Authors: Belinda Austin
Dishonor Thy Wife (30 page)
RONNI
“Jayden,” I scream. A firefighter holds my arms to prevent
me from jumping into the creek. His body rocks in the water face down.
I watch helplessly as the police
and firefighters attempt to get to Jayden.
His body knocks against the sides
of the creek, stuck between rocks keeping him from being swept away.
More sirens sound and firefighters
run to the embankment equipped with ropes and proceed to rescue him.
Jayden appears
unconscious from
the blow to his head. The water is slightly red and I have never felt so scared
in all of my life.
Please God let him be okay.
Finally, one of the firefighters,
a brave man, slides all the way down to the creek, risking his own life, and manages
to pull Jayden from the water. “He's not breathing,” he yells up to the other
men.
My heart stops and I collapse. My
world goes black until someone throws her little
arms around my neck. I
had forgotten about Traci.
My daughter buries her face in my neck and we both sob.
I hang onto Traci as if she is a lifeline to Jayden.
Please do not let her
lose him again. Not again. Do not let my little girl lose her uncle she loves
so much. It will break Traci's heart.
A firefighter ties a rope around Jayden
and they pull his body from the creek. I shield Traci's face so that she cannot
see her uncle, just in case...in case...
He appears like a corpse. Tears
flood my eyes.
I leave Traci with Millie and rush over to Jayden; only I cannot
see anything because the firefighters are standing around while a medic works
on him.
Finally, Jayden coughs and I sigh
with relief, bow my head, and thank the Lord for saving him.
I grab Jayden's hand and squeeze
but get no response. Jayden is still unconscious and pale. Who knows what the
damage is to his head. There is a nasty cut. He looks like death.
“Where are you taking him?” My voice shakes and I can
hardly get the words out.
“The closest hospital is the Heart Hospital in Austin,” one
firefighter answers. “We have to get him to the hospital as soon as possible
and check out his lungs and his head.”
“His name is Jayden Tremblay.”
“Are you coming?” the firefighter
asks when they put Jayden in the ambulance. “Are you his wife?”
I was his pretend wife.
“He's my brother-in-law, and yes, I am coming with him.”
I climb into the ambulance and cling to Jayden’s cold hand.
RONNI
I curl up on a chair in Jayden's hospital room with dried
mud all over my clothes. I watch him sleep, wishing he would wake up. The
doctors are uncertain if there is permanent damage to his brain. They will not
know until he wakes up although his x-rays reveal nothing alarming. Like any
head injury where the victim fails to wake up, there is always the danger Jayden
might remain in a coma indefinitely. His chest rises with blessed breath. His
lungs are okay, probably a little scarring.
Guilt overwhelms me remembering
the hurt look on his face when I told him he did not know what love is.
Jayden treats Traci with so much love and kindness. He
watches her silly shows with her and takes her to children's movies that must make
him squirm in his seat. He is willing to give up every other Saturday and part
of his Sunday to be a surrogate father.
Jayden
even bought a child car seat for Traci so she rides safely in his Mercedes, a
red devil's car, but Jayden is not so much a devil. He is missing a tail and n
ot perfect, like myself.
I doze occasionally and then wake
with my throat tight and rasping
for
breath. I only relax when his chest moves.
Just after sunrise, Jayden moans.
His
eyelids flutter.
I run to get the nurse and yell out, “He’s waking up!”
A doctor and nurse walk briskly into the room and Jayden
opens his eyes fully.
“Good morning, Dr. Tremblay,” the doctor says.
Jayden mumbles.
“Can you excuse us?” the doctor asks me.
I hang my head and shuffle out the door like an old woman.
After about half an hour, the
doctor walks out of the room and closes the door.
“Will he be okay?” I say.
“He has a slight concussion, but
nothing serious, Mrs. Tremblay.”
“I'm not his wife!” Everyone
always assumes our relationship forcing me to explain,
“I'm
his sister-in-law.”
“Oh?”
The doctor looks at me strangely because I spent the night
at the hospital in his room, which seems very devoted for a sister-in-law.
Nevertheless, I say, “Did he ask you not to let me see him?”
“He said nothing about you. Good day.”
Jayden is out of danger and I
press the elevator button.
RONNI
I pull my car up the driveway next to the red Mercedes,
intending to make sure his car is locked, and his possessions protected, but
instead I climb into the Mercedes and sit on the front passenger seat. I
look over at the driver's side and imagine Jayden sitting
behind the wheel. His arm is against the seat and he leans into me. His eyes
fill with desire and my heart pounds with fear.
I have never been frightened of Jayden; I am scared of his power
over me.
My heart twists like a pretzel, consumed by visions. My skin
tingles with remembrances, and my senses fill with Jayden.
What has he done to me? Oh, God, what has this man
done to me?
The slight odor of aftershave in his car causes me to feel weak
and dizzy.
I climb from his car, press the
lock
button and my skin jumps in panic. Jayden locked me in his car. For one moment,
I thought he was going to rape me, and he was instead gentle. I hated myself
for being weak and giving into him in Canada. I moaned and groaned under his hands
that could work magic on a woman’s body. I had wanted him so badly despite the tricks
he played on me and his harsh spoken words. I had still desired him even though
he broke my heart.
Traci runs across the street.
“Mommy. Mommy,” she yells.
“Traci. Oh, Traci.”
I almost
lost my baby.
“Uncle Jayden?” Her lip trembles.
“He's okay.” I blow my nose on my
blouse. “Your uncle is in the hospital, but he's fine.”
Traci claps her hands and we both
walk into the house, my hand clenching her shoulder.
Millie had bathed Traci, washed
her hair, and loaned her some clothes of Joanie's. I make a mental note to
remember to thank Millie.
The kitchen is a mess. The new
refrigerator and freezer were not delivered yesterday since I was at the
hospital.
I spend the next morning grinding up spoils in the disposal.
No one should ever put the beauty
of a rose in a garbage can. The kitchen counter is a better place. And like the
red rose that had been in the freezer, my heart begins to thaw.
Jayden!
I sway, clinging to the counter.
He
could have drowned, and I never thanked him for saving Traci. I simply ran away
from him at the hospital as I always do.
Quick, I phone Riley who is in a
bad mood from waking up. She worked until 2:30 in the morning last night at the
bar and got home around 3:30.
“You have to take care of Traci,”
I plead.
“Why?” Riley is instantly awake,
her grumpy mood forgotten.
“I have to go to the hospital and
visit Jayden.” I explain to Riley what happened.
“I'll be right over,” she says.
I pace on the front porch, my
purse slung across my shoulder, and keys dangling from my hand.
Riley raises her eyebrow at my
short skirt and heels. “You’re dressed more like you’re going to a nightclub
than a hospital.”
I am arguing with Traci so ignore
Riley’s remark.
“Why can't I come?” Traci stares defiantly.
“Because I told you, Traci, you're not allowed to visit your
Uncle Jayden in the hospital because you are too young.”
“Well, sneak me into his room then.”
“No. You stay here with Aunt Riley. Do you want me to buy
flowers for him and say they are from you?”
“Give him this instead.” Traci
reaches up and kisses my cheek.
I look at Riley with dismay. She chuckles. “Try getting out
of this.”
“Uh, okay, Traci, I’ll kiss your
uncle for you.” I cross my fingers behind my back. “I have got to go now.”
I make a quick stop at a department store and then drive to
the hospital.
I dart into the gift shop and then
punch the button of the elevator that will take me to Jayden's room.
RONNI
Flowers engulf my arms and my head peeks out from a huge
heart-shaped balloon.
I feel like the biggest fool who ever lived. I rushed over
here to the hospital, driving like a bat out of hell, only to find Jayden lying
against some pillows, his arms behind his head, flirting with a blonde nurse.
She sits on his bed, swinging her foot, her white nurse's uniform halfway up
her thigh.
Jayden throws back his head and
laughs as if the nurse just said the funniest thing.
Not once has he looked in my
direction. I turn around to leave.
“Hey, Ronni!”
I spin.
“Uh, excuse us,” he tells the
nurse who looks disappointed.
“Are those for me?” He raises an
eyebrow at the vase of white flowers in my arms, white for truce.
I set the flowers down.
“I would have thrown myself in
the creek a long time ago if I knew you'd bring me flowers, Ronni. Is there a
note?”
“A note isn't necessary since I'm
delivering the flowers in person.”
“Thank you for the flowers,
Ronni. That is kind of you.”
He stares with a curious
expression on his face. “What would you have said if there was a note?”
“How's your head?” I cannot stop my
voice from shaking. He got the nurse all hot and bothered so Jayden is not near
death, but a concussion can be deceiving.
“My head is fine, a little sore perhaps
but nothing a couple of aspirin won't fix. You, on the other hand, are
trembling and your face is pale.”
“How's your heart?”
“So how come you're suddenly so
interested in my heart, Ronni?”
“Well, you are at a Heart
Hospital. I figured they would check out your heart while you were here.”
He appears deflated by my answer.
“I have been hallucinating. I could have sworn you
were in my room last night or early this morning, but it must have been the
coma. When I woke up, I was all alone.”
“You must have imagined I was
here.”
Again, he appears slightly
depressed. “What's in the bag?”
“I figured your clothes were
pretty muddied so I brought you some.”
“Not a funeral suit, I hope?”
“Of course not.”
“Good, because it will be some
time before you dance at my funeral, Ronni.”
What have I done to make him even
think such a cruel thing? His eyes are laughing. Damn him—why did I even come?
“Thank you for what you did for Traci.” My voice is as
small as he makes me feel.
“There is no need for thanks.” He
shrugs his shoulders and appears hurt.
“Well, it was a heroic thing to do.”
“How is she, my niece?”
“Traci is fine. She is with my
friend, Riley.”
He swings his legs over the side
of the bed.
“The doctor was just in here telling me
I can go home.” He looks at me expectantly.
I remember what happened last
time I was alone in a car with Jayden. I offer in a reluctant voice, “Well, do
you need a ride?”
“That would be convenient since
my car is over at your place.” He adds in an exasperated voice, “Are you going
to watch me get dressed?”
“No!” I yank the curtain around the
bed.
After a few of minutes, he emerges
from behind the curtain fully clothed. “Just my size.” He grins. “You must have
my body memorized.”
I feel like throwing the flowers
at him but instead say, “Well, you are the same size as Brad was.”
Jayden actually blushes.
You wore his Comfyballs underwear and made me feel
uncomfortable. You wore his coat and left me out in the cold. You wore his
gloves and choked the life out of me. You wore his shoes and trampled my heart.
“Let’s go.” He limps towards the door.
“You never told me you injured your leg.”
“My ankle, but it’s just a slight sprain.”
“Aren’t we supposed to wait for the nurse to bring a
wheelchair or something?”
“Screw a wheelchair. I’m fine.”
I roll my eyes and offer him my shoulder to lean on.
He clings to me as we make our
way over to the elevator, pulling me closer and breathing on my scalp. “You
once asked me if it was possible for two people to begin again,” he says.
“Yes.” I punch the button and the
elevator pops open.
“Yes, it is possible or yes, you
remember?”
I simply step into the elevator.
Jayden hesitates. He appears
weary, I suppose from the accident. There is a look of reflection on his face,
and he says in a somber voice with no trace of laughter whatsoever, “Ronni, I
apologize for the masquerade. I am soulfully sorry that Brad and I hurt you. I
never wanted the lawsuit but there was no way you would ever let me see Traci.
Do you think it possible you can ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”
Tears cloud my eyes and my heart
squeezes in my chest like a sponge.
Why is he asking for forgiveness after
all this time?
It seems he can read my mind and
he shoves a foot out to prevent the elevator from closing. “I could have died
and gone to my grave with you on my conscience.”
Oh, is that all. He feels guilty.
The walk to the parking lot never
seemed so long.
JAYDEN
“This isn’t the way to your house,” I said in a grumpy
voice. My foot was throbbing. I escaped from the hospital since the doctor
really did not release me. I checked the x-rays and brain scan and there was
nothing wrong with me that a good wrap around my ankle would not help along
with a few aspirin. Yeah, I am one of those idiot doctors who believes in
self-cure.
“You just took the Sixth Street exit, Ronni.”
“Well you said you’re okay.”
“I am.”
“Can I interest you in a game of
pool then, Dr. Tremblay? I win, I get what I want.”
“And what do I get, princess?”
“You win, you get whatever you want, Jayden. It is a blind
game. After the game, then we'll name the win.”
She pulled into a parking place and shoved her hand out so we
could shake on it. “Promise you'll give me whatever I want if I win?” She
refused to let go of my hand until I answered.
I gave her a guarded look, hiding
my panic, and said, “Yes.”
“Good. Let's go play some pool
then. You, uh, sure you’re feeling
up to it?”
Now she asks if I am feeling
strong enough to play pool. I did not confess that I was extremely weak, b
ut only where Ronni was concerned, which is why I
agreed to play. She wore a short skirt and I imagined her leaning across the
pool table, her skirt riding her butt and some panty showing. I swallowed.
Yeah,
I am feeling really, really up to it.
She was sneaky. I had paid no attention to where she parked,
and the car ended up at Lovejoys again. “Can’t we go somewhere else? I lost to you
before here. There is such a thing as bad karma and you’re not playing fair,” I
said like a sulky child. “Besides, their felt is green.”
She laughed. “Your face is green.
By the way, I almost forgot. Traci told me to give you this.”
Ronni shocked the hell out of me.
She leaned across the seat and kissed my cheek. She really was playing unfair,
getting me all wound up with her lips when I needed to be calm to play pool. She
was setting me up. The odds were she would win. Blind bet
indeed, she would order me to move
back to Canada and never see Traci again.
She held her hand out. “I’ll give you one more chance to
decide since you accuse me of being unfair. Do you agree to play pool with me
at Lovejoys on a blind win?”
I looked at her extended hand and
licked my lips. This was it, the chance for Ronni to get me out of her life for
good. She would kick my ass in pool. There was no way I could beat a pool shark
like her. She could overturn the lawsuit with a bet.
Nevertheless,
stupid me held out my hand and shook hers. I was too macho to back out now. “
Agreed,”
I said too speedily
before I changed my mind and showed my yellow backside.
“Come on then,” she said.
She walked fast, probably to tire me into losing. The woman
had no mercy for an injured man. I limped after her, cussing myself out for not
demanding a handicap, like the first seven balls. The bandage on my head should
have earned me a handicap for the eight ball. Face it; I had no balls where she
was concerned.
Oh, yeah, she played the nurse all right once we were
inside. She tried to drown my brain in alcohol to make me drunk so I would
lose. Sweat poured from my forehead and Ronni dabbed my head with a napkin
soaked in whiskey, probably thinking my sweat was because of the accident.
Yeah,
my old buddy Whiskey, soak into my brain and numb me.
I had hoped to bleed my heroic actions for all it was worth but
I was the biggest fool in the world, gambling everything on one game of pool
with a hustler.
“Should you be drinking? Aren’t you on drugs?” she said
while pouring another shot of whiskey down my throat with a devilish gleam in
her eye.
“After this game I will get stinking drunk,” I mumbled and
then ordered the bartender to, “Hit me with another whiskey.”
“I'll break,” I snapped at her and aimed dead center
for the balls. My face paled because only one ball went into a pocket. I
squinted. My eyes were blurry from hospital drugs, whiskey, pain, or all of the
above.
I cursed myself for missing the
next ball. Pride filled my chest because I stopped myself from picking up the
ball with my hand and making a basket in the pocket, sort of like a game of
dwarf basketball.
I cursed Ronni when she made four
balls in a row before missing.
I sobered, playing as if my life
depended on this game, which it did. Her short skirt distracted me. “Pool shark
wore it on purpose,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I really tried not to gape at Ronni when it was her turn to
shoot, but her butt drew my eyes like ants to a picnic, the way she leaned over
the table. Her skirt rode up right below her rear end, giving me a panty flash.
My head swam and my blood pounded, and I had a hell of a time concentrating on my
next shot.
Damn her! What a cheater. She
wore red flashing underwear on purpose just so I would lose. She was using my
own nature against me with this...this sick attraction I had for her.
As usual, Ronni played like
Minnesota Fats from that movie
The Hustler
.
After just three rounds, I had six
balls on the table and Ronni had only the eight ball left, and the eight ball
was about an inch from the top corner, right pocket.
I hung my head and groaned.
You
Idiot! This is it. May as well hang up your cue stick. Even Traci could make
that shot. I'll be on my way back to Canada
...I checked my watch...
in
about four minutes.
I turned away from the pool table
and went to hang up my pool stick, feeling sick to my stomach.
Ronni actually had the nerve to
say loudly for the entire bar to hear, “I just love a man who knows when he is
beat.” She laughed. “Eight ball. Back corner. Left pocket.”
My shoulders slumped in defeat. This
last shot was it.
I spun around. Wait a minute. Did
she say back corner, left pocket instead of top corner, right pocket? Why would
she risk losing and not take the easy shot?
Because she wanted to show off, of course, and rub in how
good she was.
I watched with stunned eyes,
Ronni purposefully shoot the eight ball straight into the top corner, right
pocket, the pocket she should have called, the pocket that was so easy.
“You must have accidentally made
the wrong call,” I said.
Ronni leaned on her pool stick
and grinned. “I called the shot correctly. Well, Dr. Tremblay, I scratched on
the eight ball which means I lose and you win.”
She was smiling. Ronni was
actually smiling at me.
I must have been dreaming. Maybe
I was still in a coma. I touched the pool table. It was made from real felt.
Ronni lost on purpose.
On purpose.
Why would she lose?
Unless...Unless...
I locked eyes with Ronni.
Say it!
I urged her with my eyes to
please,
please say the words I long to hear
. I begged her with my face. She already
met me halfway by deliberately losing, or so I thought, so I hoped. Now I needed
her to come to me, all the way. Ronni never said she forgave me. She had to be
the one to make the first move.
With long strides and eyes
glittering like a woman who knew exactly what she wanted, Ronni walked up to me.
I simply stared back at her and
thought,
Is she going to slap me
again?
Ronni stood on her toes and wrapped
her arms around my neck.
I simply blinked at her, hardly
daring to breathe.
“I want you, Jayden Tremblay,” she
said in a gentle voice.
My breathing was ragged.
“I need you, Jayden Tremblay,” she said and touched her
lips with mine.
There was a pain in my chest as if my heart was exploding.
Her
eyes sparkled. “You are impossible, Jayden Tremblay, but I can't stand the
thought of being without you, a world without you, of never seeing your face
again.”
I rested my forehead against her
forehead and rubbed my mind with hers because I could not believe this was
happening. I had wanted too long and waited too long.
“You're maddening, Jayden Tremblay,
but I'm only complete when I'm with you. And even though you've put me through
hell...”
I started to open my mouth and
she touched my lips with her finger. “Hush now, it's all okay. Love is still
love by any other name and I realize now that what you did, you did out of love
for Traci.”
“For you, too, Ronni. All I have
ever done was because of you.”
She swallowed nervously. “I’m about
to dive off a cliff here but I must confess that I do love you, Jayden, with
all of my heart, all of my mind, and all of my soul. All I want is to be with
you, to love you, to be swept away by you. Always. You win. I surrender. So
what do you want
for your
blind win, Jayden?”
She looked up at me expectantly,
her face raw and vulnerable.
I stroked her hair and whispered
into her ear, “I want only you, Ronni. Always you, my Love, forever. From the
very first, until the very last all I ever wanted, all I ever wished for is
you. I want my face to be the last thing you see before you go to sleep at
night and the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning. No one can
guarantee future happiness but without you, my today, tomorrow, next week, next
month, next year, is an endless time of nothingness. I only felt alive again
when you found me in Canada.”
I bent Ronni over my arm and
kissed her.
My identical twin and I, though
separated at birth, lived similar lives. We were both doctors. We murdered and
framed someone for our crimes. We both technically raped Ronni and in the end,
we probably both married her. The statistics were correct; identical twins
often marry a woman with the same name. The experts were just in the dark about
how we sometimes reach that sameness. Whoever said that blood is thicker than
water did not know Brad O’Boyle.
Did you know when kissing Ronni
that I actually lifted my leg and thumped my foot against the floor the way a
dog does when his master pets him behind the ear?
Yeah, everyone at Lovejoys clapped.
Man, I love that place!
Belinda Austin’s Memoirs
& Other Books
If you are curious about Belinda Austin, she has written
some
memoirs
. (
Click
here to find out more
)
Belinda Austin
writes
Psychological Thrillers
and
Romantic Suspense
. For other books by the author in these genres (
click here
).
Belinda, also, writes
YA Dystopian
and
Science
Fiction
under the pen name
B. Austin
(
click here
).
She, also, writes
Historical Fiction
and
Fantasy
under the name
Belinda Vasquez Garcia
(
click here
).
“
Thank you so much for purchasing
Dishonor Thy
Wife.
Readers like you are awesome and motivate me to write the most
riveting stories my imagination can conjure.
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review
at
Amazon
or some other
favorite online retailer and/or
Goodreads
to help others discover it.”
Best wishes,
