"So, this is the woman that helped with that Heather girl problem?"
"Yeah, and that is a whole different story that we need a bottle of whiskey to talk about."
After the conversation with my cousin and the way my family was all in my shit, I knew it was only a matter of time before I broke down and told them all that I was involved with Amy. She wasn’t ready for us to be a couple, but I was and I was going to find a way to make it happen.
Chapter 32
Amy
My Thanksgiving wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After being able to talk to Conner after so long, I was more than giddy. Even though he wasn't in the best of moods, it was still good to hear his voice and that he still loved me.
When Rick came home, his daughter was with him. She had pierced her nose and her lip and had a tattoo on her neck. Her boyfriend who followed in behind them was in some band and had tattoos from his fingers and up his arms. He had those big things in his ears that stretched the lobe and wore his pants down below his ass.
Rick had the same expression as I did when they finally walked into the living room. We both began to laugh and tried to not let them hear us.
Rick reached his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "It's really nice to hear you happy. You think that after dinner we could maybe take our relationship to the next level?"
Oh god...this was not happening to me. I eased my way over to the counter and started mixing up some stuffing. "How about we just see how today goes and if we're even awake enough. Plus you have to entertain the two rock stars in the other room and who knows when they're going to leave."
He came up behind me again and reached his arms around me. Even now the memory of him being drunk and trying to touch me still made me cringe. I was trying to get along with this man, but nothing had changed as far as the way he made me feel. I hated him and just wanted to be free.
Conner had assumed that I was sleeping with Rick. I'd done everything to prevent that, including making up a fake female infection to make him want to stay away. Still, it didn't keep him from trying.
Our meal was quiet, just like every year. I could always tell that being a family was something that Rick just wasn’t good at.
I knew that once Shelby moved in with a boy and still wasn’t eighteen, that her father was done being a parent. I mean, what kind of father lets their daughter do something like that?
The guy, whose name was Devon, turned out to be a pretty smart kid. He was really into art and brought a portfolio from the car to show me some of his pieces. Shelby seemed completely obsessed with the kid, but he was also as equally into her. We hadn’t always seen eye to eye, but I was happy for her.
As the night progressed and we had dessert, Rick fell asleep in the recliner. We didn’t keep alcohol in the house, so we went into the kitchen and played a board game to pass the time. Devon was still involved in the game on television and had been talking to his parents that lived in another state.
I took a look beyond my step-daughter’s piercings and saw how beautiful she had become. “I’m glad to see you so happy.”
She smiled. “Yeah, Devon’s great. He’s nothing like my father.”
I raised my eyebrow, curious to what she was implying. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “Well, first of all, he would never hit me, or my kid.”
I was shocked. I reached over for her hand, but she pulled it away. “Don’t Amy. I know you didn’t know and it was never as bad as it was with you. I think the older I got the easier it became and that’s why I left.”
I looked down at my own hands and closed my eyes. “I never thought he would be that way.”
Finally, she reached across the table and grabbed my hands. She spoke in a whisper and kept looking into the other room to make sure we weren’t heard. “You need to leave, Amy. Take what you can and get away from him. There’s more that you don’t know about him.”
“What do you mean? More what? What don’t I know?”
The recliner squeaked and we knew he was awake. We both pulled away from each other and started laughing for no apparent reason to make it look like we were just catching up.
Shelby gave me a look like I better keep my mouth shut and I intended to.
Rick came in the room and gave me a wink that made me want to gag. He wasn’t going to touch me, if that’s what he was thinking.
For the rest of the evening, until Shelby and Devon said they were tired, Rick wouldn’t let us out of his sight. I was frustrated because I needed something on the man and she may have the answer.
I had been hiding my cell phone under the sink in the powder room. I used duct tape to attach it to the underneath of the sink, so even if someone went to look in the cabinet, they would never be able to see it. I sat down on the closed toilet seat and checked it one last time.