Chapter 10 #2
“I think it might be too late for the prom and class ring.” I laughed a little, even though the truth was depressing.
“You’re telling me no guy ever gave you his ring to wear? I find that hard to believe, a beautiful girl like you.” Rhett’s compliments hit me right in the center of my chest.
I shook my head. “Nope. I never really dated.” I hated how babyish I sounded.
Rhett lifted my hand, tracing the length of my ring finger with his thumb. “Doesn’t seem right. Though I like it no one had you first,” he murmured.
There was another beat of silence as we held one another. The noise of the bowling alley faded into the background as our breaths caught and held suspended as if the air itself was waiting in anticipation.
That feeling of being watched creeped slowly across my skin. I glanced over Rhett’s shoulder and saw Jeremy staring at us, a thunderous expression on his pock-marked face.
I quickly looked away, burrowing myself into Rhett’s protective warmth.
“Rhett, hello!” Rhett pulled away so fast I stumbled and had to catch myself from falling over. I saw an older woman with smooth blond hair approaching us. Her greeting may have been for Rhett, but her eyes were on me.
“Hi, Mrs. Young,” Rhett replied, glancing my way before taking a noticeable step away from me.
“Hi, Rhett!” A woman with obviously dyed red hair waved enthusiastically from the group of middle-aged women avidly watching us.
Rhett lifted his hand in a halfhearted wave.
“Ignore Celia,” the blond woman said with a roll of her eyes. “I was just telling Chuck the other day we haven’t seen you in ages. He tells me you’re studying pre-law now. Good for you. I’m sure Cliff is pleased.” She looked pointedly at me again. “Your mom, too, I bet.”
Rhett seemed very aware of the woman’s keen observations. There was a strange undercurrent to the interaction. It felt loaded with all the things not being said.
“I’m working hard,” Rhett told her with one of his warm smiles.
The woman put her hand on her hip. “Though clearly not that hard if you can take a break to go bowling.” She laughed, though there wasn’t an ounce of humor in her words.
It was all judgment. Every small town was the same, local busybodies and gossips who liked to make everything their business. They were both the worst and best part of any community. Friendliness tinged with malicious examination.
Rhett laughed too. “You know what they say, all work and no play …” He didn’t bother to finish the sentiment.
The woman turned to me. “Since Rhett seems to have forgotten his manners,” she said and held out her hand. I shook it tentatively. “I’m Tanya Young, the chief of police’s wife. And you are?” The implication was clear. She was watching me and reporting back.
“I’m Jenn Moore.” I didn’t offer anything else. Not to be rude but because my throat seemed to close up.
“And how do you know our Rhett?” She patted his arm and his smile became a grimace.
“He’s been nice enough to keep me company and show me around since I’m new in town.
” Given Rhett’s furtive glance, I got the impression I should make an excuse for us being together.
I felt like I was tiptoeing through a minefield, but I didn’t know who had planted the bombs.
I went along with it, for his sake more than anything else. He must have his reasons.
“He is a gentleman. Always has been. That’s why we can’t wait until the we—”
“It was good to see you, Mrs. Young. But I have to get going,” Rhett interrupted abruptly.
Mrs. Young seemed taken aback by Rhett’s bluntness, but she covered it well.
“Of course. It was nice seeing you. Be sure to pass on my regards to Lucinda, won’t you.” She glanced at me again and didn’t bother to say goodbye before returning to her lady’s group.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
Rhett’s expression hardened. “Everything’s fine.” He looked at the group of women, who were making it obvious they were talking about us. That feeling of being watched amplified until it was like spiders crawling over my skin. “I’m really sorry, but I have to go.”
“But you just got here.” I was confused.
Rhett rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I have a lot going on. I don’t have time to bowl right now.”
“You’re always in such a rush,” I teased, attempting to cover up my hurt feelings. “You need to take some time to relax.”
Rhett’s eyes flashed with something dark. “I’m busy, Jenn. I told you I was in college—”
“Studying law. I remember. I also remember you saying once that you didn’t like it.” I was being pushy. I felt it. He felt it.
“Pre-law,” he corrected, “and it’s tough.”
“I’m sure it is. I didn’t mean to keep you from it.” I swallowed, familiar feelings bubbling up inside me. It reminded me of home.
“You have no idea,” he said with a note of frustration.
“It’s only that you’re obviously doing something you don’t want to do, and well, have you ever thought about why you’re doing it?
About who you’re doing it for?” I had never been a bold person.
I wasn’t the kind of girl to speak my mind—it had never been my place to speak out.
But I cared about Rhett, and I didn’t like seeing him so worried.
I felt it was my duty as his friend—or whatever I was to him—to try and make him feel better.
Rhett’s eyes narrowed. “I’m doing this for me, Jenn. And to give my mom a better life. That’s all I want to do.”
I cocked my head, not wanting to poke the bear but also not wanting to back down. I had been doing that my whole life. It took a lot of effort and bravery on my part to say what I thought. My voice had been silenced for so long, it was difficult making it heard now.
“Are you really, though? Have you thought about what’s the best thing for you? Because you seem stressed every time I see you—”
Rhett laughed dryly, his face hard. “Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath. “Have you ever been to college, Jenn? Do you even know what it’s like? How stressful it can be?” His words were dismissive and hurtful.
“No, I haven’t.” My voice was small. I felt even smaller.
“Then maybe you’re not the right person to judge what’s best for me.”
We were both shocked by his words.
Not just his words.
It was what he didn’t say that dripped with offhanded cruelty.
“I guess I’ll see you whenever then.” I couldn’t hide the tears thick in my throat.
I had to bite back what I really wanted to say.
That I didn’t deserve his nastiness. That I was only trying to help him.
But I had learned my lesson the hard way.
When the dragon roared, I needed to back off and make myself as tiny as possible.
I turned back to my lane. I didn’t want to play anymore.
I wanted to leave immediately. Heat crawled up my chest, and I wiped away the tears that had already fallen.
I was never good at holding them back. My mother used to tell me I had to learn to hide my feelings better.
She had figured out that the best way to survive was to keep a smile on her face and the sadness tucked up inside. She was quite the role model.
Rhett reached out to take my hand. “I’m sorry. I’m being a jerk. I know you’re only trying to be helpful.” He glanced at the group of gossipy women again and quickly dropped it. “This town talks, Jenn. And there’s nothing people love more than a scandal, even if there isn’t one.”
“Why would there be a scandal? We’re two friends hanging out together and playing a game of bowling.” He was hiding something, but after the way he had reacted, I didn’t want to pry much further and push him away.
Rhett pressed his lips into a thin line. “A man and a woman together, even if it’s innocent, is always a scandal in a town like Fern River.”
I sighed heavily. “All small towns are the same. Where I came from, nothing was private.” I laughed halfheartedly. “But this is innocent. There’s nothing to see here.”
He looked at everything but me. I worried that I sounded desperate.
But I liked him. And I needed friends. I was starting to feel lonely from my time on the road. Being a young girl, having to be on guard twenty-four seven, left me feeling on edge.
And the constant paranoia of being followed and watched was starting to get to me.
Rhett appeared startled. “You still want to hang out with me? Even after I’ve been such an ass?”
I put my hand on his arm. “Of course I do. I’d love it, actually.”
His expression cleared, and his grin was sincere and blinding. “Do you want to go hiking again?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Meet me back up at Jagged Point tomorrow afternoon. The walk isn’t too long, right?”
I didn’t want to tell him that I hated walking the isolated stretch of road by myself. That I felt exposed and hyper-vigilant. I wanted him to offer to pick me up and go out there together.
But I didn’t want him to change his mind.
“I’d love to. The overlook is one of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen.”
“Maybe not the prettiest,” he murmured, his eyes lingering on my face in a way I knew meant he wasn’t talking about the cliffs.
I blushed but felt better that it seemed we were okay again.
“I’ll be back from school around one o’clock. I’ll head straight there.” His expression brightened, and I loved that I was the one that did that.
“Sounds good,” I said with enthusiasm. “Give me a call when you’re on your way. I bet I can beat you to the top.”
Rhett chuckled. “That sounds like a challenge.” He winked at me and I melted a little. “Okay. I’ll call you.”
“Promise?”
He nodded but didn’t say the word. It seemed obvious that he omitted it, but I ignored it all the same.
He looked around uncomfortably. “I’ve really got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, though.”
As I turned to the door to watch him leave, I saw something I hoped was a trick of my imagination.
Because, for a moment, I saw a familiar figure. A shadowed face staring back at me from the other side of the room.
The same cruel smile I thought I’d left far behind. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes.
When I opened them, he was gone.
“You think you can outrun me, Jennifer? I’ll hunt you down like a deer. You think you’re so smart, but I’ll always catch you.”
The memory of his words embedded themselves in me like a hookworm. I knew I should be wary. That perhaps I wasn’t seeing things.
I was a rat in a cage. I knew that no matter how far I fled, he was always there, right behind me, nipping at my heels.
I could almost hear the ticking clock counting down to my doom.