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But there was something else there. There was something in Bobby’s eyes I had never seen in my father’s since the day I told him I was marrying Dennis. Love. Support. Care. Everything I had hoped to find and had been worried I’d not.
This was the first time to set foot in my childhood home since the day my father kicked me out. Even after my mother’s funeral, I had decided to skip on the wake and just go home. I couldn’t bring myself to walk in here without my parents welcoming me back. Besides, Bobby didn’t do much to stop me from leaving. A part of me had hoped he’d at least offer that I stay for the night, an offer I knew I would refuse. But, in the end, he had let me go.
Which made this all very bittersweet.
“Andrea?”
I blinked rapidly and shook myself out of my daydreams, looking up at Bobby with a weak smile. “Sorry,” I whispered. “Just, lost myself a little, I guess.”
Bobby nodded. “Strange being home?”
“Yeah, and that,” I admitted, sipping from my coffee. “Never thought I’d be back, you know?”
Bobby sighed, pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table opposite me. He looked around the kitchen and pursed his lips. “They never stopped worrying about you, you know that?” He looked at me. “Mom and dad. They never stopped thinking about you, praying for you, telling their friends that their daughter was doing alright even when they knew you weren’t. Shame how things ended between you.”
“It was my fault,” I admitted, going again for the weak smile although tears threatened to explode from my eyes. “I pushed them away. I was stupid, didn’t see what was right in front of me, and was dumb enough not to let them help me.” I closed my eyes and shook my head, frustrated at how things had turned out to be. “I guess I deserve what Dennis does to me.”
Bobby leaned over and grabbed my hand, squeezing tight. “No one deserves a life like that, Andrea,” he said. “Whatever mistakes you made, you definitely don’t deserve to be punished for them. Not like t
his.”
A tear raced down one cheek, and I fought back a sob. “I just can’t do it anymore, you know?” My eyes burned, and I knew it would be only a matter of time before I broke down crying again. “I can’t take the verbal abuse, the late nights wondering where he was and silently praying he was dead, the beatings that made me want to slit my wrists just to be done with it all. I can’t, Bobby. Not anymore.”
“I know,” he said, gently squeezing my hand again. “You don’t have to. You’re home, Andrea, and I’m here with you. That son of a bitch won’t ever lay a hand on you again, you hear me?”
“I’m scared,” I admitted, biting my lip. “I’m scared of what he’ll do to me when he finds me. He used to beat me just because I forgot to remind him about the game or got him the wrong brand of beer. What do you think he’ll do when he comes home and doesn’t find me?”
Bobby’s grip tightened, and I could see the anger in his eyes. “He’ll look for you,” he said. “That’s what Dennis will probably do. Look for you. And you know what? I hope he does. I hope he finds you. Because when he does, when he comes to get you, I’ll be waiting for him. I’ll make sure he can’t move, let alone beat his own dick.”
I chuckled, and Bobby smiled.
“You’re an idiot,” I said, smacking his hand away. For a second, I felt like I was back in high school, laughing at one of his outrageous jokes while my mother glared at him from across the table. What I would do to go back to that.
“Tell you what,” he said. “I don’t want you to worry about Dennis anymore, okay? Tomorrow I’ll find you a divorce lawyer, someone good. I don’t care the cost. We’ll also call Jeremy and get you a restraining order.”
“Jeremy Kimbel? He’s with the police now?”
“Go figure, right?” Bobby chuckled. “Who would have thought shy little Jeremy would be a cop. But he’s one of the best in Mansfield. Respected as hell, too. Helped me out whenever I needed it, so I trust him.”
“Don’t you need to go to court for a restraining order? I don’t think Jeremy could just pull one out of his drawer.”
Bobby winked. “Let me worry about that, okay? All I need you to do is settle in, get comfortable, and stop worrying. Besides, you’re home. This is the one town I know you won’t have to worry about Dennis in.”
“I worry about Dennis wherever I go.”
“You don’t need to anymore, I promise you that,” he said. “Does he know where you are?”
I shook my head. “But he’ll guess it, sooner or later. Hopefully later.”
“I’ll call him tomorrow,” Bobby said.
I panicked, almost spilled my coffee and stared at him in shock. “You’ll do what?”
Bobby held up a hand to stop me. “Relax, will you? I’ll tell him you called me, you sounded worried, and now you won’t pick up your phone. I’ll even throw in a few insults just to make it sound authentic. That will buy us a couple of days.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Bobby shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he’ll buy it.”
