Don't Make Me Beautiful (30 page)

She’s standing at the back of the car, getting ready to unload the cooler.

“Here, let me get that,” Brian says, rushing over to help her.

“No, I got this. You get the other one.”

“You don’t need to do any of this, Ni … Briana.
 
I’ll do it all.
 
You just find a pretty place to relax and let me take care of everything.”

She leaves the cooler on the edge of the trunk and faces him. “You can’t baby me all the time, you know.”

“It’s not babying, it’s taking care of you.
 
There’s a difference.”

“But I need to learn to take care of myself.”

His feelings are hurt, but not in a way that makes him mad.
 
He’s more sad than anything, knowing what she’s really saying.
 
She keeps talking about leaving, and every time she does, it makes him feel empty inside.
 
“You don’t need to take care of yourself when you’re with me.
 
That’s my job.”

“It’s not your job, Brian.”

“But I want it to be my job.”
 
He didn’t think about saying it before the words flew out, but he doesn’t regret it.
 
He never regrets speaking the truth.

They stand there face to face, a light breeze pushing strands of Nicole’s hair over her eyes. Brian reaches up and moves them over with his finger.
 
“I didn’t bring you up here to pressure you or argue about chores. I just want you to enjoy this magical place with me and relax. Forget all your problems and your plans and all that junk for a few days and just
be
.”

“I’m not sure it’s in me to do all that,” she says, sounding very sad.

“I think it is.
 
Just try.
 
That’s all I ask.”

“Okay, fine.
 
But I’m still helping with the chores.
 
I like doing it.”

“All right, then, have at it,” he says, backing up a little.
 
“But I’m doing the cooking.
 
I’m an expert camp cook and I enjoy doing it.”

“Good, because without a stove and a pan, I’m clueless.
 
We’d be eating potato chips for every meal if I were in charge.”

Brian steps more fully out of the way so she can take the cooler out, but not so far that he can’t jump in when needed to rescue her.
 
There’s no way she’ll be able to do what she wants to do, he can already see the accident happening, but if she needs to go through the process to let him be the man he wants to be for her, then so be it.

She tries to lift the heavy, bulky box with her one good hand and her casted arm.
 
It starts to fall when it’s only one inch over the edge of the trunk.

He leaps over to save it before it hits the dirt, hoping in the back of his mind that the eggs have survived the banging around.

“How about you start with this,” he says, grabbing a grocery sack filled with dry goods and handing it over the top of the cooler.

“Yeah, that might be better,” she says, a wry grin on her face.
 
“Sorry about that.
 
Guess you were right.”

“A kiss would make me stronger,” Brian says, a split second later chastising himself for being such a goofball.

“What?”
 
She’s smiling.
 
Maybe not all is lost.

“A kiss.
 
Makes me stronger.”
 
He acts like the cooler is too heavy while sticking his cheek out in her direction.

She walks over and leans in, kissing him lightly on the cheek.
 
“There.
 
Now unload the car.”

He grunts as he picks up the cooler and puts it on his shoulder to hide his smile.
 
“Oh sure,” he says, pretending to be breathless with the weight, “a minute ago you were all about doing your part and unloading all the heavy stuff.
 
Now you’re bossing me around and telling me to do it all.
 
I see how you are.”

“You like bossy women, don’t try to act like you don’t.”
 
She takes a second bag out of the back and moves behind him to put it down in the center of the clearing.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he says, sighing.
 
“I’m a glutton for punishment, apparently.”
 
She’s right.
 
And he loves that she, in particular, is feeling bossy; it means she’s stronger and feeling more confident.
 
He’d give just about anything for her to know she’s powerful enough to stand on her own two feet.
 
Maybe then she wouldn’t be in such a hurry to move away and prove it to herself.

Chapter Forty-Two

THE WORMS ARE DISGUSTING.
 
NICOLE refuses to put their squirmy, squishy, dirt-smelling bodies on the hook.
 
It’s gross, it’s cruel, and it’s …
ew, just yuck.
 
She stares at the barbarian hook, its sharp little barb designed to keep the poor animal caught, causing it pain when it tries to escape.
 
She knows how it feels, so she can hardly be expected to just go along with the program.

“Here, give that to me,” Brian says.
 
He’s holding up a nice piece of freshly dug-up earthworm, the trout’s favorite afternoon meal.

“Bleck,
I don’t know how you do that.”
 
She looks away momentarily as he pierces the poor thing’s flesh.
 
This is the fifth one she’s had to watch, and she’s decided she’s done now.
 
Fishing is not for her.

“Dad, you’re not supposed to do it for her,” says Liam in a scolding tone.
 
“You’re breaking the rules.”

Nicole looks back at Brian as he focuses on wrapping the worm just right, so a slight nibble from a hungry fish won’t be enough to pull it off.
 
He wants that sucker to have to take a big old bite so he can become their dinner tonight.
 
“Son, there’s one thing you need to know about women.”

“Only one?”

“Yep.
 
Only one.
 
Here’s the big secret…”
 
He looks up and wiggles his eyebrows before delivering his little piece of wisdom.
 
“The rules do not apply to girls.”

“
None
of the rules?”
 
Liam is incredulous, his expression classic put-out little boy.

“Yep, pretty much none of them.
 
You just have to go with the flow where ladies are concerned.
 
Trust me.
 
Don’t try to fight it, don’t try to change it, just go with it.
 
You’ll be a much happier man in the end and she’ll be a happy person too.
 
It’s a win-win.”

Liam frowns, trying to work it all out in his head.
 
He finally looks up at Nicole and then Brian.
 
“That doesn’t seem fair at all to me.
 
I’m not gonna do that.”

Nicole pouts, turning on as much charm as she’s capable of displaying.
 
“You mean you’ll make me put that yucky worm on the hook all by myself?”

Liam shakes his head.
 
“No, I’ll do it for you, but
only
for you.
 
Other girls can do it theirselves.”

“Themselves,” says Brian.

“I know, that’s what I said, Dad.
 
Can I have another worm?”

“I just gave you one.”

“But a fish ate it.”
 
He holds up his empty hook, silvery wet droplets falling back into the water below where it dangles.

“You’re not putting it on right.”

Liam grins, tilts his head, and flutters his eyelashes like crazy.
 
“But I’m just a little girl and I don’t know what I’m doing.
 
Will you put the yucky wormy on the hook for me, pleeeease?”

Nicole shoves him gently.
 
“Hey, watch it, buddy.
 
That’s insulting.”
 
She can’t help but laugh.
 
Sometimes his sense of humor is way beyond his years.
 
Suddenly inspired, she says, “Here, give me your hook.
 
I’ll put a worm on it.”

“But you said you can’t,” says Liam, obviously excited about the prospect of her squealing again as she tries to manage her disgust.

“That was before you mocked me. Now I have to prove a point.”
 
She takes the end of the hook opposite the small sharp barb and grabs a skinny worm from the jar Brian has on the ground next to them.
 
Holding back her nausea, she makes short work of stabbing the small beast and re-stabbing it over and over as she wraps it around the hook.

She swallows with difficulty as she hands it over, battling the urge to shudder.
 
“There.
 
Hook baited.”
 
The still-moving brown lump makes her want to hurl, but she doesn’t.
 
Hurling is so not attractive, and she’s had so much fun pretending she is today.
 
Brian has played along nicely, too.
 
Her face warms at the idea of it.

Brian whistles.
 
“Daaamn, girl, you can seriously bait a hook.
 
You were holding out on me.
 
You’re in charge of all the hook baiting from now on.”

“Like heck I am,” she says, standing up.
 
“If that’s the case, we’ll be eating chips tonight for dinner.”
 
She bends down and washes her hands off in the river.
 
“I’m going to go get a book.
 
I’m done with the fishing for now.”

“Bring it back here so you can give us moral support.
 
You can sit on that downed tree over there and be the cheering section.
 
You remember how to get back?”

“Yep.
 
Through those trees and walk past all the ones we tied string to for five minutes, right?”

“You got it,” he says, casting his line into the water, his attention now on the fishing and not her.
 
Liam is doing the same.

“Be right back,” she says, taking a moment to watch father and son having a moment.
 
It warms her heart and makes her wish desperately that she could have that in her life forever.
 
It’s days like this that make it seem possible.

Nicole picks her way over stumps and rocks and uneven, squishy terrain, through the trees for the five-minute walk back to the car.
 
Birds chirp and occasionally take wing, the fluttering sounds giving her a start every time with their suddenness.
 
Her feet crack small branches as she shuffles through dead leaves, and rays of light that penetrate the heavy branches occasionally flash on her face and give her a brief moment of warmth.
 
Otherwise, it’s almost chilly in the dark woods, the mountain air getting cooler with every hour.

She reaches the edge of the campsite five minutes later, her eye on the truck.
 
Brian’s put the key in a magnetic holder under the wheel well so he won’t risk losing it on their fishing expedition.
 
His e-reader is in the back seat, and she knows just the book she’s going to start with.
 
He downloaded it for her right before they left; it’s a romance with a happy ending and no cliffhanger, according to the reviews.
Total bliss.
 
She’s in the mood for some happy endings for a change.

As she’s walking around the back of the truck to reach the driver’s side, an unexpected shuffling in the leaves up ahead makes her stop.
 
It sounds like there’s an animal just around the corner of the truck, and it must be a pretty big one, judging by the amount of leaves being moved.

Just as she’s thinking a bear might be trying to break into the truck, a head pops up, visible through the glass.

It’s not a bear.

A person is standing on the other side of the vehicle, right where she was headed.

It’s a man. A large one with dark hair and a familiar expression on his face.

John!

“NO!”
 
She screams, immediately panicked.
 
She turns around and runs as fast as her legs will carry her.
 
Get back to Brian!
 
Get back to Brian!
 
Brian will save me!
 
“No, John!
 
No!”
 
Her fear feels like its choking her.
 
She wants to vomit but she has to breathe.
 
Breathe!
 
Run!

Heavy, pounding footsteps come up behind her, easily overtaking her.

Her heart is going to explode.
 
Her legs are burning.
 
She’s almost to the trees.
 
If she can get to their safety, maybe she can dodge between them, find a big stick, do
something
to escape.

Something large and hard hits her on the back, making her lose her footing.

She goes down with a yell, her arms flying out in front of her to cushion her fall.
 
The one in the cast is useless, the pain excruciating when her hand bends backwards inside it as it makes contact with the forest floor.

She rolls partway onto her side with John’s weight on her bottom half.
 
He’s covering her legs, making it impossible for her to get away.

“Stop!
 
Nikki,
stop!”
John grunts out, crawling up and putting all his weight on top of her.
 
“I just want to talk to you!”

Nicole knows he doesn’t just want to talk.
 
If that were the case, all he’d have to do is talk.
 
He’s going to kill her now, she’s sure of it.

She kicks and screams and tears at him with her nails.
 
She ignores the stabbing pains in her ribs and arm and back so she can inflict as much damage on him as possible.
 
Maybe if she screams loud enough, Brian will come.
 
“Brian!
 
Brian!
 
Help!”