“That’s not the point!” he thundered. “I want to stand for you. I’ve always wanted to stand for you, and every goddamned time you pull me back.”
“I don’t need you to ride in like some knight on a charger to come to my rescue. I don’t want that from you.”
I don’t need you. I don’t want you. The blows landed, a quick one-two punch that pushed Trey over the edge. It was just like college all over again. He shook his head as realization sank into him. This was never going to change. She was never going to change.
He blew out a breath, striving for a calm he didn’t feel. “If that’s what you think I’m doing, then you don’t know me at all. And that tells me everything I need to know.”
Needing to escape, he turned toward the door. “You were right when you said this could never work. But not for any of the reasons you thought. It takes two people to make a relationship work, Sandra. And you’re clearly not really in this one.”
The blood drained from her face. “Trey, I—”
He lifted a hand to ward off whatever excuse she was about to offer. “Just save it. I’ll see myself out.”
And without another word or a backward glance, he walked away from his wife.
~*~
Sandy made it to the Mudcat not long before closing. It had taken far too long to wade through the shitstorm Trey had left in his wake. There had been a multitude of reasons she’d never told her family about anything that had happened in college, and every single one of them had played out tonight. Damn Trey. She was exhausted, heartsick, and still furious by the time she strode up to the bar.
Adele took one look at her and groaned. “Aw hell. Joe, take over.”
Without a word, Sandy followed her back to the office.
Adele shut the door and crossed her arms. “What happened?”
Too restless to sit, Sandy paced the tiny space. “I am this close to asking you to pull out Bob the Bastard, so I can execute the Three Furies on every man in my life.”
Adele lifted a brow. “Somehow I don’t think a trio of shots and throwing darts at our resident voodoo doll is going to fix what’s ailing you. Tell me what happened.”
“Waylan. It’s always Waylan. He’s like an infection that keeps coming back at the most inopportune times.”
“The bastard is bothering you again? Let me close up. I’ll get my shotgun.”
Sandy blew out an exasperated breath. “You’re not helping. I haven’t even seen him. But Pete did
, and he came over to Mom’s tonight, where the entire family and Trey were waiting on dessert.” Sandy filled her in. “The lot of them were like a lynch mob.”
“Point me to the nearest pitch fork.”
“What is it with everyone who knows me wanting to string him up by the balls?”
Adele gave her a flat stare. “Um, because he hurt you, left you near to destitute, and it’s no less than he deserves?”
“But don’t any of you understand? He’s not worth the upset. He is not worth making a fuss or a scene over. Because it plays into his ego. It makes him feel important, like he’s still relevant to my life, when he’s not. Apathy is my greatest weapon against him.” It had bought her four years last time. Maybe this time it would buy her more.
“You’ll have to forgive the rest of us for not being as evolved as you. What did Trey say to all of this?”
“He’s just as angry now as he was in college.” And how could that be? How could those emotions have continued to fester after all this time? “He pulled this whole He-Man routine that’s completely ridiculous.” She looked to her friend for support but found disapproval instead.
“Put yourself in his shoes, Sandy. A girl you like, one you come to love, uses you as a confidant, talks about her shitty marriage, gets hit by the asshole—accident or not. A real man—a man of integrity and principles—doesn’t stand aside and just let it happen.”
“Oh, please.”
“I’m serious. This is one of those Mars-Venus things. Women can just gripe about things and listen. We get the importance of venting and understand that the telling of problems does not mean we’re expected to fix them. But men aren’t like that. Men hear a problem and they try to do something about it.”
Sandy speared both hands into her hair and tugged in frustration. “There’s nothing to fix. Waylan is no threat.”
“He’s a man who was, at the very least, emotionally abusive to you. A man you continually protected at the expense of yourself, when a ready defender was at hand. And now you’ve married that defender and have told him he doesn’t have the right to be that to you. I don’t blame Trey for being pissed. It’s a fucking slap in his face.”