Blinding Trust

by Jennifer Foor

  “The thing where you take up for each other, so us women don’t find out you really did something wrong!”

  “Bullshit!”

  I pushed Ty and went running into my room, locking the door, so he couldn’t follow me. “When I get done with his ass, he may not have balls left!”

  “Van! Open the door. He doesn’t know I’m here. Just wait until he calls you. I’m sure there is an explanation. Do you really think he’d let Noah around that kind of thing?”

  I stopped punching in Colt’s number and thought about what Ty was saying. There was no way Colt would have allowed our son to be near anything like that. As mad as I was about the picture, I wondered if I was freaking out over something that never happened.

  Reluctantly, I opened the door and saw Ty standing there. “You’re telling him a different reason for coming here, Ty. I’ll talk to him about the picture later.”

  Little voices filled the foyer and I found myself almost running downstairs to greet the girls. They both had new dolls in their hands that were wearing outfits that matched their own.

  Addy held her doll up. “Mommy, look what Grandma got me.”

  “That’s so cute! You girls look like you had a great time.”

  Colt’s mom smiled. I could tell how much she loved being a grandmother. “They were angels. I told them we could go next year if they wanted to.”

  “There’s my pretty nieces!” Ty came running down the stairs.

  I could see the curious look he was getting from his aunt. “Ty got here late last night to help out when the alarm company comes to fix the chicken houses. Since Colt isn’t here, him or Conner had to be here. I told him there was plenty of room at your house.”

  “I guess you’re better company than me and Lucy. We tend to get boring nowadays.”

  Ty hugged his aunt. “You’re never too old to have a good time. Maybe you could cook me some of your fried chicken while I’m here.”

  She shook her head. “Sometimes, I think all he loves me for is that darn chicken.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Didn’t Miranda and the kids come?”

  He held up his arms. “I wanted her to, but with Amy being due, she didn’t want to leave. That’s why I’m here and Conner stayed.”

  “Of course. Amy would kill him if he wasn’t there for this one. They claim this is the last one they’re having, but we all know how the two of them are.” Colt’s mom gave Ty the look like she knew what they did in their spare time.

  We all three laughed.

  Addy and Christian had run upstairs and finally came back down. Addy looked sad. “Where’s Daddy and Noah?”

  “They’re still in California. They’ll be back this weekend.” I tried to reassure her.

  “Can you ask him to come home now? I want to show him my doll.”

  I bent down and kissed her little forehead. “They will be home in a couple of days.”

  “How about, after Uncle Ty gets done with the alarm guy, we go out for ice cream?” He always talked to the kids like he was one himself.

  She started getting all excited. “Mommy, can we? Can we please?”

  “Of course.”

  Colt’s mom leaned down to talk to Addy. “How about Grandma makes fried chicken for dinner and then you can go have ice cream afterwards?”

  “Yay!”

  “That sounds great, Mom. I will bring a side dish.”

  She started to walk toward the door. “See you all at six, then. Savanna, don’t you let him get on your nerves too much.”

  Her reference to Ty must have hit a nerve. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

  We both looked at each other and ignored his comment.

  Once she was gone, Ty turned to me. “You came up with a story fast.”

  “It’s not a story. I was going to have to call Colt and give him the bad news about it. They were fitting us into their schedule. Anyway, they’ll be here around ten. It’s the first four chicken houses. You just need to be there to sign and answer any questions that he might have.” I had almost forgot about them coming. I would have had no clue what to tell the men.

  “I guess it’s time to call Colt!”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

  I walked out on the porch with my phone and dialed my husband. The vision of the naked girls was still fresh in my mind, but I was truly believing that it was just a joke he was playing on the guys.

  The phone rang four times before someone picked up.

  And it wasn’t Colt.

  Chapter 18

  Colt

  I woke up on the bathroom floor, looking around and trying remember why the hell I was where I was. Once I was in the sitting position, it all came back to me.

  Without my phone, or a clock in the bathroom, I had no idea what time it was. All I knew was that it was daylight out.

  I could hear my phone’s ringtone, but it wasn’t in the bathroom, so I jumped up and headed out into the bedroom to find it.

  I stopped in my tracks when I saw one of the blondes from the night before holding it in her hand and talking to whoever had called. I said a little prayer, hoping to God that it wasn’t my wife. I‘d never hear the end of it, if it was.

  “Hold on, he’s right here!” She handed me my phone.

  Hello?

  The line was already dead.

  I looked up at the girl. “Who was it?”

  She giggled. “I think it was your wife. She thought she dialed the wrong number, I guess.”

  “Shit!” I started pacing around the room. “You two need to get your shit and get out of here, now!”

  Her smiled dissipated as she gathered the rest of her clothes and her sleeping girlfriend and ran out of my room.

  I sat down on the bed and stared at my phone. Without giving myself time to rethink things, I dialed Savanna.

  I don’t want to talk to you right now, Colt!

  Just hear me out, would ya?

  I think I’ve heard about enough!

  Savanna, it ain’t what you think. That was just Pi…

  Don’t you dare lie to me, Colt Mitchell. So help me God.

  You’re this mad over someone answering my phone?

  No! I’m not just mad about that. I’m mad about something else, too.

  Well, I ain’t done nothin’ else.

  Bullshit!

  Savanna, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.

  For someone that sent the message himself, I’m finding it hard to believe that you can’t remember. I mean, if I took a picture of a bunch of naked men, I think I’d remember it.

  What the hell? Let me guess, Ty sent you that shit?

  No! I saw it on his phone this morning. He’s here to help the alarm company install a new system.

  He ain’t stayin’ at our house.

  Don’t you dare go there with me! Until you can explain to me what you were doing and what you were thinking, I don’t want to talk to you, Colt. You’ve hurt me and you’re acting like you did nothing wrong. You have no idea what I’m going through. Do you know how it made me feel to see you sending a picture like that. You better not wish I was there, because right now I’d cut off your testicles and feed them to Sam!”

  I tossed the phone on the bed and laid down next to it. I was in the dog house, when it came to my wife. A little while later, Noah came barging into my room. “Dad, you’re never goin’ to believe it. I got to meet some of the players from the Raiders. They own the restaurant that we ate at last night. Piper got them to autograph some things for you.”

  I sat up and took in just how excited my son was. “Sounds like a good time. I figured you’d call last night before you went to bed.”

  “Sorry! Me and Johnny stayed up playing his Xbox.” Noah was oblivious to what had went down at the house the night before.

  Well, he didn’t know until the screaming began.

  Piper and Zeke were really having it out. I could tell that it bothered Noah. We weren’t a loud kind of family. Sure, we had typical r
edneck arguments, but we didn’t get loud and we surely didn’t do it in front of the children.

  “What’s goin’ on?”

  I patted him on the back. “I reckon they’re havin’ it out about somethin’. It ain’t none of our business though. Did you eat breakfast?”

  “I had a doughnut. I’m still hungry.” The screaming was getting to him. He started fidgeting.

  “How about you and me head out and get something to eat. I’m sure that limo driver can take us somewhere.”

  His eyes lit up. “Cool. I want pancakes with whip cream and strawberries.”

  I shook my head. He was a chip off the old block. I finished putting on my shoes. “Let’s go find us some pancakes then.”

  It was easy to slip out of the house unnoticed and luckily we found the limo driver outside, talking on his cell phone. Noah seemed so excited that we didn’t have to pull the guy’s leg to get him to take us somewhere.

  He drove us to a corner diner and assured us that the appearance on the outside had nothing to do with the quality of food on the inside. It was what he called a ‘gem’.

  We invited him to join us, but he instantly declined. Noah and I found a booth seat against a window and started looking over the menu. “Dad, they have the pancakes, with any kind of fruit you could ever want. This place is awesome!”

  I looked over at him while I sat down my menu. “I’ll just have what you’re gettin’ then.”

  Noah told the waitress what we wanted and I added a coffee before she walked away. He was looking all around outside the window. “So, Noah, are you havin’ a nice visit?”

  “Yeah. I can’t wait to come again. Piper said Uncle Zeke has a surprise for me. Do you know what it is?”

  This was news to me. I didn’t know anything about a surprise and the thought of it made me leery. In fact, everything about Zeke made me leery after last night. He was trying to make himself out to be this normal guy, but behind closed doors, he was anything but that. What worried me more was that Noah was oblivious to any of the bad stuff. He only saw the cool and amazing things that Zeke wanted him to see. He was wooing him into acceptance and that wasn’t alright, in my book. It was downright wrong!

  Our pancakes came with a mountain of whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries. Noah dug in right away, after pouring a giant cup of maple syrup all over his plate.

  We spent a lot of time together on the farm, but most of the time, it was because he was helping me with something. It had never been because we were on a trip together. As angry as I was at how he was treating Savanna, I had to appreciate being able to have this time with him.

  Still, in the back of my mind, I worried about Savanna being so mad at me. I also had a problem with Ty being the shoulder she was going to cry on. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my cousin and his quirky ways, albeit he was Savanna’s first love, and that was hard to let go of. I’d be a fool if I didn’t worry about the two of them.

  I didn’t have Miranda on my side when it came to my feelings about the two of them. Ever since the mess that Heather put them through, she’d been sure that he would never stray from their marriage. All I could do was hope that she was right.

  I think I’d been on edge for so long that everything Ty said was just getting to me more than it ever had before. My relationship with Savanna felt different, somehow. Being away just wasn’t helping things in that department. It was hard, having to choose between your child and your wife, when they both seemed to need me equally.

  When we were just about finished eating, the limousine driver came in and said that Zeke had requested that he bring us to where he was shooting his new music video. He said that Noah’s surprise was going to be there, so naturally, Noah got all excited.

  We paid for our food and got back in the limousine to start on a long drive. Our destination was not what I would have pictured for a music video being shot. It was located at a dilapidated house. Outside of the house, several work vans were parked with media logos printed on the sides. A few people stood on the porch talking to one another.

  When Zeke didn’t come outside, we started to walk in to look for him. This crazy women, probably in her late fifties, came running toward Noah. She grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him further inside of the house. “It’s about time you got here. We’ve been waiting thirty minutes to get this scene in. Time is money, child.”

  I grabbed his other arm, causing them to stop. “Just hold on a minute, lady. Who are you and what the heck are you talkin’ about?”

  She shook her head, like she was dealing with a couple of idiots. “The video, of course…”

  “I think I can explain.” Zeke came out of a room. He was wearing jeans, for a change. His hair was more tame and his shirt covered up almost all of his tattoos. “This is Ramona. She’s my manager. Just ignore her forwardness. Anywhoo, I brought you guys here today to give Noah a big surprise.” He looked down at Noah. “How would you like to be in my rock video?”

  While my son jumped up and down like a monkey, I crossed my arms over my chest. “We need to talk. In private! Now!” There was no way in hell this guy was going to do something so bold without mine and Savanna’s written permission. This wasn’t a surprise for Noah, at all. He was exposing him to something that I wasn’t about to be okay with.

  He turned to Ramona. “Watch the kid. Be nice!”

  Zeke led me to an empty bedroom. He shut the door behind us and finally gave me his attention. “What’s up, Colt?”

  I pointed at his face. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong! You got no right to make decisions regardin’ my son without my permission. Me and his mother are the only ones to decide what’s best for him.”

  “Look, man, it’s a fucking video, not a surgical procedure. I ain’t asking you for a kidney. I thought you would feel honored.”

  I ran my hands through my hair and just shook my head trying to control myself before I threw this asshole up against the wall. “I did you a favor by lettin’ my son come to stay with you. It’s nice that you want to get to know Noah, but I can’t let him do somethin’ like this without talkin’ to his mother.”

  He chuckled. “It’s funny that you keep calling her that, considering we both know she ain’t his real mother.”

  “She’s been his REAL mother since the day he came into our lives. You can say and think whatever you want. Savanna and I have given that kid more than your sister ever could. I won’t stand here and hear you say shit like that. Got it?”

  He put his hands up. “Okay, okay! I get it. Look, I want Noah to do this with me. It would mean a lot. If you need to make some calls and talk it over with Savanna, go ahead. I can let everyone know that we need to shoot a different scene until I know what to do.”

  It was weird that he calmed down so quickly. I didn’t doubt that he was afraid of me, but it seemed like he just agreed to make me happy. “Fine. I’ll call his mother and let you know.”

  “What do I tell the kid in the meantime?”

  “You tell him that minors need permission from their parents to participate, because it’s the damn truth.” I walked out of the house, still feeling like I wanted to bust him up. Savanna was definitely going to flip with this one.

  Chapter 19

  Savanna

  I hated fighting with Colt, especially when he was so far away. Honestly, I think I missed him so much that my frustration was making things ten times worse. Ty being here just added fuel to the already burning fire.

  After our heated argument, I put my phone in my purse and promised myself that I wasn’t going to answer it again until I calmed down. My mother always said never to say anything to people you love when you’re mad. Some things, you just can’t take back.

  Since I had a full day to wait for my biopsy, I was full of worry. The only thing that kept my mind off of the test was scrubbing everything within reach. The girls were occupied in the playroom, planning the wedding of Barbie and Joe. I could hear them making decisions and discussing ho
w they wanted to decorate the room for the event.

  After getting the bathrooms done, I started on the bedrooms, even organizing the girl’s dresser drawers. When I got to Noah’s room, I was finally getting tired of cleaning. Deciding that his dresser drawers where the way to go, I pulled one out at a time and sat it down on the bed next to me. I folded all of his t-shirts and placed them back into the drawer, before pulling out the next one. When I dumped out the mess of clothing, I noticed a pair of dress pants that needed to be hung up. The closet was a mess, but I was determined that I wasn’t going to work on it, too. Once I got the pants hung up, I noticed a couple large folded papers on the shelf above. Since I’d put them up there myself, I remembered what they were.

  On the first day of kindergarten, Noah came home with a poster size piece of paper. The assignment was to draw a picture of someone that you love. In multi-colored finger paint, he had drawn a picture of him and I. We were holding hands. Above it, the teacher had wrote what the picture meant.

  I love my Mommy because she makes the best grilled cheese and she lets me ride horses. My Mom is my best friend.

  I traced the words with my fingers and got teary eyed just reading it. Noah was such a special little piece of my life. I believed with all my heart that he was sent to me from heaven to take away all of the pain in the past that I had been dealt with. Not only had he healed my heart, but he filled it with a love that I could have never imagined existed. That little boy was my hero. There was a time when I was the most important thing in his little life. For a long time, I had assumed that nothing could ever tear our bond apart.

  When I heard someone clearing their throat, I looked up to see Ty standing in the doorway. “Hey, you alright?”

  I nodded and wiped the tears away. “Yeah, I was just looking at something Noah made me a long time ago.”

  Ty picked up the paper and smiled. “This must have been back when grilled cheese was the only thing that mattered in life besides shitting in his pants.”

  I pushed him. “He was such a good little boy. Think about it. Not only did he lose his mother tragically, but he was in the car when she died. Then he’s delivered to a father who never even knew he existed.”