Appeal to You (A Beyond the Cove Novel Book 3)

by Jaclyn Quinn

  “So…how do you know so much?”

  Avery noticed the tightness in Ryder’s jaw and the way he used his thumb to crack all the fingers on his left hand. Avery wondered if Ryder even realized he was still doing it, even after all his knuckles had popped. Maybe it was some kind of nervous habit?

  “Count yourself lucky, Mr. Hamilton. You’re getting an official tour of the shitty part of town by one of its former residents. Don’t worry; each tour comes with complimentary hand sanitizer and hard alcohol at the end.” Ryder winked, flashing Avery a smile. A completely fake smile.

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  Great. Back to answering questions with questions. “Don’t cover up how much being here bothers you with bad jokes and phony smiles.”

  Ryder looked out the window to his left, and in a less defensive tone, he asked, “What do you want me to say Avery? Yes, I grew up here. Yes, it fucking sucked. Yes…I’m worried about Chris being here somewhere by himself, especially at night. And yes, I’m about to turn down a street I know has at least one or two crack houses. Hell, maybe we’ll run into my old man, and we can have a big ol’ family reunion.”

  “Ryder—”

  “Shit.” Ryder stepped on the gas, his eyes focusing down the street as he passed a few more houses before slamming on the brakes in front of a group of kids. “I think that’s him.” Before Avery could even answer, Ryder was out of the car and yelling at the crowd of kids.

  Avery got out just as the last kid standing pulled a black backpack away from a boy on the ground. A boy with brown curls. “Oh no.” Is that Chris?

  “Get out of here, you little shits!” Ryder ran toward the crowd, his heart pounding in his ears. When the last one ran away, taking Chris’s backpack with him, Ryder came to a screeching halt right in front of the boy on the ground. “Chris?”

  The kid looked up, but it wasn’t until he stared at Ryder for a minute that he finally dropped his head and broke into tears. He pushed off the ground and, in seconds, had his arms wrapped around Ryder’s waist as he sobbed against Ryder’s stomach. Ryder’s head shot up, searching for Avery to help. What the fuck should he do? Hug him back, dipshit.

  Ryder slowly wrapped his arms around the scared kid, could feel him trembling and it tore his heart out. “Hey, you’re okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

  Chris didn’t loosen his grip, but instead, he let out a choked cry as his sobbing intensified. “Gram’s gone, Ryder. What am I gonna do?”

  “Chris, we can help you.” The answer came from Avery, and as the boy clung to Ryder, he was never more grateful than in that moment that Avery was there.

  Chris released Ryder and wiped at his tear-streaked, freckled face. He was covered in dirt and grime, and his curls were haphazardly sticking up. “Who are you?” He looked at Avery nervously, and Ryder had a feeling he needed to be prepared for Chris to bolt.

  “That’s my friend Avery,” Ryder replied. “Chris, where were you last night?”

  Chris’s sobs calmed to slower, shuddering breaths. His bottom lip trembled, another tear sliding down his cheek. For fuck’s sake, the kid hadn’t even had time to grieve. He’d been thrown into a nightmare in less than forty-eight hours.

  “Did you sleep out here all night?” Avery’s nostrils flared and the man’s back straightened, surely thinking what Ryder was—anything could’ve happened to him.

  Chris shook his head and pointed to the blue house behind him. “I slept on that porch. It didn’t look like anyone was home.” The porch was enclosed, and even though there wasn’t an ounce of security, Ryder was grateful he’d had a place to stay the night before. “I don’t think anyone even knew I was there…or cared.”

  “Ryder, can I talk to you for a minute?” Avery nodded his head in the direction away from Chris, but Ryder made sure to still have the boy in sight. “I have to notify Branson so he can call DCPP,” Avery said in a low voice. Ryder stared at him for a minute, pushing down memories he wanted nothing to do with anymore. Avery must have taken Ryder’s silence as confusion. “Department of Child Protection and Permanency.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Everything in Ryder screamed that this was wrong, even though he knew Nina and Stan were willing to take Chris. The name may have changed from DYFS to DCPP, but it was still the same department from when he was a kid. What if DCPP doesn’t let Nina and Stan keep Chris? “Can they send Chris someplace other than with Nina and Stan?”

  Avery hesitated. “I don’t know, but I’ll do my best to convince them. I don’t really have any pull here. I deal with divorces and custody cases, not foster care.” Avery lowered his voice even more. “I think you need to prepare him. He looks like he’s about to take off.”

  Ryder gave a short nod, walking back over to Chris as Avery made the call.

  “Chris, you can’t stay out here by yourself.” The boy backed up, so Ryder did the only thing he could think of: he pleaded with him. “Listen, I know you’re scared. You’ve been through hell”—shit, don’t use words like hell to a kid—“I mean, you’ve been through a lot. Trust me, I know exactly how you feel…but me and Avery are gonna make sure nothing happens to you.” Could he even promise that? Should he? Ryder could still see the doubt in Chris’s bloodshot eyes and determination settled in Ryder’s mind. He knew, in that moment, he wasn’t going to abandon this kid. He needed someone in his corner. Ryder would have given anything to have someone, anyone, in his corner when he was Chris’s age.

  Ryder tried one more thing, thinking maybe if Chris agreed, it would make this whole thing so much easier. “I know a couple…a really nice couple…who are willing to let you stay with them.” Chris backed up another step. Shit. Do something! “They’re really good friends of mine.”

  “Why can’t I stay with you?”

  Me? Why the hell would the kid want to stay with him? As soon as Ryder had the thought, the answer was so clear. He doesn’t have anyone else. He knows you. “I could come see you every damn day if you just trust me.” There he went making promises he didn’t know if he could keep. What if Chris trusted him and DCPP sent him someplace else?

  “Chris, do you go to one of the Brighton Pier schools?” Avery asked, apparently done with his phone call. Ryder had no idea where the hell he was going with this. Chris slowly nodded his head, eyeing Avery skeptically. “Maybe you know Nick and Dylan Novak?”

  Ah, shit. Of course…

  Avery smiled warmly at Chris—the same gentle smile that Ryder had seen Avery give everyone but him—when the boy nodded and his expression lightened a bit. Avery continued, “Well, the couple Ryder and I know, the ones who said you can stay with them, live right next door to Dylan and Nick. They’re like grandparents to them. Nina and Stan are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.”

  “Me too,” Ryder added lamely.

  “Now, I don’t want you to be scared, because Ryder and I have to take you to the Department of Child Protection and Permanency—”

  Chris’s eyes widened and he shook his head, backing up. He probably had no idea what DCPP even was, but the long name alone sounded ominous.

  “Chris, please…” Ryder could hear the desperation in his voice, but he needed to make Chris understand, and he was fucking the whole thing up. “Please let me help you. I’ve been so damn worried about you. Nina and Stan are really good people. I would never ask you to stay with people who weren’t.”

  Chris looked around, stared at the porch he’d slept on last night, searched up and down the street, as if looking one more time for another option. Then his sad eyes settled back on Ryder. “You swear you’ll come see me? You won’t just leave me with them and forget about me?”

  Christ, this kid… “I swear on his life.” Ryder pointed to Avery.

  “Gee, thanks,” Avery replied, rolling his eyes. But Ryder had gotten the reaction he’d wanted from Chris. He finally cracked a smile, took a deep breath, and nodded his head.

  Ryder didn’t chance a sigh of rel
ief until Chris was in the back seat of his car. It was a quiet ride to DCPP, and the entire way, Ryder just kept praying he was doing the right thing.

  It had taken over an hour to get everything in order, but Avery stayed with Ryder and Chris until the details were all worked out. He couldn’t believe all that had happened in the last couple of days. Chris had confirmed to everyone that his parents were deceased. Now, as if life hadn’t been hard enough on the boy, his grandmother was gone too.

  Chris put all his trust in Ryder and told DCPP he wanted to go with Nina and Stan. They informed them all that even if Chris went with Nina and Stan, they still had to take steps to find the death certificates and look into the possibilities of other blood relations.

  Avery looked up from the chair he was sitting in against the wall. Ryder glanced at the door at the same time, and the tension left both of their bodies. Seeing Nina and Stan walk through that door was such a huge relief.

  Nina had a look of trepidation, but as soon as she spotted Ryder and Avery, her face softened. “We got here as soon as we could. Just had to make sure with Jake that the boys could stay on their own for a bit. It always makes me so nervous leaving them, but Jake said he’d check in on them.”

  Avery and Ryder stood up, and a thought crossed Avery’s mind. “Excuse me a minute.” He left Ryder, Nina, and Stan and went over to the person who had been helping them since they’d gotten there. “Is there anything my friend and I would have to do in order to help out Mr. and Mrs. Lockmere?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, barely looking up from the paperwork she was filling out.

  “Well, what happens if they need to go out without Chris?”

  The woman finally looked up at Avery. “We could run a background check on you both and”—she leaned to the right, looking past Avery at Ryder with an enormous amount of judgment on her face—“if you pass, you’ll be given the all-clear to help out the Lockmeres.”

  Avery could feel his pulse speed up as anger swept through him. “I’m sure we both will pass with flying colors,” Avery said in a voice he usually saved for the courtroom. This woman had a lot of damn nerve. How many people passed those fucking background checks, were given licenses to foster, and turned out to be abusers or worse? How many times did the state wipe their hands of the situation after they dropped a kid in a home and never checked on them to make sure they were okay? Avery looked back at Ryder just as Ryder glanced at him and they locked eyes. A sick feeling raced through Avery. How many times had the system failed him? How many days did Ryder have to endure whatever hell he’d gone through in foster care?

  Ryder raised a questioning eyebrow, and Avery found himself crossing the room to the man. “Are you okay with them doing a background check on you? They’re going to do one on me too so that we can help Nina and Stan if they have to go out for an evening or something.” Apprehension clouded Ryder’s eyes, and for a moment, Avery had thought he’d spoken too soon to the employee.

  “You mean like, see if I’ve got a record or some shit?” Ryder shifted his weight from foot to foot, crossing his arms over his chest as he bit his bottom lip.

  What’s got you so nervous? “They’ll most likely check with Jake for your employment. Maybe your motor vehicle records, and yes, they’ll check for a criminal record.” Avery stepped closer to Ryder, lowering his voice so only Ryder could hear him ask, “Have you ever been arrested?”

  Ryder stared at Avery for so long, he thought for sure the answer was going to be yes. So, when Ryder replied, “No,” Avery didn’t know how to feel about it. Would he always feel this shift in Ryder every time his past was brought up? And why the hell was it so damn important for him to know, anyway?

  “Okay, then. So, I think we should find out what we need to do.”

  “Fine.” Ryder pushed his black frames up, but his eyes no longer held Avery’s. Without another word, Ryder walked over to the counter Avery had just been at and asked the woman what he needed to do, but there was no mistaking the stiffness in his posture.

  Nina and Stan approached Avery, with a nervous Chris by Nina’s side. “The landlord said he’d meet us over at the apartment complex so Chris can get some of his things,” Stan said. He gave the scared boy a smile then added, “We thought maybe Ryder could come with us. How does that sound, Chris?”

  Chris hung his head, his shoulders rounded in defeat as he shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t have much, anyway. Those stupid kids stole my drawing pad and pencils.” His voice quivered, but Chris didn’t shed a tear, and Avery knew he was trying so damn hard to be brave.

  “We can get you a new drawing pad and pencils, honey.” Nina’s tone was soft and soothing; Chris flicked his gaze up at her for a second before dropping it again, giving another shrug of his shoulders.

  “What if I don’t have anyone else?” he asked in a small voice, and Avery wanted so badly to fix this situation somehow, even though he knew he had no say in the matter. “Gram always said it was just the two of us.”

  Avery may have wanted to tell Chris everything would be okay, but he felt he needed to be honest too. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, okay? You never know; you may have family you’ve never met before.” That statement didn’t sit right with Avery. No matter what, the kid would be living with strangers. He could only imagine how scared he was.

  Chris nudged the tip of his sneaker at a black scuff mark on the floor, not making eye contact with anyone. “I don’t need anyone. I can take care of myself.”

  Nina’s head tilted up as her eyes lined with tears. She pressed her eyes closed and breathed in deep through her nose, getting her emotions in check. When she opened them again, she had a look of resolve on her face. “I don’t doubt that, Chris. You seem to be very mature, but there’s nothing wrong with letting people help you, okay?” Having known Nina for the past year, Avery could hear the fear in her words, but she smiled down at Chris.

  Stan cleared his throat when Ryder approached the group again. “Ryder, we thought it would be a good idea if you came with us to get some of Chris’s things. If you have the time, that is.”

  “No problem,” Ryder said then turned to Avery. “We have to go to one of those places and get our fingerprints on some card. Then we give them the okay, and they do their thing.”

  That’s what Avery got for sending Ryder to get the information; although, somehow, it had all made sense to him. “Okay, I can do that.”

  They made sure everything with Chris was squared away then Ryder and Avery followed Nina and Stan to the apartment complex. The kid hadn’t been lying; he really didn’t have much at all. Avery had to remind himself that Chris’s grandmother had done the best she could.

  The place was clean, there was food still in the fridge, and pictures spread around the place on walls and tables. Some even included a couple Avery now knew were Chris’s mom and his dad, who had died in Afghanistan when Chris’s mom was pregnant. The young couple in one of the photos was happy, healthy, and carefree. The thought that Chris didn’t know either one of them was heartbreaking.

  “What about some photos, honey?” Nina asked Chris, bringing Avery back around to the task at hand. “You can take whichever ones you want. Stan and I have a spare room to set you up in.” She was already holding the folded US flag against her chest. There was no way she’d let something so important stay in this place.

  “Okay.” Chris looked around the room at all the photos but ended up taking only two. One was a picture of Chris and his grandma, and the other was the photo of his parents that Avery had been staring at.

  Avery’s heart broke for the kid. When Kevin and Maggie had passed away, they’d had a plan in place to ensure that their boys would get the best care possible, in a loving home with their uncle. So many people had stepped up to the plate to protect Nick and Dylan. Chris didn’t have that.

  Avery caught the look in Ryder’s eyes, like he had so many times over the last couple of days. The depth of Ryder’s pain was something Aver
y still didn’t know. It was something he may never know, and even if Ryder someday, miraculously, decided to confide in him, it wasn’t something that Avery would ever truly understand.

  But Ryder knew this boy’s pain and loneliness to his core, and it was clear to Avery that Ryder had taken a silent vow to protect him. Damned if that didn’t peel away a layer of that thick skin of Ryder’s. The man knew compassion, no matter how much he doubted himself.

  To Avery’s surprise, when Nina and Stan were ready to leave, he felt the need to go with them to make sure Chris settled in okay. He knew Ryder would want to do the same thing. “We’ll be right behind you,” he said to them on their way out then turned back to Ryder.

  “Hang on. I have to grab something from my place.” Ryder took the stairs two at a time while Avery waited down on the landing. A few minutes later, Ryder was back down the stairs with a bag in hand.

  “What’s that?” Avery pointed to the plastic shopping bag.

  Ryder shrugged, looking down at the bag as he said, “Just some art supplies I had layin’ around. I figured I’m not using them so…” He shrugged one shoulder then reached past Avery to open the outside door.

  Layers…so many damn layers.

  “You want me to drive this time?” Avery offered. He didn’t have to explain what he meant; they both planned to go with Chris to his new temporary home. “Doesn’t make much sense to bring two cars.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Ryder turned and reached out, brushing a hand on Avery’s chest, making Avery suck in a quick breath as the warmth seeped through his T-shirt. “You coulda just said you wanted to be alone with me.” The evil man winked, patting Avery’s chest before he stepped around him.

  “Who says I want to be alone with you?” Avery shot back, because let’s face it, he did love the back and forth between them.

  “I’m just sayin’, you don’t need excuses.” Ryder headed down the sidewalk toward the parking lot.

  “Why did I say I’d drive you?” Avery followed Ryder through the courtyard, watching the man walking in front of him. The way the worn denim curved around a fine ass, the intricate tattoos that made him look like a walking piece of art, his confident strides, and that bleached-blond hair—which happened to be Avery’s favorite out of all the colors the man had rocked in the last year—he couldn’t help but take in his fill.