Chapter Six
Laurie
“Laur? What’s u—what’s wrong?” Melanie asked, gasping as she pulled open her door and saw me.
I flung myself into Mel’s arms, tears leaving wet spots on her lavender blouse almost immediately. I tried to apologize through the sobs as she closed the door behind us and guided me to the futon set against a wall.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” she said, trying to soothe me. “Laur, it’s okay. What is it? Tell me what’s wrong?”
But I couldn’t. Words were failing me as emotions took over.
I didn’t want to talk about it. If I talked about it, I would be forced to reveal not only the horrible betrayal by Eric but also that everyone else had been right about him and that I was wrong.
I didn’t want to be judged by my own family while my heart was still in the process of falling to pieces.
Melanie handed me tissues, but I quickly went through them. Crying to my younger sister didn’t quite feel like the most “older sibling” thing to do, but I didn’t have any other choices. My friends were in the city, forty minutes or more away. I was in no state to drive just then.
“Come on, sis,” Mel said, stroking my shoulder. “What’s going on? You’ve got me worried.”
I took a deep breath and let it out, trying to get myself under control. I was so dumb! How could I have been oblivious to it when everyone else could see it?
“Miss Laurie, just because you’re love-blind doesn’t give you the right to be rude.”
Winston’s words echoed in my mind, bubbling up unbidden to answer my question. I’d been blinded by love to the reality that was my fiancé.
I snarl-sobbed, pulling away from my sister for a moment.
“Fuck you,” I hissed, yanking off the ring and hurling it across the room.
“Uh, Laur? Was that your engagement ring?” Melanie asked.
I nodded.
“What in the hell happened?” she said, stunned.
“What do you think?” I moaned, trying to blink back tears. I didn’t want to cry anymore. It hurt too much. I didn’t want to be hurt by him. I was, but I didn’t want to. That asshole didn’t deserve it.
“Did he cheat on you?” Mel hissed, her anger rising exponentially, stiffening her body.
“No.” I paused. “Maybe, I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
I shook my head, pausing to grab some more tissues and blow my nose.
“If he didn’t cheat, what did he do?”
My cheeks burned with shame as I lifted my head, looking into matching brown eyes highlighted with bright yellow, turning them more of an amber.
We looked a lot alike, and that was just one of the similarities.
Though we were never confused for twins, everyone could see we were related.
Same eyes, same cleft chin, thick manes of hair—although Mel’s was currently black with a pair of purple highlights—and bodies a hair or two more curvaceous than either of us would really prefer.
We also liked pasta and pizza too much to do anything about it.
“Good lord, Laur,” Mel said, and I almost wished I had a mirror. She looked horrified, which probably meant I looked even more horrible than I felt.
“You were right,” I said in a whisper-moan. “Oh, you were right.”
“I was?” she asked in growing confusion. “About what?”
“All of you. About Eric,” I said, fresh tears springing from my ducts as I relived the conversation I’d heard. “He was using me. For money. I don’t get it. He has money. He’s not broke. Why would he do this to me? Why lie to me, hurt me? God, Mel, he called me a Trust Fund Barbie. As fucking if!”
Mel’s nostrils flared, and her eyes lit with a fury I’d rarely seen. “He what?”
I nodded. “I heard him. He said he was going for a walk, but he took a long time, so I went looking for him. He was in a guest room with the lights off. I heard his voice as I walked by and listened in. He said I was an idiot, that I hadn’t even mentioned a prenup.
That the money was basically his, just a few more years, and he was a free man. ”
“That asshole!” Mel snarled. “What the fuck is his problem? What does he need your money for?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He didn’t talk about that. But god, I’m an idiot. How could I not see it? You all warned me, and I didn’t listen. I stuck up for him, defended him, said he wasn’t what everyone thought he was, and then this?”
Melanie gathered me into a hug. “Hush. It’s going to be okay,” she said, rubbing my back with her hand. “You know now, at least.”
“Yeah,” I said, shaking with sobs. “So much time wasted, though!”
“Don’t think about it that way,” Mel ordered. “Just be relieved you aren’t wasting any more time.”
“I guess.” I didn’t really believe that.
I had wasted my time. Nothing came from it.
I was almost thirty, and I’d be starting all over again.
No boyfriend, no fiancé, definitely no husband, and my dreams of a family were dashed as well.
I wanted to have some babies of my own, but who knew if I would ever get the chance?
My insides ached. From the loss of what I’d had, but also from what I might have had.
“Does—does he know?” Mel asked tentatively. “Like, is he still out there? Should we get Dad or Bryan to walk him out?”
I shook my head. I didn’t want my family involved. My brother could be a bit of a hothead when it came to his sisters, and I didn’t want a fight.
“You can’t let him stay here, though,” Mel said. “He’s got to go. I want that asshole out of my house.”
“But if I do that, then I have to tell Dad,” I said hoarsely.
I was already burning with embarrassment and shame for being so na?ve. I didn’t know if I could handle my father’s “I told you so” attitude right then.
“Laurie. You have to do something. We have to go to Dad and let him know. It’s his house, and there’s no way I’m going to let you try to fake things until you can convince Eric to leave or something. I want him out. Fuck him.”
I sobbed anew. She was right, of course. I just didn’t want to have to confront it. If I did, that would mean it was real, that I wasn’t dreaming.
“Come on,” Mel said, standing up. “I’ll scout the hall and go with you. We’ll talk to Dad together, okay?”
“Okay,” I said helplessly, standing up and following her out the door once she announced the coast was clear.
I trailed along like a good little worker bee. We found my father in the main floor library and study, where he preferred to retire after dinner.
The instant he saw me, he shot to his feet and came barreling across the room to envelop me in a big dad hug. I sank into it, not just because I was hurting but because dads just give the best hugs. It was like they know what to do to set all your worries at ease.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. I felt him looking over my shoulder at Mel.
“Laurie overheard Eric on a phone call,” Mel said, venom filling her words.
“You were right,” I said, forcing the words out. “About him, about everything. He is using me for money.”
I reiterated everything I’d told Mel, trying not to cry again, though I wanted nothing more than to run away and hide, to avoid what I knew was coming.
“Said you were stupid for not suggesting a prenup, did he?” my father growled, pulling me into another hug. “Call my daughter stupid, did he?”
I didn’t respond. I could feel the anger radiating from him.
“And you’re one hundred percent sure this was malicious and whatnot?” he asked.
I hesitated. “Fairly,” I said. “But I haven’t asked him yet.”
My father mused. “We could kick him out. Send him packing and be done with it. Or, if you want to be totally sure, for your own peace of mind, I have a plan.”
I backed away, noting the angry tint in his gaze. My father was not someone I wanted to be on the bad side of. Being a ten-year Marine vet who’d started a business that dealt with many Department of Defense officials and people meant he was used to all sorts of situations. I did not envy Eric.
“What’s your plan?” I asked. I was pretty sure I knew Eric was trash, but a part of me would like the closure.