“I’ve had a long day, and I’m not in the mood for another fight. You caught me at the wrong moment.” Diane gestured further down the road. “There’s a trail over there that will take us down to the lake and a little cove. Vent as much as you want, and I’ll listen.”
“I’m going to be venting about you.”
“And like I said, I’ll listen. I think you and I need to clear the air.”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know what’s going on here.”
“Not all of us will preach and get angry for something like this. Baptists are not bible thumpers.”
“Your dad looked to be one of them.” Jessica grimaced. “He made me uncomfortable. He didn’t look happy at all.”
“Let’s just say it’s been a long day,” Diane gestured for Jessica to follow her, “come with me. At least we can have some privacy.”
When she first encountered Jessica in Growler’s, she never expected that she would be having something close to a civil conversation with the other woman. It felt weird, but nothing about her life right now was straightforward.
Diane just wanted to get everything to go away.
*****
Gregory was really struggling to work. He kept going to his laptop, but then he found his attention drifting elsewhere, and his thoughts going on a detour. He hadn’t gotten anything done since the day before.
Since Diane had pretty much run from his life.
It was hell. Gregory wanted to contact Diane, but she wouldn’t respond to his text messages, and he didn’t want to risk calling her in case her father noticed. She was just completely ignoring him. And Gregory didn’t like it. Not being able to contact her made him uncomfortable.
He thought back over the conversation, and how he could have said things differently. But it would have ended up going the same way – he would ask to marry her, and Diane would still refuse him.
Even if she felt something for him, she was still ashamed of him. And that hurt a lot. It made Gregory feel awful that the woman he loved could be ashamed of him.
If only she could relax and see that it wasn’t that bad. Gregory had seen her relax in his company, and she was stunning. He loved her company when she was like that. But that was only when it was just the two of them.
Whenever they went out and people saw them, Diane closed up so much it was like a different person. It took quite a while to calm her and focus on him and nothing else.
Gregory wanted to help her. He wanted to marry her, and show her that what they were doing wasn’t bad. All he wanted now was her.
And yet she kept hold onto the values she was raised with, and they were warring with what she wanted. Plus, her father was planning on marrying her to a member of their community, one of Gregory’s own employees.
Even if Diane refused the marriage, she would still go through with it because it was the right thing to do. After all, what happened if she ended up pregnant? She would be scared enough to hide that she had had sex with someone else with a marriage she didn’t want.
This affair had gone from something fresh and new to a mess in a very short space of time. Gregory had thought he was done with messy relationships, and this felt like the worst. He wanted Diane back and with him.
But he didn’t know how he was going to do that without Diane losing the only family she had and the support of her community. That did mean a lot to her, and he did respect that.
He just wished that she could have both.
“You in there?”
Gregory looked up. Clint was in the doorway, watching him curiously. Gregory blinked.
“How long have you been there?”
“Not long, but you looked like you were on another planet.” Clint frowned. “Are you okay? Trouble at the mill?”
Gregory sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.
“I’m just having a tough day, that’s all.”
“Care to talk to me about it?”
Gregory glanced past Clint and into the main office. He could see Brent from his chair, the young man focusing on his computer with intense concentration. If only he could fire the guy for arranging his wedding for Diane without her approval.
He beckoned Clint to come in.
“Close the door behind you.”
“Sure,” Clint shut the door and crossed the room, “you look like you’re stuck and you don’t know how to get out.”
“That’s probably as close as you’re going to get to describing my predicament.” Gregory slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes. “God, I’m a fucking idiot.”
“Is this something to do with Diane Gilbert?”
“You could say that.”
Given Clint had been there when Diane had come to Gregory’s home, he was aware of the relationship. Gregory trusted him to say nothing, and he hadn’t so far. He was the only person Gregory could talk to about this.
The only one he would allow to call him an idiot.
“So, what’s happened?” Clint sat down and stretched his legs out. “Did you ask Diane to marry you and she freaked out?”
“Wait, what?” Gregory’s eyes snapped open. “How do you know about that?”
“Her best friend is Maggie, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but…!” Then it clicked. Gregory stared. “You said you were dating someone but didn’t mention who it was. Is it her?”
“It is.” Clint nodded, his cheeks a little pink. “We’ve been a couple since September. Trust me, we didn’t go about it intentionally to have a relationship. Things happened, one thing led to another, and…”
“I think I can guess.”
Gregory knew he shouldn’t be surprised, but he was. He should have suspected that Clint and Maggie had something going on between them when they saw her. But he always considered Maggie a really friendly person; she was like that with everyone.
Now it looked like Clint was getting more than a friendly wave and a smile.
“So, you’ve been talking about us, have you?”
“Not intentionally. Maggie spoke to me because she was concerned. Diane was at her house, and she seemed to be having a bit of a crisis.” Clint sighed. “She didn’t know what to do, especially when her friend was in distress.”