Shadows of the Heart

Chapter Thirteen

Bret had accompanied Rain everywhere since they returned home and had drafted in Trish and Jeff, Lita and Matt and Edge and Christian as well if he was at the gym or at work. Rain had met with Mai and talked things through with her. She found her boss to be very understanding and they agreed she would go on the next tour to cover it as being constantly on the move would probably be safer than being in one place. Vince called Eric only to find that Marc had been suspended from the company for gross misconduct. Eric wouldn't go into any details but Vince had contacts. He discovered that another woman had filed a complaint with the company for domestic abuse and they were awaiting a court date. With that in mind Vince put in a word with the lawyer representing the girl, completely off the record but it was well received.

There was a small fleet of coaches at HQ and once they'd found the one they were travelling on, Bret handed over their bags to the driver, then took Rain's hand and led her into the building where everyone was meeting to collect travel documents and itineraries. He could feel Rain's hand trembling in his and gave it a light squeeze. She smiled up at him and took a deep breath. She could do this. The first people they saw as they headed inside were Hunter and Stephanie who immediately came over to them.

"I am so sorry, Rain," Hunter said, for perhaps the millionth time. He held out his arms to give her a hug and Rain glanced up at Bret as if seeking permission. Swallowing hard, Bret forced a reassuring smile on his lips and gave her a slight nod. Hunter wrapped his arms round her. "I really didn't mean to frighten you. It won't happen again."

"No it won't ," said Stephanie, elbowing him out of the way so she could give Rain a hug. "Are you all set for South America?"

"I'm looking forward to it," said Rain. "My dad's family was from down there. I'm not in touch with anyone but it'll be nice to see where he grew up."

They carried on chatting as they made their way to the meeting room. Once they were sat, Bret leaned towards her to speak quietly in her ear.

"You never need my permission to give someone a hug, Rain. Hell even if it was Shawn Michaels..." he broke off as if unable to complete the sentence but when she looked at him he was grinning. "You get the idea. Anyway you hug whoever you want."

"Sorry," she said. "Having him contact me again... it's just brought up old memories and made me wary I guess. Not of you, just of circumstances. I don't know how to explain it; it's like I forget I'm with you and see him and my body just reacts."

Bret nodded; he couldn't exactly empathise but he could understand.

"I'm not him and I won't ever treat you like he did. If I did a fraction of what he did to you my dad would kill me. Or my mom." His eyes widened and she wasn't sure who he was more afraid of, which made her giggle a little.

"I can't wait to meet them," she said.

"About that. I was wondering how you'd feel about heading to Canada for Christmas with me?" He sounded so hopeful that she was flattered.

"I'd really like that," she said, shyly and he beamed.

"Excellent. I've got a place there so we won't need to stay with my family. That could be a bit... overwhelming."

"It'll be good," said Rain. "I've never really experienced a big family Christmas. It was just Mom and me some years growing up depending where Dad was and ... well Christmases with him weren't great."

Bret didn't push her. Instead he just squeezed her hand to acknowledge the pain of the memories and diverted her back to the present.

"I'll let Mom know. She'll be delighted. She's been wanting to meet you properly. She reads your blog all the time you know and thinks you're super talented. Just please don't listen to any stories my family shares about me."