Chapter 7 – Chris
The next day, just like I do every Saturday, I’m sitting across the table from Micah in Jennie’s Diner. I called him earlier this morning and asked him to meet me here so we could discuss what happened last night with Jennie.
He’s as clueless as I am.
“I have no idea,” he says, as baffled as I am.
“She’s never said a word about anyone hurting her.
Ruth has never mentioned it, either. If anyone knows everything that’s happened to Jennie, it’s Ruth and Maggie.
They’ve been friends for years. Whatever it is, it must have happened when you and I were away. ”
Micah left Bryce right after high school for a six-year stint in the Army. I left that summer, too, for Phoenix. What the hell happened to her during those four years I was gone?
“Here she comes,” I murmur, keeping my voice down when I spot Jennie walking our way.
“Hey, guys,” she says when she stops at our table. She automatically fills our coffee cups. “What can I get you?” She smiles at the both of us, acting as if last night never happened.
“The usual for me,” Micah says.
Jennie murmurs “scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast” as she jots his order down on her pad. Then she meets my gaze, calm as can be. “And for you?” she asks me, her gaze darting away as if she’s afraid to face me after what happened at the Tavern. “The same?”
My chest tightens at the knowledge she feels uncomfortable around me. That’s the last thing I’d ever want. “I’ll have the same. Except can I have a biscuit with sausage gravy instead of the toast?”
“Sure.” Jennie scribbles another note down. “How’s Robyn?” she asks Micah, turning her attention back to him. “She was so busy working last night I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her.”
Micah’s dark eyes light up at the mention of his girlfriend. “She’s good. She’s at home this morning working on a paper for her lit class. It’s something to do with Jane Austen.” He rolls his eyes.
Jennie has a soft spot for Robyn, who worked for Jennie for a short while right after she arrived in Bryce with a broken-down car and no money.
Micah secretly arranged for Jennie to hire Robyn to work at the diner so Robyn could ostensibly earn enough money to cover the repairs on her old Honda Civic, but when Robyn found out Micah had put Jennie up to it—and that he was actually the one paying her salary—she bounced.
She ended up working next door at Ruth’s Tavern, instead.
Ruth actually had a legit job opening, and Robyn took it.
“Tell her I said hi.” Jennie tucks her order pad into the pocket of her apron. “I’ll go put your orders in.”
Just as she turns to walk away, the bell over the front door rings as the door opens. When Jennie looks to see who’s coming into the restaurant, her expression goes slack as she stares. She looks like she’s seeing a ghost.
My gaze snaps to the entrance so I can see who she’s staring at.
Micah turns in his seat to see what all the excitement is about. “Isn’t that Dave Braggart?” he asks after he turns back to face me.
“Yeah,” I say.
Dave Braggart is one of the kids we went to school with.
He was—probably still is—a rich asshole who never missed an opportunity to rub our faces in the fact he had everything, and we three had next to nothing.
He was lead pitcher on our high school baseball team even though he couldn’t throw a strike if his life depended on it.
He didn’t have to—his dad donated a ton of money to the school athletic program.
It’s fair to say Dave is the reason we hardly ever won a game.
He was also the main point guard on the basketball team, even though he couldn’t run and dribble at the same time.
Braggart was an all-around douchebag.
“I haven’t seen him since high school,” Micah says dismissively.
“Me neither. I heard he moved to Vegas and took up gambling like it was an Olympic sport.”
Jennie storms over to Dave like an irate hornet defending her nest. “What the hell are you doing here?” she hisses, loud enough we can hear her without problem. “We have an agreement!”
Dave gives her a cocky smile. “Well, hello to you, too, babe.”
She points at the door. “Get out!”
Dave gives her a smarmy grin. “Can’t a guy stop in to say hi to the love of his life?”
“What the fuck!” I shoot to my feet, but Micah grabs my wrist and tugs me back down. “Why is he talking to her like that?”
Micah shrugs, as clueless as I am.
“I said, get out!” Clearly, Jennie’s fuming. She’s trying to keep her voice down, but half the diner is paying rapt attention to the scene at the entrance.
I’ve heard enough to know this guy is harassing her. Just as I rise, Braggart makes a grab for Jennie’s hand. She pulls it back, out of his reach.
“Come on, baby,” Braggert says to her in a low, cajoling tone. “Is that any way to treat your long-lost husband?”
“You are not my husband!”
“Husband, ex-husband. What difference does one little prefix make? It’s just a matter of semantics, Jennie-bean.”
“I told you not to call me that,” she hisses.
“Is there a problem?” I ask when I reach Jennie’s side. I lay my hand on her lower back. I’m here.
She actually leans into my touch.
Dave grins at me. “No, officer. No problem at all. I’m just here to see my wife.” The man narrows his dark eyes as he studies my face. “Holy shit! You’re that kid—what’s your name? Chris Nelson, the whore’s son!”
“David!” Jennie snaps. “Don’t call him that.”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Braggert asks. “Half the men in this town diddled Kitty Nelson at one time or other.”
Hearing my mother’s name hits me like a bucket of cold water. I can’t argue with his claim, though. He’s right. And I’m sure his dad was one of those who bought what my mother was selling.
“Do you want me to trespass him?” I ask Jennie. I’m proud of myself for maintaining my calm. All Jennie has to do is say the word and I’ll escort this asshole out of her diner, forcibly if necessary. He won’t be welcome back.
Dave’s smile vanishes as he glares at me. “Who the fuck are you to tell me where I can and can’t go? Go fuck off, officer.”
“Actually, it’s Sheriff Nelson to you, asshole.”
Braggart purses his lips as he chuckles. “Oooo, I’m so scared.”
“I don’t know what you’re doing here, David,” Jennie says, “but you need to leave. Now. We have an agreement.”
“Our agreement is expired, babe. I have every right to be here.”
She takes a shaky breath and lowers her voice and says, “Just go, David. Please!”
Braggart’s grin widens. “Oh, baby, you know I like it when you beg. You beg so sweetly, don’t you?”
“That’s enough!” I grab the front of Braggart’s shirt and push him back toward the doors. “You’re not welcome here.”
“Bullshit!” he says. “Half of this diner belongs to me.”
That announcement shocks the shit out of me.
Red-faced, Jennie turns and storms off, heading down the hallway that leads to the kitchen and her office.
Honestly, I’m so in shock that Braggart is able to break free of my hold and chase after her.
As I race down the hall, I can hear them shouting at each other. Her office door is shut, but I shove it open wide and step inside. He’s got her pinned up against the back of her desk, his hands gripping her arms as he shakes her.
“Get your hands off her!” I yell. I grasp his shoulder and yank him off.
Jennie slips around to the opposite side of her desk, well beyond Braggart’s reach.
She’s breathing hard, her face flushed. She looks…
scared. Not pissed or irritated, but downright frightened.
Suddenly, her reaction to me last night at the tavern is starting to make sense. I’m pretty sure I know who hurt her.
Braggart turns on me, sneering. “You think I’m afraid of you? The town bastard? Hell no!”
I grab my handcuffs. “You’re under arrest. Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
Dave stares at me, dumbfounded. “Me? What the fuck for? What did I do?”
“Assault and battery for starters,” I say. “Would you like to add on more charges, starting with resisting arrest? Please feel free. I’d be happy to oblige.”
He has the audacity to laugh. “It’s not assault and battery if she likes it, Sheriff.” Braggart turns his gaze on Jennie. “Tell him, baby. Tell him you like it rough. This is just foreplay for us, man. We’re just getting started.”
When I hear a choked sob, I glance over at Jennie. Her hands cover her mouth as tears flood her dark eyes. She looks utterly wrecked. Humiliated.
Her pained eyes meet mine. “Let him go, Chris.” Her voice is barely audible. “Please. I just want him gone. I don’t want to complicate things.”
I stare Jennie in the eye, taking in her apparent fear. I want to arrest this asshole and charge him with everything in the book, but the pleading in her eyes stops me. “Stay here,” I tell her. “I’ll be right back.”
I twist Braggart’s right arm behind his back and march him out of her office and to the back door. I open it and toss him outside, hard, shoving him so he has to scramble to keep from faceplanting on the pavement.
“Consider yourself banned from this establishment,” I say. “If you come back, you’ll be arrested and charged with trespassing.”
“You can’t keep me away from my own damn property, asshole!”
I have no idea if he’s telling the truth or not, but before he can say another word, I shut the door in his face and turn the deadbolt.
When I return to the office, I find Jennie standing right where I left her. I’ve never seen her like this. She’s almost always so calm and collected, but right now she’s devastated. Tears are streaming down her cheeks.
“Jennie.” On impulse, I open my arms, and she rushes to me, throwing herself against me.
I have so many questions, but now’s not the time. First things first. “What did he mean when he said he owns this diner? Is that true?”