“Yes, I suppose it is. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk with Ms. Jefferies. Stick around for me though, just in case I have any more questions.”
“I will,” I said.
He headed over to where the woman was standing. Amelia began to fuss in my arms, so I started bouncing her as I walked back and forth across the parking lot. She seemed determined to wiggle right out of my arms, but I tightly held her and begged her in shushed words to be good.
A few minutes later, I watched the officer I had spoken with walk over to Ethan, who was sitting on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, still cuffed. The officer crouched down in front of him. I edged closer to hear what was being said, but they were speaking too softly for me to hear.
I was relieved when Ethan stood, and the cop released the handcuffs from around his wrists. The officer frowned deeply as he said something else to Ethan. When Ethan nodded, the officer walked away. He headed over to where Joey was still cuffed, the other officer next to him. The officer spoke to Joey longer than he had with Ethan, but after a few tense minutes, Joey was released as well.
Joey stormed across the lot to his car. The woman followed quickly after him. He spared me a single glare before getting into his car. The woman barely had time to shut her door before he was pulling out of his spot. When he hit the main road, his tires spun, leaving marks on the blacktop. Needless to say, he was pissed.
I hurried over to where Ethan was standing. He stared down at his wrists, rubbing them.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Fine,” he muttered.
I knew he was lying. His face was a complete mess. His wrists weren’t bleeding, but they were red where the cuffs had rubbed against them.
“No, you’re not.” I repositioned Amelia on my hip. “You’re hurt.”
“You’re both free to go,” a voice said from behind me.
I turned to see one of the officers standing there, his gaze trained on me.
“If you have any more problems with Mr. Sanders, don’t hesitate to contact us. We let him go this time, but if he tries something else, he’ll have a county jail cell with his name on it. That goes for you, too, son. Stay out of trouble.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Ethan muttered.
“Thank you for everything,” I told the officer.
I decided then and there that cops weren’t so bad after all. They’d let Ethan and Joey go when they could have arrested them.
The officer nodded before turning and walking to his patrol car. His partner was already standing next to it, waiting for him to finish up with us. I watched them pull out of the lot before I turned back to Ethan.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. This wasn’t your fault,” Ethan said. “Joey is a dick. I knew something was wrong, so I intervened. You didn’t ask me to, so don’t try to put this on yourself. I knew what I was walking into before I even opened my mouth. I didn’t care.”
“Okay,” I said, not wanting to argue. “Come with me. We need to get you cleaned up.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.”
“I’m not letting you leave without me right now. I need you with me, so I can take care of you. At least let me do that much for you.”
He studied me for a moment. “Just follow me home then.”
“I can’t,” I explained. “I have Amelia now, and unless you have diapers and formula at your house, I have to go to my parents’.”
He groaned. “Then, come by after you’ve stopped there.”
I shook my head. “No. You’re staying with me. Come on. We’ll ride together.”
“Then, my car will be left here.”
“We can get it later,” I said stubbornly.
“You’re being a little melodramatic over this, Caley,” he grumbled. “Look, I’ll come with you to your parents’ house, but I’m driving my own car. Fair enough?”
I frowned. “I suppose. But if you try to go home, I will come after you.”
He grinned, but it quickly disappeared when it caused his busted lip to split open further. “Fuck, that hurts.”
“It looks like it does. Now, come on.”
I walked across the lot to my car. My keys were still lying on the ground where I’d first dropped them when I saw Joey. I scooped them up before opening the back door and buckling Amelia into her car seat. I closed her door and glanced over to make sure Ethan wasn’t trying to escape.
He was climbing into his own car, clearly not trying to speed away from me like I’d feared. I sighed in relief before glancing around the lot one final time. I noticed several people watching us. They’d apparently witnessed the less than spectacular show Ethan and Joey had put on. I looked away from them and climbed into my car.
I slowly drove home, my hands shaking on the steering wheel. There were so many things I didn’t understand about Joey, but his display this afternoon had taken the cake. I couldn’t grasp why he had refused to get a divorce if he was cheating on me. It was clear that he was as unhappy as I was, even more so now.
Why would he want us both to suffer? It made no sense.
I asked myself that question over and over again as I drove to my parents’ house, but I still had no answer when I pulled into the parking spot in front of their house. I looked in my rearview mirror to see Ethan parking behind me.
Deciding to worry about Joey later, I shut my car off and stepped out. After freeing Amelia from her seat, I walked up the steps of my parents’ porch with Ethan following behind me.
For once, I wasn’t worried about my mother. She would be sure to have something to say about Ethan’s appearance, but as far as I was concerned, she could kiss my ass. I was tired of fearing her wrath every damn time I stepped into the house.
As soon as I walked inside, I motioned for Ethan to follow me. We walked straight into the living room. My mom was sitting on the couch and my dad was sitting in his chair, watching television together.
“Where have you been?” my mother demanded as soon as she saw me.
Her eyes moved to Ethan as he appeared, and her mouth popped open in shock.
“Ethan?” my dad asked in disbelief.
“Uh, hi,” he said awkwardly.
I almost laughed. He could take on Joey with no problem, but one look from my father had him shifting uneasily. He was clearly uncomfortable.
“Who the hell is this? And what happened to him?” my mother asked.
“This is Ethan. He’s a friend, and we work together,” I told her. “I need you to watch Amelia for a few minutes while I clean him up.”
“What happened?” she demanded. “No offense to you, Ethan, but I don’t know you. You walk into my house, looking like you got into some kind of fight or accident, and I’m supposed to just let that go?”
“He did get into a fight,” I snapped. “He was defending me against my husband. It seems Joey—you know, that man you worship and have been trying to convince me to stay with—has been cheating on me all along. When I caught him, Ethan had to step in because Joey wouldn’t let me leave. I guess he’s not as good of a man as you thought he was, now is he?”
“I…I…” my mother stuttered, too shocked to form a coherent sentence.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go clean Ethan up.” I kissed Amelia on the forehead before placing her on the floor next to her toys. “Come on, Ethan.”
He followed me back out into the entryway and then down the hall to where the bathroom was.
When we walked in, I pointed to the tub. “Sit down there. And take your shirt off, so I can check you over.”
He mock-saluted me before peeling his shirt off and sitting down. I opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out cotton balls and peroxide. I set them on the counter before grabbing a washcloth and a hand towel out from underneath the sink. I ran the washcloth under warm water and wrung it out.