“Well, we had a fight, so it doesn’t matter.”
She shook out a T-shirt and continued to fold. “What kind of fight?”
“She lied to me.”
Several minutes went by in silence. The television chattered softly in the background, but Giovanni was too lost in his head to pay attention.
“You know, Giovanni, when people don’t feel safe, they sometimes lie as a defense mechanism.”
He frowned. “Why wouldn’t she feel safe with me?”
“I’m not saying you made her feel unsafe. I’m saying some old habits die hard.” She lifted the pile of folded laundry and stacked it in the basket. When she stood, she faced him. “Don’t be so short sighted as to assume everyone grew up in a home as loving as yours.”
Her words startled him and he followed her into the master bedroom. “What are you saying?”
She opened and closed drawers, not bothering to look at him. “If you care about this girl, you have to accept what she comes from.”
“You mean Mr. Montgomery?” His breathing turned unsteady. “Say what you mean to say, Mom.”
She glanced over her shoulder and met his stare. Shutting the drawer, she rose to her full height and let the empty laundry basket hang at her side. “All right. Ward was always a little off to me. Your father liked him as did your uncles, but whenever that little girl would come to Maureen’s there was always something haunting in her eyes. Men don’t look children in the eyes the way women tend to.”
“So why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did. I said something to Maureen and she asked Finnegan. But Finn said everything was fine. I didn’t have more than a suspicion. Not enough to make a public accusation.”
His shoulders sank and he leaned into the wall.
“Is it true then?” his mother asked.
Giovanni still didn’t have a full explanation of the abuse Erin grew up around, but he knew enough. “He was mean. I don’t really know how mean, but I know she’s got…trust issues.”
His mother sighed. “Trust issues can certainly cause a person to lie. What did she lie to you about?”
He couldn’t bring himself to say something as simple as her birthday, because it now sounded completely juvenile to let such a simple fib lead to a fight. “It wasn’t just a lie. It was the fact that Finn still acts like he knows her better than anyone else.”
She scoffed. “You sound jealous of your cousin. Finnegan’s happily married, Giovanni.”
“I know.” He was feeling stupider by the second. Why had he gotten so upset? “I don’t know if I…can handle dating someone like her.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s…complicated. I have to get back on the road for work. I don’t know if what we have can sustain long distance.”
“You could always—”
“Don’t. I’m not working at the lumberyard. I hear it nonstop from Dad, I don’t need to hear it from you.”
“It’s not a bad thing to have options, Giovanni.”
“That’s not what I’m doing with my life.”
At the moment, he didn’t know what he was doing. He needed to get back to work, but he was afraid to leave, worried too much time away from Jasper Falls might ruin any chance of having something real with Erin. But, at the same time, he wondered if he was overestimating their connection. She hadn’t even told him about her birthday.
“I just need some time to think,” he explained, slipping out of his mom’s room and heading to the kitchen.
Erin was not like other girls. She had a lot of baggage and some real pain that still hurt her on a regular basis. He wanted to help her, but he also wanted a normal relationship.
As he tried to work through his confusing emotions, he accepted that Erin might never be normal. The question was, which did he want more, Erin or something easy?
That week, he was asked to perform at an underground comedy club in the Bronx and couldn’t pass up the offer. It wasn’t great pay, but agents often scouted clubs like that for fresh talent.
He should have called Erin before he left, but he was still trying to work through his feelings. If he wanted out, this was the exit he needed, but some part of him still wasn’t ready to walk away, and he was trying to figure out what it was about her that kept her in the forefront of his mind. There were countless girls out there who were less complicated than Erin Montgomery.
He didn’t like being in the dark, especially when his cousin seemed to see everything so clearly regarding the woman Giovanni was dating. Maybe that had less to do with Erin and more to do with Giovanni’s own insecurities amplified by his cousin’s perfect track record.
He was jealous. He couldn’t help it. Life always seemed to work in Finn’s favor. Giovanni’s dad never stopped raving about what a great guy Finn was, how responsible, and dependable, a perfect fit to run the lumberyard.