Cuffs and Kisses

Chapter 38 - Thanksgiving Pt. II

Heather

At dinner with Alice, Kayne, and Fletcher, my father acts like the same pompous asshole he always is. He has to mansplain anything that Alice says. Alice intentionally doesn't hide her emotions, and there is a moment I am sure she is going to throw a punch at him.

Alice tells us that when visiting California with her late husband, she once auditioned for Life Alert's signature commercial. She says her audition went great, but they picked some other woman who spent her prep time in the waiting room snake-charming her arm with the song "You Make Me Feel So Young."

After we are all stuffed with food, she insists on showing us Life Alert's "Help I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up" commercial. Then, she gives a live reenactment of what the woman does in the video. Clearly, she's more exaggerated in her movements, which made me enjoy her rendition more than the commercial. Life Alert missed out by hiring the wrong actress.

During the performance, Dad steps outside to take a call from one of his colleagues. By the time Alice finishes, he hadn't come back in yet, so Fletcher suggests we go for a walk in the field behind the house. Kayne and Alice take to loading the dishwasher and clearing the food from the table.

When we are far enough from the house, I knew I was seconds away from Fletcher asking that dreaded question. There are so many unanswered questions from the encounter with Ryder that I'm sure Fletcher is curious about.

"So, are you ready to talk about what happened earlier?" he asks.

I take a deep breath and decide to be direct. "Ryder raped me," I say. The more I say it aloud, the more I feel Ryder's power leaving.

At first, Fletcher says nothing. His mouth is slightly open and I can sense his brain is trying to process this information.

"Heather, I'm so sorry," he finally says.

I don't know how to reply, so instead, I say, "I really appreciate what you did earlier."

"Absolutely. I've got your back."

"We can only hope that Ryder takes Kayne's threat seriously and stays away. But in the meantime, I don't particularly want to be alone anywhere in this town."

"That's understandable. You don't feel safe and it always feels better to have someone else around."

"Yeah."

"Would you feel comfortable going to get coffee tomorrow morning? It'll be my treat," he offers.

"That would be really great." I say. Fletcher throws his arm around me as we continue to walk along.

My father's voice interrupts us. "Heather, let's go. I'm ready to leave!" he yells across the field.

With his arm over my shoulders, Fletcher and I head back toward the house. My father calls out again, "Hurry!"

I ignore him and keep walking, matching my stride to Fletcher's.

"I'll pick you up at 10 o'clock tomorrow," Fletcher whispers in my ear before I head back into the house.

I say a brief goodbye to Kayne and Alice. Kayne still has that worried expression on his face. I love how protective he is. It's different from Ryder was. Ryder was jealous. Kayne's concern feels so comforting.

From the yard, Dad waves farewell toward the house. We climb into the car and Dad turns the key in the ignition.

Once the car is on the road, Dad says, "So, Ryder seems to fit in well here. You know, he told me he plans to stay for a while. I know you aren't together anymore, but it's nice to still see him around as your friend."