“Don’t go.” She has worry etched on her face.
“I can’t do this right now.”
“Do what?” She has got to be fucking kidding me.
I slowly turn back toward her. “Claire, you know I love you more than the fucking air I breathe, but the fact that you feel the need to keep your child from me hurts like hell.”
“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” I turn at the sound of the deep, malicious voice and the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. This is her fucking husband.
I walk to the front door and reach my hand out to him.
“Ryker Allen.”
He doesn’t extend his hand to mine, which is probably for the best. Instead, I grab him by the collar as I’m up in his face.
“You fucking touch her and I’ll end you,” I seethe.
When I let him go, he chuckles at me.
“I’d never hurt my wife.”
I head toward the stairs but first catch a glimpse of Claire. Her expression is pained.
“I’m not him, Claire.”
Without letting her get another word in, I leave.
46
Ryker
I decide I need a drink so I head over to the bar. It’s Austin’s night to work, but I’m wishing I would have gone in instead. Last night, I had the sudden fear that, one day, Claire was going to take her stupid husband’s ass back and now this shit. I just can’t handle it. I should have known better.
“Dude, you look like shit,” Austin laughs. If I didn’t have a damn headache, I would punch him in the face.
“Fuck you, man. Get me a Corona.” I slouch on the stool at the end of the bar and put my head in my hands. There’s no way I’m going to get a wink of sleep tonight.
Austin sets my beer in front of me and goes back to wiping the already clean bar. I’m thankful for his silence because all I want is to drink my beer, go home, and throw myself a pity party.
One beer turns in to eight. I want more but Austin cuts me off. Asshole. I leave my truck at the bar and walk the few short blocks back home. I’ll get it tomorrow when I come in to work. I’ll most likely be worth shit though.
When I get to my driveway, I notice someone sitting on my porch. Claire? No, this woman’s hair is shorter, but there’s a child sitting on her lap. Damn it.
“Hey, baby, are you alright? I’ve been waiting for you to get home.” I don’t want to deal with this bitch tonight. Or ever.
“Monica, what the hell are you doing here?” I’m seething. I made it pretty clear she wasn’t welcome at my house, but apparently, she didn’t get the hint.
“Aww, come on. I missed you and wanted to see you.” She stands up from the bench and walks towards me with her child in her arms.
“Monica, I’m sorry, but I’ve had a shitty night and I need to go to sleep. Please leave.” I unlock the door and her arms wrap around my waist. I’ve never been one to touch a woman, but I’m two seconds away from throwing her off of me. She is the last person I want to see right now.
“Baby, please let me and Kayla come in. We need somewhere to stay.” Now I’m getting pissed.
“Go home to your parents. You’re not welcome here.” I’m being a major ass, but I can’t stand to be around her. Does she seriously believe I’d welcome her with open arms?
“We’ve been staying with them, but I got into it with my mom and she kicked us out. Please.” Damn it. She isn’t going to stop until I let her in my house.
“You can sleep on the couch, but in the morning, you’re gone. Understood?” I turn around to look at her and if looks could kill, she’d be dead. Her child is the only reason I let her in.
“I promise.” I could tell she was going to be a pain in my ass when I told her to leave, but tonight I want to go to bed and not deal with her.
When we get inside, I go to the hall closet and pull out a few blankets for them. I grab Monica a pillow and set everything in the living room. I can’t even look at her because I’m so pissed about her being in my house. I’m drunk and need to go to sleep to clear my head. I’ll hate myself tomorrow for the way I’ve acted.
I walk back to my room and slip my jeans and shirt off. I know that as soon as my head hits my pillow, I’ll be out. Sleep doesn’t happen because as soon as I get comfortable, I hear a pounding from the other room. My head hurts too damn much and I don’t want to deal with any more shit tonight. I reluctantly walk out of my room to see what the hell is going on.
When I first see the front door all I can see is Monica in a shirt and no pants, answering whoever was banging from outside.
“Who the hell are you?” Claire. Fuck! I don’t know what to do and I’m freaking the hell out knowing she’ll assume the worst after seeing Monica here.
“I’m Monica. And who are you?” I hear the hatred in Monica’s voice.
I finish walking the rest of the way to the front door, not knowing what to expect when I see her.
Once I finally get to the door and pull it further open, I watch as Claire’s mouth hits the floor. And the next words out of mine are the worst I could possibly say.
“Claire, what are you doing here?”
“I was coming to see if you were alright, but clearly I was interrupting something.” She looks me up and down and I soon remember that I’m in my fucking underwear.
She tries to run off my front porch, but I grab her arm. As soon as I touch her, she flinches as if I burned her.
“I can explain,” I say, hoping she’ll listen to me.
“You were so fucking worried about me going back to Trevor, but you were just looking for a reason to screw your ex. Go inside before you make more of a fool of yourself than you already have.” I turn around and, sure enough, we have an audience consisting of my neighbors.
“Claire, listen to me!” I sound like an ass, but I don’t know how else to get her attention. She’s pissed at me and I need her to understand that I did not sleep with Monica. How could she think I would, after everything I told her about our past? Dumb fuck, you’re in your underwear.
“Baby, leave the bitch outside and come back in with me,” Monica yells from the front door. Oh, hell. She’s sleeping outside tonight for all I care.
“You’re obviously needed inside. I should have known you were no different than him.” She turns around and walks toward her car.
“What the hell does that mean?” I’m fuming.
“You hurt me,” she whispers and nearly crushes my heart inside my chest.
She gets to her car and turns around to look at me one last time.
“Goodbye, Ryker. I hope you find your happiness.”
She walks right out of my life with my damn heart in the palm of her hand.
47
Claire
I only got out of bed this morning because I heard Brady babbling next to me, telling me he was hungry. If it weren’t for his persistence, I would have slept all day. But life still has to go on. I’m still a mother. I’m trying my hardest to focus on him and nothing else. He continues to make me smile throughout the day with his giggling and bubble blowing.
I made a huge mistake being with Ryke. How could I possibly put my heart on the line again for someone else to crush?
I give Brady his sippy cup and a snack of sliced bananas when I hear a knock on the front door. I’m sure it’s Trevor. My stupid ass brother insisted on calling him yesterday when Brady was at the hospital. He flew in last night to see him even though he was fine. Why all the sudden, after all this time, is he interested in spending time with his son?
“Damn, took you long enough.” Trevor smirks as he walks through the door.
“I was getting Brady settled. What’s up?” We walk toward the kitchen, back to Brady.
“What the hell is this?” He slams an envelope down on the table. I didn’t realize it was in his hand until now.
“Seriously, Trevor?” I rub my temples and look up at the ceiling in frustration. “Do we really have to do this?”
<
br /> “You want a fucking divorce?” I cringe at his tone, suddenly a bit terrified.
“Did you seriously think this wouldn’t happen after you cheated on me?” I yell. “Yes, Trevor. I want a goddamned divorce.”
“I want custody of Brady.” He says this like it’s no fucking deal and I want to claw his damn eyes out.
“You’re fucking ridiculous!” I’m about to come unglued. How did I put up with this asshole for so long?
He gets up in my face and points his finger at me.
“No, Claire. I’m not ridiculous. You’re the one who took him away from me. If you want to fight this, Claire Bear, I promise you, you won’t win.”
I try to push past him.
“You’re an unfit mother and I’ll be sure to prove that to the court system.”
Now I’m seconds away from killing him. How dare he say this shit about me?
“An unfit mother?” I yell. “How the hell can you even say something like that?”
He laughs evilly, which has my skin crawling. “Did you forget you were just in a psych ward?” He shakes his head in disgust. “No sane judge is going to let you have him after all that shit.”
“I was in a fucking psych ward because of you, Trevor. God!”
“That’s stupid, Claire. Nobody will believe that shit.”
I just want him to leave and go back to Chicago. My life is a lot less stressful without him in it. I lift Brady from his high chair and he toddles down the hallway toward our bedroom. Clearly, ready for bed.
“Our plane leaves in two hours, so get him ready.” What the hell is he talking about?
“I’m sorry. Come again?” Surely, I couldn’t have heard him right.
“He’s coming back to Chicago until the divorce is finalized. He should just get used to being with me anyway.” The veins on my neck are about to burst from my anger and frustration.
“You’re fucking insane if you think you’re taking my child away from me.”
“You can come too if you don’t want to be away from him.”
I shake my head. “No. Trevor, we are staying right here. This is our home now.”
He cackles. “Right. And let me guess. You’ve been warming the bed of that white trash that showed up here last night.”
I’m now up in his face. I have nothing on his six-foot stature, but I don’t care.
“Shut the hell up.”
He laughs at me in response.
“Get your fucking bags packed if you’re coming with me. The Uber will be here in a half hour.”
With that, my good-for-nothing husband goes to the other room, flipping Sierra’s TV on. Tonight, she’s out with some friends while Glenna watches Auggie. I had offered to help her, but now I’m glad I didn’t since it looks like I’ll be making an unplanned trip to Chicago.
I’m fuming as I throw random articles of clothing in a large suitcase for me and Brady. As much as I don’t want to do this, I’m worried that he’ll really try to fight me for custody. Why? I have no idea. Will the judge really find me to be an unfit mother?
I wipe at my tears as I grab my sleeping son, who is curled up on my bed. I’ll do anything for him.
I quickly shoot off a text to Sierra and Evan. Then we’re headed to the airport. Hopefully, we’ll be back in Phoenix soon.
“Claire, Brady! I’ve missed you both so much,” my mother-in-law Lynn says as she opens the door and gathers us both into a hug.
“Hi, Lynn.” I kiss her on the cheek and follow her inside. Of course, Brady is already in her arms. It seems like it’s been forever since I saw her last. I can see tears glistening in her eyes and suddenly feel guilty for keeping her grandson away for so long.
“Claire, I’ve known you for a long time and you know you can’t fool me, right? What’s going on?”
“Trevor threatened to fight for custody of Brady.” I start to cry after keeping it together for so long.
I’ve always been close to Trevor’s mom. Honestly, closer than I ever was to my own. This morning, I wanted nothing more than to get away from him, so I called Lynn so she could see Brady. I’ve missed her since we left.
Lynn gasps. “What has happened to my son? You know I’m nothing like Peter or Trevor. And you know I wanted to leave Peter years ago but chose not to because of Trevor. It was the worst mistake of my life and I wasn’t happy because of it. I believed in the vows we said to each other many years ago, but I was miserable because of him. I loved him because he was Trevor’s father, but I hadn’t been in love with him for a long time.”
Wow. I knew there were problems, but I’ve never heard her talk this way about Peter.
“So, please tell me what’s going on. I love my son, but I won’t stand for him treating his wife wrong. Hear me?” She points a finger at me jokingly, but I know she’s serious.
“Yes,” I sigh. “I left him because I caught him cheating on me with his assistant,” I say in a rush because I want to get it out before I change my mind.
“Nicole?” She asks loudly “She’s a tramp!” I can’t help but smile at her words. This lady, who always comes across as being proper, is always surprising me.
“He’s been acting like I’m in the wrong for wanting a divorce. I just can’t be with someone who would do that to me. Lynn, I was in the damn hospital for two months because of all the stress. I hope you don’t hate me.” I put my head down at my confession.
“Claire, look at me.” I do as she says. “I could never hate you. You’ve dealt with him way longer than you should have. You loved him as much as you could and you made me a grandmother. For that, I love you dearly.”
“I love you too and thank you for everything.” I give her a half smile.
After my visit with Lynn, she offered to keep Brady overnight. I know she had been wanting to spend time with him and I could use the break, so I really couldn’t argue.
I’m now on my way home to grab my suitcase before I have a girl’s night with Shay. Koda and Dennis are on a camping trip for the weekend, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. Last night, I stayed at our house since we got in so late. But the rest of the time we’re here, we’ll be staying with Shay. Thank God. I really can’t put up with Trevor any longer.
As I’m crossing the intersection before our street, I notice a car coming at me, but it’s too late for me to stop. I quickly try to get out of the way, but then everything turns black.
48
Ryker
“Hello?” I answer, barely awake.
“Ryke, it’s Sierra. There’s been an accident.” My heart stops in my chest. “Are you still there?” she asks when I don’t respond.
“What kind of accident?” I choke out. I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m suddenly fully awake, worried something terrible has happened to Claire or Brady.
“Claire was in a bad car accident.” I can hear her crying on the other end.
I fly off the bed and slip my pants on.
“What hospital is she at?” I drag my hands down my scruffy face.
“She’s in Chicago.” My stomach drops. “It’s not what you think, but you need to get there as soon as you can. I’m trying to get a ticket out there now.”
After I talk to Sierra, I quickly dial Evan. I need to get to Claire and make sure she’s going to be alright. I have no idea how bad it is.
Evan books our flights and I drop Griz off with Austin before meeting him at the airport. It’s a miracle I didn’t get in an accident on my way because I wasn’t paying attention to the road the entire drive. All I could think about was Claire and how I can’t lose her.
I didn’t sleep a wink last night after not being able to get a hold of her all day.
“Man, you have got to chill the hell out,” Evan says when he notices my bouncing knee as we sit in the Uber. I can’t keep calm. I’m not sure what kind of shape Claire will be in when we finally get to her.
“Why aren’t you freaking out right now?” I snap.
“It’s not go
ing to do her any good if we’re both acting like stupid asses.” God, this guy is driving me crazy, but he’s right.
I finally relax a little once we get to the hospital. We run to the front desk and Evan tells them he’s Claire’s family. They immediately let us back to see her. As soon as we walk through the hall, we see who I assume is Shayna, sitting on the hallway floor talking on her phone. Makeup runs down her face. She’s obviously been crying.
“Hey, guys. She’s in bad shape,” she croaks out. She kisses Evan on the cheek as he hugs her.
We walk through the door and I see her helpless body lying on the bed. I’m completely numb. I’ve visited family in the hospital in the past when they were sick, but that was nothing like this. This is the woman I love and want to spend the rest of my life with.
As much as I want to see her, I stand off to the side while Evan has a moment with her. She’s sleeping, but he whispers in her ear and kisses her forehead. He’s mindful not to hurt her, as her entire body is beat up. Bruises and cuts cover her face and her shoulder is in some kind of wrap to keep it still. I feel like I’m going to be sick. How could I have been so fucking stupid to run from this woman?
“I’m gonna go get something to drink. I’ll be back in a bit,” Evan says as he leaves the room.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I kiss her cheek. It crushes me seeing her like this. I still have no idea what’s going on with her.
I’m not much for crying, especially after everything I went through with my mother and Monica. But this woman does things to me I’m not used to. I have tears in the corners of my eyes and I know if anyone comes into her room, they’ll see what a damn softie I am. But fuck them. I don’t care. I just want her back in my arms, where she belongs.
The room remains silent, aside from the occasional beeping of the machines she’s hooked up to. I’m extremely uncomfortable slouched over her bed but refuse to leave her side. I want to be holding her hand when she wakes. Besides Evan and Shayna, there is no one else here to be with her.
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