Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
G retchen and Remi bumped hips as they passed each other, Remi returning to the bar with a tray of empty glasses, Gretchen delivering a couple of flights to Kasi and Levi, who were on a date.
It was a beautiful November Saturday, sweater weather for sure, but still warm enough to sit outside.
The fall leaves were in full color, and the brewery was hopping.
Gretchen had volunteered to help wait tables when her driving lesson with Theo was cut short by a call from Nora, who informed him they were down three servers between the brewery and winery, due to a stomach virus.
Theo was currently parked behind the bar, pouring flights and pints, and talking about the different brews. Lark was singing on the makeshift stage again. She was their most popular entertainer, so it wasn’t unusual for the place to be even busier, thanks to her.
Gretchen delivered the flights before making the rounds of her other tables. Fortunately, everyone was good for the moment, so she could grab a few minutes of downtime.
And she knew exactly who she wanted to spend it with. The line at the bar consisted of one guy, and since Jace was also manning the taps, Theo sauntered toward her, leaning over the bar to steal a kiss.
“Looks like we’ve finally hit a lull,” he observed.
“Yeah. I was thinking that too.”
“Another hour, and I think you and I can clock out. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you helping.”
“I like being here,” she admitted. “Like being busy and needed.”
“You’re always needed,” he said, stealing another kiss.
A few patrons began to line up at the bar, and Gretchen suspected an order she’d placed for one of her tables was probably ready in the kitchen.
“We better get back to work.” She picked up her tray. Spinning around, she stopped dead in her tracks, gasping before dropping it.
The sound it made when it crashed to the hardwood floor drew attention, but Gretchen was focused on one man.
She wasn’t sure how Theo managed it, but one second, he was behind the bar, the next, he was standing beside her.
“Is that him?”
She nodded, her gaze locked on Briggs, in his police uniform, who was standing no more than ten feet away scowling at Theo, who had placed his arm around her back.
Gretchen waited for that soul-crushing fear she experienced around him to crash down on her, but she felt none of it. Not even when Briggs walked toward her.
“Gretchen.” Briggs gave her a smile he meant to be charming. She was certain there were a lot of women who would probably find him attractive, but when she looked at him now, all she saw was an ugliness that went bone deep.
“What are you doing here?” She crossed her arms, not for protection but because she was annoyed.
Briggs frowned, clearly taken aback by her hostile tone. She’d never dared to speak to him this way in the past, but her days of cowering like a whipped dog were behind her. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I missed you.” Briggs glanced around, discovering they’d drawn an audience.
Gretchen looked around too, relieved when she realized how many Storms were now focused on them, ready to step in at a moment’s notice.
The wagons were circling, shifting closer.
Her initial fear that Briggs would show up in cop-mode and attempt to gaslight the Storms into believing she was mentally unstable still hovered slightly, but she pushed it away.
“Is there somewhere we can go to talk in private?” Briggs asked.
“No, there isn’t,” Theo said firmly, his hand resting on the small of her back.
Knowing him the way she did, she didn’t doubt he was struggling to remain next to her rather than throwing himself between her and Briggs.
Her heart swelled at his restraint, at his faith that she could handle this on her own.
Now, as always, he found a way to give her self-confidence the shot in the arm it needed.
Briggs ignored him. “Gretchen. Please.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you now that I didn’t put in that letter. So no, Briggs, I’m not interested in talking to you. In public or private.”
“We were together for six years,” Briggs pressed, speaking in hushed tones. “Surely that’s worth a conversation. Trying to end things in a letter…that’s the coward’s way out.”
If he was trying to tweak her pride, he was failing.
Gretchen tilted her head, shooting him an “are you serious” look. “I don’t think it was cowardly to protect myself.”
Briggs ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus, Gretchen. You never need to protect yourself from me.”
She snorted derisively, and for the briefest of seconds, he let his true nature slip, his nostrils flaring with anger before he managed to rein it in.
“I know we had some rough times,” he started, in that annoyingly placating tone meant to make her feel like she was somehow being unreasonable.
“We didn’t have rough times ,” she interrupted. “Rough times are falling behind on the bills or the car breaking down. You beating the shit out of me does not fall into that category.”
She hadn’t bothered to lower her voice, so her comment had captured the attention of several patrons who happened to be nearby.
Peripherally, she saw at least six people look in their direction.
And so did Briggs, who—true to form—had come prepared to throw his weight around by wearing his police uniform.
The “mental illness” card was probably his backup plan if she didn’t come quietly.
Too bad for him, she wasn’t doing any of this quietly.
Now that they had an audience, she’d ripped that card out of his hands. She could almost read his thoughts, could see his regret that he hadn’t led with that angle.
His mistake was thinking she wouldn’t make a scene or fight back.
All she’d shown him the past two years was a timid mouse, afraid of her own shadow.
She hadn’t raised her voice at him since the bus station, hadn’t made a single attempt to fight back or leave.
The cocky asshole must have believed his presence alone was still capable of silencing her.
“Gretchen,” Briggs murmured quietly. “Please. It’s not appropriate to air dirty laundry in public. You need to calm down so we can discuss this reasonably. Let’s talk somewhere else.”
She shook her head, hating the way he always talked to her like she was a recalcitrant child. “No.”
His lips were pursed, his jaw clenched. He didn’t take the word no well. Ever. “I can see you’re going to be difficult about this, but you have to give me a chance to?—”
“I don’t have to give you a damn thing.”
Briggs’s brows furrowed as she cut him off once again.
She had to hand it to him, he was holding on to his temper better than she thought he could.
He leaned toward her, his voice little more than a whisper.
“I understand that you’re angry, and I know Brenda convinced you that I’m the villain in all of this. ”
She laughed. “No one had to tell me what your role was. I figured it out after the first black eye.”
Briggs glanced around the brewery, then rubbed the back of his neck. None of this was going the way he’d expected. He bowed his head, murmuring the next words so low, she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “I’ve been seeing a therapist.”
“You?” she said loudly. “In therapy?”
Briggs’s eyes went black with anger, but once again, he managed to beat the demon down. “For you. I want to get better for you.”
It took everything she had not to roll her eyes. “I’m glad you’re getting help, but if you’re going for me, then you’re wasting your time and money. Therapy only works if you’re doing it for yourself.”
“Fine,” he conceded. “Then it’s for me. I wanted you to know that I’m working on myself, trying to be better for you.”
Gretchen sighed. “Briggs. There is no amount of therapy in the world that would make me come back to you.”
He frowned, and for a second, she got the sense he was struggling to understand her words. “I can make this right.”
“No,” she said. “You can’t.”
The utter confusion on his face told her how confident he’d been that he could sweep in here, tell her what he thought she wanted to hear, and she’d fall right back into his arms.
“I mean it, Gretchen. I’m getting better. I swear.” He’d lowered his voice again, almost to a whisper, too aware of their audience. He was arrogant enough that he’d never let anyone hear him beg. “I’ll never hurt you again.”
This was getting tedious. “It’s over, Briggs. I don’t know how to say that any more clearly to you.”
He blinked several times, shaking his head slowly, her words finally starting to sink in. “You can’t be serious. You’re the only thing that’s ever belonged to me.”
“You’re wrong. Because you can’t own a person, and you definitely don’t own me.”
He swallowed heavily. “But I love you. And you love me.”
“Briggs. If I ever loved you, I can assure you, you beat every drop of it out of me long ago.”
“ If ?” he asked, shocked.
“I was eighteen when you swooped in to claim me. I was lonely and facing an uncertain future. When I look back on that time, I don’t think my decision to go with you was based on love at all. I simply saw you as the best of my very limited options. Boy, was I wrong about that.”
“Limited options,” Briggs repeated. “Why are you saying this stuff?” His gaze finally traveled to Theo, and this time, he let some of his rage escape.
“Are you fucking this guy? Letting him feed you all these poisonous thoughts? He’s using you for sex, Gretchen, and because you’re so desperate for love, you spread those whore legs of yours, didn’t you? ”
Theo growled, stepping forward.
Briggs straightened, all but flexing his muscles, which was ridiculous considering Theo had a good five inches on him and was fucking built.
“You’ve always been too gullible and easily swayed,” Briggs continued. “You’re too young and stupid to know what’s best for you. That’s why you need me .”