Victim of Circumstance by Freya Barker

Author:Freya Barker [Barker, Freya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Freya Barker

Chapter Fifteen

Robin

* * *

This is ridiculous.

I discard yet another outfit onto the pile forming on the floor of my closet. The man has seen me naked, had his hands and mouth on my not so glorious curves. Those same curves are currently giving me a headache. Somewhere in the past few years I guess I’ve packed on a few pounds, because none of my dressy clothes fit anymore.

They date back to when I was casually dating Andrew, and I haven’t really had reason to wear them since. God, I can’t believe that was eight years ago. Time flies, and after the painful misunderstanding around the state of my so-called relationship with Andrew, it seemed safer to not date at all.

Until now.

I blow the hair out of my face and contemplate what’s left in my closet. I snag a lonely pair of black jeans off the hanger and shoot up a little prayer they zip. They do, but now I have a little muffin top where my belly bulges. Oh, for fuck’s sakes. Get a grip. I resolutely turn my back to the mirror and reach for a black V-neck T-shirt and a colorful duster cardigan that has seen better days.

My sudden nerves about dinner with Gray have nothing to do with how I look or what I wear, but those make for an easy distraction. Now that I’m dressed, with fifteen minutes to kill before he gets here, the real issue resurfaces.

He’s shared a lot, both about his history and his thoughts. I’ve dropped hints about my past—he knows my marriage wasn’t great, which is more than most—but there’s a whole lot I left out.

Dinner out implies conversation and I know the idea is to get to know each other better, but there are some things I keep close to my chest for a reason. Heck, I’ve known Kim almost as long as I’ve lived here in Beaverton—she’s a good friend—but she doesn’t even know what little I told him. My mother knows some, but my daughter doesn’t; at least not from me. Yet I get the sense someone as intense as Gray won’t rest until he has answers.

My phone rings, and for a second before I check my call display, I wonder if perhaps Gray is cancelling, but it’s Shirley’s new number.

“Hey, lady. How are things?”

“Have you seen or heard from Mike?”

She sounds rushed and I’m instantly on full alert.

“No. Why?”

“The boys called. Their father contacted both of them yesterday. Apparently he stayed with his brother in Midland for a while, but was talking about coming back to Beaverton. They said he sounded desperate and claimed he wanted to make things right with me. He was trying to milk the boys for information. Almost two months he’s been silent, but I knew it wouldn’t last forever.”

“Oh, shit, Shirley. Look, I was off today but maybe call Kim? At least to give her a heads-up.”

“Yeah, I will. I’m just worried he’s going to bother you guys at the diner.”

“You worry about yourself, we can take care of things here.

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