“Don’t you ever forget it, Jeff. Don’t you ever forget it.” And with that, she sat back down and shooed me out of the room so that I could call Betsy and set up a time to talk.
Chapter 18
Betsy
The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks always soothed me. I breathed in the salty ocean breeze and played with the sand beneath my fingers. My heart was racing and my head was aching as I sat there in anticipation. I had ignored Jeff’s first call, but I hadn’t been able to stop myself from picking up the second time he had called.
“Meet me by the pier at midnight,” he’d said.
I’d like to say that I hadn’t immediately jumped into the shower and put on a full face of makeup, but then I’d be lying. I wanted to look hot for my meeting with Jeff. I wanted to look hot as I told him that I never wanted to see him again. I never wanted to be around him or hear from him. That was the reason I had come tonight.
Two small crabs ran along the sand alongside me, and I watched them for what felt like minutes. My back stiffened when I realized that there was someone behind me. I turned to look over my right shoulder to see Jeff standing there, watching me.
“Hey,” he said as he approached me. He was wearing a black hoody and a pair of blue jeans.
“How long have you been there?” I asked breathlessly as he sat down next to me. I looked away from his probing blue eyes; just looking at him was making me feel emotional.
“Five minutes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I like watching you.” He tucked a loose hair behind my ear. “You’re so cute and lovely.”
“Okay …” I looked up into his eyes.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t called you all week,” he said suddenly. “I’m an idiot.”
“Whatever. You said it was one time. It’s fine.” I shrugged. “We had some fun, and now we can both move on. I have Nick, so I’m fine.” The lie came smoothly to my lips as I shrugged.
“It wasn’t fine.” He shook his head and he moved closer to me. “I took the week off, and I went home.”
“You went home?”
“Yeah, I needed to see my parents. I have a lot of unresolved issues when it comes to them.”
“I see.”
“It’s what’s stopped me from entering relationships. And for going after what I really want.”
“I see.”
“I want you.”
“You had me.” I pulled away from him, feeling angry.
“I don’t mean in a sexual way.” He shook his head. “I want your heart. I want your soul. I want your body. I want your love. I want all of you.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’ve made a huge mess of things, and I’m a fool, but I’m sorry and I want you to give me another chance. I want you to let me prove to you that I will never just leave you like that again.”
“You hurt me, Jeff.” I looked into his eyes, his words swirling around my brain. “We had sex, and you just disappeared. You just left me. You didn’t call. You didn’t text. We had unprotected sex, and you didn’t even ask me if everything was okay. I felt so used.”
“I know.” He buried his head in his hands. “I’m so ashamed. There are no words to forgive that. All I can say is that I was overwhelmed. I was scared of what I was feeling and how badly we both wanted to be with each other. It’s hard to explain. A lot of it is related to my parents’ marriage. I want you to know that while I still have issues there, I’m going to go to therapy. I want to get to the root of my fears, and I want you by my side. I love you, Betsy-Lou Montgomery. I love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone. I want you to allow me to woo you, to take you on dates, to spoil you, to love you, to prove my commitment to you.”
“Are you sure?” My breath held as I gazed at him. “Are you really sure?”
“I’m more than sure.” He looked like he was in pain.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to hear the words from your lips, Betsy. Let me hear the words.”
“What words?”
“You know.”
“I want you?”
“Not those words.”
“I need you.”
“No.”
“I want you deep inside of me.”
“No,” he growled. “Betsy, please.”
“I love you?” I said softly, and he beamed at me.
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
“I love you, Jeff. I’ve always loved you. I think you were built into my heart. There’s never been anyone else for me but you. There will never be anyone else but you.”
“Not even Nick?” He had a funny look on his face.
“No, not even Nick.” I laughed. “To be honest, I don’t really think Nick is that into me.” I paused. “Though I did hear that you warned him off in high school.”
“I did, I did.” He held his hands up. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I laughed. “I suppose it was jealousy.”
“It sure was. You’re all mine, and everyone else better lay off.” He leaned forward and kissed me and then pulled back. “By the way, I know a little secret.”
“Oh?”
“Yes,” he grinned. “So it turns out that your nanna set this whole thing up, helped in part by Jules.”
“Oh?” I looked at him in confusion.
“Turns out that both Nanna and Jules have known for a while that we’ve had a thing for each other, and they both got fed up with waiting for something to happen, so they hatched this plan to make me jealous using Nick.”
“What?”
“Yeah, they were chatting with Old Man Campbell, and he reminded them that Nick used to have a crush on you and they were laughing at how I’d warned him off or something when suddenly it struck them that Nick could come in handy
