Broken Pasts(15)

“I got a lot of e-mails today,” I said. I hadn't read them. And I didn't want to. “I don't know if this is part of your job or not, but would you mind helping me go through them?” Nathaniel smiled softly.

“I'd be happy to,” he said and there was that settling of melancholy in his features, like he was depressed. I don't know how he did it. If I were him, I'd have wanted to distance myself from anything that might remind me of what had happened. Nathaniel was embroiled in it. “Each one is a 'separate incident.' The more the better at this point.”

“Mom!” Rhea called from behind me as she pounded down the steps and flashed us her red and white bowling shoes. “Hurry up. We don't have all day.” I laughed, feeling the tension of the moment break and tried to smile as Nathaniel held out a hand. I paused before taking it and then saw that Rhea's eyes were on mine, observing. I grasped Nathaniel's fingers and swallowed two massive lungfuls of breath. He had this touch that was both gentle and strong, the perfect paradox.

“I hope you're ready,” I said as I tried to ignore Jamie's smug look. “Because things here get pretty competitive.”

“I think I can handle it,” Nathaniel said as he winked at Rhea.

***

We weren't more than an hour into the evening when Gary showed up.

I had just bowled a seven-ten split and was aiming for a killer shot and a very slim chance at a spare when he walked into the alley, leather jacket over his shoulders, brown hair slicked back. I nearly dropped the pearly pink ball on my foot. Nathaniel saw him the same moment I did. And so did Rhea.

“Mom, look it's Gary!” she said as she pointed and waved. Gary spotted her, waved back and started coming towards us. I grabbed my daughter's hand and turned her to face me as Nathaniel moved past Jamie and up the stairs towards the entryway.

“Hey, you want to help me with this?” I asked her, hoping to distract her attention from whatever incident was going to occur in the doorway of the bowling alley. “I think we could win the next competition, but I need your help. What's the best way to do this again?” Rhea sighed and turned around, reaching for her red ball with sure fingers.

“What the f*ck is going on?” Jamie whispered from behind me. I shrugged my shoulders and watched as Nathaniel approached Gary. This time, my ex didn't run, just froze in place and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I hoped to hell that there was an explanation for all of this. Gary had lost it temporarily and he was here to apologize. That had to be it. Had to.

“Mom, pay attention!” Rhea said as she stepped forward and tried to explain the art of bowling to me. The kid was too smart for her own good. “Listen, you have two choices. The first is to try and get one pin to fly out of the pit and knock down the other.” Rhea paused and pointed with her free hand. “The other is to try and get the ball to bounce off the kickback plate and onto the deck.” I was nodding and murmuring under my breath, but in reality, I hadn't heard a word she had just said. Nathaniel was on his way back. He didn't look angry or upset, but yet Gary was still here and he was at the counter handing money to the clerk. Which meant he wasn't leaving. Which meant …

“What's going on?” I asked as Rhea sighed and rolled her ball in my place. Nathaniel looked straight at me with his pretty green eyes and shook his head.

“There's nothing we can do,” he said and he looked as exasperated as I felt. “He has every right to be here.”

“Yeah,” Jamie whispered fiercely, stepping between me and Nathaniel, one hand on her hip and the other pointed blatantly at Gary. She always looked so tough when she was pissed. It was a trait I envied. I should be more like her. I can take care of Gary on my own. I can learn to use my gun, talk to him myself. No problem. Still, thoughts were a long way from action and I had yet to prove myself. “But he doesn't have a right to make Theresa paranoid or upset or scared. That is seriously f*cked, Nathaniel.” Nathaniel nodded his head, dark hair gleaming under the dim lights from above. After seven o'clock, the alley switched into its 'Rock 'N' Roll' mode and turned on neon signs from the eighties, classic rock music blaring in the background. Let's just say, the majority of the people there were twice my age, at least.

“No, he doesn't. What he's doing is morally and legally corrupt, but until we can prove that, he stays. We'll write it down as an incident and the more witnesses the better; we'll all sign it. How does that sound?”

“That sounds like bullshit,” Jamie snarled, stepping close to Nathaniel. Gary was setting himself up two lanes down from where we were. Every couple of seconds, I saw him look up and rake his eyes over me. It was horrible.

“Jamie, please,” I said feeling deflated. This was my one night a week to calm down, to really let go and relax. Now the silly fun was being obliterated by the man that I had once given my heart to. Was life against me or what? “Nathaniel,” I began, pushing my friend gently out of the way. “What did he say?”

“He said he was here to bowl.” I tried to look at Gary out of the corner of my eye, but I kept catching this dark stare, this look in his eyes that was akin to staring at the sun. It hurt. “I asked him to reconsider, seeing as to how we were building a case against him, but he refused. Theresa,” he began and his hands came out and wrapped around mine, warm, solid, comforting. There was this stability in Nathaniel, this certainty about what should and could be done in a given situation that I liked. That old question, If you were trapped on a desert island, what one item would you bring with you?, popped into mind. I had to admit that he was a good candidate for the position. He'd get us off the island, I was sure of it. “I don't want to upset you or freak you out, but Gary's behavior is escalating quickly. Normally, it would take weeks or even months for a stalker to be this blatant. I'm really worried about you.” I was already shaking my head. This was too real. It was as real as waking up in the hospital with a part of me gone.

“Why?” I asked as Nathaniel locked eyes with me. Jamie had turned away and was talking in low tones to Joel, probably explaining the situation to him before he greeted Gary and invited him over. Not that Gary had ever been all that nice to Joel, but he was a good man. He would never suspect something like this out of my ex-husband. Gary was forty-two years old, clean cut, a respected business professional. This whole situation was like something out of the twilight zone. It was horrible and completely unbelievable.

“It's hard to say why they do it.” Nathaniel put his hands on my shoulders and suddenly, his lips were on my forehead, burning into my skull and sending me into a spiral of emotion that ended with me folding myself against his chest.

“Is it my fault?” I asked as the sound and the company and the noise around me seemed to fade. I was wrapped in the arms of a stranger and I had never felt so good. I realized that I was going to get hell from Jamie and giggles from Rhea, but I didn't care. I stayed where I was and listened to the rise and fall of Nathaniel's chest.

“Not at all,” he told me and his breath swirled the hair on top of my head. “Many people are stalked by complete strangers. There's something wrong with them, not you.” I nodded my head, but I didn't believe him. Somehow, I thought that I had done something that had set Gary off. Maybe it was the way I'd broken off the relationship – cold turkey. Or maybe it was Rhea. Maybe he missed her? I wasn't sure, but I wasn't willing to buy that he was just crazy. Some strange part of me still wanted to see the good in people. How f*cked up is that?

I pulled back from Nathaniel feeling both warm and cold at the same time. His presence was comforting, like an old blanket on a stormy night while Gary's was like being trapped in the middle of a blizzard, naked and exposed. It was not a pleasant experience. The negative canceled out the positive and left me standing there feeling completely empty in the middle of the packed bowling alley. The only thing that was keeping me from melting into the floor and giving up on the night completely was the look on Nathaniel's face, the one that said, I'll help you through this. I decided to throw my instincts (which had never served me well) to the wind and trust him. But tomorrow I was still going to learn to use that gun. I could take a class at the shooting range or …

“I've got a handgun in my bedside table. Do you think I could throw a few extra bucks your way for some lessons?”

“You could throw a whole lot of things my way,” Nathaniel said with a dirty smile. “But money isn't one of them.”





CHAPTER 11

“He's following us,” I told Nathaniel as we pulled out of the parking lot and started heading south on 'A' Street. Rhea turned around at my words and tried to look out the back window.

“Who?” she asked as I tried to swallow my anger and put on a fake smile.