“We’re all trying to get back in the rhythm, but it’s not going to be easy. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.”
“Not the competition.” She huffed a breath which turned to a cloud and then buried her chin in her scarf. “It’s the rest of my life that’s out of control.”
Well shit. This could be anything at all, and I wasn’t entirely sure how to ask questions. “You want to tell me—”
“My boyfriend, well now fiancé, Ronan, proposed. My mom hates him, and my dad tried to shoot him.” I laughed a little because it sounded as if she was making a joke, but one glance down, and I saw she was a long way from joking.
“Tried to shoot him for real?” I finally said as she stared up at me.
“Oh yeah, big time. I’m from a small town, and he’s from the wrong side of the tracks. It’s a Romeo and Juliet tragedy of epic proportions.” She shook her head. “Nothing will stop me from marrying him because I love him, and we have so many plans for a family.” She paused a moment and then whispered, “I’m pregnant.” Was I the first person she’d told? Because she stared at me with so much open emotion. The warmth of the path lights highlighted her face, and I saw shock and hope in her eyes.
“That’s wonderful!” I enthused because hell yes, I knew what to say to someone expecting a baby, and her confusion softened to a smile.
“You think so?”
“Of course. Does Ronan know?”
“I told him before I left, and my parents too. It’s a mess. Everyone was shouting.” She pressed her free hand to her belly. “My baby will hate me.”
Shit. I knew this wouldn’t have a happy ending. “Hang on, your fiancé was shouting—”
“God no, he’s over the moon with excitement, but he’s defending us, and it takes all his energy. I don’t know how he really feels, not about me, but the craziness that is my stupid ass family.” She turned to face me and gripped my arm. “He says he’s happy, but how can he truly want this when he’s worried how he can keep us safe, and we’re scared of what my parents might do. My business is in town. It’s not big, and it’s struggling. I’m not like you.” That sounded so damning but I know she didn’t mean it like that. “I live in the apartment over the shop, and Ronan won’t even stay the night, in case there’s trouble.”
“You should ask him.”
“What? To stay over?” The confusion was back.
“No.”
“Call him now,” Brody chimed in from where he had been standing for God knows how long. Shauna and I both startled at the interruption, but at least Shauna didn’t run. Seemed as if she was okay sharing her secret with another person besides me.
“Sorry I couldn’t help but overhear… I can… ” He gestured behind him, but she shook her head.
“It’s fine.”
Good job he’d arrived, it’s not as if I was handling it that well, anyway. Brody would be better at this. He had nieces and nephews and a huge family filled with boundless energy and love. If anyone knew how to talk to Shauna, it would be him.
When Shauna simply blinked up at him, he fished out his phone to underscore his dramatic point. “Call Ronan now, ask him outright, is he happy about the baby, does he want this, will he move in, what does he want to do. Don’t spend another moment wondering about anything, cut that dead, ask him. I bet you he’s back in your hometown spending all his time thinking about you and is so excited about being a dad.”
“I have my own phone.” Shauna sounded dazed, as she rooted in her voluminous jacket to find her cell. “I’ll do that.”
“We’ll leave you a while, walk up here a bit, but we’re here if you need us.”
We are? We will? Brody began to walk away, and I followed him, brushing snow from my jeans and huddling deep in my coat as the icy start of winter bit at any exposed skin. Great, another awkward five minutes with my nemesis.
“She’ll be okay. I’ve met Ronan, and he’s a good guy.”
“You’ve met him?”
“At the reunion last year.”
“Oh I couldn’t make that.” I was avoiding making human connection that mattered. I am a fucking drama queen. He stopped walking and I saw we’d reached Jeremy, that by the looks of it only needed minimal tending tonight. Some straightening of his spindly twig arms and a readjustment of his hat.
“I nearly didn’t go. Marc was being difficult over whether it suited my profile to meet the other competitors. It was the first time I went anywhere on my own since I met him.”
“I’m sorry it went wrong.”
Brody muttered a curse then stared at the snowman. “Don’t be. It’s fine.” He huffed a derisory laugh. “Hell, it was over with Marc after I found out that he fucked at least three men behind my back, one for over a year after we married. Not only that but he took nearly every cent of my winnings and invested it, not wisely of course. And to add insult to injury, when we negotiated the divorce, he then wanted half of what meager pickings were left. I didn’t have it in me to argue so I was lucky that after he claimed he had a stake in my name and therefore, wanted future payments, my lawyer dumped photos and proof of his infidelity in front of him. I just wanted to give him anything for him to go away. He’s not in my life, and I’m good with that.”
“Oh.” That was all I could manage despite the fact that Brody had just delivered one hell of a speech. Say something else. Idiot. “Shit, sorry.”
He deflated a little and sighed. “It was going to happen one day. I really loved him, and I thought he loved me. I mean we were together all through college, but in hindsight, we were done before the show. After winning the show, the money helped, and I started getting contracts. He was then happy to be in my life, and I was happy most of the time until I ran out of money for him to spend, and found out he was cheating on me, then we found out he’d taken money from my dad as well.”
Fuck. This was like the worst kind of story all rolled up into one long run-on sentence. It all sounded rehearsed as if he’d told this to people all the time and had learned to leave out details and cut to the chase.
“I didn’t know.”
He shot a glance at me. “How would you know? The media just said we were divorcing amicably because I didn’t fight, and I don’t share my entire life on social media.”
Ouch. Was that a dig? He didn’t seem as if he was making a point, but if I tugged my coat closer around me it would stop the worst of the jibes from getting through. I’d just ignore them.
“Sorry, that sounded like I was shaming what you do, and I wasn’t.” Brody straightened Jeremy’s nose and patted the eyes so they were firmly in place then bent to pick up a handful of snow to patch up a hole. “I don’t mean your kind of social media. I know for sure I should embrace that kind of thing for business. I mean I don’t share my life outside of my family because… ” He paused, and I know he was searching for the right words that wouldn’t sound judgmental. He was that kind of guy. Thoughtful. “… I don’t know how you do it. All the other bits, the selfies, the constant bombardment of comments and criticism, how do you even start to deal with it?”