Are you okay?โ I asked.
Briana had her forehead against the truck window. We were almost home. She hadnโt talked for most of the ride. Or in the hotel room while we packed up this morning. Or anytime, really, since the encounter in the elevator last night.
It was a long moment before she answered me. โIโm sorry I threw up on you,โ she said again.
โThatโs never happened to me beforeโin my office job as an accountant.โ
She laughed a little, but there was no mirth in it.
Lieutenant Dan was sitting with his head on her lap. Heโd been whining and crying to get to her from the back seat so badly I finally pulled over and let him sit with her. Same thing last night. I had to let him sleep on the bed.
โWas that the first time youโve seen them together?โ I asked.
She didnโt reply. I reached over and grabbed her hand. She didnโt squeeze it back.
Something was off.
I understood why she was upset. Running into her ex-husband and the woman heโd left her for and seeing that they were married and pregnant had to be jarring.
But there was something else going on too. She hadnโt looked me in the eye since the elevator incident. And it made a knot form in the pit of my
stomach and my anxiety fire to life.
Maybe I was worried about something that wasnโt anything to be concerned about? She was just in shock and not feeling well and needed some time to process.
But she didnโt take the bouquet this morning. Sheโd been so happy to catch it last night. Sheโd said she wanted to dry it. And then she just left it on the hotel dresser. When I went to pick it up, she said she didnโt want it. It felt like some kind of omen that I didnโt want to think about too closely.
We drove the rest of the way home in silence. When we pulled into the garage, she got out. I grabbed her luggage out of the trunk, but she wouldnโt let me take it up the steps to the house for her. She just mumbled that she had it and started walking, dragging it without waiting for me. When I came in after her, she was standing in the living room staring at the couch.
โIโll make you some soup,โ I said, setting down my duffel bag. โMaybe we can watch a movie? Orย Schittโs Creek?โ
I came up behind her and hugged her. She tensed. My stomach dropped. โWhatโs wrong?โ I asked.
She wriggled slowly away from me, like she was shrugging out of a dirty jacket and didnโt want to touch more of it than she had to.
She turned to look at me with bloodshot eyes. โIโm going home.โ I swallowed. โOkayโฆโ I said. โIโll go with you.โ
โNo.โ
My heart was picking up. โAll right. When will you be back?โ โIโm never going to live with you, Jacob.โ
It was like a dagger that came out of nowhere.
โIโm never going to live with you, and Iโm never going to marry you. If you want that, find someone else.โ
โIโฆI donโt want someone elseโโ
โWell, maybe you should.โ She stared at me red-eyed and defiant. Like it was me against her all of a sudden.
I shook my head. โWhy are you fighting with me?โ
โIโm not,โ she said, her voice clipped. โIโm just telling you the way it is.โ
I licked my lips. โLook. What happened last night was traumatic. Letโs talk about itโโ
โNo.โ
I studied her face.
โBriana,โ I said carefully. โIโm not going to do to you what he did. If youโre worried about thatโโ
She burst into laughter. Deep, guttural laughs like Iโd never heard from her.
โYou donโt know what youโll never do,โ she said. โMaybe youโll get sick of me. Maybe youโll meet someone else you canโt live without. And then Iโll come home early and my Bluetooth will connect to your phone when I pull into the garage and Iโll get to hear my friend telling my husband of ten years how much she enjoyed fucking him on my new duvet.โ She cracked up, like this was hilarious.
โOh,โ she said like she just remembered. โAnd then he leaves me for her, and while theyโre in my house, eating off my plates and sleeping in my bed, I miscarry our baby. Alone. In my shitty childhood bedroom with my shittyย Smallvilleย posters on the walls. Which worked out great for him because he didnโt wantย myย baby anyway.โ
I blinked at her. โIโฆI had no idea that happened to youโโ
โWell, itย did. And no, you wonโt do that to me, Jacob. Becauseย Iย wonโt let you.โ She grabbed the handle of her luggage and started for the door. โI donโt live here. I want to go home. I want my mom.โ
I grabbed her wrist. โBriana, Iโm not himโโ
She yanked her arm away from me. โEveryย man is him! You areย allย the fucking same!โ Her voice cracked on the last word. โYou arenโt until youย are.โ Her breath was coming out shaky. โYou wonโt like me once you really know me, or youโll find someone else or youโll want something different andย thenย youโll leave. So just do it now. Save me the trouble.โ
My chest was rising and falling, sheer panic pulsing inside me. I didnโt know what to say. Everything I said was making it worse, and I didnโt know what to do.
Her face changed a dozen times in the long seconds we looked at each other. Anger. Hurt. Sadness. Fear. And then finally something softer and resigned and broken.
โI need to be alone right now, Jacob,โ she whispered. โJustโฆleave me alone.โ
And she left.