CHAPTER 3

Dottie held out a week before she gave in and agreed to meet with the Boys. She wanted to, but she was so afraid. She knew she owed it to them and to herself. She had built a safe world in her mind by turning off her feelings. She knew when she met with them, the walls would crumble, and they would be able to hurt her. She had to figure out a way to keep them at arms length.

She talked Amy into going with her. Amy had agreed because she was afraid Dottie would run if she had the chance. The meeting was set up in a private dining room at a local restaurant, which happened to be one of Dottie‘s favorites. The girls arrived first and Amy was giving her a pep talk when the guys walked in.

Dottie's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't take her eyes off Nick. He locked his gaze on hers, giving her the briefest hint of a smile.

When they reached the table, there was an awkward silence. Not knowing what to say, Dottie just glanced at each of them. They all looked as uncomfortable as she was. Howie cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence.

"Dottie thanks for meeting here with us. We really wanted to talk to you."

She almost didn’t find the strength to respond until she got a nudge from Amy. When she spoke, her voice was just barely audible to them. “It’s ok, I think I owed this to you and to myself.”

Before any of them could help her with her chair, she had seated herself at the table, motioning Amy to sit beside her. With a wall on the other side of her, she felt she had put as much distance between her and them as she could physically. Mentally was a different story. She could feel the butterflies swimming in her stomach as they all quietly studied their menus, deciding what to order. She could feel Nick’s gaze on her, but she didn’t dare look up from her menu. If she had, she just might have sailed across the table and into his arms, begging him to never let her go. He sat down straight across from her and it was making her even more nervous.

The waiter arrived to take their orders. Since Dottie hadn’t been paying attention to the menu, she decided to play it safe and order what she always ordered here. “I’ll have the grilled shrimp platter, with a baked potato and iced tea, please. Sweetened, with lemon.” Catching Nick’s glance, she caught the hint of a smile. She always ordered the same thing here and he always managed to eat half of her shrimp. It was almost like a game back then, only now, it wasn’t a game anymore. She almost changed her order, but she realized how childish that would sound, so she sat back listening to the rest of them place their orders. She wasn’t a bit surprised that Nick ordered sirloin tips, with fries and tea. He always ordered the same thing too.

As the waiter walked away, Brian decided to get the ball rolling. “Dottie, first of all, we wanted you to know how sorry we all are about how all of this happened. When we were first told that someone had stolen from us, we were so angry.”

Howie picked up the story there, “Yeah, but when they told us it was you, we didn’t want to believe it. None of us. Not until they brought out the computer records. You see, Jake told us no one used that computer but you. We didn’t realize he knew the passwords and everything as well. What he showed us looked pretty solid, but we still didn’t want to believe it.”

AJ chimed in, “Yeah, we told them you couldn’t possibly do it, and then we were told they had other proof. That other proof being all the new clothes and expensive jewelry you began wearing. Not to mention the diamond watch. No one knew where that money came from.”

At the mention of the watch, her gaze collided with Nick. Only they knew where the watch had really come from. It was a gift from Nick. He had said he saw it and decided it would look good on her, so he bought it. She fought with him about it, telling him it was too much, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He had told her it would hurt his feelings if she didn’t take it. In the end, she agreed, but only because she knew how stubborn Nick could be. But secretly, she had loved the watch, and to this day, she cherished it. Even though it was packed away and she hadn’t worn it since before her trial.

Before she had a chance to respond, their food arrived. As the waiter gave them all their plates and refilled their glasses, she watched Nick. Looking at him, it felt like old times. He hadn’t changed. If anything, he was better looking. Gone was that eager look of innocent youth, replaced by something more powerful. The past year had changed him almost as much as it had her. He was truly a man, decisive and determined, but she could still see traces of the carefree soul she fell in love with.

After the waiter moved away, Nick cleared his throat. “Fellas, I think you should know that I bought that watch Dottie has. You do still have it, right? They didn’t take it away?”

She shook her head. “No, I have it.”

Brian glanced at Nick, shaking his head. “Man, why didn’t you tell us you bought it?”

Nick shrugged. “Because she asked me not to. You guys know how close we were. Hell, she knows things you guys don’t know about me. I just bought her a gift, it was no big deal. Besides, none of you mentioned all of that to me, I didn’t think you noticed.”

AJ piped in, “Oh, we noticed, Nick. But you were so mad at us after her arrest and the trial, we couldn’t talk to you.” Seeing the confused looks Amy and Dottie gave him, AJ blushed. “Well, it took Nick about a week to show us how pigheaded we were being. He never believed you did it for a second. Finally, we did listen and we believed him. We began working to free you, but Jake kept throwing up road blocks. He knew we were looking, and he tried to cover himself, but he failed.”

Dottie wasn’t sure what to say. She believed them. In her heart, she knew they were telling her the truth. Her heart, though, what little there was left, was in definite danger here. She laid her fork down, finally meeting their gazes, one at a time. “I believe you guys. I do. But so much has happened; I’m not sure what to say. What you want me to say. I don’t think going back is possible. Going forward would be nice, if I just knew how. I have to find who I am again, and I’m not sure I can do that here. I think I need to move away for a while.”

After saying that, she picked up her purse, made her way from behind the table, and before anyone could stop her, she ran for the door, almost knocking down the poor waiter. Amy watched her leave, the shock clearly evident on her face. “Did she just say she was moving away?”

Brian sighed, “That’s what she said.”

Amy grabbed her purse, jumping to her feet. “Oh hell no. She is not leaving. I just got her back to her old self, for the most part. I’ll be damned if I let her move away.”

Nick asked, “Got her back? What do you mean Amy?”

Amy sighed, sitting back down. “It’s a long story, are you sure you want to hear it?”

AJ grabbed her hand. “Amy, we have to know. What happened to her?”