Page 12 of Silver Linings
Gunner watched as she moved around the room. Between the closet and the dresser, she’d been able to pack two bags with items for herself.
“Okay, this is everything.”
“Everything for tonight?” he questioned.
“No. This is all I have. We don’t need to come back.”
“Do you want to take the baby’s things?” he asked. They should have at least the bare necessities in case she went into labor.
“I don’t…” he watched as she bit the bottom of her lip. “I haven’t had time to really get anything for the baby.”
“Oh, okay.” He saw the truth written all over her face. James really was a dirtbag. Here Lily was working so hard to take care of the bills while he’d sat back after being fired, and she hadn’t even had the time to get ready for her baby. Gunner made a mental note to research baby products once he got Lily back to his mother’s house.
Lily zipped closed her bag and lifted it, walking towards the door. Gunner was up in a flash, grabbing the bag from her hand. “I’ve got this.”
“Oh,” she stopped walking.
“What’s wrong?” he watched as she twisted the engagement ring on her finger.
“Nothing. I just need to…ugh, my fingers just had to swell up tonight. I need it off. I don’t want to leave with it still on.”
Gunner set the bag down on the floor. “Here, Lil, let me try.” Before she could protest, he had her hand in his, gently twisting the ring back and forth over her skin. When she sucked in a sharp breath as it finally came free, Gunner froze.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked as he ran his finger over the red, swollen skin.
“No. I just didn’t think it would feel so good to have it come off.” Lily squared her shoulders and looked him in his eyes. “Will you put it on top of the cupboards in the kitchen?”
When Gunner gave her a questioning look, a small smile crossed her face. “Let him have to work a little to find it before he pawns it for more alcohol.”
“Why don’t you keep it and sell it for yourself?”
“No. I don’t want anything from him or his family. I just want to leave this all behind.”
Six
Gunner shoved Lily’s two small bags into the back of his truck before helping her get settled in the passenger seat.
“I’m really sorry,” she said as he drove away from the house. “I don’t know how everything got to be such a mess.”
“Stop apologizing. It’s not your fault James peaked in high school. He has no right to treat you like that, Lily. I told you to call me. When I saw him with that gun I?—”
“He had a gun?” Her voice shook as she asked.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Lil. I didn’t think…I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No. I’m glad you did. Maybe I will give that officer a call tomorrow. I hadn’t realized…I thought he was just drunk. God, I really am the worst cliche, aren’t I?”
“You’re trying to figure out what is best for you and your daughter, Lil. There is nothing wrong with that.”
They fell into a peaceful silence, driving along all the streets Gunner grew up riding his bike through. The neighborhood hadn’t really changed all that much over the last two decades. Maybe things were a little more run down, or maybe he’d just seen enough in the last few years that his rose-colored glasses were now tinted gray.
“What happened tonight, Lil? I mean, I heard what you told the officer, but was that really all of it?”
She sighed, leaning her head against the window.
“No.” Her voice was small, and he hated how broken she looked. “He went out drinking this afternoon. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until I was home making dinner. I didn’t tell the officer this, but I got an alert on my phone from my bank. He cleared out our account, Gunner. Not just the one we shared, but my personal one too.”
“How was he able to do that?”