It's Not About You (16 page)

"Ever consider a hit man? Or hit woman? Or maybe just hit him?"
 

"Yeah. But Tanae loves her dad regardless. I did swear if I ever heard of him doing anything bad to her, I would kill him myself. But I don't think he's capable of that. He likes to control—but he's not a perv."
 

"You hope. Has he called you since his last threat to show up?"
 

"Nope."
 

The truth was I'd lost a lot of friends because of my marriage to him. Burt had been rude to them and one by one they vanished from my life until I was left with the narcissistic son of a bitch.
 

But I also had a beautiful daughter. And though given the chance to go back and change ever marrying the ass hole, I'd still fuck him just to have Tanae in my life.
 

But I would never, ever have married him.

The following week of November third was a busy one, both for me and for Michael. He and I barely saw each other. Even Kyle was scarce at home so I spent a lot of time at the shop, decorating for Thanksgiving and looking at new ways to use pumpkins and spice.
 

Heading to court on the TRO on Thursday wasn't the stress-filled nuisance it once was. And because Burt didn't show and I had recordings of his threatening phone calls and kept records of his text messages, the judge granted me a thirty day extension with the caveat that if Burt failed to show again, the restraining order would be permanent.
 

On Friday Kevin Taylor stepped through the door. It was mid-afternoon and the shop only had a few customers. The day was gray as rain clouds moved about as fast as blowing leaves. I actually came to work with a jacket.
 

At first I didn't know what to say. We hadn't seen each other since that night at Savage Pizza and he'd stopped calling and texting. I hadn't reached out to him either so…awkwardness ensued.
 

Debbie was on shift with me, along with Tom. He was outside smoking, which George permitted as long as they did it out the back and a good twenty feet from the building.
 

"Good afternoon," Debbie greeted him as I stood like some stone statue behind the dessert case. "What can I get you?"
 

"Oh…" Kevin had his badge around his neck and when he moved we both saw his holster and gun under his suit jacket. He also wore a long gray trench coat. "I need to see Grace for a few minutes."
 

"Sure." She turned to get me and then stopped when she realized I was right there. "Oh there she is."
 

I winked at Debbie before I stepped around the case and approached him. "Hey, Kevin. What's up?"

His salt and pepper brows arched up on his high forehead. "You're not mad at me?"

I narrowed my own eyes. "Why did you do something?"
 

"No…no. It's just that…" he said before he held up his hand. "Never mind." He reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out an envelope. "I didn't think you knew about this."
 

I took the envelope. It was white and had the seal of the State of Georgia on it. I pulled out the now familiar form and skimmed the contents. "That son of a bitch."
 

"Look, this is bogus. And we all know it. It's just Burt having a shit fit."
 

It was Burt being the dicky asshole he was. The crazy person had actually served me with a temporary restraining order. I looked up at Kevin. "You have to have a legitimate cause to have one of these. What grounds did he use with the Boston Police Department to have this done?"
 

"I don't know. I've got a call into an old colleague there, but at the station we all know it's bullshit. You've never done anything to him, or threatened him or attacked him. I mean, he lives in Boston and you have no plans of visiting him."
 

"Hell no I don't. And if he comes to my house at Thanksgiving? How does that work?"
 

"It works the way it's supposed to. This is filed in Boston which has no legal jurisdiction here. Just, if you ever go to Boston, avoid him. But here…your house is your house. Your property and he's supposed to remain 100 feet from you. So if he goes onto your property, your RO trumps his."
 

I stared at the sheet in front of me. How was it possible that people like Burt could be so intellectual but have no common sense or compassion? It always amazed me how cruel and just down right ugly he could be.
 

And childish.
 

"I wanted to bring it to you because I wanted to reassure you. Anyone else would've just tossed it at you and left. And…I know what a dick Burt is."
 

"Thanks, Kevin. You really are a nice guy."
 

"Yeah," He said as he raked his fingers through his short hair. "And we always finish last."
 

And then the awkward came in again. I folded the paper up and shoved it into my apron. "So…how are you?"
 

Kevin gestured for me to follow him to a corner by the front door. "Are we not going to talk about this, Grace?"

"Talk about what? About Michael?"
 

"You're still seeing him?"
 

We were keeping our voices down but no one was going to be fooled by volume. Not with the expression I had on my face. I was a little more irritated because he just served me with a TRO in the middle of the shop, and then pulled me to the corner to talk about Michael. Like he was a dirty little secret? "Yes I'm still seeing him. I'm happy, Kevin. Really happy."
 

"Don't you think it's just unseemly?"
 

I opened my mouth with the full intent to rake him over the coals—but I stopped. No. I was at work. I loved my job. I didn't want to freak Debbie out, and Tom who'd appeared from the back.
 

I could understand Kevin's frustration. As a woman, how many times had I seen older men dating younger women? Over and over again? Out with the old, in with the new?
 

I just didn't know where Kevin was coming from. So I lowered my voice even more. "Kevin…why does this bother you? Is it because you think older women and younger men don't belong together? Are we taping some kind of taboo with you?"
 

He was watching me. Close. And his expression sort of shifted from irritated to blank. It was several minutes before he spoke. "Grace…I just don't want you to get hurt again. I hate that you and I didn't work out."
 

"We didn't work out because you bailed." My finger came up. And it was just too hard to put it down. "Burt got to you because that's what he does. Michael's already seen that bastard's crazy. Well, just a taste of it. He hasn't left yet and I hope to God he doesn't." I lowered my hand. "You gave up when I needed someone and used the excuse that you and me didn't have the chemistry."
 

Forget the fact I agreed with him at the time, and I still did. If I hadn't of met Michael, I didn't know if I'd have asked Kevin out, or given his reaction to recent events, he wouldn't have asked me out. But it's hard for me to think things would be different. I spent fifteen years trying to fix a man who refused to acknowledge he was broken.
 

And for a cop…in my opinion, Kevin just didn't have the stomach.
 

His shoulders dropped and he gave a long, ragged sigh. "You're right. I did. Burt…I was having such a hard time dealing with Margo's dating someone new and I thought with you there was this possibility for new beginnings—"
 

"And then you met Burt."
 

"The man threw a glass of Scotch in my face."
 

"He's charming like that." I looked around the shop. No new customers. Debbie was starting fresh coffee for the afternoon and Tom had started sweeping and cleaning tables. "Kevin…"
 

"I know. You need to work. I just wanted to be the one to give you that. Don't pay it any attention. It's just Burt…"

"Being Burt." I managed a half smile. "I appreciate you doing that, Kevin. I really do."
 

"Good. Oh and about Thanksgiving—"
 

"Please come. Really? Tanae will be happy to see you." And I really wanted him there in case Burt showed up.
 

"Will Michael be spending the holiday with your family?"
 

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it, then sort of blinked up at him. This was not something I'd actually considered. Michael, the young good looking lover, in the same house with my sister, her husband and kids, Detective Kevin Taylor and…

Tanae.
 

I pulled my phone from my pocket and thumbed up the calendar. It was November 7
th
, two and a half weeks before what was becoming the dreaded event. Could I work Michael into weekly conversations with Tanae? Sort of…pre-prepare her?
 

Truth was I didn't even know Michael's plans for Thanksgiving. He might be planning something with his mom or his sister. Hell, being at my house might be the last thing on his mind.
 

"Grace?"
 

Oh. Crap. I'd nearly forgotten Kevin was there. I looked up at him apologetically. "To answer your question, I don't know. We haven't talked about it."
 

"I think for Tanae's sake, you should." He gave me a weak smile and headed out the door. Not even a goodbye.
 

Well, a court hearing hadn't given me a buzzkill, but talking to Kevin had. I checked my phone again for the time. 4:57 pm. Afternoon rush would start in fifteen minutes or so as people got off work. I wouldn't be off until seven.
 

A text from Michael slipped down over the time readout on my phone.
Hey gorgeous. Want to make a pizza tonight, drink wine, eat brownies and watch a movie?
 

And there was my smile again.
Sure.
I'll grab the ingredients on the way home.
 

I'll bring the wine and the brownie mix. Can't wait to see you. :-*

I laughed at his little kiss emoticon and slipped the phone back into my apron. I made a little mental note to talk with Michael about the encroaching holiday before it snuck up on me and everything went to hell.
 

Kyle wasn't home when I pulled up and let myself in. The house still smelled of the morning's routine. Bacon, butter, toast, and coffee. I put the pizza ingredients in the fridge but kept the dough out so it would be at room temperature, then pulled out a bottle of white wine, popped the cork and poured myself a glass.
 

My cellphone buzzed in my back pocket. I looked at the caller's profile and smiled. "Hey baby girl."
 

"Mom," Tanae's voice, sounding so grown up now (weep!) answered. "You've got to stop calling me that."
 

"Never." I took my phone and my wine to the back deck and turned on the heater. "So, what's up?"
 

"I need to talk to you about Thanksgiving."
 

Uh oh. My heart literally dropped into my panties. "Tanae…no. Please. You have to come. I haven't seen you since May!" Then I dropped into the chair closest to the heat.
 

She sighed and I thought I heard a laugh in there. There were other noises behind her voice that sounded like a restaurant, or some kind of store. "No mom, that's not it. I'm not missing coming home. Trust me. I
want
to come home. You have no idea."
 

"Boy troubles?"
 

There was a long pause. Ooh…am I good or what? "Maybe."
 

"Boy there or boy…here?"
 

"You already know him."
 

That didn't mean anything. I knew a lot of her friends and she had a lot of male friends. I kicked off my shoes and realized I was still wearing my work clothes. Blech. I needed to change into comfy sweats, no bra and a loose tee-shirt. So I got up and headed into the house to my bedroom. "Can you give me a hint?"