Sea of Love(27)

“I’m sorry, Lacy. I have to table our aquarium date. I’ll take you to your cottage.”

“What happened?” She’d switched out of frustrated mode, and now her eyes were laden with concern.

“My buddy Rob. He’s at the police station. I guess he was provoking some college guys or something. I don’t really know,” Dane said.

“Want me to come with you?” She reached over and touched his arm.

“You don’t want to deal with this stuff,” Dane said.

“You probably don’t either. Maybe I can help in some way. Besides, I wouldn’t want to go to a police station alone, and I don’t mind going so you don’t have to either.”

He closed his eyes for a breath while he thought it over. When he opened them, Lacy was still looking at him, her hand still holding his arm. “Lacy, I don’t know what to expect. This has never happened before,” Dane said. “But he’s been pretty out of it lately.”

“I’d like to go. I’d like to be there for you.”





Chapter Fifteen


AS THEY DROVE toward the Chatham Police Station, Lacy wondered if she was doing the right thing by tagging along. She wanted to support Dane, and she wouldn’t want to face something like this alone, but as they neared the station, she envisioned all sorts of derelicts hanging all over her, groping her, reaching for Dane from within their meth-induced stupors.

One look at the benign nature of the police station and all that worry fell away. The station looked more like a school than a place for wayward criminals, with big white pillars holding up a newly painted and finely constructed A-frame porch, cream-colored siding with white trim, and beautiful gardens out front. Now more relaxed, Lacy followed Dane into the lobby, where he spoke to an officer through a glass window. They showed their identification; then he and Lacy were escorted down a hallway to another room. They sat beside a small table and waited.

“Why are we in here?” Lacy asked.

Dane shrugged. “I’ve never been through this before, so I have no idea, but I’d expect they need to go through some sort of out-processing procedure.”

Lacy wondered how she would feel if Danica or Kaylie had been detained by the police. Would she be mad that she had to come down and claim them? Embarrassed? Worried? Scared? Dane’s mouth was pinched tight. Worry lines crossed his forehead. He leaned forward and steepled his hands over his mouth and nose and closed his eyes. Dane’s concern for Rob’s well-being was written not only in his face and evident in his actions, but the air around him was becoming heavy, too. Lacy wanted to reach out and touch him and remind him that he wasn’t alone. She held back. She was so confused about what she should or shouldn’t do with him, how she should act. She’d been the one to break away, and now she was the one wanting to come back together. In the Chatham parking lot, Lacy had wanted to kiss him so badly that she was sure she’d attack him if he didn’t kiss her first. When he didn’t, she was hurt, and that hurt turned to embarrassment, which had quickly morphed to frustration at being played for a fool. All those emotions running together and fighting to be heard didn’t come close to the worry that consumed her heart right at that moment.

Her need to comfort him was too great. She touched his arm. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, then lowered his hands and shook his head. “I’m worried about Rob. He’s drinking again. I should have seen it. The other day, Hugh thought he was hungover when he came to work, and I didn’t want to see it. In all the years I’ve known him, Rob’s never done anything irresponsible. Now this. I’m just worried about him. He’s a good man. He’s my friend, and I feel like he’s slipping away. I wish I knew what to do.”

“Let’s find out how he is and what happened; then we can deal with the rest."

“We?” Dane asked.

Lacy shrugged. “Friends help friends.”

He smiled. “Yes, they sure do. Thank you.”

The door opened, and an older officer came in, followed by Rob and another, younger, officer. Dane shot to his feet and went to Rob’s side. Rob’s clothes were disheveled. He had a small cut beneath his eye, and he was favoring his left side.

“Rob, what happened?” Dane ran his eyes over Rob’s face, holding tight to his arm. The veins in Dane’s neck rose like thick snakes. His biceps flexed, and Lacy heard the silent accusation in the stare he pinned against the officer.

“He provoked a pack of college kids, got into a fight, and he lost,” the older officer said. “We didn’t book him, but we kept him overnight until he sobered up.”

“You were drunk?” Dane asked. “Jesus, Rob.”

Although his voice was harsh, the way he handled Rob, with one hand on his forearm, the other around his back, was gentle and nurturing. The word protective came to Lacy’s mind.

Lacy had seen enough photos of Rob to know how out of character he looked now, unsteady on his feet and leaning against Dane.

“What happened to the other guys?” Dane asked. “Were they detained?”

“One of them, yes, but the others were released. Mr. Mann provoked the group. We don’t take this type of thing lightly around here, and if it happens again, we will book him.”

“Understood,” Dane said. “May I take him home now?”

“Yes, sir. And, Mr. Mann, I suggest you steer clear of trouble, you hear?”

“Yes, sir,” Rob said.

Before they walked out the door, the officer said, “Lemme ask you a question. You’re the Brave Foundation guys, right?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Don’t you worry, going in the water with those sharks?”

Dane spoke to the officer, but his attention was still focused on Rob. “It’s less risky than driving down the street. Hell, you could choke on a chicken bone.”





IN ROB’S MOTEL room, Rob stretched out on the bed with a groan. Lacy watched Dane pacing the small, tidy room. He ran his hand through his hair, glanced at Rob, and shook his head.

“Aren’t you gonna say anything?” Dane finally asked.

“I’m sorry, Dane. It’s all this stuff with Sheila.”

“I could have helped you, taken you to AA meetings, stayed with you, given you time off, whatever it took, Rob. How could you let it go this far?” Dane’s deep voice softened, and his worried eyes washed over Rob.

“It sent me off the deep end, I guess. Those guys were talking about how they were gonna go…” He glanced at Lacy, then back at Dane. “They were gonna go hook up with a few unsuspecting women, only not in a consensual sense. I lost it. I kept thinking of Katie and how I’m not there to protect her.”

“Katie? She’s four,” Dane said. “You can’t go around busting on guys. Jesus, you’ve never done something like that before.”

“No, I haven’t, but I’ve never been separated before either,” Rob said.

“You know, I didn’t want to believe it when Hugh said you were hungover.” Dane crossed his arms over his chest.

Lacy watched Dane’s jaw clench as he stared down the man she knew he loved like a brother. The tension between the two multiplied in seconds; then Dane let out a sigh, and the tension deflated like a popped balloon. He sat beside Rob on the bed and reached for Rob’s arm, meeting his friend’s eyes with a softer gaze.

“Buddy, let’s get you to a meeting. Is this why Sheila left?” Dane asked. He squeezed Rob’s arm.

The harshness in his tone fell away, revealing the empathetic and genuinely caring man that Lacy had come to know. She felt a fissure in her resolve.

Rob shook his head and sat up. “I didn’t start drinking until after she left. We were arguing a lot. I guess I hadn’t realized how much. You know she’s been all over me to stop tagging. I can’t give it up. I can’t do it, but…” His eyes welled with tears. “I can’t lose her, man. She’s everything. My kids…I can’t lose them.”

Dane wrapped Rob’s burly body in his arms and placed one hand on the back of his head as he held him. “It’s gonna be okay. She loves you, Rob. This’ll work out. You said you had all that stuff worked out about work. I never gave it another thought. Listen, take the week off, go to Connecticut and see her. Talk it out. She knows how much you love what you do.”

You’re holding him like you held me. She loved the way Dane and his family weren’t shy about their emotions, and as she watched him with Rob, she sensed that Rob really was family to him, which endeared Dane to her even more.

Rob pulled back. “I can’t. She said she needed space, but I’ll call her.”

“And a meeting?” Dane pulled out his phone and typed something in. “I’ll find a local meeting we can attend.”

“I went last night. I just fucked up afterward,” Rob said. “I can do this. I did it fifteen years ago, and I’ll do it again.”

“I’ll go with you. You need support,” Dane offered.

So available, willing to be there no matter what. Lacy felt her heart opening like a flower in bloom.

“Nah. This is something I have to do alone. It’s all out in the open now, Dane.” He looked away as a flush crept up his cheeks. “I’ll call you if I feel like I’m falling off the wagon. I promise. I’ve only been back on the bottle for two days. I’m sorry, man. You don’t deserve this shit,” Rob said. He turned to Lacy. “I’m sorry, hon.”