Page 45 of For Always
He entered the room and she closed the door, leaning against it with a sigh.
“I also owe you and everyone else that was here this morning an apology. I shouldn’t have run away,” she said.
He was setting the tray on the opposite side of the bed from where she’d sat most of the day on and he looked over to her.
“Apology accepted,” he replied. “On behalf of everyone that was here this morning. Well, maybe not for the sheriff, but he was being an ass anyway.”
“I’ll pay for the damages—” she started saying.
Tyler was already shaking his head. “Stop. You’re not a foolish woman and I’m not an ass. The person who did the damage is the person who pays. Dessie already has a crew in there working on the room. So let’s not go any further with this part of the discussion.”
Gabriella didn’t argue. He was right. She hadn’t done the damage, even if it was the room she had reserved. She’d just felt like she should offer something. Apparently, Tyler disagreed.
She cleared her throat and moved closer to the bed. “Then I guess the next topic is explaining why I left before the sheriff could ask me anymore questions.”
Gabriella waited a beat to see if Tyler was going to interject and tell her that wasn’t necessary either. But he did not. Instead he walked over to the recliner and took a seat. So she decided to sit too. She climbed onto the bed once more, folding her legs beneath her.
She began slowly, “Austin Sterner is my ex-boyfriend. He’s a forty-four year old real estate agent in Greenwich. While I was studying for my design degree I interned with Austin’s agency. When the internship was over, I was offered a permanent position with the agency. Whenever they listed a house, I was there to stage it.”
Gabriella paused because she realized this was the first time she’d ever verbally gone through her history with Austin.
“We began dating three months after I accepted the permanent position. He’d been divorced from his wife about a year. They shared custody of their two children, so we often scheduled our time together around their visits and our combined work schedules. We dated for seven months before I realized it wasn’t right for me.”
She paused again, the pain in her chest heavy with the thoughts that followed those words.
“So you broke up with him,” Tyler stated.
Gabriella knew that he was in the room. She knew he was just a few feet away, sitting in a chair, staring at her. But she’d been talking as if she were in the room alone, recounting how the beginning of her end had occurred. To her ears it sounded very innocent. Girl meets boy, they date, they don’t work out, and they end it. But that was far from what happened.
“I broke up with him,” she said. “I left his agency and with the help of my mentor began looking for other opportunities in the area. I liked being close to my parents, especially with all of my brothers leaving and making their own lives with their partners. I was the one who could get to my parents when and if they needed something in a hurry.”
“And you were their baby,” Tyler said. “I’m sure they liked having you close.”
“They loved it,” she replied with a chuckle. “I went to church with my mother on Sunday mornings and spent the rest of the day at their house while she cooked dinner. I watched football games with my dad.”
And all the while they had no idea how much she was hurting inside.
“They were my rock and whether they knew it or not they helped me through the messy break-up,” she said.
“Messy because Austin didn’t want to let you go.”
It sounded so simple coming from Tyler. Gabriella nodded even though she knew it was probably wrong to let him continue thinking it was that mundane.
“I moved on and he didn’t. Or he wouldn’t. I don’t know. I really wanted him to, but he didn’t. So there were phone calls and text messages and the one night he showed up at my condo unannounced. I told him I would take out a restraining order if he didn’t cut it out,” she said.
“And he stopped for a while, but then when you left town, he continued,” Tyler said. “Because it’s one thing to be able to see you every day and satisfy his unhealthy need to be near you, but it’s another entirely to have you out of sight.”
She couldn’t speak. His words were so on point, it was almost scary.
“I’ve seen stalking situations turn ugly, Gabriella. It’s not your fault. Guys have fragile egos, you crushed his when you walked out of his life and he was too weak to move on. No excuses, the guy’s an ass for continuing to frighten you. And if you think he’s here in Hobbs Creek, I’ll find him and I’ll make sure he gets the message to stay the hell away from you this time.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Oh yes I do,” Tyler said as he stood and came over to the side of the bed where she was sitting. “Because if he does something to put that look in your eye that I saw this morning I might be the one the sheriff ends up arresting.”
She looked away because she didn’t want him to see the tears welling up in her eyes. His fingers were immediately on her chin, turning her head to him.
“I will not let him hurt you again,” he said solemnly. “Trust me.”
