Chapter 71

It was almost two weeks now since Nick Fabian had been charged with his sordid crimes against Billie. Two weeks in which Billie had settled herself into a new hotel - the other one just held too many horrific memories for her to even consider setting foot inside the building again - and two weeks in which Jon had moved from the city apartment back out to Jersey. Two weeks in which Richie had kept his distance from Billie - not because he particularly wanted to, but because he knew it was what she needed right now. Really, it was what they both needed - time to sort out in their own minds just what was going on between them. Time and space to figure out what they were feeling, and whether it was something real or just his protective instincts kicking into overdrive. Somehow, though, he didn’t think so - even in the current situation he just couldn’t see Billie playing the damsel in distress. He had a feeling, too, that she’d kick his ass if he was ever dumb enough to try treating her that way. Billie was nothing if not a strong-willed woman.

So he’d stayed away. Not that he’d cut off contact - he valued their friendship if that was all this was to be - and they talked daily. Most of the time their conversations were light-hearted - God knew, Billie had enough seriousness in her life right now - but on one or two occasions he’d talked her through a rough patch of blaming herself - again - for the collapse of Jon’s marriage. But Richie had told her firmly - almost brutally so - that it was not her fault. He’d even confided to her that Dot, in fact, had another guy. And that he’d been on the scene for a very long time.

Even that conversation, though, gave Richie a flicker of hope and encouragement, when Billie’s reaction was one of sympathy……but not even a hint of interest in Jon as a soon-to-be-single guy. Any love she still harbored for Jon was only related to his place as Jay’s father, and Richie couldn’t deny being pleased by that.


Today, Billie was in the hotel gym. Truth be told, she hated gyms, hated ‘exercise for exercise’s sake’. Give her a physical activity - whether that be riding or shifting bales of hay - and she was more than happy to work up a sweat. But this? Not her idea of fun. Still, she knew she needed exercise to speed the healing process, which was why she was on a cross trainer, working up a healthy sweat without overdoing things. Well, without overdoing things too much.

All in all, though, she felt good. Felt almost back to her old self. The pain was gone totally - not even the sudden flashes of it if she moved too fast - and a checkup the day before had also garnered Doctor Riviello’s agreement that she was fully healed. To the extent that, if she wanted to, he’d given her the all-clear to return to normal sexual activity, though he warned that any further issues in that area were more likely to be psychological than physical. A fact Billie was well aware of. Right now, the idea of trusting any other man into her bed - into her body - wasn’t exactly attractive. Of course, there was someone on her horizon who certainly wasn’t just ‘any other man’.

The cross trainer beeped, jolting her from her thoughts, and with perfect timing her cell rang as she stepped down from the machine. Not even bothering to check the caller ID, she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi……Billie?” Lounging back on the couch, Jon frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeeaah.” She said hesitantly. “Who….?” Pulling the phone from her ear, she read the display and blushed. How could she not know that voice? “Sorry, Jon - I wasn’t sure who…..didn’t check the ID.”

“S’okay. Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh. I’m in the gym. God, how can you say you enjoy this? I hate it!”

Jon chuckled. “I dunno - works for me. Hey, I was wondering if you felt like joining me for lunch?”

“Why? Are you falling apart?” An instant, smart-ass answer like one of the kids would’ve given him.

“Sometimes I think so.” He laughed. God, she still made him feel good. “So - lunch?”

“Yeah, okay. Where?”

“How about here?” He glanced at the clock, thinking how long it would take to get her to Jersey. “Actually, if you like - and there are no strings, by the way - why don’t you bring an overnight bag? There’s a shitload of empty rooms here, and by the time you get here it could be closer to dinner than lunch.”

Billie didn’t even hesitate. Hell, twenty years ago she hadn’t even known his full name and she’d taken him into her home, so why would she even think twice about this? Besides, if she were honest, what fan wouldn’t take the opportunity of a guided tour of the Versailles-styled mansion?!

“Sounds good.” Was all she said though.

“Great.” Jon grinned. “Tell the hotel……actually, don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll get a car to come get you. Can you be ready in an hour?”

Billie laughed. “Cowboy, I can be ready to leave in five minutes - I pack fast and light. Though, okay, I do need to shower, so make it an hour!”

After saying goodbye, Jon snapped his phone shut, staring across the empty living room. Living room. That had to be some kind of sick joke. There wasn’t much living going on here these days. His life was starting to remind him of a Native American quotation he’d once read, which begged the question ‘Is this the end of living and the beginning of survival?’ Seemed appropriate to how his life was going right now. Talking with Billie, though, somehow put things more into perspective. Just like she’d done for him all those years ago.

Maybe it was from knowing what she’d done - what she’d allowed to be done - to protect him, or maybe it was just the sound of her voice, but either way his day had brightened dramatically as soon as she’d agreed to come visit, so he wasn’t going to question it.

Smiling, he opened his phone again, scrolling through numbers until he found the limo company in Philly, calling them to arrange to have Billie picked up and brought out to Jersey. That done, he hauled himself off the couch and started for the kitchen, to let Belle know there’d be a guest for a late lunch, and dinner. And breakfast. Thinking as he went that it was a good thing he and Dot had agreed that Belle would return to the Jersey house, while Tina stayed in the city with the children. A damned good thing, since his cookery skills hadn’t advanced much since he’d first met Billie.