I didn’t respond.
Instead, I closed my eyes and squeezed Heidi a little bit tighter. “I love you, Angel,” I said, not giving a shit who was watching. “So damn much.”
Shelby dropped her arms from my girl’s shoulders and took a step back, giving her space. Pointing at me, she shot me a fierce look. “And you better keep on loving her,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Else you’ll be dealing with my crazy ass.”
That earned a laugh from me.
“Who you kidding, Blondie? I’ve been dealing with your special brand of crazy for years.”
“Listen here, assmunch,” she sassed, all attitude. “I have not begun to—”
She snapped her mouth shut, her eyes bulging as someone stepped through the side door behind me. “Hey, boss lady,” she continued, rocking back on her heels. “And hey, new girl.” Shelby scrunched her nose. “I’m really sorry, sugar, I’m horrible at my names. Can you tell me what yours is again?”
There was a brief pause.
Then, “My name is Wendy,” a familiar voice answered. “Wendy Rowan.”
And that’s when my heart stopped.
* * *
At the sound of Wendy’s name, Heidi pulled out of my hold, stepped to the side and spun around, unknowingly coming face to face with one of my many wrongs.
Fuck…
This is bad.
“Hi, Wendy,” she said, waving. “My name is Heidi, and from what I was told, you and I are going to be partners-in-crime for the next few weeks.” The innocent smile that graced her beautiful face only increased the trepidation that brewed in my gut. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Wendy said nothing.
After beaming a whole lot of sweetness my way, my Angel continued. “I’m sure you’ve met everyone else here, but this,” she said, hooking her thumb and pointing at me, “is my guy, Ty.” She giggled. “Hey, that rhymed.”
I held my breath, waiting to see what Wendy would do.
It was stupid considering we weren’t enemies—our last encountered had proven that—but at that moment, vulnerability crept in, and there was no doubt in my mind that she was about to lay my sins bare right then and there, renewing Heidi’s distrust in me.
If that happened, the foundation we’d built, the promises we’d made, and the future we’d fought tooth and nail to secure would disintegrate into dust; an event I’d never come back from.
I’d gone from being the kid that everyone hated and feared, to the man whose every scar and fractured truth was healed by an Angel who loved him with everything she had.
Now I was about to lose it all.
This is my punishment…
For the hearts I broke, mine will shatter.
Knowing it was all about to fall apart, I cupped Heidi’s face with my shaking hands and gently turned her head, forcing her beautiful blue eyes to meet mine. “Tell me you love me…”
One last time, I mentally added.
Confusion glistened in her eyes, yet she still spoke the words I needed to hear. “I love you”—she paused—“until my dying breath.”
She winked before pulling out of my hold and focusing her attention back on Wendy. “Anyway,” she said, waving off my interruption. “The big blond guy is mine. I know he looks kinda mean on account of being a grump butt”—she bumped my thigh with her hip—“but he’s harmless.”
Harmless…
I doubt Wendy will buy that.
“In addition to being a firefighter at Station 24, he works for First Defense, the company that provides our residents with transportation to wherever they need to go.” She blew out a nervous breath. “So, you’ll be seeing him around quite a bit.”
A smile tipped Wendy’s lips heavenward as she sauntered toward me, her moves slow and calculated. I tried to read her face, but her emotions were masked, her feelings locked down tight.
This is it…
The moment I lose it all.
Stopping in front of me, she offered me her hand.
When I didn’t take it right away, she arched a perfectly shaped brow, her eyes glistening with something I couldn’t decipher. “Are you a germaphobe or something?” she asked, her tone almost teasing.
“No,” I answered, my voice gravelly to my own ears.
“You got something against shaking hands then?”
“No.”
She chuckled and took my hand with hers, giving mine a stiff shake. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ty,” she said, surprising the hell out of me.
I didn’t know what to say, so I turned into the caveman Heidi always accused me of being and grunted.
My woman lightly smacked my arm. “You are so dang—”
“Heidi…”
“Yeah,” she answered, whipping around to the place where Carissa stood, her cheeks red and puffy from the many tears she’d cried. “Come here, Bug, I didn’t get to see your new hearing aids yet.”
She looked up at me. “I’ll be back,” she whispered. “Behave and stop grunting. I know you can talk, I’ve heard you do it plenty of times before.”
Tossing a wink my way, she made her way to her sister.
“So,” Wendy drawled, capturing my attention. “I’ve seen your girl around town before, but never up close. Never realized how pretty she was.”
She’d lost her damn mind.
Heidi wasn’t pretty.
She was heart-stopping beautiful.
“Why?” Such a simple word; such a powerful meaning.
Tilting her head, she gave me a genuine smile, one which made her eyes crinkle and her nose scrunch. “You looked at her like she was your entire world.”
“She is,” I replied, honestly.
“You love her?”
“More than words can explain.”
“That’s good,” she said, nodding. “That’s really good.” Sliding her hands into her back pockets, she took a step back. “Take care of her, yeah?”
She started to retreat, but I wasn’t finished with her yet. After stealing a peek at my girl, who was engrossed in an animated conversation with C and paying me zero attention, I said, “Wendy, wait. I need to know—”
“I’ve decided that today is the day.”
It took me a moment, but suddenly her words from that afternoon in the parking lot pinged in my head. One day I'll find it in me to forgive you, she’d said. But that day is not today.
Understanding of what the hell was going on slammed into me, making something deep inside my chest snap back into place, healing on the spot. “Forgiveness…” I hadn’t meant to say the word aloud, but it slipped past my lips, reaching Wendy’s ears.
“That would be it,” she said in return.
Not giving me a second more of her time, she turned and jumped into a conversation with Charlotte, Hope, and Clara.
Next to them, leaning against the wall stood Maddie.
Arms crossed over her chest, she made her way toward me. “How do you feel?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
Unlike everyone else standing in that room, Maddie saw right through the bullshit act Wendy had just put on. We’d all gone to the same school; they’d both been my victims. Though they were never friends, they shared a common bond that I’d forced upon them.
“How do I feel?” I parroted her words back, mulling them over in my head. “I feel…” I searched for the right word. “Free.”
Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she softly clapped her hands together. “I’m so happy for you, and Heidi especially, that I can hardly stand it. So, tell me, when are you going to pop the—”
“Hey, Boss Lady, you got a minute?” Chris’ deep voice cut Maddie off, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room.
Charlotte nodded. “Sure thing, honey. What do you need?”
“I—” The words he was about to speak dissipated when his hard eyes landed on none other than Wendy. Right eye twitching, he stared at her, unmistakable interest burning in his gaze.
Well, shit…
“Oh hell,” I murmured. “Here we go.”
“Oh my God,” Maddie whispered, elbowing me in the side. “This is gonna be a hot mess of epic proportions. I can already feel it.”
“Uh-huh,” I agreed. “Better buckle up now, Freckles, because this is going to be a complete clusterfuck.”
Turns out, I was one-hundred percent right.
Thirty-Two
Heidi
“This one better have my stickers….”
Standing in the middle of the cereal aisle, I watched as Chase tossed a family-sized box of Fruity Bites into the grocery cart we shared, a pissy expression etched on his handsome face; a face which was a carbon copy of his older brother’s, I might add.
“Which kid are you getting stickers for this time?” Ashley asked, crossing her slender arms over her chest. “Cause if you say, Gracie, you might as well forget it. She’s still mad at you.”
My brows furrowed. “How did you manage to piss off a toddler?”
“Three things.” Chase scowled and lifted a finger in the air. “One, Gracie is not your average toddler. She may be two and a half, but she acts fourteen.” I rolled my eyes. “Two”—he lifted a second finger in the air—“she’s Shelby’s daughter. That means she’s naturally full of attitude.”
“Hey,” Ashley interjected, cocking her hip to the side. “I’m my mama’s daughter too, and I’m not full of attitude.”
Chase shot her a look of disbelief. “Shit,” he hissed, drawing out the last syllable.
Ignoring the scowl Dimples shot his way, he lifted a third finger. “Three, she’s pissed because I told her that Optimus Prime is the best Transformer.”
I bit back laughter.
“After which,” he continued, clearly traumatized by whatever happened next, “she proceeded to use a plastic Bumblebee figurine that was as tall as her to beat the hell out of me.” Lifting his arm, he pointed at his ribs. “I’ve got a bruise the size of a football!”
Unable to help it, I laughed.
The mental image of sweet little Gracie beating on poor Chase with her favorite Transformer was just downright hilarious. He should’ve known better than to goad her. She may have only been two, but she was obsessed with Bumblebee, and everyone knew it too.
“You know what?” I grabbed a generic brand of strawberry-flavored oatmeal and tossed it in the cart. “I say you deserved it. If I’d been Gracie, I totally would have whacked you too.”
Ashley laughed, and Chase sucked in an audible breath, a look of betrayal on his face. Covering his chest with his hand, he stumbled back, shaking his head. “My heart,” he faux cried, adding an additional dose of drama to the show he was putting on for everybody and their mama to witness. “I can feel it breaking.” He took another step back. “I’ll never recover from this type of betrayal. The cut’s too deep, the wound to—”
The words he was about to say died on his tongue when a motorized shopping cart rounded the corner and slammed into him, knocking him forward.
A grunt, followed by a string of curses swiftly followed as he faceplanted into a floor display filled with various granola bars.
Like Ty, Chase was big, and there was no way I could’ve stopped his formidable weight and muscle stacked frame from falling to the hard floor, but I still lunged for him in an effort to try.
I was six inches too short.
My hands never touched him before he, along with the tipped display, hit the commercial-grade linoleum.
Boxes slid in different directions; more curse words flew.
“You big dumb baby!” A familiar southern drawl hollered. “Didn’t you see me?”
Rolling to his side, Chase lifted his head and glared at the Crazy Old Biddy who’d nearly killed him, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “You crazy old bird!” He pointed at the cart she rode. “Don’t you need a license to drive that thing? You almost killed me!”
Grandmama narrowed her eyes shrewdly. “It ain’t my fault that you’re blinder than a dadgum bat.” She looked from me to Ashley, then back to me again. “Where’s my favorite Troublemaker at? I went by the station earlier, and he wasn’t there. Got my girdle all in a twist cause I didn’t get to ogle his tight behind, and now my fingers are itchin’ for a pinchin’.
She waggled her eyebrows and Chase gagged from the floor where he’d climbed to his knees. “Can we not talk about my brother’s ass?” He pushed to his feet, once again standing tall. “I mean damn.”
Ignoring him, I answered Grandmama. “He’s at the station now, but he spent the day with one of the kids from the shelter.”
A smile lit up her face. “That little Nico fella? Is that who you’re talking about?”
I nodded. “That’s him. Ty and Charlotte took him and his Mama out for lunch and then to some indoor rock-climbing place. I wasn’t there, obviously, but the way Charlotte gushed about it when I spoke to her this afternoon, it seems to have gone well. Nico likes Ty, and Ty likes him in return. Looks like they’ll be spending a lot of time together.”
Pride gleamed in Grandmama’s eyes. “That’s gonna do wonders for that youngin’,” she stated, nodding. “Having a good man to look up to, one who’s been in his shoes before, is gonna help fix him right up.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“Well,” she said, squeezing the steering wheel of the cart. “Reckon, I better get on home. Keith is coming by for a visit early in the morning,” she said, referring to her only son and Maddie’s father. “I swear, ever since he and Charlotte started dating and moved in together, I never see him no more. I ain’t figured out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet.”
She smiled, but I still saw the pain that flashed in her eyes.
“Alright, y’all, I’m headin’ out.” Putting the cart into reverse, she started to back up. “Why don’t y’all come by for supper tomorrow? I can whip some chicken and biscuits up in a—” She suddenly snapped her denture-filled mouth shut and leaned to the right, her wide-eyes locked on something behind me. “Lawd’a mercy,” she said, licking her bottom lip. “Look what we have coming here.”
Chase mumbled something under his breath, but I didn’t catch what he said. Busy turning in place to see exactly who Grandmama was talking about, I paid him no mind.
I froze when a pair of brown eyes I’d only seen once before locked with mine.
My mouth wordlessly opened and closed as I fought to find the words I wanted to speak. Finally, after what felt like forever, they came. “Weston…” I backed up a step, bumping into Ashley, who placed her hand on my lower back, steadying me. “What are you doing here?”
The smile he offered me was warm. “It’s a public grocery store, darlin’,” he replied, stopping in front of me. “I was hungry, so I figured I’d swing by and pick up something to eat before heading home.”
Chase silently stepped in front of me, placing himself between Weston and me.
Weston arched a brow and chuckled. “No need to get your feathers ruffled, Chase,” he drawled, his southern accent thicker than molasses. “I don’t plan on making a move.”
“You better not,” Chase replied, his shoulders squared. “Not unless you want your pretty boy face to get jacked up.”
I wrapped my hand around Chase’s bicep. “Chase…”
The whine of Grandmama’s cart reached my ears as she pulled back on the accelerator and whipped it around in front of us, coming to a stop next to Weston. “Neither of my grandgirls is available,” she said, nodding to Ashley and me. “But I’m sure as dadgum free.”
Waggling her eyebrows, she looked Weston up and down.
I covered my mouth to keep from laughing as the corner of Weston’s lips twitched. “You asking me out on a date, Grandmama?” I wasn’t sure if Grandmama and Weston had ever met before, but it came as no surprise that he knew her name. Everyone did. “Cause if so, I say we blow this place and go grab a bite to eat.”
Grandmama’s head jerked back.
Surprise crossed her face.
Then, “Who’s driving? You or me?”
“I’ll drive,” Weston replied, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “My truck is high, but if you can’t climb in, I’ll lift you myself.”
Cue Grandmama’s heart attack in 3, 2, 1…
“Hot damn,” she said, sitting a little taller. “Let’s boogie then.” Without sparing Chase, Ashley, or me a single glance, she pulled back on the cart’s accelerator and took off at max speed. “Everybody get outta my way ‘fore I run ya over! I’ve got muscles to grope and a tight ass to pinch!”
A smiling Weston followed, and like Grandmama, he didn’t look back.
“Jesus Christ,” Chase said, shaking his head. “I don’t think pretty-boy Winslow realizes what he just got himself into. Either he’s going to be covered in quarter-sized bruises come morning, or somebody is going to need to pick Grandmama up from the police station again. Every time she goes out on the town she gets in trouble.”
That was the truth if I ever heard it.
“Good thing my dad’s a cop,” Ashley said with a shrug. “But hey, at least Weston won’t be messing with Bug anymore.” She turned her head; our gazes locked. “Seems Ty may not have to kill him after all.”
“No,” I replied. “He won’t.”
And thank God for that…
Thirty-Three
Heidi
I miss my Casanova...
The thought spread like wildfire through my head, looping on a never-ending cycle as I drove down a desolate stretch of Highway 9, listening to Chase and Ashley whisper to one another in my back seat.
Seeing them together made my soul happy, but it also made me long for Ty, which in turn caused my heart to ache something fierce.
"Would you two knock it off back there?" I asked, teasing. "If you keep it up, the windows will fog up, and then I won't be able to see to drive."
Chase reached forward and grabbed a strand of my hair, tugging it gently. "You're a smartass, you know that?"
Every Wrong You Right: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 6) Page 25