Crushing (21 page)

I woke up early on Saturday morning even though I had stayed up late hashing out the final details of my plan the night before. I took off after my parents went to play their early Saturday morning round of golf. The plan was actually pretty simple and took less time than I thought. My brothers were still asleep when I got back, so, mission accomplished. It had gone better than I expected, and now I just had to wait and see.

It was late morning, and I was settling in to work on an English paper I had due on Monday, when the doorbell rang. I checked the peephole and sucked in a breath. Gage was on my front porch. When I opened the door, I could tell he was agitated.

“Hey. Are you okay?” I asked. I couldn’t believe he was here.

He looked haggard and restless. “Yeah, uh no, not really. I’m sorry to bug you, but, um, Bailee’s missing.” He was running his fingers through his hair and shifting his weight.

“Oh no. What happened?”

“I got up this morning and she was gone. Mrs. Curtis, our housekeeper, says she never saw her when she got to the house at eight. She was on my bed when I went to sleep. I thought maybe she ended up over here?”

“No, I’m sorry. I went out earlier, and I didn’t see her then either.”

“Okay, well, thanks anyway.” He started to back up.

“Wait. I’m going to help you look.” I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.

“No, you don’t have to, Rory. Really.”

“I want to. I’m worried too.”

“Okay, thanks. I checked the storm drains, and I was on my way to the beach when I realized she could have come here.” We started walking toward the beach path. “She’s crazy about you, so I thought maybe . . .”

“Well, I love her too.”

He nodded. “I’ve had trouble with her since . . . She whines whenever we walk by and don’t come get you. I think she’s mad at me.”

“I’ve missed her. We’ll find her.”

We walked in silence for a few. We wandered out onto the beach calling her name and whistling. We split up at one point and walked in different directions, but then met back up with no results. The clouds were rolling in again, and the wind was picking up. We moved up to the dunes, onto the back of the golf course, and then back onto the beach on the other side. We called until our voices were hoarse. I was starting to get really worried. Where could she be?

“Did you ask your uncle if he saw her?”

“He left early this morning and isn’t coming back until later. He’s in meetings all day, so I can’t really reach him. Besides, he’s not overly fond of her. I don’t think he’d know.”

“More shoe chewing?”

“Uhh . . . no . . . She kind of had an accident, in his Porsche.”

I laughed out loud. “No. Way.”

He smiled for the first time I’d seen since the incident with Holden. “Yeah. We were taking her to the vet, and she was a little nervous.”

“Oh, man. He must have been mad.”

He actually laughed a little. “That is probably understating. He avoids her. He’s never said he regrets letting me keep her, but if he didn’t feel so sorry for me, I think he would.”

We sat down on our dune looking over the ocean.

“He doesn’t feel sorry for you. He loves you.” Gage was being ridiculous.

“I guess but I make his life so much more complicated. Especially now . . .”

“Don’t say that.”

“Rory, I don’t know how you don’t get this, but I make everybody’s life more difficult. My grandparents, Nathan, you . . . I’m trouble. I shouldn’t have let you come today. You need to stay away from me.”

He started to get up.

“Gage, stop.” I put my hand on his arm and pulled him back down. “You’re not trouble. You saved me. How can you think that? What if you had never come back here? What if you hadn’t been in the parking lot? Do you understand what could have happened to me?” My breath was starting to come out in short bursts.

“Rory, I—”

“It could have been bad. Really bad. I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m so sorry you got in trouble, but I can’t be sorry you were there. I’m not sorry I know you.” Tears were choking my throat. Finally the dam burst. I threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you.” I hung on him with my face in his chest. Great gulping sobs were racking my body. I hadn’t cried since the day it happened, and it all came out like it was water over the falls.

He put his arms around me and crushed me to him. Yes. This is what I had needed all this time. For days. This is what my soul had needed.

He rubbed his hands up and down my back and laid his head on top of mine.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

I cried harder. I didn’t want this to end. I didn’t want him to push me away again. “I’m so sorry I got you in trouble. I should have listened to you,” I said through the tears.

He hugged me tighter. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

I pulled my head back to look at him, sniffling. “Well, neither did you. You aren’t defective, either. You don’t have bad blood. You did the right thing.”

He looked into my face and shook his head. “I’m probably going to jail for assault. You really don’t have a good argument.”

I wiped my eyes on my sleeve. “You aren’t going to jail. That can’t happen.” I put my head back on his chest.

“You’re smarter than that. You know how this works. Small-town justice. Holden will get off and I won’t. I wouldn’t change it though.” I felt him tense. “When I saw him hurting you, I . . .” He blew out a breath. “He’s lucky he only ended up bruised and bloodied. If you hadn’t had that kid pull me off, I would have done a lot more damage.”

I sat there with his arms around me, quiet for a moment. Listening to his heart. This amazing boy who saved me from an ugly fate was all I wanted. How had it taken me so long? I closed my eyes and prayed that what I had done this morning worked.

“Thanks for being there,” I whispered.

He tilted my chin up. “You’re welcome.” I could see the question there. He hesitated. Like he was trying to stop himself. I reached up and touched his face. His head came down and his lips brushed mine, softly. Then with more pressure. I tilted my head and put my hands in his hair. He groaned into my mouth. My mouth opened to his, and I was lost in his kiss.

I don’t know how long it went on. I lost track of time. I could have kissed him forever, but barking in the distance distracted me. He pulled his mouth from mine, and we looked behind us.

The barking was getting closer. We stood up. Bailee was running across the dunes. Ears flapping, tail wagging, headed straight for us. Behind her I could see Nathan Elliott carrying her leash. He wore faded jeans, a cable knit sweater, and no shoes. He did not look like he had just come from business meetings. He looked like he just stepped out of a magazine ad.

Gage and I rushed to meet Bailee. When she got to us, we knelt down and she rammed into us, and we both ended up on our rear ends.

“Bailee!” Gage grabbed her around the neck. She proceeded to lick both our faces and was trying to climb into our laps. She couldn’t seem to get close enough. We were laughing and petting her. It was like a great big bubble of worry had popped, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Well, she didn’t learn as much as I thought today,” Nathan said as he got to us.

“Uncle Nate, where was she? We’ve been looking everywhere for her.”

“Really? I’m sorry. I thought I told you last night. Bailee and I had a couple of appointments this morning.”

I had to look down to hide my smile.

“Appointments?” Gage looked confused.

“Yeah, well, she had her first appointment with her new trainer.” Nathan looked down at her and frowned. “He said she did fine, but obviously she will need
more
lessons.” At this point Bailee was launching herself at Gage, and then she would spin around and start again. “And then I took her to the groomer while I went into the office for a bit.”

“You said you had meetings. We’ve been looking for her all day.” Gage looked at Nathan with suspicion.

Nathan reached down and patted Bailee’s head. “Oh yeah. I canceled those. I’m sorry you were worried.” He looked Gage right in the eye. “I could swear I told you.”

I spoke up. “Well, it’s all good now.”

Bailee seemed to agree. She barked and ran off to chase seagulls, oblivious to the drama she’d caused.

Nathan brushed his hands on his pants “Rory, you want to have dinner with us? We’re going to the clubhouse. They’re having some fancy dinner dance thing. I have an extra ticket.” “Sure, that sounds great.” I beamed at him. “I have just the dress.” I looked at Gage out of the corner of my eye. He was frowning.

“Uncle Nate, don’t make her feel like she has to—”

I jumped in. “Oh, I love going to those. My parents didn’t get tickets to this one because they were supposed to be out of town. It’ll be fun.”

Gage was still frowning, but he didn’t say anything.

“I’m going to go. I need to get ready.” I looked down at all the sand I had everywhere. Yeah, I would definitely need some time.

“I’ll walk you back.” Gage whistled for Bailee.

“I’ll take care of the dog. You walk Rory,” Nathan said. As he turned to head down the beach, I caught his eye. He winked. “See you tonight.”

I knew it. This had been his plan all along. He wasn’t a successful businessman for nothing. He had coordinated the whole thing. With effort, I kept a straight face.

Gage and I walked back to my gate without speaking. He seemed to be in his head, and I hoped he wasn’t regretting anything that happened. When we got to the gate he turned to me.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to be seen with me.” He was looking down and huffed quietly. “I don’t think this is a good idea. You should stay away from me.”

I took a page from Dom’s book. “I don’t think you get to tell me what’s right for me. I think I can decide that on my own.” I hugged him quickly before he could back off. “See you later.” I opened the gate and went in. I didn’t want to give him time to change his mind about tonight. I couldn’t wait. Even though Nathan was going to be there, it would be almost like a date. Yes! I needed to do something nice for Gage’s uncle. Like find him the love of his life. Hmm. One thing at a time.

#

I rushed upstairs and flung myself into the shower. I had a lot of preparation to do, and I was a wreck. I showered, shaved, exfoliated, and bronzed. The dress I was wearing was one I had just bought with my mom yesterday. It was the perfect cocktail dress for the dinner dance. I had had to talk her into it. She thought it was a little sophisticated and a bit short. When I reminded her that I was short too, she gave in.

I was searching through my jewelry drawer in my dresser for the perfect piece to go with the dress, when I saw a little drawstring bag at the back. I didn’t recognize it. I pulled it open, and a silver necklace with a beautiful filigree silver pendant poured out into my hand. Huh. It wasn’t mine, but it seemed familiar. Veronica or Laken must have left it here. We did that all the time. I knew they wouldn’t mind me borrowing it. It was perfect for the dress.

I straightened my hair, curled the ends, and left it down. I hoped the heels I was wearing weren’t going to kill me all night, but I loved them. Beauty is pain, and you have to be willing to suffer for it.

I was almost ready, when I heard the doorbell ring. I hoped my mom would answer the door and not one of the Neanderthals that lived here.

“Rory!” came the bellow from downstairs. “Your
date
is here. Poor guy.” Jeremiah. He had probably been lurking at the front door waiting for just such an opportunity. He’d better behave himself.

I finished putting on my lip gloss and made my way to the top of the stairs. As I looked down, I almost stumbled. Gage was at the bottom. In a suit. Looking like a model. Wow.

I carefully picked my way down. Not looking at him seemed like the best way not to break my neck, so I tried to keep my eyes on the stairs, but it was difficult. He was gorgeous.

He wasn’t smiling; he was just watching me. Then my brothers distracted him.

Jeremiah held out his hand to shake Gage’s, saying, “I wish I could have been there. Thanks for beating the crap out of Holden. He deserved much worse.”

Jackson apparently agreed. “Thanks, really. I should have been watching him more carefully after the kitchen thing. Sorry, man. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

Gage was just nodding. I think he was surprised at the show of support.

When I got to the bottom, he grabbed my hand and pulled me over to him. “You look beautiful.” He was rubbing my knuckles.

“Oh man, you’ve got it bad, my friend.” Jeremiah smacked Gage on the back and walked away.

I glared at his back. When I looked back at Gage, I told him, “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.”

He grinned. “Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

Before we could make it out the door, my parents came into the foyer.

“Gage.” My dad grabbed his hand and shook it. “We really can’t thank you enough for looking after Rory like that. We owe you, son. If you need anything, just ask.”

My mom pulled Gage in for a hug. I could tell she was squeezing him really hard.
“Thank you,” she whispered.

Gage looked really uncomfortable. I wanted to laugh and cry at the fact that this kind of show of emotion and approval seemed so out of his comfort zone.

“I, um, no problem,” Gage said.

“I’m going to make you a cake. What’s your favorite?” My mom asked when she stepped back. He was really in trouble now if my mom decided to bake for him. There was no going back.

He looked confused, but answered, “Um, lemon?”

“Done!” she announced, and turned to go back into the kitchen.

My dad chuckled as we made our way out the front to his car.

I was curious. “Where’s your uncle? Is he meeting us there?”

He held open my door. “Well now, it’s funny you should ask. At the last minute he remembered some conference call he had to be on and can’t make it.” I could tell he was skeptical of his uncle’s motivation after this afternoon.

“Well, he is a big, important investment guy, right?” I asked.