Free Sue and Tom by Buffy Andrews Page A

But I, better than anyone, know how lonely that can be.”
    “But I have you.”
    “Sure, and you’ll always have me. But that’s not the same as having a man that loves you and that you love. All I’m saying is think about it. Think about it before you close that door for good. I don’t want you to get hurt, but I don’t want you to miss out on growing old with a man who’s loved you for a long time. So, if he calls, think about answering the phone.”
    “I’ll think about it. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should at least listen to him. But even if I do, I’m not promising anything.”
    “Good, that’s all I’m asking. Just listen to what Tom has to say. If you still feel the way you feel now, well, okay then.”
    “How’d you get so smart , anyway? I asked.
    Gina laughed. “It was reading all those damn Snapple caps!”
     
    ***
     
    Tom
     
    Klondike and I passed the wooden picnic pavilion when my cellphone rang.
    “Hi , Gina. How’s Sue?”
    I could tell by the somber tone of Gina’s voice that things hadn’t gone the way I had hoped. I walked to a nearby bench and sat down.
    “I think she’s just going to need a little time,” Gina said. “We talked a lot and I think I got through to her, but she was so hurt by Steve, and seeing Rachel just took her back to that time.”
    “Christ, Gina. That was more than a decade ago.”
    “I know. But you should know better than anyone how something that happens in the past can stay with you a long time.”
    I knew what Gina was referring to. She was talking about the night she was raped by our math teacher and how she kept it a secret for twenty years. It destroyed her relationship with Mike. It’s also what led her to become an attorney that prosecutes sex crimes.
    “But she has to know I would never hurt her. God, I love her,” I said.
    “I know that. But here’s the thing, Tom. She’s hung up on the key. Why Rachel had the key, why you hadn’t gotten the key back from Rachel. Her mind is working overtime and she can’t stop focusing on the key.”
    “Well, she won’t have to worry about that anymore because the locks have been changed. Plus I had the locksmith add deadbolts. To be honest, Gina, I had forgotten all about Rachel having the key. But I’m also angry at Sue for thinking so little of me. I’m hurt that she isn’t giving me the chance to explain. I thought she valued our relationship more than that.”
    Gina sighed. “She’ll come around. Finding Rachel dressed like a whore in your home made her doubt things. I’m not saying she was right to have the doubts, but I can understand, given her past, why.”
    I got up from the park bench and started walking Klondike again. “So what am I supposed to do?”
    “Give her time.”
    “How much time?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe a day or two. I gave her a lot to think about, so my guess is that she ’ll eventually give you a chance to explain.”
    “This is n’t how I thought I’d be spending my weekend,” I told her.
    “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I know that it’s not what Sue had planned , either. But, and I know that I’m going to sound like Suzy Sunshine, I really do believe that if things are meant to be, they will be. Mike and I are proof of that. It might have taken 20 years, but we’re finally together.”
    “Christ, I hope I don’t have to wait 20 years for Sue to come around.”
    “Me, too.”
    I hung up the phone and Klondike and I headed for the car. What I really wanted to do was go over to Sue’s house and insist that she listened to me. I was willing to take the chance that she’d slam the door in my face. I could handle that. What I couldn’t handle was losing her without a fight. I hated feeling like she was slipping through my fingers and I was powerless to do anything about it.
    I wanted to tell her that she was the best thing that’s ever happened to me and that I didn’t plan on giving up on us.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter