The Wrong Kind of Love

"I take it you told him?" he asks.

"No, but he knows. Which is fantastic."

Marney chuckles, his gaze strays to the gun in my hand. "You 'bout to go shoot? Jude, should like that.” He arches an eyebrow. “The woman carrying his seed with a gun."

"I swear to God, Marney. You start this crap..." I walk out the screen door, and warm sunshine hits my skin, followed by the scent of pine trees. I love it out here. I love the vast open space around the cabin, the thick woods that surround it. A person could live up here for months and never even know that another soul existed.

I move just inside the tree line and flick the safety off the gun, then lift the weapon and point it at the messily marked target on a nearby tree. I fire one shot after another, allowing it to cleanse me. I find it therapeutic, cathartic.

I release the empty clip and take a new one out of my back pocket. I've just clicked it into place when the screen door bangs, and Jude comes barreling down the steps.

"What are you doing?" he shouts.

Sighing, I turn back to the target and pull the trigger again.

Pine needles crunch behind me before I feel the heat of Jude’s body. "Don't fucking ignore me."

I turn to face him. "Then don't be a prick!"

Anger flashes across his features, but he reigns it in, which does nothing but infuriate me further. "Give me the gun, Tor,” he says. “And that is not a request!"

"Oh, you..." I grit my teeth and point the gun at him. "Fuck you, Jude!" I'm so angry. "I'm pregnant, not disabled. I'm not suddenly going to shoot myself!"

Arching his brow, he reaches for the gun. "Give it to me!"

I shove the barrel into his chest. "Careful. You never know when I might have a hormonal outburst.”

He cocks an eyebrow at me. "Give. Me. The. Gun."

"Arsehole!" I throw it on the ground and storm past him.

"Please tell me you did not just throw a loaded gun onto the goddamn ground?" He groans. "Fuck, Tor. It was cocked!"

"Shame it didn't have a misfire!"

I walk into the kitchen and Marney is still at the counter, paper in hand, and a small smile on his face. He places his cigarette between his lips and inhales. "How'd that work out for ya?"

I want to scream. Oh, my God, I want to scream. "He's a dick!"

Jude comes storming through the door behind me. "Stop acting like a kid about it, Tor!" He glances over at Marney, then snatches the cigarette from Marney's lips, smashing it out on the counter. "No more smoking around her! You hear me?"

Marney's gaze drifts from Jude to me. "Did he piss on you yet?"

"Clearly not. I think he might be bordering on clinically insane. Tell him, Marney! Before I kill him. He's known for half an hour–half an hour– and I already want to slit his throat in his sleep!"

Jude's eyes narrow as he points at Marney. "Did he .." he turns to face him, "Did you know, old man?" Jude swats his hand through his hair. "You told Marney, and not me? Damn it, Tor!"

"I didn't tell him. He overheard me." I say before he kicks the shit out of Marney. Ridiculous? Yes, but this is Jude.

"Overheard you? Who the fuck else knows?"

I glance at Marney whose eyes are full of pity. Then I drop my gaze to the kitchen floor, and neither of us says anything.

"Who else knows?" Jude no longer sounds angry, he sounds hurt.

"No one," my voice breaks.

I feel a hand rub my shoulder and look up to find Marney standing next to me, angling his body between me and Jude. Marney takes a deep breath and squeezes my shoulder. "Found her pouring her little heart out at Caleb's grave."

Jude's face crumples, then he hangs his head. There's a tense silence. "No smoking around her," he demands before disappearing down the hall.

I watch him go, my emotions swinging from anger to pity and back again. Marney puts an arm around my shoulder and guides me to one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "Sit down, sweetheart. I'll make you a tuna melt."

I fold my arms on the bar and rest my cheek on them. Seconds later, Marney puts a glass of water in front of me, then grabs a pan from under the stove. If I'm going to have to take six more months of the neanderthal, at least I have Marney.

Victoria

It’s been two days since Jude found out I’m pregnant, and he’s gone into overdrive.

He left three hours ago to “run an errand”, and the fact that he’s not back yet has me on edge, imagining every possible worst case scenario.

Marney shuffles around the kitchen in his crab apron. As usual, the smell of something burning fills the room, but he assures me he’s got it under control. I keep glancing at the windows, waiting for Jude’s headlights to shine through the curtains. “Where did he go, Marney?”