Page 42 of Falling for the Grumpy Stranger

He flinched as I reached over and ran my fingers over his arm. I paused and peered up at him to make sure it was all right to continue. He unclenched his jaw and nodded. His breaths came in shorter spurts, and mine did too, as I traced some of the ridges and ran my fingertips over some of the creases.

“You’ve told me part of the story, but I don’t have a full picture,” I said softly.

Rhett got up. I sat back disappointed. I’d pushed it too far. His shoulders were pulled tight under the flannel shirt as he dropped two more logs on the fire. He returned to the couch and stared into the hearth for a few seconds.

“We were at a party down in Malibu, near the coast.” He was still staring into the flames. It seemed he’d allowed himself a mental trip back to that day when his life unraveled. Something told me it was a trip he didn’t take often or willingly. “It was the usual rotten bunch of greedy, shallow people who had been an unfortunate part of my success. It was hard not to stay in certain social circles. That was where networking happened and business deals were made. “There were a few investors I needed to placate at this particular function. Rumor had started that there was another startup working on the same kind of navigational software that we developed, only they were using AI. It was supposedly going to be much faster and was more accurate. I did some research and found that the company was only in the ideation stages. They hadn’t come up with any kind of demo or product, so I knew I could talk my investors off theledge. At least for the time being.” He sat down again. Most of the tension was gone, eased perhaps by talking about it aloud.

“I suppose that AI will eventually tank a lot of businesses,” I said.

“Yep, only just getting started. I’m lucky I was able to sell my business when I did, while the stock was high and the investors were still confident. That might not be the case in five years.”

“So, you were at a snooty, boring cocktail party doing your CEO thing?—”

“Right. I got there late. Mike, my partner?—”

“And best friend,” I added, just to make sure I had the details right.

“Since high school. We did everything together.” His face dropped, and he stared down at the scar on his arm. “Still can’t believe the way everything ended. Christine was anxious to see her friends and get the latest scoop on all the gossip, so she took off without me. I had some work to finish, so I got there an hour later. Apparently, the booze had been flowing fast and furiously. People were already quite drunk. Christine had a drinking problem. She would never admit to it and got angry when I brought it up. After a few conversations, I realized I hadn’t seen Christine or Mike. I decided to look for Christine, to make sure she wasn’t already drunk.”

“You found them together, Christine and Mike,” I said.

“Behind the pool house. Christine’s drunken giggle led me there. They both turned pale when I came around the corner. Mike was the first to peel away and come after me. I shoved him. He fell down hard. They were both really drunk. Christine started with the big fake tears. I didn’t want to create a scene in front of the investors, so I left the party and got in my car. I drove to a nearby park, pulled into the lot and sat staring at the city lights in front of me. That was when it hit me. I didn’t care. There was nothing. No heartbreak, no sadness, just anger. Anger atmyself for being so blind about it. As I sat there, I went through all the incidents that should have been red flags. My relationship with Christine started fraying just months after the wedding—a wedding that cost an obscene amount of money. I should have known then. She kept adding to ‘her big day.’ That’s what she called it. Her big day. I was just the guy she expected to show up in a tux and the guy who would pay all the bills.”

“She is very pretty.”

Rhett chuckled. “Yep, guess it was hard to look past that. I think I’ve grown up now.”

“I guess that works well for us. You can’t let all my extreme beauty get in the way.”

Rhett leaned over and kissed me. “You, Miss Lovely, are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

I practically melted into a pool of butter. “Oh, you’re good, Mr. Lockwood. You’re real good.”

“Easy when it’s true.”

I wrapped my arm around his and rested my head against his shoulder. I realized how much I enjoyed having a big, strong arm to lean on. “So, you were at the park?—”

“Yep, sitting in my Porsche rethinking everything about my life.”

“You had a Porsche?”

“Yep. Worst car I ever drove. Now do you want to hear the rest?”

I drew an invisible zipper across my lips to let him know I was ready to listen.

“I’m sitting there thinking about how I was going to gladly cut both my wife and my partner slash best friend out of my life. Mike’s betrayal hurt more because we had so much history together. By that time, I’d already pegged Christine as a shallow, unlikeable person. Letting her go was easy. I started up the car, ready to go home and spend the rest of the night with awhiskey bottle, when Mike’s bright red Ferrari sped past. I saw Christine’s light blonde hair blowing in the wind. I pulled out to follow them, hoping to get ahead of them and stop Mike from doing something stupid. He was far too drunk to be driving, especially at that speed. I was also going to tell them they could have each other. That I wanted nothing to do with either of them.”

The story was getting to the terrible climax. I sat up and turned toward him. Rhett’s face held some of the pain from that day. His brow was creased, and his mouth was pulled down at the sides. There was even a slight twitch in his cheek. “It happened so fast. One minute the taillights of the Ferrari were in front of me, the next they were gone. Dust and debris flew up from the steep hill on the side of the highway. By the time I got down to them there were flames in the drought-parched landscape around the car. It had tumbled several times, and the driver’s side was caved in. Christine was bleeding from the head, and she was in pain, but I was able to get her out.” Rhett paused and stared at the fire again. It was amazing how quickly a fire could burn through logs. The two he’d added were almost gone already. Red coals kept the heat flowing, but it wouldn’t be long before the room cooled.

“I raced back to get Mike out. His door was jammed shut, and he was tangled in his seatbelt and the airbags. I ran around to the passenger side and called to him to climb out over the console, but he was out cold. I dove inside. It took a few minutes to get him free from the seatbelt and deflated airbag. It was like untangling him from a parachute. The fact that he flopped around like a rag doll didn’t help. Mike was a big dude and trying to pull him over the console was almost impossible. Then I heard the first small explosion, and I could feel heat coming from the front of the car. Smoke started pouring through the vents. I had to turn my head to get some fresh air into my lungs.As I turned back, flames shot through those same vents. My shirt sleeve caught fire. By the time I put it out, my entire forearm had suffered second- and third-degree burns. A second explosion was bigger, and it shook the entire car. In the meantime, the landscape was taking off in its own fire. Christine was up on the road screaming and growing more hysterical by the moment. I leaned into the car one more time. The cab was filled with smoke, making it hard to see anything. I grabbed Mike by the shoulders, but I couldn’t budge him.”

Rhett got up. The tension in his shoulders had been replaced by a slump, the slump of sadness. He dropped a log on the fire and stayed facing the fireplace, staring down into the playful sparks as they danced around the new log. “Leaving him behind, in that car, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Do you think he was still alive?”

“Coroner found a ruptured aorta. She thought he died just minutes after the accident.”

“That must give you some solace then. You didn’t leave him behind because he was already gone.”

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