Love in the Cross Hairs Ch. 02

Peter couldn't get away from Laurie's apartment fast enough. One good look at that set of documents, plus the stuff Max had given him proved beyond all doubt that she'd been lying to him from the start, and that was the least of it. For sure nobody in her family ever had to punch a clock or worry where the next month's rent was coming from. Yes sir, little Laurie with the thick red hair and liquid hazel eyes was just another rich bitch out to skin another working stiff's hide. At least he'd caught on in time.

She almost had him fooled. The whole thing about being a virgin, her diminutive size, those almost genuine tears, the gentile way she clung to him and wept when they finished; all a sham, all for show. Even the faint discoloration, the pinkish residue on the sheets had to be faked.

To think he almost fell for it; that he'd even bought her a diamond ring. Well that was his lesson to himself. Let her keep the damn ring. He'd keep the receipt; he'd mount it on the wall. Yes, instead of his head on her wall, he'd keep the receipt as a constant reminder of his almost entrapment, his own blind stupidity.

Peter drove around all night that Thanksgiving. He should have stopped in to see his mother, or his sister and her family, but he didn't. If he had; there would have been too many questions. Yeah, they'd want to know, and he knew he just couldn't handle it.

Like a fool he'd called them all up and told them. Like the asshole he was he'd gone on and on about 'his Laurie'. What a fool he was. He'd let it happened again.

He supposed the typical reaction to a fool's act like this would be to go out and get good and drunk. For sure he liked the taste of whiskey, a good Jim Beam and coke or Jim Beam over ice was always a delight, but he invariably always ended up sick. He was a stupid asshole, a fool, but not that big a fool, no getting drunk and getting good and sick wasn't going to happen.

He just drove, and drove, and drove. He drove on out west to the foot hills of the old mountains that stretched up and down the east coast. Once, when he had a little money, he thought about building a log cabin. Not a real log cabin, not something from the past, but a big modern log cabin, one with all the amenities. He liked the old mountains of the east, they were quiet and clean, and they had a calming effect. He liked them in the winter; wood piled in the fireplace, steaming hot mug of coffee.

That's what he needed, someplace where he could go and calm down, kick back and lay out. But the eastern mountains weren't it, and the real mountains of the far west weren't either. He remembered Wyoming; its lonely beauty, its quiet solitude, but they were too far, and he knew he still needed to work.

If it wasn't someplace like West Virginia or Wyoming, then where would it be? Where could he go? He still had a place down on the coast, down by the ocean. Yeah he had a place. It wasn't exactly a real place, an apartment condominium near the beach, about a half a block in. He could go there. It was November, there were still people, but the huge crowds of summer were all long gone.

He'd always loved the ocean, the cold grey waters of the Atlantic, the rough choppy sea, the steady drone of the waves lapping against the sand. He could lose himself there, get away. He had friends there, not great friends, but people he knew, people a lot like him, people who worked hard, people who still valued honesty and frank, straight forward, manly conversation.

Yeah he had to get away. He'd get Max to buy him out. He'd sell everything. No he'd keep the penthouse. He liked the penthouse. It was his. She'd never been there. She'd never contaminated it. She almost had, but dumb luck had prevented it. He'd go to the beach; he'd make a fresh start.

Peter pulled to the side of the road. He'd have to sell his truck; it smelled too much like her; that perfume. He turned off the engine. He started to cry. Down on the floor of the truck he espied something, an earring. She must have lost it. He picked it up, and held it in his fingers, "Why, why Laurie. Why did you have to be that way?" He stopped crying, started again, then stopped.

He wiped his face with his hand. He looked down at the palms of his hands, calloused hands, a man's hands like his fathers. He had his father's hands. He was proud of that.

He looked at the moisture on his hands; he felt it on his face. It made him feel foolish. Men didn't cry not over shit like this. Yeah, he'd go to the beach, settle in, start over, start a new business; they always needed housing down by the beach. That's what he'd do, leave the city, move away; make a fresh start.

He looked at the earring again, "Oh why, why Laurie?" He started crying all over again.

++++++++++++

Laurie had a good long cry. Why had she been so stupid; why had she left those papers lying around? Why had she lied? It been such a little lie; oh my family's not rich, my mom worked for a living, I had nothing to do with 'those other people'; I'm just a regular girl. One little thing had led to another until all the little things had piled up. She should've said something. She should have thrown that trashy report right out. She should have been honest with Peter right from the start. She should have stood up to her sister-in-law. What a fool, a stupid dumb fool she was. Oh shoulda, woulda, coulda; it all didn't mean anything.

She cried a little more. She got up and tried his cell phone again. This time she could tell he'd turned it off. Dag it was Thursday; no place else to call.

Laurie, was still in her pretty dress, the dress she'd bought to wow Peter, the one she'd picked out to show him what a really great grown up woman she was. She grabbed a lightweight coat, her purse, and the papers. She stopped, turned back, and picked up the box with the ring. She went downstairs to the parking lot to her old Toyota. She figured Thanksgiving dinner was probably over, but she felt like she had to see her mom and dad. Maybe they would know what to do. Dad might have some ideas.

Laurie drove over to her mom and dad's house. Though her brother and sister-in-law were still there; Thanksgiving dinner was winding down. Her parents had pleaded with her to come; she'd never missed the holiday before, but she'd declined, she wanted to go out with Peter.

She pulled in the loop, turned off her car, locked it, walked up and opened the front door. From as far away as the foyer she could hear Sally ranting and raving about something. Laurie walked into the dining room. The place was warm, homey, the turkey smelled good.

Sally looked up, "Well look who's here."

Laurie's mom got up and walked over to her daughter, "I'm glad you made it." Knowing her daughter, she could tell right away something was wrong, "What's wrong honey?"

Laurie looked around, deliberately ignoring Sally she spoke, "Hi mom, hi dad, mom can I talk to you?"

"Sure honey, have you had anything to eat? We have turkey."

Sally tried to get in the conversation, "Where's your boyfriend?"

Laurie continued to ignore her sister-in-law, "Mom?"

"Sure." Her mom turned to everyone else in the room, "Excuse us a minute please."

Laurie's dad asked, "Want me to come?"

Laurie answered, "No, not yet."

Laurie and her mom walked down the hall to a small sitting room. Laurie had Sally's packet of information with her.

As they walked down the hall Laurie overheard Sally, "Leave it to Laurie. She'll find a way to one up anything."

Laurie's dad admonished, "Sally."

Laurie and her mom walked on back and each took a seat in the small room. Laurie started, "Mom, I need to talk. I need help."

"Well you know you can count on your father and me."

"It's about a man."

"The man your father met at the hospital?"

"Yes," she didn't know quite what else to say or do so she handed her mother the packet Sally had given her, "He's the man who helped me at the Wal-Mart parking lot. Mom, I love him."

Her mother took the packet, "I wish you'd move back home. You don't need that job. What this is about him?"

"His family, Sally dug it up. Oh mom I was going to throw it away, but he saw it. He thinks I did it, and I lied. I told him I wasn't rich. He knows about our family. He..."

"Hold it a minute Laurie, slow down. Let's get your father."

"OK."

Laurie's mom stepped out and a few minutes later came back with Laurie's dad in tow.

Her father sat down and asked, "What's this about, some boy?"

"He's not a boy dad, he's thirty-one, he has his own business, and I love him." For the next several minutes Laurie described how they met, what they'd done, and the tragic accident that had caused the current crisis.

In the meantime Sally, Laurie's brother, and their children had departed, leaving Laurie alone with her parents.

As Laurie talked, her mom dropped the first seed, "Laurie I know how you must feel, but if he really loves you he'll be back."

"No he won't. He thinks I'm a liar."

Laurie's dad interjected, "Well you should have been honest. You shouldn't be ashamed of where you come."

"I know, but..."

Her mother interrupted, "Did he tell you anything about his family?"

"Only that his mother worked, none of this other stuff."

Her dad added, "He wasn't being completely honest with you either then was he."

"No but..."

Her mom continued, "I can see why. His father was in prison."

"I know but..."

Her mother continued, "They were welfare cheats."

"Mom, she had two kids..."

Laurie's father, holding up the condemnatory packet, shifted the subject, "I wonder if there wasn't a reason why you didn't just throw this packet out."

Laurie gave no response. She looked at her dad.

Her dad continued, "I mean; maybe you kept it, and left it out unconsciously wondering what he would say if he saw it."

"No dad."

Her mother chimed in, "No what, I think you're father has a point. It's obvious the boy, the man I mean, had something to hide. You found it, and he couldn't take it."

Laurie looked from her mom to her dad, "No you two are wrong. He wasn't trying to hide anything. I mean I never..."

Her father gave her a solicitous smile, "You wanted to believe the best. The research Sally gave you called him into question. Did you ever wonder maybe he knew who you were all the time? You're a wealthy girl in your own right. You said he needed money."

"No dad it's not like that. It wasn't like that at all."

Her mother added, "You're father has a point. What if he did know something? Not everything maybe, but I'm sure he had some inkling, an idea maybe. You were at Mercy Hospital. I mean everybody knows us there."

Laurie kept looking from her mother to her father. They were condemning Peter, and they'd never met him, "He didn't know mom. He didn't know anything about us at the hospital. He didn't know who I was till..."

Her father stopped her, "Till when?"

She answered, "I still don't know if he..."

Her mother pushed in, "If he knows who you are? Laurie think; if he didn't know would he have run away."

Laurie kept looking back and forth between her parents, "I don't know. You two are confusing me. He didn't know. He only saw..."

Her father spoke with authority, "He only knew for sure when he saw you knew about him. Then he ran. He ran because he knew you'd found him out."

Laurie's mind was astir. This wasn't why she'd come to see her parents. She wanted their help, not this. They didn't understand, "Mom, dad I love this man. Look!" she held up the box with the ring.

Laurie's mother took the box and opened it, "A nice ring, maybe a whole carat." She handed it to her husband.

Laurie's father looked at it, "When did you two meet?"

"Right after Labor day, why?"

Her father gave her a knowledgable look, "What ten weeks. That's fast work."

Laurie eyed her father, "What, oh no dad. He's not like that. We love each..."

Laurie's mom got up, "I know dear. You're in love. It's written all over your face, but does he really love you?"

Laurie didn't want this, none of this at all, "What, you think?"

Her father sealed the deal, "Laurie you're almost thirty, alone, unwed, and rich. He's what, thirty-one, business on the rocks; he blames members of your family for his failure. Honey, if you ask me, it's hard to see the purity in the young man's motives."

Laurie took back the box with the ring. She held it in her hands. More to herself than anyone she whispered, "No it wasn't like that."

Laurie's mother touched her hand, "We love you. I'm sure Sally only did what she did because she loves you too."

Laurie's father saw the damage. He tried to put a better face on things, "He loves you. He'll call back."

Laurie looked up, "No he won't"

Her mother drove in the last nail, "Then it wasn't meant to be then."

Her father stood up and stood beside his wife, "Come on let's have some turkey. It'll all work out. You'll see."

Laurie got up and followed her parents into the dining room. The turkey was cold, so was the dressing and the oyster casserole, but none of it was as cold as her poor broken heart.

+++++++++++

The Monday after Thanksgiving Peter was in the office early. He packed all his personal stuff, downloaded all the content he thought he'd need when he left, packed up his T-square, compass, old planning board, pencils, and erasers. Sure he knew how to use a computer to build plans, but he'd held on to the stuff he'd gotten when he'd first started. Yeah, back in the day, during the dark ages, even though the stuff was there electronically, he still relied on the old fashioned paper and pencil. It was rustic and quaint, but he still liked to fiddle. It was like the idea of a calculator. He used calculators all the time, but he still liked to get out a pencil and paper and compute the old fashioned way once in a while.

Finished the packing he leaned back in his chair. He held his cellphone up. He had a large contact list. He guessed he should delete some numbers. He flipped the phone open and pressed the button to go over his contacts. He meandered through the list; this one stayed, this one could go, that one maybe later he'd decide, down to the Ls, there it was, no not yet, he still wasn't strong enough, maybe in a week or two, he skipped over it.

Max walked in, "Peter you're early. How's it going?" Suddenly remembering, he backtracked, "I mean are you all right?"

Peter spun around. He liked his swivel chair; he thought he might take it, "Max I want you to buy me out."

Max was stunned, "You're kidding."

"No I mean it. I think I'll move to the beach. I have a condominium. I might start over down there."

Max, at first nonplussed got pissed, "You're a stupid asshole. No piece of ass is worth this."

Then Peter got pissed, "She's not just a piece of ass."

Max backed off, No I didn't mean that. I meant, look we have a good business now. We're starting to make some real money. We produce a good product. Don't throw it away."

"I want to leave. I need a change of scenery."

"OK, OK, I get that, but let's go slow. First, I can't afford you. I'm in too deep. Why don't you just take some time off? Look, go ahead move to the beach. Maybe start a fresh business, but let's keep it together. Look, I can hold up my end here. You move to the beach, start an office get a crew, get some contracts and make a go of it down there. I'll figure something out up here. Hey, we've got the kid Dustin. I'll raise his salary and make him a supervisor. I'll keep us going here. You get something started down there. It'll work Peter."

"I don't know."

Max was full of remorse about the part he played, but he needed Peter's talent too, "Hey Pete, you bail out here, run off to the beach, it's like you're beaten, whipped, a failure. That's not you. You're a fighter. Don't quit on me, shit, don't quit on yourself. Sure go to beach, but not with your tail between your legs. Go like you know who you are. You're one tough hombre. We're a team, you and I, so half the team's going to branch us out. That's good!"

"You'd be good with that?"

"I'd rather see you stay and face your demons here, but if you want to move away, then let's do it together."

Peter looked at his partner and friend, "That could work."

Tell me this Pete, "Were you going to sell your penthouse."

"Well no."

"See! You weren't out for good. This is just a company move, not a life choice."

"OK Max, we'll do it."

"Great!"

So Peter found a way to escape, at least for a while. Max either couldn't or wouldn't buy his half of the business, but hey, he had some money; maybe enough to get started at the beach. He'd figure it out. He'd started with less before.

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Laurie stayed Thanksgiving night at her mom and dads. They thought Peter knew who she was all the time. She didn't believe that; for her to believe that would have been like her actually having researched his family. Love was built on trust. She loved Peter, but for some stupid reason had been afraid to trust him. If she'd been honest from the start no pile of papers on an end table, no dossier or heap of shit like that would have ever mattered. They'd have laughed about it. They'd have laughed at Sally's stupidity. It was her fault. She did it, and she'd fix it. She loved Peter. She loved him with all her heart and soul. She took out the diamond ring. She slipped it on the ring finger of her right hand; that's where engagement rings went.

She lay back down on the bed, her bed, the bed she'd had since childhood. This was where she used to do all her homework. This was where she'd learned to solve the mysteries of quadratic equations, where she crossed the Alps with Hannibal, cried for Estella and Pip, and yes this was where she learned victory was better than defeat, winning was more fun than losing, and while quitters never won, winners never quit, and she was no quitter.

++++++++++++

Peter got his truck lubricated, had the tires checked, and engine gassed up. He told himself again he'd have to get rid if his old truck; the odor of her perfume, though pleasant, was an unpleasant reminder of past stupidity. He started out toward the ocean; that meant battling through the traffic of two urban areas, stop and go driving over a five mile bridge, and then the long tedious transit across the sandy coastal plain. The bridge he crossed was the only way to get from the great plateau that extended up the northeast coast to the Atlantic shoreline. Once on the eastern side of the bridge his travels carried him across the sandy alluvial plain; a broad expanse of low flat land barren of any distinguishing features other than an occasional slow moving river and hundreds of nondescript farms.

His destination was a one-time small seaside town located on the southernmost end of a long slender barrier island. It was after Thanksgiving, the last week in November but there were still close to thirty thousand tourists in the small ocean resort town whose year round population was a scant two thousand.

The town and all economic activity was dominated by a six lane highway that bisected the twelve mile stretch of a narrow peninsula. To the west of the highway was the bay with its flounder, sea bass, crabs, and clams. Bordering the bay on the west were hundreds of town homes, motels, hotels, and in November mostly empty taverns and restaurants. Though slowly being overtaken by more housing the west side of the bay was still mostly marshland, and the home of hundreds of species of birds and small animals.

East of the highway, on the ocean side, there was a complex array of more hotels, motels, houses, and eateries. The north end of this twelve mile stretch was all high end housing, giant high-rise motels and hotels, a few elaborate estate like mansions, and dozens of upscale high priced actually overpriced, restaurants. The further south a person went the older and smaller the structures became until one reached the extreme end where a channel had been carved by a storm some eighty years earlier.