Part 13 (2/2)

”Why would she? She's never here. I think she's a vampire. She doesn't eat, she doesn't sleep, and she's always out for blood.”

”Vampires sleep during the day,” Bethany murmured, using the romantic vampire stories she read as her only reference.

”Well, Josie's a new kind of bloodsucker.”

Fathoming the split personality Rod had with his sister wasn't easy. One minute he was the eager little boy, wanting love and attention, and the next he was insulting her and acting as if she disgusted him more than any other person.

He spent much of the meal telling Bethany about his sister's ”bad side”, which served to shock and frighten Bethany. As far as she could tell, there was no redeeming value to the woman.

It never occurred to Bethany that Rod wouldn't agree when she voiced her thoughts in their bedroom.

”What right do you have to say that about my sister?” His expression matched the infuriated tone of his voice.

The grip Bethany had on her brush slackened, and it fell to the table with a loud crack. Rod had never been mad at her, never raised his voice. It frightened her.

”You don't know anything about her, except what I told you. I didn't insult your brother when he was acting like a jerk about us. Maybe I should have, just so you'd know how it feels.”

The tension she'd been feeling between them all week exploded, and she ran into the connecting bathroom, locking the door so he wouldn't see her tears.

Having him see them wouldn't have been any worse than hearing, because they poured forth so painfully from her chest she couldn't quiet the storm.

She would lose him. Now she would lose him because he loved his sister more than he did her, though he had a funny way of showing love to his sister. He'd returned words to her Bethany wouldn't feel comfortable saying to a dire enemy, if she had one. Telling herself being jealous of his love for his sister was ridiculous didn't ease the pain.

He knocked on the door, apologizing over and over, but she hardly heard him.

Why did everything have to be tied into one package? Failure and success in this relations.h.i.+p involved the same things: his interest, her ability to keep him interested, where she lived, what she did for a living. She had no idea how she could keep it together if she spent all her time walking on eggsh.e.l.ls.

A few minutes later, Rod let himself in with a key, and she tried to calm herself by apologizing for what she'd said about his sister. Speaking only made her more upset, especially mixed with her relief when he kneeled in front of the toilet bowl she sat on and pulled her into his arms. ”No, I'm sorry. I can't stand it when anybody except me insults her or hurts her. You had no way of knowing I'd react like a hypocrite. Men are the only ones who've ever insulted her before. I usually react by beating them as close to death as life will allow.” He lifted her chin, softening noticeably more when he saw her tear-streaked cheeks. ”I didn't scare you, did I, sweetness?”

He had, but not because she believed he'd hit her. His fury had just come out of nowhere.

”I'd never hurt you. I couldn't. I'd rather die than hurt you.”

Nodding, Bethany put her arms around him and hid her face in his shoulder.

”My sister's just been through a lotta tough stuff she didn't handle very well. I know it's hard to believe, but I just want her to be happy. I want all the people I love to be as happy as I am. So sometimes I have to intervene.”

At the moment, she didn't care about his sister, her problems, or his friends. She just wanted everything to be OK between them again.

The tension she'd felt all week was unfounded, she realized now. Compared to how close she'd been to losing him a few minutes ago, her worries in the past were ridiculous. But if it'd been this close once, it could be again. The more time they spent with each other, the more they found out about each other, the more likely he'd find something about her he just couldn't live with. And then her days were as numbered as her predecessors' had been.

”What do you think it means if a woman starts acting weird at weird times?”

Rod asked when Blackie tossed him a screwdriver from the rollout toolchest.

Rod had tried to convince himself he was imagining things. Bethany was an angel of sweetness whenever they were in bed, kissing, cuddling, making love.

But other times he felt she wanted to tell him she had doubts, about him, them, but she didn't know how to voice them.

He didn't want to hear them either. With the exception of the ”fight”

they'd had last Friday, his life was perfect. To be realistic, he didn't expect their relations.h.i.+p to always be a bed of roses. They had to learn to deal with problems that came between them, and they had to be strong enough to face them instead of hiding things from each other. So, for that reason, he knew he had to confront her doubts if she had them. The reason he didn't want to hear them was because she might have already decided the course she'd take. That could mean she would leave him, and he already knew he couldn't take that. Obviously the gifts weren't working to convince her she'd never want for anything if she stayed with him.

Jon glanced up from the carburetor he was installing on a Honda V-45 Magna.

”Like when?”

”Like anytime we're not. . .”

”So, the s.e.x is still good?” Jon said.

”s.e.x and snuggling, yeah.”

”Snuggling?” Blackie muttered under his breath from the worktable.

Rod was above embarra.s.sment in this. Guys always made the snuggling part sound unmanly if they allowed themselves to indulge in it, but they enjoyed it as much, or more, than women.

Blackie turned to Rod. ”You got a problem, man, cuz it can only be one of two things. Might even be both. That lady wants to put you in a collar, and she wants the dirty lowdown.”

”Marriage, and 'Oh, Bethany darling, I love you oh-so-much,'” Jon teased, making kissing noises.

Rod stared at them, dumfounded. It couldn't be that simple, could it? He hadn't told her the exact words ”I love you” because they'd become a cliche and a cure-all. In every other way there was to tell her how he felt about her, he had, but if she needed those exact words he would make them new for her.

”Man, I thought she wanted out and didn't know how to say it!” The relief was so overwhelming, he started laughing.

”So, you're gonna do it?”

Rod stood up, flinging his arms around Blackie simply because he was nearby and standing. Blackie shoved him away immediately, which didn't phase Rod in the least.

”Are you kidding? I'm gonna do it tonight!”

”You don't wanna do this kinda thing spur-of-the-moment. Wait'll this weekend,” Jon advised. ”Or next weekend.”

Everyone who knew a little something about Rod Summers knew his answer. ”I can't wait that long. It'll have to be this weekend. In Milwaukee. The finest hotel, room service, and then the rings.”

All his life he'd been told (and been self-aware) he rushed into things. He hadn't wanted to rush Bethany since it'd only been a month and she might not trust him a hundred percent yet. When they married, he didn't want her to have any doubt he was a one-woman man, for now and for ever.

As he headed for his car and the nearest jewelry shop, he heard Blackie ask, ”You think he's really gonna do it?”

”You know something?” Jon said after half a minute. ”I think he's just wild and crazy enough to go through with it.”

Rod was acting very strange.

It all started yesterday. When she stopped at Rod's shop to pick him up after work, something they'd been doing ”routinely”, Jon told her Rod had gone ”rock hunting” and would meet her at the house later. Blackie had smiled for some reason, something she'd never seen him do, and though she didn't know him very well she suspected he didn't do it often. Maybe that smile disarmed her enough to ask what in the world Rod was doing rock hunting this time of year.

Jon laughed so hard, she was embarra.s.sed. Blackie said something soothing to her, as if afraid she'd burst into tears. Then Jon hugged her in a brotherly way that made her feel warm and special instead of silly.

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