“Her writing is a hobby, so I guess it’ll stay that way. I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy.”
Dean nodded his head even though he knew by letting her go he’d be resigning her to a lifetime of shutting away her creativity. Would being with this boy send her muse away?
“I’ll see her tonight,” he said
“You know this is for the best.”
He didn’t know. He’d see Laura and make his decisions.
Dean waited for her outside his front door. He’d gone to the library after the visit with Peter and waited until she agreed to meet with him. She looked awful. Her eyes were black from lack of sleep and she looked weak.
The sunset came and he watched her walk along the path. Her bag looked way too big as it hung on her shoulder. He thought about what Peter wanted him to do and watching her walk towards him, he knew the man was right. Laura staying with him would be a big mistake. People in town would gossip about their relationship and she’d be the main source. Could he force her to a lifetime of ridicule because he didn’t want to let her go? What would happen when she was still so young and he’d be old? He couldn’t expect her to spend her years with him as he grew old. He was twenty years older than her, a very large age gap.
“You wanted to see me,” she said.
Dean nodded and gestured for her to go on ahead of him. She went to the kitchen and he made coffee. He really wanted booze, the strongest stuff he owned.
“I’ve been thinking, Laura. I’ve decided to move on,” He told her. He heard her gasp and he closed his eyes. He had to do this. “I’m selling this place and moving back to my old town.”
“You said you were moving on. Cape Falls was where you wanted to be,” she said.
“I know what I said. I’ve changed my mind.” He handed her the cup and she put it on the table.
“This is why you’ve brought me here? To tell me you’ve had your fun and now you’re leaving,” she shouted.
“I know you’re upset...”
“Down f**king right I’m upset. I gave you everything you asked of me. My friendship, my love, my f**king virginity and my body and now you’re telling me you’re leaving. You f**king bastard.”
The cup and the steaming coffee suddenly slammed into the wall. He watched the droplets of liquid slide down the wall.
“I hope you live a life of f**king misery,” she told him.
She walked out of his house and he followed after her. He didn’t stop her and watched her march away.
When he walked back into the kitchen he stared at the smashed cup and dialed the number. Peter answered on the first ring.
“It’s done,” was all he said and he hung up.
“I’m already in misery, baby,” he said.
Chapter Seventeen
Three months later.
Time carried on as normal. College started back up and Laura dropped out. She got the fulltime position at the library and her night times she spent at the diner. Her belongings were removed from home and she shared the apartment with Peter.
The talk of the town was Dean Riley. He’d come and gone all in a matter of months, taking with him her heart. Laura did her best to put a smile on her face and to show to the world she was fine. No one but Peter knew the truth. Some people suspected about her condition. She’d lost weight and looked ill.
On an appointment to the doctor's she’d been told she was pregnant. When she thought back, Dean had rarely used a condom. She didn’t tell Peter, but one of the women who worked at the clinic had seen her and knew about her condition. Now the whole town knew. She was the brunt of all the gossip. Peter helped her when he could, even though many had already made up there ideas about her. Her parents refused to speak to her. The doctor had said she was about three months along and she guessed the last time they were together had been the cause.
“I want to make this all right for you,” Peter said one afternoon.
Even though she was pregnant, because of all the hours she worked, she’d lost all of her excess fat. She could see the small curve of her bump.
Peter got down on one knee and Laura closed her eyes, hoping he’d vanish when she opened her eyes.
“Will you marry me?” he asked.
She opened her eyes and the tears sprang forward.
“I’m sorry, Peter. I can’t accept this,” she told. She handed him back the engagement ring and moved away from the sofa.
“I’m pregnant with another mans child. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but I can't burden you with this. That isn’t fair and I won’t do it.”
Since Dean had left she’d tried to move on and make it work and failed in every area. Yes, the town would quieten down if she married Peter and he accepted the responsibility of her baby. She didn’t want that. This wasn’t his baby and she loved him only as a friend. A friend didn’t do that to another friend. Peter had tried to stop the gossip, but she couldn’t accept his marriage proposal. Like a heroine out of her books, she was cursed to love only one man.
“You don’t have to answer right away,” he said.
She ran her fingers through her lank hair. No life in her body or her hair. She was nothing more than a glorified zombie.
“Peter. I told you before. He, Dean, may not want me but I love him. It wasn’t some stupid schoolgirl crush.” She stopped. Talking about him always brought tears to her eyes.
“He left, Laura,” he argued.
The tears fell as they always did. She’d sat at a distance as the men who helped him move came to collect his stuff. Laura stayed there until the ‘for sale’ sign appeared.
“I know that,” she shouted at Peter, turning back to him for the argument. Peter cared about her but he never understood the pain she was going through.
“Love isn’t like some football game you can just turn off. I know he’s older than me and damaged, but I can’t control whom I love. Dean Riley is the man my heart fell for and I watched him leave me as if I meant nothing.” She rubbed the tears from her eyes. They were falling thick and fast.
“Do you want me to say yes to you? To marry you, Peter? Give birth to your children and pretend to be happy? When my daughter asks me about love and to know in my heart the only man I ever loved is a gazillion miles away, do I tell her, 'but hey, I settled for your father?'” Laura stared at him. Her eyes filled with tears, her whole body shaking with pain and fear.
“Maybe you would feel something for me with time,” he said.