Sharing You

12

Brody

June 17, 2015

“I JUST NEED to know if you think I should get an attorney, or what the best way to go about this would be.”

Chief sat there with a dumbfounded expression on his face, and after a few seconds blinked his eyes quickly and shook his head. “Honestly, I’m lost, Saco,” he said as he threw his hands up. “So, according to the reports, she didn’t take the pills. Then she refused to go home with you when she was released from the hospital. And now already the next day is demanding to come back to your home with you?”

“Do you see why I’m so close to breaking? I almost took your advice yesterday morning, Chief. I was this close to saying screw the whole thing and stepping back from trying to get her help. Then I found her on the floor of her bathroom unconscious, and now all this is happening. She. Needs. Help. And all her parents are doing is enabling her crazy fits. I don’t know if all three of them are in on this, or if I’m honestly just missing something.”

“Play the voice mail again.”

Leaning forward, I tapped my screen and hit the voice mail that Olivia’s dad had left me two hours before. He’d called thirty minutes after Olivia’s constant calling and sobbing voice mails had stopped to let me know that he was calling his attorney and they would be coming after me for spousal neglect because I couldn’t afford to pay for the hospital while she was in it, couldn’t afford her lifestyle, and refused to provide shelter seeing as I wouldn’t let her back in the house.

I hadn’t paid the ER fee at the hospital because Mr. Reynolds had told the administrator not to bother asking me for payment since I couldn’t afford bread, much less a hospital visit; then he more or less threw his credit card at the woman. I couldn’t afford Liv’s lifestyle because she wanted to be like the fucking Cunninghams and thought $100 shoes were for homeless people. And it wasn’t that I wasn’t letting her back in the house. She still had her key, and I sure as shit hadn’t changed the locks. I just hadn’t asked her to come back, and Liv, being the girl she was, wanted me to beg her to come back. Seeing as how I couldn’t stand the woman and was trying to get her help before I divorced her, I had no desire to beg her to come anywhere near me.

So if that was spousal neglect, then yeah, the attorney definitely had a reason to go after me. While I knew he didn’t, I knew Liv and her family, and I wouldn’t have put it past them to somehow find a way to have something on me.

“I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered as Mr. Reynolds’s voice drifted to an end on my phone.

“I don’t blame you, but you have to be strong. Don’t let this break you, not after everything you’ve been through. Have you—” Chief cut off and eyed me for a moment. “I know you’re not happy. Have you ever thought of leaving her?”

“That’s what I meant just now. I’ve been wanting to for over a month now, but I wanted to get her help first. I can’t, though. I can’t help her if this is how they come back at me. You have no idea how responsible I feel for the woman Olivia has turned into, but I’ve been done with her for years. And now . . . well, now I’m done being responsible for her too. If they want to make it seem like I faked her suicide attempt, and then threaten me with their attorney because I’m not asking her to come back home the next day, then her parents can take care of her.”

Saying the words out loud, even if just to my chief, made this crushing weight slowly begin to lift from my chest. And suddenly, I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d dealt with her for far too long, I’d made Kamryn wait for this for too long, and now that I knew that Olivia was a lost cause, there was nothing else to wait for.

I stood up quickly, and Chief gave me an odd smile. It was happy, but still somehow pained. Like he knew this was something I’d agonized over, but needed nonetheless. “Well, I guess you’ll probably be getting an attorney regardless, then. Just let me know if you need tonight off.”

Shaking my head, I grabbed my phone and headed toward the door. “I’ll be in. Thank you for listening.”

As I drove to an attorney’s office in town I called Kamryn, but she didn’t answer. Knowing she was either near Kinlee or too busy at work, I didn’t bother leaving a message and tossed my phone in a cup holder. I tried to calm my anxious shaking as I drove and focused on what was to come. I was finally going to do what I should have done long ago.

I walked in, told the receptionist what I needed, gave her my name, and took a seat in the lobby. Not three minutes later, a woman in a suit walked out.

“Mr. Saco?”

“Yes.” Standing, I offered my hand, which she shook.

“I was told you were looking to file for divorce. Is that correct?”

My hands started shaking even harder, and my stomach tightened in anticipation. “That’s correct.”

With a smile, she nodded once and took a step back. “Okay, just making sure I knew what to be ready for. I’m finishing up something that needs to be sent over to a client. It will only take a few minutes, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be here.”

“All right then. Ten minutes tops!” she said with a smile and hurried back down the hallway.

Thirty minutes later, a man in a suit that had to cost more than I made in a month walked into the building.

“Brody Saco, what a pleasant surprise seeing you here.”

I raised my eyebrow and straightened in the chair. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Oh, well, not exactly. But you’re about to if you decide to continue on with what you’re about to do. I’m J. Shepherd, but I’m sure you would have figured that out sooner or later in this conversation.”

I locked my jaw and my eyes narrowed as I recognized the familiar name. Olivia and her parents threw it around enough, there was no way not to know it. He was her parents’ attorney.

“You know what I just find absolutely hilarious?” he asked as he took the seat next to me. “Other than the fact that you really thought I didn’t have enough pull in the surrounding cities to have them watching for you and to call me when you finally came in? And to file for divorce too. I had bet it would be for a defense attorney.” He clucked his tongue. “Guess I lost out on that three hundred dollars.”

“What do you want?” I said through gritted teeth.

“Right. So this is what I find funny. A man who was driving when an accident occurred, which resulted in killing his son, and the same man who tried to make his wife’s fainting look like a suicide attempt . . . is now wanting to file for divorce. I’m seeing a pattern. If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Saco, you only married Olivia Reynolds because she was going to have your baby. Is that correct?”

I didn’t say anything. I just sat there trying to control my breathing.

“I’ll take your silence as a confirmation. So that means you never really wanted a life with her, and that includes a family. It is quite convenient that your son is out of the picture. And now, after waiting a long enough time that it wouldn’t seem suspicious to most, you try to get your wife put in a psych ward before divorcing her. Now that, Mr. Saco, seems very suspicious, if you ask me. And since we are asking me . . . I’ll just inform you now that if you continue with your filing, we will press charges for trying to make Olivia look suicidal so you could force her into a psych ward, which will only bring up the question of whether the car accident was actually an accident or not.”

My breaths were coming fast, too fast. It felt like I was going to be sick. This couldn’t be happening.

“We wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?”

“What game are you all playing at? No one in that family, including Olivia, can stand me. She’s always making bullshit accusations about things I’ve done that have scared her. She’s said I’ve hurt her. For Christ’s sake, her parents put in a formal complaint to get me fired for it. They made this huge, dramatic scene at the hospital yesterday about not letting me near her because of what I had allegedly done. And now suddenly it’s the opposite? They want to file something against me because I haven’t called begging her to come home when she can willingly do it herself? They have you watching for me, and you’re coming in here threatening me if I file for divorce? What is the point of all this back-and-forth bullshit?”

“Ooh.” He held his hands up and winced. “Threatening is such a harsh word, Mr. Saco. As a lawyer, I’m not threatening; I’m simply strongly advising you against something you would regret immensely. Most people pay me five hundred an hour for this kind of advice. You’re lucky I’m giving it to you for free.”

I stood and started to leave, but stopped when he grabbed my wrist.

“Mr. Saco, I am strongly advising you that you go home and take care of your wife the way you’re supposed to. You don’t want the Reynoldses to have to call me again. We wouldn’t want to see what would happen to your career, or your brother’s, or heaven forbid your house, his house, or your parents’ house if you decide to ignore my advice. I’ll tell you once again, this is merely advice. You don’t want to see what happens when I start threatening.”

Slowly, I turned to look down at him and watched as his challenging eyes met mine.

“Now you have a nice day, Mr. Saco.”

Kamryn

June 17, 2015

I HANDED OFF a tray of pastries to Grace to take up to the front and turned to begin filling and icing a few dozen cupcakes when the shop’s phone rang. Looking around the counter until I spotted it, I grabbed it and put it between my shoulder and cheek.

“KC’s Sweet Treats,” I said by way of greeting.

“Hey.”

I stopped reaching for the cupcakes as my body heated and tingled, my stomach simultaneously started churning, and I held my breath. One word. One simple word and I felt like I could easily faint from the effect his voice had on me—or get sick because of the stress I could tell he was trying so hard to hide.

“Brody, what happened?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Nothing. I, uh, I’d just called you earlier and never heard back. I wanted to be able to get ahold of you before I went in to work.”

“You called?” I patted my apron and pockets and sighed. “I don’t have my phone on me. It’s either in my purse or my car, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t—Kamryn, don’t ever say you’re sorry.”

My forehead bunched together in confusion and worry. “Brody, what’s wrong?”

“Nothi—”

“Don’t lie, what you just said is not something you would say in normal conversation. And besides that, you never call me before work, and I can hear it in your voice—something happened. So tell me.”

He was silent for a few heavy moments, and in that time I felt the blood draining from my face.

“There are just times when I need to hear your voice. I need to be able to talk to you because I can’t see you . . . and I just need you.” He cursed away from the phone. “For so many reasons.”

I worried my bottom lip as I waited for anything else he might have to say, but there was nothing. “You’re scaring me,” I admitted softly.

“I want to be able to give you everything, Kamryn . . . and it kills me that I’m in a situation where I can’t. But you know what makes it that much harder? I feel like I don’t know how to get out of the situation and get through all this bullshit without you right there. Right. Fucking. There. By my side. But because of the circumstances, I have to find a way.”

“Brody . . .”

“And sometimes that just feels impossible.”

My chest ached for him, and it felt like I was struggling to stay standing as I listened to him admit all this to me. “Tell me what happened,” I pleaded.

“Nothing,” he finally replied. “Nothing happened, sweetheart. I’m just trying to figure out a way for this all to go away for us, and some days it seems harder than others. I wanted to vent and hear your voice. That’s all.”

My lips tilted up slightly, but that sickening feeling like he wasn’t telling me everything wasn’t lessening.

Brody

June 17, 2015

STEPPING INTO THE kitchen late that night after work, I froze when I saw Olivia sitting at the table.

“Brody, I—” She cut off on a sob and dropped her head into her hands, her entire body shaking with the movements. “I’m so sorry.”

I didn’t make a move toward her, and I didn’t say anything. It was all I could do to keep from clenching my jaw so hard that it felt like it was about to break. My hands curled into fists, and I crossed my arms over my chest to keep them close. I wouldn’t touch her, but I didn’t trust myself to not throw whatever was closest to me right now.

“They made me do it, you have to believe me. They made me say you planted it! I didn’t want to, but you know how my parents are.”

My eyebrows shot up at her desperate plea for me to believe her. Tears included, this was the sanest I’d seen Liv in years. “What are you saying, Olivia?”

“I didn’t—couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted to be with Tate,” she sobbed and clutched at her chest. “I can’t deal with this pain, Brody. It’s killing me! So I-I-I just took them all.”

Walking over to the kitchen table, I pulled out the chair closest to her and sat down. Leaning forward, I grabbed her arms as gently as possible, and pulled them back when she tried to cover her face again. “Olivia . . . what? No, the report came back. The doctor said you didn’t have any of it in your system.”

“They must have something on him, or paid him off . . . something! They told me they couldn’t have this ruining their family name, so they needed to make it seem like a medical condition. But, Brody, I swear I didn’t know they were going to try to throw the blame on you! I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head back and forth and leaned back in the chair. “No. No way. Liv, you’re just as manipulative as they are. The things you’ve been telling them—no. I’m not falling for this shit again,” I said as I stood to leave.

“Brody, please!”

“How do you expect me to believe you after everything you’ve done since we got married, Olivia?!” I yelled, and she flinched back in her seat. “I’ve excused your behavior, I’ve looked the other way, and I’ve tried to get you help. But no matter what I do, you and your parents are right there trying to screw me over for it.”

“I didn’t want to admit I needed help! I didn’t want to admit I was that weak!” she cried, her voice breaking on the last word. “I’m telling you, and I’ve told you—I can’t do this. But my parents . . . they don’t understand, and—and—what was I supposed to do, Brody? I couldn’t tell them that I wanted to die! I couldn’t tell them I didn’t have the will to live anymore, so I just put it off on you. I’m sorry for that, but it just seemed easiest at the time.”

“Seem—seemed easiest?!” Raking my hands roughly through my hair, I turned and took a few steps before turning back toward her. “Are you fucking kidding me? They tried to get me fired! They tried to get my peace officer license taken away, Liv!”

“They may have acted on things too harshly, but they were doing what they thought was best for their name, and for me. They’re just trying to protect me!”

“I don’t give a shit what they thought they were doing! The three of you—no! The four! You, your parents, and their attorney have been ruining my life. All of this has got to stop, do you hear me? You need to tell your parents what’s happening with you. You need to tell them that you’re suicidal, Liv. And you need to let me get you some help!”

She cried harder and shook her head back and forth. “I can’t! It would be such an embarrassment to them!”

I flung my arms out to the side and my voice got even louder. “Tell me how it could be a fucking embarrassment for their daughter to get help? How could that be worse for them than her being dead, huh? They’ll just have to get over it! Why are you acting like your parents are in the spotlight or something? They’re just normal people. No one is going to know, or say anything, if you get help. And I swear to you, your parents will both be much happier to have their daughter alive and not sick any longer.”

“You don’t understand, Brody! You’ve never understood!”

“Stop with that bullshit! I do understand! No, I didn’t grow up in some goddamn country club neighborhood. I didn’t grow up being given everything I ever wanted. But I do understand what it’s like to lose a fucking child. And I sure as hell know that I would rather Tate be in a hospital than in the ground. So I know your parents would feel the same.”

Her shoulders shook, and her blond hair covered her face as she cried into her hands.

“Olivia. This is the last time I’m offering this. Let me get you some help, please.”

No words came from her, but she nodded her head a few times.

A relieved sigh blew past my lips, and I walked back to sit in the chair next to her. “All right, then that’s what I’ll do.” Lifting her head with my hand, I looked into her bloodshot eyes and made sure she understood every word. “You need to tell your parents what’s going on. You need to tell them you’ve been lying to them about me. And you need to tell them to get their attorney off my back.” My jaw shook as the words I wanted so badly to say to her sat on the tip of my tongue, but instead, I simply said, “I need to be able to live my life without him threatening me at every turn.”

Olivia’s blue eyes narrowed the smallest fraction, but I still saw it. She knew something was coming; she wasn’t stupid. We’d grown too far apart for her not to know it was coming eventually. And with that statement, she had to know it would be coming soon.

“If you need my help in telling them, let me—”

“I don’t,” she choked out and shook her head. “We have races out of town this weekend. I’ll tell them then.”

“Okay.” For the first time in days I had hope that my life with Kamryn would be starting soon.