Watch Over Me

  “You’re the one who needed to talk about your problems, dude. If you want me to keep helping you, then you could attempt to be a little more civil.” As they pulled into the parking garage of their destination, Gage parked the truck and turned to him before opening his door. “Remember, no smothering Gwen this week. Be chill. Let her come to you—for once.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gwen stared at the three pregnancy tests that she had lined up on her bathroom counter. Two were showing only one line and the other clearly said, “Not pregnant.” She felt a pang of disappointment even though she had no desire for a baby right now. Something about seeing the negative tests just seemed so final. She was already feeling a little dejected—or maybe the better word would be rejected—after not hearing from Dominic since he’d left two days earlier. It was now Thursday night, which meant after work tomorrow, she was planning to drive the two hours to visit her sister.

  She wasn’t sure why, but somehow she’d seen this whole thing going differently a week ago. She imagined herself taking a pregnancy test, and then collapsing on the couch with relief when it was negative. Dominic would open a bottle of wine and they’d relax together, happy to have dodged a bullet. Then they’d have hot, crazy sex—with no condom mishap—before moving into a regular relationship.

  Instead, Dominic had been out of town and hadn’t called her once. She was left to take a test alone and have the celebratory glass of wine solo, as well. She pondered calling him to let him know the good news, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Actually, she didn’t even care about the wine anymore. So, after a quick shower, Gwen was in bed by nine o’clock. As she curled her arms around the pillow that still smelled of Dominic’s musky scent, Gwen knew she had to accept the fact that he would likely leave her life before the smell of his cologne faded from her feather pillow.

  * * *

  As Gwen drove down her sister’s street, she took a few deep breaths to pull herself together. The last twenty-four hours had been an emotional roller coaster. With the negative pregnancy test, the arrival of her period to drive the point home this morning, and Dominic’s continued radio silence, she was well on her way to an epic pity party. She had decided last night to tell him the news when he returned, but she had since changed her mind. So, when she pulled her car to a stop, she grabbed her cell phone from her purse and quickly brought up his name. Instead of calling, she decided to send a text. It was more impersonal, and it seemed that their relationship had declined to just that level over the course of this week.

  So, without any fanfare she typed, “Took test—not pregnant.” Her fingers hovered over the keys for another moment. It felt wrong to send such an abrupt message, but what was she supposed to say? Do you like me? Check yes or no. Where are you? Why haven’t you called? Yeah, those were just a few of the questions that she’d like to have answered. Instead, she quickly hit the SEND button, then proceeded to sit in the car in front of her sister’s house for an additional ten minutes, waiting for a reply.

  She was getting her overnight bag from the backseat when her phone chimed. “Good deal . . . Thanks for letting me know.” Following the one sentence reply was a smiley face. In an uncharacteristic display of temper, Gwen took her phone and threw it against the oak tree in her sister’s yard where it promptly separated into a few extra pieces.

  “Okay, who’s the man this time?” asked Wendy dryly as she stood staring at Gwen from the front steps.

  Gwen wanted to throw herself at the tree next. Not only had she given her sister something to relentlessly question her about, but she’d also destroyed a phone that would eat a chunk out of her checking account to replace. Maybe it was childish, but she blamed both of those things on Dominic. What an ass. “It’s nothing,” Gwen mumbled as she walked past Wendy and into the house.

  Before she could make an escape to the spare room that she normally used when visiting, Wendy took her arm and steered her toward the kitchen. Motioning toward a barstool, she said, “Sit,” to which Gwen promptly complied. Her sister tended to treat Gwen like one of her students, and she’d long ago gotten used to taking orders from her. As Wendy’s husband, Peter, had said more than once, it was easier to go along with the program where Wendy was concerned. After buzzing around her well-organized kitchen for another few minutes, her sister settled onto the stool across from her with two cups of coffee. Gwen took a sip from the mug placed in front of her and waited for the inquisition to begin. “So, what’s with the tantrum in the yard?”

  Fiddling with the handle of her cup, Gwen said, “It was hardly a tantrum. I was just blowing off some steam after a hectic day at the office.”

  Wendy lifted the busted iPhone from the counter. “These things cost about eight hundred bucks to replace, so I hope it was worth it.”

  Gwen winced, thinking the price was even worse than she had imagined. She’d paid only a couple hundred dollars when she’d taken out the plan last year. “It’s just—things aren’t going too well with this guy I’ve been seeing.”

  Wendy rolled her eyes and huffed inelegantly. “When are things ever going well on that front, Gwenie? You keep picking the same losers over and over again and then expect a different outcome. Honey, when are you going to learn from your mistakes?”

  Instead of being pissed off at her sister’s words, Gwen found herself tearing up. Dammit, the last thing she wanted was for Wendy to see her sobbing over some guy again. But Dominic had been different. Maybe they hadn’t officially known each other long, but she’d been drawn to him from the first moment she’d seen him. Love at first sight might seem far-fetched and cliché, but that was how she felt when she was with him. “This wasn’t the same, Wendy,” she choked out on a sob. “I care about Dominic and he—I thought he felt the same. I mean, even though it started with the pregnancy thing, we really clicked. He was so—”

  “WHAT?” Wendy screeched. “You’re pregnant? Oh, fluck, Gwen! How could you let that happen?” Even in the depths of her despair, Gwen couldn’t help but notice that Wendy still couldn’t say a proper curse word. Maybe it was for the best since she was around a bunch of impressionable kids all day.

  Before she could answer her sister’s hysterical questions, Peter walked into the kitchen and froze as he took in the scene before him. Gwen could only imagine how she looked with tears rolling off her like a fountain; Wendy’s face was so red, she looked like she would combust at any moment. “Bad breakup again, Gwen?” He made a bad attempt at a joke as he grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator.

  “No, this time she’s gotten herself pregnant!” Wendy snapped. Peter’s mouth dropped open as he stared at them both in shock.

  “I’m not pregnant,” Gwen finally managed to get out. “Dammit, Wendy, will you stop jumping to conclusions!”

  Throwing her hands up in the air, Wendy shouted, “Well, then why did you say that you were? And please tone down the potty mouth while you’re at it!” Peter, to his credit, after having been down this road with his wife before, lowered his head and hurried from the kitchen without saying another word. Gwen was sure that the reason their marriage worked so well was that Peter was secure enough in his masculinity to basically let Wendy be in charge at home.

  Gwen had to wonder as she looked at her sister, why she always came directly to her for a shot of tough love. Maybe because she knew without a doubt that her sister loved her and would slay a village to protect her. Wendy just had a hard time relating to Gwen’s love life since her own course to happily ever after had been so smooth. She and Peter had met in high school, dated throughout college, and then gotten married when they had both obtained their degrees. Their romance had been orderly and followed the exact path that they’d laid out. Gwen’s on the other hand had never been smooth for more than a few months, it seemed.

  It was far too easy to see why Peter had assumed she was here over a man. Because she had sat on this same barstool many other times as she bemoaned yet another failed relationship. Wendy had state
d after her last breakup that she couldn’t understand why Gwen kept allowing history to repeat itself. The thing was, Gwen had no idea what she was doing wrong. It wasn’t like she was picking bad boys each time, knowing they’d screw her over. She dated men who, for the most part, were gainfully employed, educated, and stable. For some reason, they just never wanted to stick around—with her, that was. Several had gone on to marry shortly after leaving her and were now minivan-driving super dads. Heck, maybe she was a required course for men to take before they got married.

  Wendy gestured impatiently for her to explain her latest dating disaster. Slumping her shoulders because she knew that her sister hated bad posture, Gwen told her about the first night with Dominic. She left out the fact that they’d had sex for pretty much the entire night. In this instance, it was better for Wendy to believe that she had lost her common sense only that first time and not her morals and inhibitions along with it. “So, everything had been going so well between us up until the last week. I mean, I tried to hold back and not get attached to him. . . .”

  “But you are,” Wendy added quietly. “Honey, didn’t you think it might be a bad idea to get involved with someone at work? You’re going to have to see him every day. Think about how awkward that’s going to be now.”

  Rubbing her watery eyes, Gwen asked, “So, you think it’s over?”

  “Isn’t that why you’re here, Gwenie? You know that both Peter and I love you and we’re thrilled when you come to visit, but we’d sure like to see you happy sometimes when you’re here.”

  Laying her head on the bar, Gwen relaxed as she felt Wendy begin to stroke her hair soothingly. They may be only a few years apart, but her sister had always been a mother figure in her life. Their mom was wonderful, but Wendy was the one Gwen turned to for advice and support. “I know I haven’t been with Dominic for long, but I—I love him, and more important, I love who I am when I’m with him. It’s like he only sees the best parts of me and nothing else. I’ve never been involved with a man who made me feel so good about myself.”

  “You’ve never told me that you loved someone you were dating before,” Wendy said, sounding surprised. “I always thought that was strange, considering you were so upset when the relationships ended.”

  “I think I was more upset over the fact that the same things kept happening to me than actually saying good-bye to the person I was dating. I know a woman shouldn’t define herself by a man’s opinion, but after a while, you have to start thinking that there is something wrong with you. I mean the whole ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ thing really doesn’t hold much water when it’s used more than a couple of times.”

  “But it was them,” Wendy huffed out. “You’re beautiful, smart, funny, and have a big heart. Probably the only truthful words those jerks said to you was that it was them. A real, worthy man would kill to have you. These little wimpy shoot-heads of the past can take a flying leap off a tall building!”

  “Shoot-head?” Gwen smirked. “Is that the same as shithead?”

  Wendy picked up a placemat from the bar and threw it at her. “Yes, smartie. If I let myself become comfortable with tossing around curse words casually, before I know it, I will have dropped the F-bomb on some unruly student in my class and then my husband will be forced to fire me. Do you think I’d really give the man that much satisfaction?”

  “Point taken,” Gwen agreed. For a moment, she let herself imagine being in a small classroom with Maddy and Megan all day. Of course, they’d more than likely be the ones doing the cursing.

  Straightening her spine in what Gwen knew was her war pose, Wendy cracked her knuckles before saying, “All right, let’s figure out what to do about this guy who you’re in love with. You say that everything was great until the last week. Can you think of anything that was a turning point? And if your answer pertains to anything between the sheets, I don’t need to know details—well, unless they’re really good ones. . . .”

  “I heard that,” Peter yelled from the other room. Both Gwen and Wendy covered their mouths as they giggled.

  Gwen didn’t need to think about it. She knew when things had changed with Dominic. “Well, it started off when we watched Monster-in-Law.”

  “Oh, I love that movie,” Wendy sighed. “You mean, he actually watched it? That’s a love story, so why would that have put him off?”

  “I don’t know. Even though he grumbled a little at first, he seemed to really get into it. He was yelling at Jane Fonda’s character and shouting warnings to Jennifer Lopez. It was so unbelievably cute that I could barely concentrate. Then after it was over, it was like he was embarrassed or something. He couldn’t leave fast enough, which is unusual because he normally wants us to spend the night together, at either his place or mine. I think that was the first time that he clearly wanted to go—alone.”

  Shaking her head, Wendy said, “I don’t think that’s really a big thing. Everyone has an off night occasionally and just wants to be alone. Did you make a big deal out of it?”

  “No. I was surprised, but I don’t think it showed. But, before he left, he made a point of asking me when I was going to take a pregnancy test and recommended that I go ahead and buy one of those early ones. Oh, and there was the conversation I overheard between him and his friend Gage. He was telling Dominic that he needed to find out if I was pregnant so he could get back together with his ex-girlfriend while she was available. Dominic agreed, saying she was the woman of his dreams. I couldn’t believe he would say something like that after how great things have been between us.”

  “Maybe they were joking, Gwen. You know how men can be sometimes. I wouldn’t put too much stock in a conversation you probably only caught pieces of.”

  “Well, considering he hadn’t mentioned a single word about taking a test up until that point, it just seemed to fit with what he’d said to Gage.”

  “And he hasn’t called or texted at all while he’s been out of town, except for the one that caused you to destroy your phone?”

  “No, that’s it.” Feeling utterly confused, Gwen confessed, “I just don’t understand it. When I tried to keep some distance, he just kept pushing through. He took my seniors water class with me for God’s sake, more than once! Can you imagine another man doing that? Why would he go to that much trouble—not to mention embarrassment—if he was just biding his time until he could make a clean getaway? Before this week, he texted me during the day several times just to see how I was and he always called when he left work. In my past relationships, even if I didn’t want to admit it, something made me not fully trust them. It’s almost as if I went into the relationship knowing that it would end badly. With Dominic, the fear was there from experience, but the overall feeling was different. I tried to guard my heart, but there was just something from the first moment I saw him that was unique for me. I was dating his friend, Mac, who I liked a lot, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Dominic when I saw him around the apartment complex.”

  Lowering her voice, Wendy whispered, “He looks that good, huh?”

  “And then some,” Gwen sighed. “But, that’s not even it. He has a great personality and presence, bigger than life. He’s the type of person that people just gravitate toward. You feel like you’re the only one in the world when you have his attention. I swear, a bomb could drop nearby and he wouldn’t break eye contact. He certainly wasn’t checking out other women, either. My friend, Shannon, the single mother, is just gorgeous, but other than being polite, I never saw him give her a second look.”

  “Well, he sounds wonderful,” Wendy admitted. “I hate to say it—maybe he’s just that good at convincing others that he is. Hey, are you still on speaking terms with Mac?”

  “Um—I guess. It’s not like we had a big fight or anything. Why?”

  “Well, maybe you could talk to him about Dominic. They are friends, right?”

  Wrinkling her nose, Gwen said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I can only imagine how awkward that would be. Mac’s a
really nice guy, but he and Dominic go way back. He probably wouldn’t want to be put in the middle of whatever is going on with us.”

  “Just a thought. I know this sounds like no advice at all, but I think you should just play it by ear and see what happens next. Normally, I would tell you to walk away and not look back, but if you love him, then maybe you shouldn’t write him off yet. On the other hand, don’t take any crap from him. You deserve a man who makes you his priority. Please don’t settle for less than that. I swear, he better not be like Chris or I’ll take you both out.”

  Grinning, Gwen thought back to one of her weirder breakups. She’d dated Chris for six months before he broke up with her. “Oh, come on, he had an original excuse at least.”

  “Yeah, I’ll give him that. How many women have heard the old, ‘My mother wants me to break up with you so that I can focus on my job and securing my future’?”

  “I guess his mommy was right,” Gwen mused, “because I heard he got married three months later.”

  “I never liked him anyway,” Wendy admitted. “He actually told me all about his prostate exam in great detail! Who does that? Even Peter guards that like some kind of secret man ritual.”

  Giggling, Gwen stood and hugged her sister, more thankful than ever to have someone who never gave up on her. Maybe she should run Peter off so she and Wendy could be old spinsters together. “Thanks for listening, sis. Now, please promise me that no matter how much I beg, you won’t let me replace my phone this weekend. I don’t want to break down and call or text him and it certainly wouldn’t hurt for him to wonder what I’m doing like I have him this week.”

  Throwing up her hand for a high five, Wendy sang out, “Ohhh yeahhh, baby! I’ll lock you in your room this weekend if I have to. By Monday, you will be well rested and ready to take on the world. Oh . . . no e-mail, either. I’ll hide my laptop. Let the man see that you’ve got a life with or without him. You know, I’ve always said that if you act like a doormat, then that’s exactly how people will treat you.”