“Holy crap,” Tom said, frowning. “I never took you for the jealous type, man. I mean, Jess and Mike were over a long time ago.”
Jess’s fingers twisted beneath the table. Clearly everyone did think that she and Rick were a couple. She’d address that later. One revelation at a time.
“It wasn’t jealousy,” Jess said, her voice catching and she cleared her throat. “Mike got in my face. He tried to intimidate me.”
“But you’ve been broken up for years,” Meggie insisted. “Surely he’s over that by now.”
Jess looked over at Josh, whose eyes were soft with understanding.
Rick’s hand slipped over to her thigh and squeezed reassuringly.
She lifted her chin, determined not to look down this time. “When Mike and I were dating … when we moved into the cottage…” Big inhale, long exhale. She could do this. “He was abusive. I didn’t want to face it. I got used to making excuses for him. And he could be so charming. I actually started to believe things were my fault. But then there came a point where I knew I couldn’t stand it anymore. Problem was, I didn’t quite know how to get out of the situation. He was everywhere. My whole family is here. To escape him I would have had to leave Jewell Cove, and yet staying in the same town with him was unthinkable. We got in a fight one night and he…”
She broke off. Fought for air. There wasn’t a sound from the group around the table. They all seemed stunned into silence. Rick’s hand was still on her thigh, though, and when she looked at her brother he gave a small encouraging nod.
“He came at me with a knife.”
Those words unleashed a flurry of responses, both of dismay and anger from her family. She looked over at Rick. He looked down at her tummy and then back up into her face, questioning. He remembered, then. Remembered asking her about the scar the first night they’d made love. This was the part he hadn’t known. She gave a nearly imperceptible nod, and his gaze swiveled to Josh. Jess watched as the two men communicated silently. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was being said.
“Okay, okay,” she said, raising her hands. “Look, I’m fine now. That was the night Mike left town. Mom, remember how I called and said we’d broken up and I was with friends for a few days?”
Meggie nodded, her fingers over her lips. “You sounded so strange. I was relieved the relationship was over, you know. There was always something about Mike that didn’t sit quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Oh, honey. I wish I’d known. I could have helped you…”
“Josh helped me. He interrupted us that night and took care of Mike. Josh is the reason Mike left town. Then Josh stitched me up and drove me to a shelter until I was ready to come home again.”
Rick didn’t know all of this either. She felt his gaze on her face as he asked, “The shelter … that’s the real reason you know the director there, right?”
She nodded. “That’s right. Catherine looked after me and got me the help I needed.”
Josh leaned forward and interrupted the group. “Getting back to Rick. I’m assuming you ran into Mike today?”
Jess nodded. “We all know how sick his mother is and that they moved her back here for her last days. Mike and Pam are both home for the holiday. I was hoping to avoid seeing him at all, but no such luck.”
“He was a total asshole,” Rick put in. “All charm and smiles and veiled threats. When it was clear he was trying to intimidate Jess, I stepped in.” He lifted his hand. “It was worth it. He needs to know she’s not alone this time. This is why you all need to know what happened. Maybe he was just blowing off steam. But I think it would be good if Jess’s family had her back.”
There were murmurs of approval around the table. “Of course we will,” Abby said staunchly. “Whatever you need, Jess, you let us know.”
“Thanks, everyone,” Jess answered, overwhelmed by the love and support around the table. “I’ll be fine, though. No need to fuss over me.”
“There’s every need,” Mark replied, and everyone around the table nodded. “Don’t minimize it, Jess.”
Aunt Barb nodded. “You don’t have to be strong all the time, you know.”
Jess’s lip wobbled a bit. Why had she waited so long? She should have had faith in her family. Should have trusted them to stand beside her.
Should have been less ashamed.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I love you guys.”
A few throats were cleared discreetly, and then Bryce folded his hands on top of the table in front of him. “Do you want a restraining order?”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Rick nodded in agreement.
Jess shifted in her chair and folded her arms. There was support and then there was taking over and that was exactly what she didn’t want. “Look, we all know how effective restraining orders are. It’s just a piece of paper.”
“But if there’s a restraining order, he’ll get busted if he comes around you and I doubt he wants to get arrested. Imagine how his mother would feel knowing her boy was in lockup for that?”
Jess waffled a bit. “That’s true, and I’m not saying I’m not open to the idea.” Indeed, the idea of taking proactive steps was bolstering. It felt better to be in control of a situation. But there were other things to consider. “I wouldn’t want to do that to Karen. She’s got enough on her plate with her illness, and this is about Mike, not her. Besides, I don’t feel like shouting my history around town like a town crier, you know? I’m sure Rick’s reminder was enough to make him back off. Let’s face it, it’s been years since we were together. He’s not really interested in me…”