.”
“I want to ask you something…about your wife.”
At that word, his back straightened.
“I know it’s none of my business, but-”
“You’re right. It’s not,” Steve interrupted. “But I’ve never known a woman that let that stop her.”
Summer took a step back, wondering if maybe she should leave it be. But then Cary’s words came back to her.
“Go ahead. If you’ve got something to say to me, say it. Otherwise, I’ve got work to do.” He stacked another bale.
“Alright,” Summer replied, mustering her courage. “Tell me about your wife…and Justin.”
Steve thought he was ready for whatever she’d say, but he wasn’t ready for that. He rested his forearms on the bale and looked back at her over his shoulder, stunned. “What?”
“Tell me, please.”
He ignored her, stacking another bale. Then another.
“Steve, talk to me. Please.”
He flung the last bale. It bounced crazily, rolling across the floor. “Goddamn it, Summer. What the hell do you want me to say?”
“I just want to know what happened to make you hate each other so much.”
“It’s ancient history,” he snapped. “It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“It’s affecting me. Stop shutting me out, and just tell me.”
He spun around, and stalked a few feet away in the darkened barn. Frustrated, he tore his gloves off and flung them across the barn. Then he ran his hands through his hair, growling. A moment later, he stalked back toward Summer. “Okay. Okay, fine. You want to hear about Rita? You got it.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “She was gorgeous. The most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Not just on the outside, but on the inside, as well. She had one of those happy dispositions. It made you feel good just to be around her. She was always smiling, always happy. Her face…” he slowed down, remembering. “Her face just lit up when she smiled.” He stared into space, remembering another time and place in his mind’s eye. After a moment, he looked over at Summer. “And I miss her. I miss her every Goddamn day.”
“Steve.”
“And that son-of-a-bitch took her from me.”
“He couldn’t have killed her, Steve.”
“Why? Why are you so sure?”
“Because…because he loved her.”
Steve looked as if she’d just slapped him. “You been talkin’ to Justin? He give you his side of the story? I bet he left out a few things. Yeah, he did love her,” he conceded quietly. “Maybe that’s exactly why he killed her.”
“What?”
“You heard me. He told you I stole his girlfriend, right? That she’d dumped him for me? Well, it wasn’t like that. We didn’t plan it. I didn’t set out to steal his girl. It just happened. We didn’t intentionally start out to hurt Justin. He had been a good friend to me when I’d had none. Hell, he was my only friend that summer. Don’t you think it tore me up inside to do that to him?”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I had no choice. Because I loved her, and nothing, and no one could have changed that. I couldn’t give her up. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I could have ceased breathing easier than I could have stopped loving her. I was sorry that we hurt Justin. I didn’t want our love to hurt anyone. But none of that mattered to Justin. To his eyes, we had both betrayed him. So, yes, I think he could have loved her
and
killed her.”
“He said,” she paused, swallowing. “He said the two of you got married because she got pregnant.”
Steve’s head came up. “I didn’t marry her just to do the right thing because she was pregnant. Is that what he Goddamn told you?”
She nodded.
He looked away, shaking his head, mumbling, “That lying son-of-a-bitch.” Looking back at Summer, he clarified, “When she told me she was pregnant…” he broke off, shaking his head. “God, I was so happy. I picked her up and spun her around. I knew even then, that I wanted her for my wife.”