Taking Charge (13 page)

“To explain why she was doing the dirty with your
brother? That would have been good to hear. Cole, I thought it was
you, you look so similar…we weren’t really kissing…I just slipped
and his tongue just fell into my mouth, it could have happened to
anyone.”

“Okay, we’re done. Let’s finish shopping,” Cole
replied, putting his phone back in the pocket of his jeans.

“Finish shopping? We’ve barely started!”

“The cart’s full of junk food,” Cole remarked.

“Shame on you! Dill pickles are not junk food. They
are one of the staple ingredients of the all-American diet, and
blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, that’s fruit. And they
really sort out your insides,” Robyn replied.

Cole laughed.

“So, what did you say?” Robyn asked, setting off
again with the cart.

“What?”

“To Veronica.”

“I told her I didn’t want to talk and I didn’t want
her contacting me again,” Cole replied.

“Nice work—oh dear, doesn’t sound like that idea
worked for her,” Robyn said as Cole’s phone announced the arrival
of a new text.

“Pasta,” Cole said, grabbing a package from the shelf
and putting it in the cart.

“You have pasta at home. Do you go through a bag a
week or something? Well?”

“Well what?”

“Aren’t you going to see what it says?” Robyn
asked.

“No.”

“No?”

“I don’t care what it says. There’s nothing she can
say that would make me want to speak to her again, okay?” Cole
snapped.

“Man, she hurt you bad,” Robyn remarked.

“Can we just shop?”

“Sure, of course, it’s none of my business,” Robyn
said, pushing on with the cart.

“Listen, I wasn’t being an ass, it’s just…” Cole
began, hurrying after her.

“It’s fine, I shouldn’t have asked. I know I talk too
much and, seeing as we’re sharing a house, you have my permission
to tell me to shut up when it gets to be too much.”

“Robyn, I didn’t mean…”

“Now, onto my favorite aisle—ice cream,” she
announced, a look of delight crossing her face.

“You told me it was only your aunt who had a drawer
dedicated to ice cream.”

“I did, didn’t I? But you have a fridge that talks to
you! In fact, it suggested to me only this morning that it was
severely lacking in the whole ice cream department and begged to be
restocked,” Robyn said, opening a freezer door.

“Did it really?”

“Didn’t you hear it? Didn’t it wake you up with its
constant muttering, I need chocolate toffee and mint chocolate
chip.”

“No, someone cooking on the barbecue, singing ‘Sweet
Home Alabama’ woke me up,” Cole informed her.

“I don’t sing.”

“Pinocchio, your nose will grow!”

“Was it really bad and out of tune?”

“The birds had their wings over their ears.”

“That is so mean! And birds don’t have ears, do
they?” Robyn asked, piling more tubs into the cart.

“Stop! You’re crazy!” Cole exclaimed as he attempted
to halt her.

Robyn hoofed another half dozen tubs into the cart
and set off down the aisle as quickly as she could. This was more
fun than she remembered. She jumped onto the cart and let it glide
down the aisle toward the cereal section. She jumped off and was
about to turn down into the next row, when the sight of something
stopped her in her tracks.

Just up ahead was a man, six foot tall, wearing a
green baseball cap, a gray t-shirt, and faded blue jeans. Just
peeking out under the cap was a shock of ginger hair.

Robyn felt the breath catch in her throat as she
watched him put a packet of Cheerios into the basket on his arm.
The way he moved, his gangly, awkward appearance and the red
hair—she knew instinctively who it was. She felt the realization
wash over her.

Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest it hurt.
She backed away, frantically dragging the cart with her. She didn’t
want to see his face. She couldn’t bear to see his face.

She pulled the cart hard, didn’t see Cole, and
collided with him.

“Whoa! You okay?” he asked, steadying her as she
threatened to fall into the display of half-price liquid hand
soap.

“I have to go,” Robyn stated, perspiring and wringing
her hands together.

“Go? Go where?” Cole asked, his head tilted as he
took in her anxious expression.

“I just have to go. I’m sorry,” Robyn said, backing
away from him and abandoning the cart.

“Robyn? What’s happened? Come on, look, don’t go,
I’ll pay more attention. Hey, I love ice cream, I could eat it for
every meal, talk to me,” Cole urged, taking hold of her arm.

“No, let go,” Robyn ordered, and she wrenched her arm
free and began sprinting down the aisle toward the exit.

Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she needed to
get out of the store before she came face-to-face with him.

What was he doing here? People said he wasn’t around.
He shouldn’t be here, not now—not ever.

Robyn ditched Leonora outside the front of Gold
Realty and rushed into the office, still sweating and breathing
like she was about to have a heart attack.

“Good morning, ma’am. How can I help you today?” a
middle-aged woman with gold-rimmed glasses questioned, beaming at
Robyn with a pearly white smile.

“I need to see Sarah Gorski please,” Robyn announced
nervously.

She felt sick and faint and she couldn’t catch her
breath. She could see his face in her mind’s eye. The freckled
complexion and the crooked smile.

“Are you looking to buy or to sell?” the woman asked,
picking up a pen and preparing to write on a clipboard.

“What?” Robyn asked, looking at the woman and trying
to concentrate on what she was saying.

“What sort of property are you looking for?”

“I’m not looking for a property. Could you tell her
Robyn Matthers needs to see her?”

She was feeling really sick now. It was like seeing
him had turned her insides out. Her stomach felt heavy and twisted.
She could smell him; the memory of it was almost forcing her to
retch.

“Take a seat. Would you like some coffee?” the woman
offered.

“No, no thanks,” Robyn replied, thankful to have the
opportunity to sit down before she fell down.

It was all so long ago, but sometimes it felt like it
had happened yesterday. The fear hadn’t lessened, the memories
hadn’t dulled, and the pain still felt raw. Whatever she told
people about it being forgotten was a lie. She hadn’t forgotten a
thing. Everything was etched on her like an internal tattoo.

“Robyn? Is everything okay?” Sarah asked as she
appeared in the reception area.

Her glasses were perched on her nose, her portfolio
was in her hand, and she was looking like the efficient
professional she obviously was. Robyn, for some reason, felt worse.
She was the girl who liked to get covered in oil, the childish one,
the girl whose parents should never have got together in the first
place. Sarah was an adult, and Robyn knew she was one tug away from
unraveling again.

“Have you got like ten minutes?” Robyn asked
awkwardly, still wringing her hands together.

“Sure. What is it? You don’t look too good. Are you
okay?”

“Sit in Leonora?” Robyn suggested.

“Leonora?” Sarah asked.

“Come on,” Robyn urged, pulling her friend by the
arm.

She led her outside and opened up the door of the
Mustang. Sarah got in and Robyn joined her, instinctively locking
the door.

“What’s happened? Is it your dad? Oh Robyn, has he
had another heart attack?” Sarah asked, concerned.

“I saw Jason,” Robyn blurted out, looking at her
friend with wide, tear-filled eyes.

“What?” Sarah exclaimed in horror.

“He was right there, in Meijer’s, right in front of
me,” Robyn said, her voice cracking and tears spilling from her
eyes.

“No, Robyn, he couldn’t have been. He hasn’t been
back here, not since…not since everything happened,” Sarah assured
her.

“I know it was him,” Robyn stated, wiping at her eyes
with her fingers and trying to stabilize her breathing.

“Are you sure? I mean, you haven’t seen him for
years. I haven’t seen him for years. No one I know has seen him for
years, except Grant. Anyway, Grant flies to Mississippi to see him,
that’s where he lives now,” Sarah explained.

“It may be where he lives, but it isn’t where he is!
He’s on Westnedge, in the freaking supermarket!” Robyn announced
hysterically.

“Okay, well let’s think about this logically. Why
would he be here now? I mean, he’s been gone nine years, why would
he come back now? I mean, there’s nothing here for him, no job, no
friends. Okay, there’s his dad, but their relationship is as up and
down as the housing market. And nobody in this town wants him here.
What’s he got to come back for?” Sarah asked her.

“Do I have to spell it out for you? He’s back because
I’m back! Grant probably told him I was back, and he’s come here to
make me live the whole thing all over again!” Robyn shrieked.

“But what has he got to gain from doing that?”

“What’s he got to lose? I can’t be here with him
here. I can’t be in the same town as him, the same state as him. I
don’t even want to be in the same country as him—that was the whole
point of leaving,” Robyn began, struggling to maintain control of
her emotions.

“Listen to me, Rob, it won’t have been Jason. It
can’t have been Jason. You saw Grant last night at hockey practice,
didn’t you? If he was here, he would have told you, you know he
would. He wouldn’t be stupid enough not to tell you,” Sarah
reassured her, taking hold of her friend’s hands.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you? You think I’m seeing
things because of what the twins did,” Robyn said with a shake of
her head.

“The twins? What have they got to do with
anything?”

“They’re ghoulish little freaks I can’t believe are
related to me! Painting things on walls and whispering to each
other, looking at me with those black, soulless eyes. They wrote
Jason loves Robyn on my bedroom wall and it made me feel sick. I
couldn’t stay a second longer, I couldn’t bear to see them
sniggering across the breakfast table. Pam and Bob couldn’t have
been sorrier, but those brats rule that house and they’re out of
control.”

“You left?”

“Yep, ran away to a million dollar house on the
lake.”

“What?”

“Brad hates Cole, Cole probably hates Brad, and
they’re supposed to be gelling as a team. At least they both seem
to like Henrik, although none of us know what nationality he is.
Dad’s started a Hershey’s chocolate diet, and he’s in cahoots with
Max who must have a porter in his employ to be able to smuggle that
amount of crap in without detection. Milo hates the new uniform and
I’m scared he’s going to grow a beard, and I haven’t managed to
order any plates for my customers to eat off of when I reopen the
roadhouse next week. I should phone Clive, but I can’t bring myself
to because I know, deep down, that how I’ve been living my life
isn’t right. And Cole, well he doesn’t like ice cream quite as much
as I do, although he lied and said he did to make me feel better,
and I left him, at the supermarket, with a cart full of food,”
Robyn blurted out.

“I think you’re going to have to explain because I
didn’t understand any of that,” Sarah admitted, looking at her
friend with concern.

“I don’t know what to do,” Robyn said, sighing
heavily.

“Maybe you should go back and see the counselor,”
Sarah suggested.

“You still don’t believe me. You don’t believe I saw
him,” Robyn stated, staring at her friend.

“I’m not saying that. I just think it’s unlikely,
that’s all. You’re tired, you’re probably still jetlagged, and…”
Sarah answered.

“Get out!” Robyn ordered, leaning over Sarah and
opening her door for her.

“Robyn, don’t be stupid. I just don’t think it was
Jason. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Get out!” Robyn screamed.

“Robyn, I…”

“By the way, Mickey doesn’t want to get married, so
you really need to stop dragging him past wedding dress stores.
They could be giving the frocks away for free and he still wouldn’t
set a date!” Robyn blurted out.

She clamped her lips shut and bit down on her tongue.
Why had she said that?

Sarah just stared back at her friend, tears
immediately pricking her eyes. She didn’t say anything else. She
got out of the car and shut the door behind her, hurrying back into
the office, clutching her folder to her like a shield.

Robyn let out a frustrated sigh and punched the
steering wheel with her fist. Why was this happening?

The shopping was all put away and he didn’t know what
to do next. Where was she? He was worried. Hell, he was more
concerned for Robyn now than he had been when Veronica had pulled
an unannounced all-nighter—probably with his brother.

He shouldn’t have let her go. He should have gone
after her, caught up with her. They could have left the store and
gone for a drink and he might have found out the reason for her
panic. He was a tool. This was how he let people down. He shouldn’t
want to be involved. Being involved just got your heart stomped on.
Anyway, he didn’t need someone to make his life worthwhile—he had
his career for that. Didn’t he?

He looked at his watch and then heard a tentative
knock on the front door.

Cole opened the door and Robyn pushed him inside. She
grabbed hold of his hands and put them on her hips. She kissed him,
pushing him down onto the floor of the hallway. She wanted to get
as close to him as she could. She pulled his t-shirt over his head
and looked appreciatively at the firm, muscular chest underneath.
She ran her fingers down, across his sternum to the waistband of
his jeans.