Fostering Love (The Soul Sisters Series Book 1) (22 page)

When we get home Neely comes in with me to make sure I call Barbara, apparently she’s been unbearable.  Chris has brought the bags in and we hug, I don’t say much to him, I don’t need to but I do tell him I know how lucky I am that he’s in my life and that I love him dearly.  I get a smile and a wave in return and he leaves after a strange glance in Neely’s direction, one that I’m too tired to try and figure out.

“Dalton Frobisher, for the love of GOD where have you been? And why haven’t you returned my calls?”  Barbara is mad.

“I’m sorry Barbara, I’ve been out of town working, had little or no cell phone reception and a bit of a flu thing, but I’m back and I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“WORRIED!  I was imagining all sort of stuff, but you’re back, do not do this again. Poor Harrison has had a tough time of it, I’ve made that man’s life miserable, he’s just about had enough of my bad moods.”  Her initial rant is over, but she makes sure her message is received and understood.  “Can you come for dinner tomorrow night?” she asks. Panic sets in, I don’t want another ambush or to see Jonas yet…or ever.  “It’ll just be me, you and Harrison, and I’ve been told to tell you that there will be no ambush, although why he thinks bringing that up again is going to improve my moods, I’ll never know.”  Barbara is fine now because the rambling mode of conversation has kicked in.

“OK then, yeah, I’ll pop over, what time?”

“5pm.  OK, get some rest, those flu things can take a while to get over you know.”

“OK, see you tomorrow,” I say and hang up.  She’s knows that I’ve not had the flu but doesn’t want to ask straight away why I’ve been AWOL.

Neely leaves with a sorrowful, pitying expression on her face, but I assure her I feel better now I’m back surrounded by my own creature comforts.  A warm soak in the tub and a mug of chocolate see me though to bed time, where I fall asleep promising myself that tomorrow is a new day and I will do whatever it takes to put dark thoughts to the back of my mind.  Tomorrow is my fresh start.

I was functioning well, I’d successfully resumed my place amongst the living and normal members of day walking society.

My first encounter at Barbara and Harrison’s for dinner was fine, although she did make some comments like “Past decisions were made with the best of intentions” and “You do things for your loved ones that have an impact that you can never predict” and so on.  I didn’t comment whilst she said these, but I knew she was referring to Jonas going in to the navy and us not having the chance to be together.  Neely was hovering permanently, she was truly worried about my decision to use alcohol as a coping mechanism, but she didn’t make me feel stifled, so I was happy to be around her to reassure her it was a one time thing and I was OK.  I hadn’t seen or heard from Jonas in over two weeks, our last contact had been our one night.  Part of the reason Neely stuck close was to make sure I was strong enough to deal with him if he emerged from the shadows he’d retreated into.

Chris had text a lot and popped round, he never raised the subject of his friend and neither did I, but I knew that in a town as small as ours there was no way we’d be able to avoid each other for ever.  In general, I was back at work, keeping in touch with Mig and Pamela and picking up small pieces of work for them.  I was also looking forward to the Mayor’s Day Festival so I could finish off the brochure for Oli.  The only thing I was struggling with was my health, I had no appetite, felt queasy and had some balance issues if I stood up too quickly.  For these reasons alone, I totally regret the drinking assault I went on to forget
that
night.  My usually Google medical diagnosis method told me that I was super close to having alcohol poisoning; realizing you could have ended up in hospital sure gives you a wake up call.  The fact that I couldn’t even stomach the smell of it anymore was testament to how bad it had affected me.  So I carried on doing my thing whilst my binge drinking worked its way out of my system.  I should have taken some pictures of myself and become the poster girl to warn teenagers of the dangers of over indulgence.

I’ve also bumped into Tommy a few times and although it’s not been in the least bit awkward, it’s been nice to see his warm and smiling face.  When I do see him I can tell he is looking at me and trying to see if I’m ready for more yet, I must be giving off negative vibes though because he never actually asks me.  Purps has been a no go zone, not least because
they’ll
both be there, but because I just don’t feel well enough.  Mudjoes has also been Jonas free too, which makes me think he is definitely avoiding me, coffee has always been his go to staple diet item.

The day of the Mayor’s Day Festival arrives and it’s set to be a lovely sunny day.  I go every year and feel blessed to be reminded of the community spirit that is alive and vibrant in my home town.  I always take my camera but this time I am officially working, I have a purpose whilst I’m here and I need to get round to as many stalls and activities as I can, I need to capture the atmosphere of the day.  Besides that it should be a relatively easy shoot, just point and click and let the magic happen, I’m hoping that the weather only enhances what I capture and I obtain the true essence of a summer festival in my shots.

Neely and Chris are chaperoning me, we’re all going to wander round and spy out potential photo opportunities.  This is their excuse anyway, I know that it’s really because there is a fair chance I will bump into Jonas and Tits will probably be about as well.  Lottie and Oli will also be mooching about doing the walk round together, Oli in his capacity as town power retail magnate and Lottie as his fake girlfriend and Sonny and Flo are manning the high school’s ‘dunk a teacher’ stall which as you can imagine is popular.

When we arrive it’s as lively as ever and I immediately slip into professional mode; taking shots, checking them every so often, changing batteries and swapping memory cards and then repeating it.  I’m looking forward to the food stalls and the usual home baked goodies, but as soon as I hit them my stomach starts to roll.  By the time I’m knee deep in cakes, cookies, toffee apples and cotton candy I feel really sickly and try to get the shots quickly so I can carry on without losing what little breakfast I had this morning.  Chris and Neely continue to scout for picture opportunities but now they’re doing it armed with sugary goodies. 

As we round the one stall I can stomach, Mudjoes coffee, I look up and see Jonas coming in our direction.  I freeze and feel the edges of my vision blur, my breathing becomes shallow and I know I’m heading for a panic attack.  Neely sees this change in me and then spots the reason and takes measures to keep me upright, by the time my vision returns and I take a glance at him again he looks horrified.  He looks like someone has told him there is no Santa Claus and Easter Bunny all in the same day.  Chris urges us forward and I keep my death grip on my camera and my eyes revert back to looking at the ground as we get closer.

“Dalton...”

“Don’t you fucking dare Jonas, you’ve done enough.  Stay the fuck away from her,” Neely sneers and cuts him up sharply.  I just hope no one is close enough to witness or hear her, she then leans forward as if this small beautiful thing is going to take a swing at this huge man mountain.

“Dalton,” he ignores her, “I just need to know you’re OK.”  His voice is soft like he’s pleading for an answer, but specifically the right answer to ease his own pain.

“Of course she’s not fucking OK.  How’d you think she’d be after you got your selfish fill of her and then fucked off.”  Neely leans in further and snarls this reply back to him.

“Neely calm down, it’s not the time or the place,” says Chris stepping into the mediator’s position.  “Jonas, not now mate, come by the ranch for a beer and we’ll talk,” Jonas just nods at him in reply, looks at me again and then goes on his way, looking at the ground whilst rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.  I release my grip on my camera and start to panic. 

“Chris...you... no... Please.  Don’t tell him how you found me, you can’t”. He senses my panic and swoops in to calm me down.

“Dolly sssh, don’t worry, I won’t.  I just needed to get kneecap Neely here to step down.”  His frustration is clear when he just looks at her and shakes his head.  Then we move on and try to carry on with the day.

A recent development of the Mayor’s Day Festival has been that the event continues into the night, two or three local-ish bands are invited to play into the night and it’s like an outdoor gig with lights, dancing and beer.  I need to hang around to cover this even though I’m not feeling well again.  The one thing that is new this year is that the beer tent is being provided and manned by the Purps team; unfortunately this means that both Jonas and Tits have a legitimate reason to be here.  I have to get shots of this set up because it’s obviously a crowd pleaser.  The only other problem with this is that right now the smell of stale beer and kegs is causing my delicate stomach to pitch.  I stay as long as I can, avoiding the bar with Chris and Neely and then have to go outside for fresh air. 

When the three of us get outside we see a suspicious looking guy manhandling Tits.  It’s clear that they know each other; the argument looks intense and personal.   My suggestion is to turn around and head somewhere else, but Neely is keen to hang around and watch so she can give Tits a dose of her own gossipy medicine.  However, Chris, ever the gentleman is not at one with letting this plan play out, especially as the man is getting angrier.   “I’m going to go and see if Jonas wants to come out and help her, technically she’s working tonight and this is his turf.”  It’s a lame excuse, but he can’t really tell me that he’s going to go and get him so he can rescue the mother of his unborn child who looks like she’s about to get punched by some red neck.

“OK,” Neely says. “We’ll stand by just in case he does anything, although I’m not feeling like she deserves any help.  However I may be a witness if
he
needs it.  Oh the bloody irony.”

Chris scoots off quickly and comes back with a mad looking Jonas in tow.  I try and retreat, I don’t want to see him defending her, but Neely isn’t budging, or letting me budge and Chris is clearly flanking Jonas in case things get out of control.  This is when the argument really gets going.

“Jonas honey, it’s nothing, there’s no trouble here; Billy was just leaving, weren’t your Billy?”

“Take your fuckin’ hands off her and if you still want the opportunity to leave on your own two legs you’ll start doing it quicker,” says Jonas.

“Ha!  Fuckin’ seriously, is this him Letitia, you’ve done good this time. I can see why he’s taking so much time and effort,” replies Billy who still has a mauling paw on Tits’s arm.

“Billy, please just go, I’m at work,” she says again, looking really uncomfortable now... or maybe she’s afraid.

“I’m not going to ask again, take your fuckin’ hands off of her.”  It’s clear that Jonas’s hold on his temper is rapidly fading.

“Letitia, what in the fuck possessed you to pick the Hulk?  He don’t look like the type you can wrap around that pretty cunt of yours.”  The color is draining from her face, as Billy continues, “Time to cut our losses babe, if he ain’t taken you on by now he ain’t going to.”

“Billy, please,” she’s now visibly shaking and looking worried, whilst the rest of us just watch this car crash unfold, Billy, unfortunately is on a roll.

“Fuck me, you actually like this chump.  What have I told you?  A mark is a mark,” he shouts.

“What did you just say?” Jonas hisses as Chris moves closer to him, this has the potential to go south quickly and he knows it.  “I asked you a fuckin’ question and I want an answer,” he repeats.

“Jonas, Billy is just shouting his mouth off, he’s leaving so we can talk about this later. Yeah?” Tits is shitting herself about something.

“No one goes anywhere until I get some FUCKIN’ ANSWERS.  Start talking.”  Jonas glares at her and then shifts his stare to indicate he expects Billy to give him those answers.

“Jonas...”

“Letitia, I wasn’t asking you, shut your goddamn mouth,” and sensibly for once, she does.

“Well Jonas, my pretty Letitia has been playing you, it’s a baby scam she’s run a number of times on other schmuks.  Only this time it seems that the stupid fuckin whore has gone and fallen for her mark.”

OH.  MY.  GOD.

There are tears falling down her cheeks and I feel terrible witnessing this ugliness.

“Jonas, please, honey, listen to me...”

“I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP,” he literally roars this in her face.

“Hey, don’t speak to her like that, otherwise we’re gonna have a big problem man,” this comes from a Billy, who clearly is a dumb ass.

“You’ve already got a big fuckin’ problem,” Jonas warns him and now Chris is virtually rubbing shoulders with him.

“Jonas, I’m sorry, I never meant for you to find out like this,” she says.

“Find out what?” he asks.

“That she isn’t fucking pregnant you dick, she never was, she just wants your money, only it seems Letitia has upped her game and trying to work it for the long haul,” Billy retorts.

Jonas is rock solid now. I’m fairly sure he’s in this state so he can keep control of his muscles and probably in an effort to stop him killing one or both of them.

“Jo, I’m sorry, but...by the time you... I thought...I just.” Letitia is upset and can’t form a sentence that makes any sense or offers any explanation, even if she could, I’m not sure how she’d talk herself out of this one.