Page 134 of Leave

“Youdidsupport you,” he whispered. “And I know you still do. Right now, we can focus on what’s going on around us.” He tipped his head toward the house. “Doesn’t mean either of us have forgotten about things on my end.”

My shoulders sagged. Truthfully, I had forgotten, but he was probably right. It was a little like being in combat and forgetting an order my supervisor gave me because we were suddenly in a firefight; once the bullets had stopped flying and the wounded had been treated, I could deal with the earlier order.

I carded my fingers through his hair, which was definitely out of regs since we’d been traveling. “How are you doing, anyway? With going no-contact?”

“I think it’s a relief, to be honest.”

“Yeah?”

Lowering his gaze, he nodded. “After spending all that time trying to get them to accept me, that pressure is off. I’m done fighting. It’s… freeing in ways I didn’t expect.”

I didn’t know what else to do, so I reeled him back in and let him rest his head on my shoulder. “I think you did the right thing, then.”

“I know I did. It’s still hard. Still sucks knowing my parents are…” He trailed off into a sigh, deflating against me.

“I’m sorry.” I stroked his hair.

Riley sighed again. Then he stepped back and met my gaze, and an oddly amused grin twisted his lips. “You know, we’re going to need to take leave to recover fromthisleave.”

I laughed. “You’re not wrong.”

He chuckled, but then turned contemplative. “We could always snag a three-day weekend and have a staycation. Just us and the cats.”

The mention of my cats tugged at my heart. I missed them. “That sounds perfect. Especially having the cats around.”

“Oh, oh, so it’s thecatsyou want to be with, not—”

“Shut up,” I said, and kissed him again. He was grinning when our lips met, but they quickly softened, and we just let this perfect, gentle moment linger. Yeah, there was a lot in flux in both of our worlds. A lot of upheaval and chaos.

But soon, we’d be back on Okinawa in the apartment we shared with my three cats. Just thinking about that made me a little homesick.

I was glad to see my family and Seattle again, but right now, all I wanted was my boyfriend, my cats, and our familiar apartment.

I couldn’t wait to go home.

My brother and sister-in-law’s wedding was a much more subdued occasion than anyone had originally planned, but it was still a happy one. They still had it in the church, just with a handful of family members and very close friends instead of thelong list of invited guests, though they did include people who’d traveled from out of town.

The smaller, quieter ceremony with four instead of five people standing on either side of the bride and groom drove home how much things had changed in twenty-four hours. Leann’s absence was a relief. Andrew’s ached like an infected tooth.

Even the formal photos afterward were a little somber when it was time for Matt’s side of the family to join the couple. At least Sophia’s makeup artist had been able to cover up the bruise on my face so well that it wouldn’t show up in any of the pictures. I just hoped my brother and his wife would be able to look at their wedding album without the memories being stained by yesterday.

While my parents were obviously over the moon watching Matt and Sophia say “I do,” their hurt and sadness was unmistakable. It must have been heavy as hell, sitting at their youngest son’s wedding after hearing how their middle son was assaulted by the eldest’s wife. Mom had made some noise last night about everybody needing therapy, and I hoped she and Dad followed through with that. They were going to need it. We all were.

A couple of days after the wedding, my parents had Riley and me come over, and they sat down with us to talk about “the situation.” Apparently my dad had reached out to a lawyer to find out if any legal action could be taken against Leann. The lawyer concluded that the best I could hope for was third degree rape, and the statute of limitations for that was ten years, so it was too late to prosecute anything except the incident at the cabin. The situations where I was drugged were technically second degree, but my only evidence was my statement that I was exceptionally tired. After being at a wrestling tournament allday, that was to be expected, so it would be almost impossible to prove I was drugged or otherwise incapacitated.

My mother tried to argue that I was a minor at the time, so there shouldn’t be a statute of limitations, but in the state of Washington, the cutoff was sixteen, not eighteen. So even the assaults that happened when I was seventeen didn’t qualify.

Apparently the lawyer had gone on to say that even if the assaults were still within the statute of limitations, they would be difficult to prosecute. There was no evidence and there were no witnesses. And for that matter, the lawyer sadly agreed with my assessment that few jurors would believe an undefeated wrestler was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a woman half his size. It would get even more difficult once the jury saw me, a Marine who made religious use of a gym.

“He didn’t say it’s impossible,” my dad said. “He just wanted to be realistic about what the outcome might be.”

“She shouldn’t get away with it,” Mom said. “I’m just disgusted that she—ugh. That woman is not welcome in my home anymore. But she should be in jail!”

“She should be,” I said. “But pressing charges… I mean, the lawyer’s right. I don’t have any evidence. It’s her word against mine. And look at me.” I gestured at myself. “Do you really think I can convince twelve strangers that she assaulted me?”

My mom made a disgusted face, shook her head, and reached for her coffee.

Beside me, Riley’s expression echoed my own feelings—angry, disappointed, resigned. He and I had talked about this last night after Dad mentioned talking to a lawyer. While we both wanted the justice that could come with pressing charges, we were both too cynical and jaded to think that would be the outcome. If anything, I was signing up for a protracted battle where I had to keep ripping open my own wounds, only to listen to a jury let her off.

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