Archer shot him a look that she barely caught.
“Yeah, I didn’t think he’d been drinking that much. It was when I still lived at home. He wanted to go out for dinner and a drink. We went to this place in the next town. I asked him if he needed me to drive, but I hadn’t had my license long and I wasn’t used to driving in the dark. I didn’t thi
nk he’d drunk that much, or I would have insisted we take a taxi.”
“Wait, are you saying that he was driving after drinking and he had you in the car?” Doc demanded. The look on his face clearly said he thought Dave was an idiot and she pressed her lips together. This wasn’t fair to Dave. He wasn’t here to defend himself. And she shouldn’t be bringing up old stuff.
“Isaac, easy,” Archer warned.
“Are you saying that it was okay for him to drive with something so precious in the car without a care for her safety? Bad enough he risked all the other people on the road and himself, but to risk the person he was most responsible for?”
“It wasn’t like that,” she said.
“What? You weren’t his then?”
“No, I was, it just…he was under a lot of pressure. I noticed he was drinking a bit more, but he said it was a rough patch. Soon after that, he lost his job and we moved here. I just didn’t think he was drinking anymore. Was he hiding it out there from me?”
“Sounds like it.”
“Isaac!” Archer snapped.
“What?” Doc looked genuinely confused.
“Love, you can’t know what reason that booze was out there. Maybe he put it out there and forgot about it. If you didn’t see signs of him drinking, then likely he wasn’t. But whether he was or wasn’t, it doesn’t matter now.”
Tears blurred her eyes and she glanced down at her lap.
“Hey.”
She glanced over at Archer who was crouching next to her. “Don’t think about it. It will just mess with your mind. So what if he was drinking? What is knowing that going to achieve now? All it’s going to do is hurt you. And it doesn’t change anything. Not how much he loved you. Not your memories of him. All right?”
She gave him a tremulous smile. He had this way of making everything seem better. Of calming her. “Yeah, thanks, Archer. It just hurts, the idea of him hiding something from me. Makes you question everything, you know?”
“Yeah, we know something about that,” Doc said to her, coming to sit at the table. “I’m sorry, Caley. I didn’t mean to sound so judgmental. Just the idea of you in a car with a person who is intoxicated,” his face turned grim, his jaw clenching, “makes me furious.”
“I should have insisted on driving. It was really my fault.”
“No, love, it was not,” Archer said firmly. “That is something Issy and I will agree on. That was not your fault. He had a duty of responsibility to you as your Dom and as your man.”
“It was on him to protect you,” Doc added.
She sniffled. “I always thought Dave was protective, but you two are a different breed all together.”
Archer mock-frowned. “Not sure I like being lumped in with this guy.” He pointed at Issy.
“Right back atcha, brother.”
Archer stood. “Love, shall I put the booze away? I can if it upsets you.”
“No, I’d like a drink later. Unless, do you think that’s wrong?”
“No. Not wrong at all.” Archer’s hand rested briefly on her shoulder. Warmth filled her at his touch. “I’ll get you some water.”
“Thank you.” She smiled up at him, feeling exhausted.
He placed a glass of water down beside her.
“Keep those hands in there for another few minutes,” Doc bossed.