Szot, JC - The South Window (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (22 page)

“How we doing?” He reached for her hand. Allie let him close his thick fingers over hers.

“She broke my tooth.” Allie massaged her cheek.

“You need to see a dentist then. Where’s your phone book?”

“There’s a list of numbers tacked up near the phone,” Allie mumbled, not wanting to move her jaw.

Allie listened to Marty make the arrangements in a muffled tone, booking her appointment. Allie let the tears come, falling onto the finished wood of the table, her nerves unraveling. Rivers of tension flowed out of her body. Marty hung up the phone, circled around the table, and sat down next to her.

“Hey, it’s over now. Done.” He placed his arm around her, his palm smoothing down her back.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come.” Allie looked up at him. Paths of tears dried on her cheeks.

“Well, I did come, so try not to think about that.” His voice low and comforting, almost sedating her.

“You have an appointment tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., okay? I’ll take you.”

She nodded, taking a deep breath. “How did you know?” Allie shifted in her chair.

“I knew she was going to do something, I just didn’t know when.” He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t see her walk over, but I heard you yelling. I was outside. Thank God I was outside.” He pushed his sweaty hair back from his forehead.

“Did she really have porn in her house?” Allie pressed her tongue on her tooth, blocking the cool air from connecting with the nerve.

“Remember when you made me go take my boots off? That’s when I saw it, but who knows what was going on with the drugs. It’s the drugs that’ll get her put away.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Allie asked, slightly annoyed.

“I figured the less you knew, the better, especially where those two guys were concerned. I did it for your safety.” Marty raised his hand at her, his point insisting.

“Thank you.” Allie swallowed, her throat dry.

“You’re all right. That’s all that matters—and by the way, I’m staying here until Dan comes home.” His words were clipped. Allie glanced at him. Marty’s hardened expression told her that she couldn’t argue with him.

“I’m staying right in there on the couch.” He pointed. “End of story.”

* * * *

A week later, Dan came home. Allie waited up for him, his flight a red-eye. That night in bed she held him tight, sealing their bodies together. She couldn’t sleep, wanting to watch him, afraid if she drifted off he’d be gone when she woke up.

It was a bright, sunny Monday morning. A mild chill was in the air, the autumn season closing in. Allie was upstairs in the bedroom. Their suitcases lay open on the bed. She neatly folded their clothes, her anticipation soaring as their departure drew near. Allie heard voices outside. She glanced out the window and saw a patrol car in the driveway. She tossed her toiletry bag into the suitcase and darted down the stairs.

Marty and Dan were speaking to two officers, one of them pointing across the street to Tess’s house. Her body grew stiff, weight pressing on her bones. The four men seemed to be having a congenial conversation, but anything that involved Tess meant one thing for Allie—trouble.

The meeting broke up with the shaking of hands all around the circle. Allie watched Marty and Dan walk toward the workshop, the door closing behind them. Allie stood at the glass door. Her nerves began to wrap around themselves, cutting off life’s circulation. The familiar sickness she’d suffered with all summer now returned like an unwelcomed visitor. Allie kept turning to glance at the clock, its hands inching around the face. She shoved her finger into her mouth, chewing on her nail with the pain-free side of her mouth, sick over what they might be discussing.

She would lose Dan over this. Their lives would become an angry, resentful mess. Allie had no one to blame but herself. This mess was her fault. She made the decision to throw away her relationship with Dan the night she slept with Marty.

* * * *

Marty could see Allie watching them across the yard from the other side of the glass door. He closed the workshop door, sealing off her questioning eyes. Dan walked toward the window, staring out aimlessly. Marty reached up on the shelf and took out a bottle of whisky. Dan turned away from the window. His eyes were glazed over, the color of a storm cloud. Marty lifted the bottle to his lips, welcoming the burn as the liquor hit the back of his throat. He walked closer to Dan, holding the small, brown bottle.

“Take your best shot,” he said, his words choked. “It can be my face, or the bottle.” The whisky seeped into his insides, curling around his belly like a warm cat.

“I’d rather have a shot of that.” Dan ran his hand through his sandy-brown hair. Loose strands fell back over his brow. Marty handed him the bottle. Dan tipped the bottle back, his throat pulling in the liquid fire. He handed the bottle back to Marty, his lips curling over his teeth from the burn. Dan thrust his hands into the pockets of his shorts, facing the window again.

“I’m not going to verbally assault Allie, or lay you out.” Dan’s words were strained, forcing their way out. He raised a hand, taking a breath. “You know, Marty…” Dan pressed his fingers into the bridge of his nose, his gaze falling to the floor. “I spent most of my childhood cowering under a bed, hugging my younger brother while we listened to my old man rant and rave and beat up on my mother. I made a promise to myself that I would never be like him.” Dan’s lips pressed into a thin line, his words sharpening. Marty leaned against the workbench, sipping the whisky.

“Man to man.” Marty paused, selecting his words carefully. “What I did was wrong.” Marty’s interview with the police had brought his and Allie’s indiscretions out into the open, needing to explain the antecedent to Tess’s violent confrontation.

“You were both wrong, but you were there for her. You gave Allie what she needed, what I should’ve been giving her. I tried to do the right thing, but…” Dan’s voice fell quiet. “Things just got so out of hand at work, the demands.” Marty cleared his throat, desperately wanting to say what he felt about Dan’s job.

“Yeah, what you both did behind my back was wrong,” Dan continued, “but I can’t overlook the fact that you may have saved Allie’s life. Tess.” Dan shook his head again, his eyes narrowed. “How fucked up can a person get?” His laughter was laced with ridicule. Marty handed the bottle back to him, Dan took another swig.

“No amount of money can replace you being there,” Marty said cautiously.

“Yeah.” Dan released a breath. “Money, money, money.” He waved his hand through the air. “Look where that got me. As a kid, my family never had any. Now I have plenty, but everything has its fucking price. Isn’t that right, Marty?” Dan’s face was lined with anger, anger that seemed to be directed more at himself.

“You just gotta balance things out, that’s all.” Marty rested his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “I could’ve easily fallen in love with Allie. It was me who stepped back first, not to float my own raft.” Marty met his eyes. Dan’s body had tired, his shoulders rounded, the look of defeat coating his face. “Tess was a shitty friend. I was here. There wasn’t anyone else.” Marty tried to downplay the attraction, making it look more like a convenience, though a piece of him was dying inside. He’d been so damn close, teetering on the edge, thinking he’d walked away before it happened, but the pain he felt now was love, there was no denying it.

“I better get over there.” Dan released a hissing breath. “Allie’s probably petrified that we’re locked up in here.” Marty opened the door for him. Dan stepped out of the workshop, and started walking across the yard, but then stopped, and turned around, retracing his steps.

“I’m not sorry it was you.” Dan raked the hair out of his eyes, his brows knitted. “I can’t even explain it, this feeling I have, I’m almost thankful it was you.” With that, Dan turned away.

Marty watched Dan amble across the yard, unable to comprehend what’d just happened. The world he was from would’ve beaten him to a pulp. There seemed to be a mutual agreement that they’d both fucked up, but if he were anywhere else with someone else’s woman, he would’ve been screwed.

* * * *

As Dan crossed the yard, Allie tried to read his expression, but his head was lowered to the ground. As his strides brought him closer, misery began to move through her. Allie stood by the door, running her tongue over the new cap covering her tooth, dazzling white, shiny and smooth. Dan walked into the kitchen, his brows furrowed, scratching his head, his expression one of confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Allie’s heart was beating wildly.

“I think we should sit down.” Dan gestured to a chair.

Allie’s imagination was running recklessly. Images of her distorted summer flashed through her mind. Did Dan know about her and Marty? Had Tess somehow gotten to Dan? Or did she get back at her and Marty by reporting to the police that Marty had drawn his rifle on her? Did Marty confess to their involvement? Allie sat down across from Dan. He reached for her hand, his fingers long and smooth, so different from Marty’s calloused touch.

“Tess is in the hospital in critical condition. They plan to transfer her to a rehab facility in a week or so.” Dan sank back in his chair.

Allie’s sore jaw dropped in disbelief. A brief wave of relief washed over her, only to be squelched by guilt for reacting this way, relieved that Tess was incarcerated.

“What happened?” Her brain swelled with all the possibilities. Snippets ran through her mind again like a low-budget movie on fast forward. The two men, the production company, the argument she’d witnessed over money, the drugs in her bedroom.

“This is terrible. I mean…I never really cared for her, but…they found her in her car out on a rural road near Readington. She was beat up pretty bad.” Dan squeezed her hand, his fingers stroking over hers.

“Oh, my God.” Allie covered her mouth.

“According to the police, they think she may have been involved with some bad people, Allie. Did you know anything about that? Marty seemed to know a few things, but what the hell was she doing?” Dan shook his head.

“Tess was a member of the Readington swing club,” Allie told him. “Marty actually found this out after they’d started dating. She tried to recruit him in, you know?” Allie turned and looked out the window across the street, the patrol car now parked in Tess’s driveway.

“Yeah, Marty told the police everything,” Dan said, his voice gentle.

“She got involved with drugs and pornography soon after you left for Switzerland,” Allie whispered, feeling embarrassed for her.

“I just can’t get over this. I mean, what the hell was she thinking?” Dan crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Things got very bizarre after you left.” Allie tried to hold his gaze. She desperately needed to come clean. She would never get a fresh start with Dan unless she told him everything.

Chapter 28

Women are often accused of manipulating men with their tears, but Allie’s remorse poured out of her, a poison she could no longer keep ingesting.

“Allie…” Dan slid his chair closer to hers, grasping both her hands, holding on tight.

The briny taste of her tears stung her cheeks. Dan’s eyes held hers, like a soft caress, open and full of tenderness, his forehead creased with worry.

“I’ve done something, something I’m not proud of.” Allie hid her face, wanting to shrink, wishing the floor would open and swallow her. “I don’t know how or why I got caught up in it.”

“Allie, I’ve spoken to Marty.” Dan’s fingers glided over her cheek, a soothing, therapeutic stroke.

Allie stared at him, unsure of what to say, not knowing exactly what Marty had told him.

“But Dan…I need to…”

“Allie, you’ve always had so much love to give. If I were here, I would’ve been able to receive it. I left you here alone for weeks at a time, with a loose and mentally deranged friend and your artwork.” Dan frowned, his eyes weighted.