“Just answer it,” Jack says. “It’s obvious you want to talk to him.”
I shake my head no. “I can’t talk to him right now, you guys. He’s going to want answers. You don’t know him. He compels me to do things I shouldn’t. He makes me impulsive. He’s demanding, and bossy, and—”
“And on the TV right now,” Jack says, pointing to the flatscreen over the bar on the other side of the pool. “Look!”
I do look. I can’t help myself. I even get up and walk over there so I can hear.
“Shit,” Kristi says as she joins me. “And there’s Johnny.”
“Please,” Vaughn says to the camera. “We need your help. Grace Kinsella and Kristi Bolton were chased off the premises this morning by the paparazzi. We need your help to find them. Grace is my girlfriend and by now you already know about her past. She is Daisy Bryndle. Her story was never told, and I’m not going to be the one to tell it now, I don’t even know most of it. But I do know that she could be in danger. The psycho who killed her parents has resurfaced. In addition to that, my friend Johnny Blazen is also worried about his fiancée, Kristi Bolton. She’s six months pregnant and they are due to get married this evening. We need your help. We need to find these two women and get them to a safe place. Please, if you have any information, call the number on the screen.”
“Do you think it’s true, Grace?”
I have to lean over and place my hands on the table to steady myself. Back? He’s back? Could it really be true? My mind is just spinning out of control right now. The TV switches to the scene at the hotel where I escaped with Kristi. I walk back over to my lounge chair with wobbly legs and take a seat.
“I think you should call him,” Jack says. “Seriously, if there’s some guy after you, you need to be protected. This resort is huge, you’re not safe here. We have guards at the gate, but everyone else is gone on vacation. No one will be around for weeks.”
“Jack,” Kristi says in a stern voice I’m not used to hearing from her. “We’re not ready, OK? We’re sorting through things. And if we go back now, we’ll be pressured into making decisions. And we don’t feel like making any decisions right now. Right, Grace?”
I nod. “I can’t. Not yet. I need to process this. And Kristi, I know I’m totally in debt to you right now, but can I borrow some clothes? Even if I need to buy them from your gift shop or something? And take a shower?”
She gives me her best pouty face and takes both my hands in hers. “Yeah, I’ll take you up to one of the rooms. Come on.”
I grab my purse and my phone and follow her into back into the resort. I catch a glimpse of myself in the gift shop window and cringe. I look like hell.
“Come one, we can raid the shops. We’ll pay them back another day. Perks of being twenty-five percent owner.”
I pick out shorts, tank top, some underwear that is not tighty-whities, and she gets the same, but in a size that can accommodate her belly. Jack delivers two room keys to us and then we take the elevators up two floors, which is the top floor here, and she directs me to a room. “I’ll be across the hall if you need anything, OK?”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you. So fucking much. I’m so sorry I ruined your wedding. I hope you’ll forgive me and if you want, I will totally tell Johnny it was all my fault.”
She shakes her head at me. “No, Grace. It wasn’t you, really. I needed this time to get my head straight. If he loves me, this will not stop him. It’s just a bump, that’s all. Just a little bump in the road. I don’t need a man who will run away at the first sign of trouble, ya know? I need one who will stick.”
Hmmm. This really makes me think hard. We ran off today, right? So technically, aren’t we the ones who walked out at the hint of a bump in the road? I admit, my problems are pretty unique. But Vaughn was trying to help me and I pushed him away.
Why do I do that?
Pffft. OK, stupid question, Grace.
Kristi turns to go into her room and I go into mine. It’s a beautiful suite. A living room with a mountain view, and two bedrooms flanking the large living space. I head straight to the shower, and even though the soaking tub is totally calling my name, it’s all I can do to manage to stand up in the shower without passing out from exhaustion.
Kristi’s words are echoing in my mind. She wants someone who will stick. We all want someone who will stick. But what do I do at the first sign of trouble? I come loose. I take off. I run. I get the fuck out of Dodge and hit the road.
I can’t help it either. I really can’t. I’m not good at confrontation. I have been fighting with Vaughn since the moment we met. Literally, the moment we met in that bar and he was bossing me into that key lime pie martini. And that is so not like me. I’ve been the yes girl for so long, switching to the no girl just throws me all off balance.
Why does he bring that out in me? He must hate me. I’m not sticky at all. He deserves sticky too. And maybe it’s just my overactive imagination, but I think he was trying to tell me something important about this last night.
Goddammit, why can’t I remember what happened? And why would he ever want me? I’m so fucked up.
I wash myself quickly and then slip on my new clothes and lie down on the bed. The air-conditioning is cold, so after a few minutes I slip under the covers and my eyes get heavy.
The stench of urine and feces is all around me. No, my mind says. No, Daisy. That stench isn’t around you. It is you.
I gasp as the footsteps approach the closet door. I’m bound and gagged, but not blindfolded. He always wants me to see him coming. I lie on my side, my cheek pressed up against the nasty carpet, and I can see his boots through the crack under the door. He stops outside my closet and then the chain rattles as he unlocks it.
The door swings open and even though I’ve been staring out that crack for hours, trying to get my eyes ready for the blast of light that always blinds me when he opens the door, I’m blinded.
I have to close them, and he hates that, so he kicks me in the ribs. I moan, because he always kicks me in the same place and they are broken, I know it.
He leans down, right into my face, and when he talks, I piss myself. “Daisy. Are you ready to learn how to behave like a lady, my girl?”
He wears a mask so I can’t recognize his face, but I will always be able to recognize his voice. I will never forget his voice.
I shake my head no. “I can’t talk to him right now, you guys. He’s going to want answers. You don’t know him. He compels me to do things I shouldn’t. He makes me impulsive. He’s demanding, and bossy, and—”
“And on the TV right now,” Jack says, pointing to the flatscreen over the bar on the other side of the pool. “Look!”
I do look. I can’t help myself. I even get up and walk over there so I can hear.
“Shit,” Kristi says as she joins me. “And there’s Johnny.”
“Please,” Vaughn says to the camera. “We need your help. Grace Kinsella and Kristi Bolton were chased off the premises this morning by the paparazzi. We need your help to find them. Grace is my girlfriend and by now you already know about her past. She is Daisy Bryndle. Her story was never told, and I’m not going to be the one to tell it now, I don’t even know most of it. But I do know that she could be in danger. The psycho who killed her parents has resurfaced. In addition to that, my friend Johnny Blazen is also worried about his fiancée, Kristi Bolton. She’s six months pregnant and they are due to get married this evening. We need your help. We need to find these two women and get them to a safe place. Please, if you have any information, call the number on the screen.”
“Do you think it’s true, Grace?”
I have to lean over and place my hands on the table to steady myself. Back? He’s back? Could it really be true? My mind is just spinning out of control right now. The TV switches to the scene at the hotel where I escaped with Kristi. I walk back over to my lounge chair with wobbly legs and take a seat.
“I think you should call him,” Jack says. “Seriously, if there’s some guy after you, you need to be protected. This resort is huge, you’re not safe here. We have guards at the gate, but everyone else is gone on vacation. No one will be around for weeks.”
“Jack,” Kristi says in a stern voice I’m not used to hearing from her. “We’re not ready, OK? We’re sorting through things. And if we go back now, we’ll be pressured into making decisions. And we don’t feel like making any decisions right now. Right, Grace?”
I nod. “I can’t. Not yet. I need to process this. And Kristi, I know I’m totally in debt to you right now, but can I borrow some clothes? Even if I need to buy them from your gift shop or something? And take a shower?”
She gives me her best pouty face and takes both my hands in hers. “Yeah, I’ll take you up to one of the rooms. Come on.”
I grab my purse and my phone and follow her into back into the resort. I catch a glimpse of myself in the gift shop window and cringe. I look like hell.
“Come one, we can raid the shops. We’ll pay them back another day. Perks of being twenty-five percent owner.”
I pick out shorts, tank top, some underwear that is not tighty-whities, and she gets the same, but in a size that can accommodate her belly. Jack delivers two room keys to us and then we take the elevators up two floors, which is the top floor here, and she directs me to a room. “I’ll be across the hall if you need anything, OK?”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you. So fucking much. I’m so sorry I ruined your wedding. I hope you’ll forgive me and if you want, I will totally tell Johnny it was all my fault.”
She shakes her head at me. “No, Grace. It wasn’t you, really. I needed this time to get my head straight. If he loves me, this will not stop him. It’s just a bump, that’s all. Just a little bump in the road. I don’t need a man who will run away at the first sign of trouble, ya know? I need one who will stick.”
Hmmm. This really makes me think hard. We ran off today, right? So technically, aren’t we the ones who walked out at the hint of a bump in the road? I admit, my problems are pretty unique. But Vaughn was trying to help me and I pushed him away.
Why do I do that?
Pffft. OK, stupid question, Grace.
Kristi turns to go into her room and I go into mine. It’s a beautiful suite. A living room with a mountain view, and two bedrooms flanking the large living space. I head straight to the shower, and even though the soaking tub is totally calling my name, it’s all I can do to manage to stand up in the shower without passing out from exhaustion.
Kristi’s words are echoing in my mind. She wants someone who will stick. We all want someone who will stick. But what do I do at the first sign of trouble? I come loose. I take off. I run. I get the fuck out of Dodge and hit the road.
I can’t help it either. I really can’t. I’m not good at confrontation. I have been fighting with Vaughn since the moment we met. Literally, the moment we met in that bar and he was bossing me into that key lime pie martini. And that is so not like me. I’ve been the yes girl for so long, switching to the no girl just throws me all off balance.
Why does he bring that out in me? He must hate me. I’m not sticky at all. He deserves sticky too. And maybe it’s just my overactive imagination, but I think he was trying to tell me something important about this last night.
Goddammit, why can’t I remember what happened? And why would he ever want me? I’m so fucked up.
I wash myself quickly and then slip on my new clothes and lie down on the bed. The air-conditioning is cold, so after a few minutes I slip under the covers and my eyes get heavy.
The stench of urine and feces is all around me. No, my mind says. No, Daisy. That stench isn’t around you. It is you.
I gasp as the footsteps approach the closet door. I’m bound and gagged, but not blindfolded. He always wants me to see him coming. I lie on my side, my cheek pressed up against the nasty carpet, and I can see his boots through the crack under the door. He stops outside my closet and then the chain rattles as he unlocks it.
The door swings open and even though I’ve been staring out that crack for hours, trying to get my eyes ready for the blast of light that always blinds me when he opens the door, I’m blinded.
I have to close them, and he hates that, so he kicks me in the ribs. I moan, because he always kicks me in the same place and they are broken, I know it.
He leans down, right into my face, and when he talks, I piss myself. “Daisy. Are you ready to learn how to behave like a lady, my girl?”
He wears a mask so I can’t recognize his face, but I will always be able to recognize his voice. I will never forget his voice.
