Thanks for all of your reviews. For those of you following everything I've written about my daughter, I woke up this morning remembering my dream. I was shopping for gifts for my daughter to send her a care package in the mail. I came across a copy of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and thought about giving it to her, but didn't think she'd appreciate getting a children's book or understand how the message related to our relationship: her father and I are that tree, were constantly giving, but we weren't willing to give everything to her and be left as stumps.

29.

The dinner was as pleasant as it could be under the circumstances but the women and I were careful never to bring up anything having to do with Chuck. At my round table, Elizabeth and Charlotte were on either side of Jane in a sort of protective wall. I was next to Elizabeth, and Rick was between me and Charlotte.

I had no opportunity speak with Elizabeth or the others about what happened that day other than a quick exchange when Rick went to the bathroom right after we finished eating. Once I was confident that Rick too far away to overhear us, I quietly asked the women "How did everything go at the police station?"

Jane replied "Would you tell him, Lizzy?"

Elizabeth nodded and said "Long story short, everything was enough to get Chuck arrested and he shouldn't be able to bail himself out for at least a couple of days."

"Good," I replied. I felt intensely curious as to what all had occurred, but knew there was little time to discuss it. "Since Rick'll be doing the driving, maybe you can text me more details, or better yet call me? I can have my airpods in, but I won't be able to say much back."

"Okay," Elizabeth agreed.

"I hate to have you have to tiptoe around everything with your cousin," Jane interjected.

"It's okay," I told Jane. "It's your story to tell or not to tell. But if it helps, Rick is someone you can trust. He was the person I confided in about all that Caroline did to me, and you'll recall that I had him there when you and Chuck came over before."

I heard a slight sound, one that the women may not have noticed at all, not being familiar with the sounds of my house. It told me that Rick was just outside the dining room.

I was about to say something to alert Rick and the women that Rick was coming back in when Jane said, "I guess it's okay to tell Rick, might even be good practice as I need to tell my parents, as I'm gonna go stay back with them for a while."

Rick came back in then and asked "Tell me what?"

"I . . . uh . . ." Jane pinked, studied her half empty turquoise fiesta-ware plate and fell silent.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Elizabeth volunteered.

"Yes," Jane squeaked.

"What?" Rick glanced at Jane and then Elizabeth.

Elizabeth answered in a matter-of-fact tone, "Chuck showed his true colors. He strangled Jane when they were intimate, scared her to death."

I heard Rick's sudden inhaled breath, saw how his jaw had dropped, and how he then shook his head in disbelief.

Elizabeth continued, "Jane got the hell out of there, went to Charlotte, got a temporary restraining order from a judge but didn't tell anyone else, not even me, but then later told Bill."

Jane glanced up and mouthed "Sorry" to Elizabeth, who in turn leaned toward Jane and gave her a side hug.

"I can't hardly believe it," Rick muttered. "I can kind of get Chuck hitting Bill, but hurting a woman, during that? I don't get that at all."

"That's 'cause you're not a psycho monster," Charlotte noted.

Rick directed a sympathetic look at Jane, but I don't think Jane noticed as she was still clinging to Elizabeth. Tears started rolling down Jane's face and the side hug turned into a full hug, with Elizabeth rubbing her sister's back as she continued to hold her.

Elizabeth's eyes got wet, too, though I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. I quickly retrieved some tissues and set them down on the table by the Bennet sisters.

Elizabeth started pulling tissues out, handing some to Jane and then taking some for herself. She croaked out, "Can you take it from here, Charlotte?" Jane and Elizabeth separated so that each could use the tissues. Jane used the tissues delicately, while Elizabeth gave a mighty blow.

Charlotte nodded. "Chuck got served with the order to stay away from Jane but was still trying to find out where she was. Jane wouldn't answer her phone, he kept calling and texting her all the time. He had no respect for the restraining order at all."

Elizabeth interjected, "Stupid me, when I tracked Jane down at Charlotte's, found out she was talking to Bill and not me, I told Chuck where Jane was. Chuck really fooled me with his whole sob story about them having a misunderstanding. I can't believe I was so dumb!" Elizabeth hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

I really wanted to comfort Elizabeth, but I knew it wasn't my place.

"It's not your fault, Lizzy" Jane whispered. "He fooled all of us before."

"Me included," I added, "and I've known him for years, but apparently not as well as I thought."

Charlotte continued getting Rick up to speed, "Once Bill alerted us that Chuck was on his way to my place, we called the police. Eliza and Bill saw Chuck drive up, but he hightailed it out of there once he saw the patrol car. We stayed at Bill's last night, but this morning we went and talked to the police again, saw the Chief. It took several hours, but based on the texts Chuck sent, along with a previously recorded conversation, and the call the police had Eliza make to him this morning, plus what he did to my apartment . . ."

"Your apartment?"

"Yeah, it's the craziest thing. While we were at the police station, my neighbor came home and saw that my apartment door was broken. She called the police.

"My place was trashed, by Chuck. Apparently he didn't notice the apartment security camera that captures my front door, from the side. The footage showed him kicking the door in, and caught him leaving, too."

Rick looked both shocked and confused. He commented "That's just crazy, Looney-Tunes. I can't understand what's come over him."

"Me neither," Jane whispered. "He used to always be so nice!" Tears began to drip down her face again.

Charlotte shrugged, "I guess he's just showing his true colors. Chuck was arrested on a bunch of charges, including burglary for my apartment. He didn't steal stuff, but he did break a bunch of things and wrote with Jane's lipstick on my mirror 'Where is she?' That was just more proof that he was violating the temporary retraining order. What's more, they finally charged him for the initial assault on Jane, which should have happened long ago."

"That's good, that they're keeping him," I replied but then asked "Are you all sure you wouldn't rather stay here? I'd feel better knowing you all had the whole security system to protect you, and I can have my security team watching everything, too. It wouldn't be any bother. I won't even be around for at least a few days. I'd just hate to have Chuck post bail (you know he'll have the funds to get out, no matter how high they set it) and then try to get to you all again."

Charlotte looked over at Jane. Jane shrugged and gave a watery smile. I could tell she was undecided.

Charlotte responded, "Hopefully he won't even be able to post any kind of bond for a while, but we are all signed up to get alerts if he gets released."

"It's a very generous offer," Elizabeth responded.

I heard a "but" coming.

Rick interjected, "Please let Bill do this for you. During my time in the service, I've seen people like Chuck who've flipped out after some event. It isn't pretty. It's what acid attacks and murder-suicides are made of."

"Yes, please," I begged. "And Jane, if you think your sister Mary and your parents would want to stay here, too, invite them as well. I would hate to be in Europe and then find out while we were helping G.G. everything went to hell here when it might have been prevented."

Rick said "I know it's hard to accept help. You're all independent, self-sufficient ladies and I get that. But this situation, is more than anyone should have to deal with, more than anyone can handle on their own. Hell, I barely know you all and I'd feel much better if you stayed here."

"Please let me do this for you," I begged, looking at each woman in turn.

"Okay," Jane finally replied.