Torin and Summer

Chapter 11 (Torin): Join The Party

Unknown number: You blocked me. Why?

Block.

Second unknown number: I can do this all day. Elijah needs to see you. He doesn't understand why you hate him.

That hurt. Elijah was the innocent one in all of this, the one getting screwed over because of his mom, because of me...because of fucking life.

Block.

Third unknown number: Just call me back. Maybe you could meet Elijah somewhere for ice cream or something.

Block.

Fourth unknown number: Guess Terry taking a bullet for you doesn't mean anything. Your wife is a real piece of work to be jealous of a little kid.

Block.

The messages kept coming in for the entire week after I had laid it all out with Summer. A week where she continued to heal from her surgery, and I continued to help her while still staying out of her way. But when the texts continued, I felt I needed to talk to Summer about them much as I would have preferred avoiding the subject. She was coming out to the kitchen table now to eat her meals, and I ate after she left the table to give her room, to not make her feel crowded, forced to endure my presence.

I set her plate and drink down in front of her and stepped back to lean against the counter. 

"I want you to know that Bridgette's been texting me for the last week from unknown numbers. I keep blocking her without responding, but she somehow has access to a lot of phones because not long after I block her, she's got another unknown number."

I held my phone out to her. "If you want to look through it, you know the passcode."

Summer shook her head.

"Have you been getting any texts or calls from unknown numbers?"

"No. You know I would have told you right away if she'd been bothering me," she said.

"I was thinking you would have, but I wanted to make sure." 

I actually wasn't sure about anything concerning Summer anymore, but I had a feeling that if Bridgette had been annoying my wife, I would have heard about it.

"I wanted to talk to you about something else," I said, while I had her attention. "I've been thinking about next steps for me career-wise. Police. Firefighter. Even construction. I could go in any of those directions, so I'll begin applying this week and see what shakes out."

"Am I supposed to care what you do?" she asked. "Like show my gratitude that you're including me in a major life decision now?"

That hit hard, but I wasn't surprised. Just ashamed.

"That's a question only you can answer, Summer," I said low. "But at this point, I'm telling you what I'm thinking before I actually apply anywhere because I learned that lesson. Unless you tell me not to apply for a certain job, I'll pursue all three avenues."

"Do what you want, Torin. You're good at that."

"I was good at that, no doubt. Was being the key word. I'll never make another move without you knowing what I'm thinking, what's in my mind."

"That may not be necessary for much longer."\

"And I'm going to do everything to change your mind so that it'll always be necessary. I wasn't a good partner for the last year and a half -- I was a fucking terrible one. I said and did things that hurt you horribly, and thinking about what I said and how I treated you makes me want to come out of my skin. But I'm also not that person. You know that, deep down. You never would have fallen in love with me otherwise. I lost sight of what my priority was and you paid the price in many ways. I can't give you back those eighteen months, I can't make it so they never happened, but I can give you the future. I can still give you the fairytale, Summer, and I'll do whatever I have to to show you."

"Proving something like that takes time, Torin. And I'm not sure I have the inclination to give you any more time than you've already taken from me."

"That's your decision, Sum. It's all in your hands, but I can only hope that you'll remember what we had back before I messed it up and think back to that time before you call it done. We can have that again -- I'll make sure of it, give my fucking life to ensure it if I have to -- and I won't do anything to jeopardize it ever again."

"You hurt me. You made me go numb inside and I don't even know how I feel about you anymore."

"I'll fix everything I broke, Summer. I promise. I just need time to show you that the man you fell in love with is back, and I'm back for good."

She was eyeing me suspiciously, but I could see she had questions.

"Ask me anything, Summer. Ask me whatever you want, and I'll tell you the truth."

"Let me see your phone, then."I walked over and handed her my cell and watched as she typed in the passcode. She went to my texts and began looking through all of the ones with no name listed.

"She's been really busy," she said, her face tight with unhappiness. "And I'm not sure why I'm surprised at the nerve of this bitch, but holy shit is she sinking to some low levels using Elijah to get to you. Her own child, and she's trying to use him as leverage."

Summer looked up at me. "Have you seen Elijah? Been in contact with her at all?"

"No. I haven't been in contact with her at all, and I haven't seen or talked to Elijah, either. I feel sorry for that poor boy, and I hope she's not fucking with him by actually telling him I hate him, but I'm not going to prioritize someone else, adult or child, over you ever again. So as sorry as I feel for Elijah, especially with a mother like that, I'm going to remain no contact because my promise to you is more important than the one I made to Terry. I'm sorry I ignored that fact for so long."

"I am, too," she said giving me her death glare. "So why did you keep the messages from Bridgette?"

"Because tomorrow I'm getting a new phone, and I'm going to hand over this one to the agency. They can monitor it and see what shit she's sending to me and that way I can stay out of it."

"You've woven quite a tangled web," Summer said, her voice soft but with a definite edge. "And I don't know if you can ever untangle it."

"I can," I promised her. "But it's going to take time. This isn't something that I can just say I'm going to fix. I'll show you, every single day, though. I'll make you believe in our love again. In me again."

"I'm going to my room," was all she said.

The next day, I spent time filling out job applications, contacting some friends who had told me I'd always have a job with them if I wanted, and felt like I'd made a good start on finding a job. Toward dinner time, I poked my head into Summer's room and asked if she wanted anything special since I was headed to the store.

"No," she said. I wasn't surprised. That had been her standard answer for a while now. She always waited until I was at the store to text me her list.

"OK, I'll be back in about half an hour. Text me if you think of anything that sounds good to you, anything that will tempt your appetite."

While I shopped, I kept checking my phone, but, for the first time, Summer didn't text me her list.

I'd figure out why soon enough. When I walked into the house carrying four grocery bags, I saw my wife sitting on the couch, her posture rigid, her hands clenched in fists on her lap. She didn't look quite right, her eyes wide in fear -- and that's when I noticed Bridgette standing opposite her, gun in her hand.

Pointed directly at Summer.

"Hello, Torin," Bridgette smiled at me. "So glad you could join the party."