“Jess. What’s wrong? You sound funny.”
“I’m okay. Just a bad dream.”
“Aw, honey. You want to come over?”
Josh lived in a house just down the street from Sarah and Mark. But Jess didn’t want to risk seeing anyone else, not in her state. “No, it’s okay. I just … it’s the reason for the nightmare that I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Yeah?”
“I heard today that the Greers moved back. Karen has cancer. And Brian has asked the kids to come home.”
Josh let out a long breath. It sounded like a whistle in Jess’s ear and she closed her eyes. After their dad had died, she’d relied on Josh. He was so much like their father. Caring but tough. Reliable. Just talking to him helped immensely.
“You worried about him coming near you?”
There was a long pause, and then she whispered, “Just hearing his name made me melt down, Josh.”
Josh cursed under his breath. “We should have had him arrested back then. Do you want to tell Bryce? I doubt there’s anything he can do about it, but it wouldn’t hurt to have him know.”
“No!” Jess tried to temper her voice and not panic. “You’re the only one who knows what happened that night. And I want to keep it that way. Please, Josh.”
“Jess…”
“I just … I don’t know what I want. To give you the heads-up, I guess. To … to tell someone rather than keep it inside. This way if I show up on your doorstep, you’ll know why.”
“You can come stay here,” he suggested. “I doubt he’ll be in town for long if he shows up at all. I could always use a roommate.”
She thought of Josh’s hours, and his dislike for housekeeping and cooking. “Thanks, but no thanks. At least not for now. Talking to you has helped.” Besides, she’d fought hard for her independence, moving out, taking night courses in business, and open
ing the shop. She wasn’t about to give that up at the first sign of trouble.
“If he causes any grief—and I mean any at all, I want you to promise me that you’ll talk to Bryce about it.”
“I’d rather keep it quiet.”
“Promise me, Jess. Mike Greer is a manipulative asshole who thinks he can have whatever he wants. I convinced him otherwise once, but I don’t trust him and neither should you.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t. Not for a second.”
“So promise me.”
“I promise. You’re a good brother, Josh.”
“Of course I am. And remember—you’re not in this alone. You never were. And I can guaran-damn-tee you that you’ve got backup in me, and Tom, and Bryce, and even Rick if it comes to that. The slightest whiff of trouble and you go to any one of us, okay? We’ve got your back one hundred percent.”
Her throat closed over a wad of tears. “Okay,” she whispered into the receiver.
“Love you,” he said, making her even more weepy.
“Love you, too,” she said.
After she hung up the phone, she went to the bathroom and ran a hot shower, scrubbing away the sweat and the lingering dregs of the nightmare. Too bad she couldn’t scrub away the memories of the past, too. But they were there to stay. She ran the puff over the puckered scar on her belly and swallowed the tears that clogged in her throat, refusing to let them out.
He’d marked her for life.
* * *
As maid of honor, it was Jess’s duty to hold a bridal shower for Abby, and she hosted it on the Saturday night one week before the wedding. She closed the store at five, and at seven thirty about a dozen women would descend on her apartment for an evening of food, wine, and silly shower games. She was also aware that the boys were having their stag night tonight.