now he’s in such a bear of a mood no one dares talk to him.”
I closed my eyes, afraid if I murmured a single word I wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears.
“What’s with you, girl? You got yourself a good man and then you treat him like this?” Her eyes were full of disgust. “You’re not half the woman I thought you were.”
She was right and I knew it.
“Jerome sat Rocco down with a six-pack and you know what Rocco said? He said he always wanted to know what loving a woman’s heart and soul felt like. Now he knows and all he can say is it’s a bitch.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. It felt as if my legs were about to fold on me. Reaching out, I grabbed hold of a display rack for fear I was about to crumble to the floor.
“What kind of woman are you?” Shawntelle spat. “Why would you do that to a man for no good reason?”
“For my son,” I whispered.
“You’re not making any sense. Don’t matter, ’cause you ain’t no friend of mine. Not anymore. I thought you were different. Rocco did, too, but you proved to us both exactly the kind of person you are. I don’t want anything more to do with you.” Having said her piece, she stalked out of the shop with her head in the air, as if an entire marching band was directly behind her.
For several seconds there was dead silence in the shop. It took that long for me to breathe again.
Once home, I reached for my cell and stared at it for a long time. I needed someone to talk to, someone who would help me see my way through this emotional minefield. My sister Cassie had been through much worse, and while I hated to burden her with my troubles, I was fast growing desperate.
We connected right away. “Hey, Nichole. How’s it going?” she asked, cheerful and happy, and she had every right to be.
“Okay. Just checking in on the newlyweds. How’s married life?” I did my best to sound upbeat.
“We’re loving it. Steve and I are spending the day getting my house ready to put up for sale.”
“Great.”
“How’s Owen?”
“Good.” I swallowed tightly.
“Rocco?”
I heard a slight hesitation in her voice, as if she’d caught on to the fact that there was something amiss with me. It was then that I lost it. The tears seemed to burst out of me in a storm of emotion and I blurted out the whole dreadful story, starting with Jake’s and my meeting at Starbucks and ending up with Shawntelle’s visit that morning.
“Nichole, Nichole,” Cassie said, stopping me. “I can’t understand you when you’re crying so hard.”
“What part didn’t you get?” I asked between sobs.
“Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight. You are no longer seeing Rocco because Jake threatened to take you to court for custody of Owen?”
“Yes,” I answered, with a hiccupping sob.
“And Shawn hates you?”
“Shawntelle…she works for Rocco and is my friend. Or used to be. Now she hates me, too, and I don’t blame her.” At this point I didn’t feel like I had a friend left in the world.
“And you’re sobbing your heart out because you love Rocco?”
“Yes. And I hurt him so badly.”
Cassie released a deep sigh. “You called me because you’re miserable and you don’t know what to do?”
“I didn’t know who else to talk to,” I said, doing my best to stop crying.
Cassie muttered something under her breath that I wasn’t able to make out. Then she started into a tirade that lasted a good ten minutes. “Are you telling me that you’re going to let Jake manipulate you like this? Come on, Nichole, you’re a better woman than that. You’ve been strong and fearless to this point—”
“But this is my son,” I cried, cutting her off.
“He’s bluffing. You know Jake. Do you honestly think he’s serious? And so what if he is? No judge in his right mind would give Owen to his father when the boy clearly is better off with his mother.”
“Yes, but—”
“What is wrong with you, little sister? Come on, girl, show a little backbone.”
Me? I didn’t get it.
“Don’t you dare let Jake make this kind of demand,” she continued. “That weasel has no more interest in getting custody of Owen than some stranger off the street. He knows you love Rocco and he has a convenient excuse to make both of your lives miserable. And fool that you are,