She pressed her lips together and looked down at her tea. “Not too well, actually.”
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded then raised her chin. “Thank you. It’s fine. It’s just a rough patch. We all get those.”
“I suppose so,” I mused, trying to remember the last time I was in a relationship. The whole thing with Mason in college was one giant rough patch.
“Em is just younger and that’s always been our problem. She’s…hard to keep down. Not that I demand anything of her.” She sighed and smoothed her hair back behind her ears. “But you know, I love her. I would like to make this official.”
“Official, like marriage? Can you get married in Washington State?”
“There are legal unions here, like you have in Oregon. But I want the real deal. We’d just go up to British Columbia and make a honeymoon out of it at the same time. Well, that’s what I proposed.”
“You proposed?” I tried to picture Rebecca on one knee in her designer goods.
She let out a little laugh even though I could hear the pain in it. “No, I guess I’m not very romantic. I think I just blurted out, ‘hey let’s get married in Canada” and that’s when all the problems really started. I scared her. And to be honest, she scared me. I thought we were more serious than that.”
I fiddled with my napkin. “It’s just a bump in the road. You guys seem meant to be together. You’ll pull through.”
She took a slow sip of her tea, her lipstick leaving neat prints.
“As will you,” she replied knowingly.
“Me?”
“Yes. You. Moving here and everything. This can’t be easy, especially after what happened to you. Dex told me a few things this morning, about going to Idaho…I was there when Ada called him, you know. He nearly collapsed on the street. I’d never seen him look so worried.”
He wasn’t worried enough, I thought angrily, the rage sneaking up on me and making my head feel hot.
She went on, “You don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to hear what happened. The whole story. I’ll believe you.”
And from the earnest expression on her brow, I knew she would. I took in a deep breath and told her the entire story of my possession, starting with when I saw her in Portland and ending with Dex being tossed into jail.
It was no surprise then that by the end, Rebecca was speechless and I was breathless. The waitress delivered the artisan pizza we were sharing and Rebecca stared at it dumbly.
“So…wow…Perry, I don’t know what to say.” She delicately shook her head as if that would move some sense into it.
“You don’t have to say anything. But that’s how I ended up here, with Dex.”
“I can’t believe you survived all that…I’m just amazed.”
I examined my pizza, ignoring a pinch near my heart.
“I’m just so sorry…I’m so sorry.”
I looked up at her. “Why are you sorry?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw you. I should have helped. I should have done something.”
“How could you have known? I was fine at the time.”
“Were you really? You were pregnant Perry. With Dex’s child.”
I felt like I just got a cold punch to the gut. My hand involuntarily rubbed at my stomach.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“Quit saying you’re sorry,” I snapped. “I’m fine. It’s over and done with.”
“Does he know?”
I licked my lips, unsure of what to say. “Yes. He knows. He found out, though, from Ada. And not in the best way.”
“How is he taking it?” she asked in a hush, her delicate face crunched in concern.
I flinched. “He? I don’t know. Ask him about it.”
“You haven’t talked about it?”
I put my pizza down and gave her a steady look. “Rebecca, I don’t know which way is up. One minute Dex breaks my heart, the next I have a miscarriage. Then I’m f**king possessed and being dragged to a shaman to exorcise the demon. During that time, I go to another freaking dimension with my dead grandmother, where Dex shows up and saves my ass. We’re spit out, he’s arrested and I realize that moving in with him is my only option of staying safe and sane in this world. And so far, I don’t think it’s doing my sanity any good. Have we talked about it? Sort of. He seems strangely upset. But I just…I can’t deal with anything right now, let alone that. I just want to eat my pizza without adding tears as an extra topping. OK?”
“OK,” she agreed and began nibbling at a slice. We ate in silence and I tried hard to concentrate on the wonderful goat cheese in the pizza. I failed.
“Oh and I’m telepathic now,” I spoke up between chews. “People can hear my thoughts.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Anything else?”
“Don’t tell me you can hear what I’m thinking.”
She shook her head and smiled. “No, I can’t. I just don’t think you can surprise me anymore, Perry Palomino.”
I took in a deep breath. “Can you recommend a gynecologist? I’d like to get an IUD put in.”
She coughed on her food and quickly gulped down some water. “All right, that was surprising. What brought that up?”
I shrugged. “Considering I have no desire to get pregnant again, I think it’s the smart thing to do. I never did well on birth control pills anyway.”
“Makes sense,” she said slowly, her eyes glinting suspiciously. “You’re not thinking of, er, shagging anyone in particular, are you?”
I frowned for a second before my slow brain caught on. “What? You mean Dex?”
She bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile. “Don’t get so defensive.”
“How could you think that after everything I just told you?”
“Look, darling, we all have our rough patches. I told you, you’d pull through.”
“With life,” I said adamantly. “Not with Dex.”
“Dex is part of your life, whether you like it or not. You had the chance to cut him out.”
“I did cut him out! I cut everyone out!”
“And yet here you are, having lunch with me, down the street from your new roommate.”