Have you ever seen the Rain? (FBI Series Book 2)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

“You’re not good at helping.” Billie informed her friend as she sat with her back against the headboard, hugging her knees.

“What do you mean?” Justin shut the door and took a seat at the foot of the bed.

“You shouldn’t have asked Dillon to come over.” Billie stared up at the ceiling trying to forget her conversation with the man in question.

“What happened, did he upset you?”

“No I’m not…I’m sad. He made me think of stuff I didn’t want to have to face now.” Billie admitted, covering her face with a pillow. She wanted to cry and feel sorry for herself but she had to be strong; for Joey.

“You know what I think?” Justin asked, he moved and sat next to her. “You should tell me what happened with Merchant.”

“Do you? I think I shouldn’t.”

“I’m a good listener and from what I gathered you’ve never talked about this with anyone before. I could help.”

Billie met his eyes and considered what he said, the offer was tempting. A part of her wanted shoulder to cry on, someone to listen but she feared if she talked about it, she would never be able to push it away again. It would simply become too real. “When the day comes I want to open up you’ll be the first person I call.”

Justin understood her point, he wasn’t big on talking himself but he saw she needed help. He wanted to console her in other ways but it was safer to offer a listening ear. “Deal.”

Billie smiled, glad he didn’t push the issues but Justin never did though. “I have to get out of this room.” She said leaving the bed and grabbing her jacket.

“Hold it babe.” Justin said jumping from the bed. “I have to go with you remember?” he added while joining her at the door. “And don’t give me the bitch look or complain. You’re stuck with me, learn to like it.”

“Oh I love it.” Billie said flatly as they left the room.

Nicholas and Sasha spent the last few months either working or at home tending to the baby. Since the day was over and there were no leads to follow up on, they went out. “This is pretty much a date.” Sasha pointed out, seated with her husband at a candlelit table for two.

“It is a date, I know it’s odd.” Nicholas and Sasha came together romantically through a case that hit home for her, literally. Some might say their relationship was too fast, getting married and having a child in the same year but for them it was the perfect pace. They never went through the dating phase of a relationship.

“Odd but nice, sort of.” Sasha looked around the restaurant, it was fancy and pretty but it didn’t feel as perfect as it looked.

Nicholas arched a brow. “Sort of?” it had been years since he took a woman out, still he didn’t think it was that bad.

Sasha leaned into the table. “I’ve never been a fancy dinner type.”

Nicholas smiled at the thought that entered his mind. “Wanna ditch it?”

 Justin and Billie walked along the empty park. “Can you remember a moment during your childhood where you were just blindly happy?” she asked while walking along the beams of the sandbox.

Justin sat on the bench and watched her. “Yeah it was the day I found out my parents where getting divorced.” She stopped at looked at him with confusion written along her moonlit features. “We were at a park a little like this one and they sat me and my sister down and told us. They always fought from morning until bedtime, just flat out yelling and screaming. There was always so much anger and intensity in the house. But at the park when they told us we all knew it was a good thing. We stayed and played for hours happy and peaceful.”

Billie jumped off the sandbox and sat beside him. “You’ve never talked about your personal life before.”

“Well I like you so I don’t mind as much. What’s your memory?”

“Dillon---”

“Of course.”

“Shut up. We were about twelve, there’s this tree house across from here. We were there alone playing some question game we made up, one of the questions were ‘who do you see yourself marrying?’ Before we’d answer some celebrity crush but that time he said me. It was the first time I realized he liked me in the way I liked him. That made my year.” Billie grew silent and looked across the grass for a moment. “It’s bittersweet now.” she glanced at Justin. “We made it that far too, our wedding day.”

Justin moved closer and wiped the tears away, leaving his hand along her face. “What happened?”

“I called it off, everyone believes I ran and broke hearts but it was him. The night before the wedding he told me he couldn’t do it. He needed an out but at the same time he wouldn’t have called it off, he felt obligated to me and didn’t want to disappoint our parents.” Billie tearfully explained.

“Why not?” Justin asked softly giving her the nudge she needed to get it all out.

“We were barely in college, we didn’t want to get married so soon but it was the right thing to do.” Billie met his eyes. “Because of the baby.” She took a deep breath and looked ahead where the tree house would be, when everything used to be simple. “It was the classic fell in love young, got pregnant, and decided getting married was the right thing. Our parents also pushed the situation.”

Justin sat beside her in silence and waited for her to open up at her own pace. He saw her traveling back into time through her eyes, the happy and painful times all becoming one. What happened back then shaped who she was now, the relationships she had with her home town and people.

“It was a week before the wedding which it was all planned out. I miscarried that night. The nurse told me it was common with your first pregnancy like that would make me feel better.” Billie explained as she raked her hair back, a familiar anger taking over the sadness. “Dillon didn’t take it well and the pending wedding freaked him out I guess. He didn’t want to hurt me and I told him I understood. I lied because in reality he was killing me. I needed an out too, I needed to leave. After I called off the wedding, hours before it was to start, I left. Packed up the car and never looked back.”

“How’s this for a date?” Nicholas asked as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

“Much better.” Sasha said before taking another lick of her ice cream. They decided to walk back to the hotel; the night was crisp and clear. “You and ice cream, I don’t need anything more. Well nothing we can do on the sidewalk.”

Nicholas stopped and faced her wearing a grin. “I’m taking that in a dirty way.”

“You should.” Sasha chuckled before kissing him.

“Every time you two are together I end up walking in on something or I guess this is walking up to something.”

Nicholas pulled back first. “You have bad timing Billie. Where’d you guys come from?”

“From the park, the hotel was starting to feel like a jail cell. What are you up to looking all fancy and shabby?” Billie asked as they all began to walk again.

Sasha spoke. “Since there’s nothing we can do until tomorrow we decided to come out, live it up a little.” They walked back to the hotel together. The women discussed random things; places around town as the men followed in silence when not making fun of the girls chattiness.

The group of four found some peace and happiness in each other when everything around them, and sometimes inside of them, was so hectic. It was why they all could get along so well, why they became family.