Small Town Hero

by J L Belcher

  Suddenly the front door and back door are kicked in and Constable Max with five other officers come blazing in guns raised at all four men in the room.

  “Drop your weapons and kick them over here.”

  Damon and his henchmen raise their hands high, still with their guns in their

  hands.

  “I said drop your weapons and kick them over here. Don’t make me open fire on you,” Constable Max threatens as he points his weapon directly at Damon’s head. “Don’t try me, because I’d be very happy to do just that.”

  Damon lowers his head in defeat, dropping his gun and kicking it away and his men follow suit.

  While the other officers force the men to the ground, cuffing and frisking them and reading them their rights, Max takes his uniform jacket off and covers Claire before untying her.

  “Get them out of here now,” Constable Max demands before turning his attention back to Claire. He wipes the tears away that are running down her cheeks. “Are you alright?” He knows it’s a stupid question, but he needs to know.

  Unable to say anything Claire bursts out crying and embraces Max around the neck.

  “Claire, you and your boys are safe now. They’re going away for a long time and you don’t need to be scared anymore.”

  She inhales a deep and slow breath, trying to control her rapid heartbeat. “How did you know? How did you know what was going on?”

  Max takes her by the hand and leads her to the couch. “Sit with me, please. Shirley Phillips from across the road, a very dear long time neighbour who’s place you were running to. When she heard her dogs barking hysterically she peeked through her blinds. She called us and reported seeing a woman with long blonde wavy hair being dragged and forced here.”

  “It’s over?… It’s… It’s really over?

  “Yes Claire. It’s over.”

  Claire’s life has been a nightmare for the past three years, being locked up behind the walls she built to keep her and her sons safe. She covers her face with her hands and sobs.

  A rollercoaster of conflicting emotions are flooding her head. Disbelief, anger, relief and confusion. She has lived a life of being terrified for too long, and now she is unsure how to feel.

  “Max… I-I want to thank the lady who called you. Will you take me to see her?” Claire whispers, barely audible to her own ears.

  “I will. But I’ll take you tomorrow. I think you’ve gone through far too much for one day.”

  Max lifts Claire into his lap, silently

  cradling her close into his chest. Within a few minutes he feels her body relax and can hear a change in her breathing.

  Stroking her soft silky locks, he peers down at her. Not wanting to wake her, he places a gentle kiss on her temple.

  He carries Claire into their bedroom and

  he covers her with the throw rug from the end of the bed.

  He sits on the edge and wipes the hairs from her face. He watches her chest rise and fall at a calm and steady rate.

  “Beautiful Claire,” he mumbles to himself as she sleeps. “What are you going to do now that you won’t be on the Witness Protection Program anymore? Are you going to leave?” Max cups her cheek and lightly runs his thumb along her lips. “I love you beautiful Clair” as he

  kisses her cheek.

  “I love you too.”

  Max barely hears her words, but he knows exactly what she said.

  “Sweetheart, I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry.”

  “Will you lay with me?”

  Max lays beside Claire and she curls up into his side. She rests her head on his Chest, Max places a finger under her chin and lifts her face to meet his.

  “Claire…”

  “Please, not now. I just want you to hold me and…”

  “And what?” he smirks. “Kiss you?” First Max slowly touches his lips to hers, cupping her face with both hands and tilting Claire’s head to one side. He wets her lips with his tongue following the kiss with a series of kisses up to suckle her earlobe.

  Claire suddenly quietly sobs, and tears falls from her eyes.

  “Hey,” Max wipes the falling tears away. “Don’t cry. It’s too soon for this, I’m sorry, Babe. Jeez, what was I thinking? You’ve been through a terrifying ordeal today, and… I am sorry.

  “I-I don’t know why I’m crying. I think it’s relief, after three years of others controlling my fear. My life… my life is mine again. It doesn’t feel real yet.”

  Max rests his lips on the top of her head, leaving a lingering kiss there.

  “Please Max. Please don’t stop. I need this. I need you.”

  “Claire, look at me. I need you to open your eyes for me. Now tell me what you want. I don’t want to go too far if you are not ready.” Max runs his hand down her back, pulling her in against his manhood. “I’m not going to hide how much I want you. I just want you to know today is all about you and what you need.”

  “Max I want you. I want this… It has been a while since a man has touched me. The last man who touched me was my…”

  “Your husband?”

  “Yeah.” Claire turns her head away.

  He cups her face. “Please look at me. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “Please… hold me, squeeze me, touch me,” she whispers.

  Without another word being said, Max immediately pulls Claire on top of him.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Over the next two-week, Claire has

  been knocking down her walls one brick at a time. Max has been getting her out of the house, showing Claire around his small town. Introducing her to only a few of the towns people, not wanting to overwhelm her all at once.

  Max pokes his head out the back door. “Who wants to go for a swim in the creek? We’ve packed a picnic lunch and we’re going swimming in the creek.”

  All three boys come sprinting in through the back door. Claire tells Kane and Leo to put on their boardies like Dillon is wearing.

  “What about you, Claire? You better get your togs on too.”

  The early morning sunlight shines brightly through the curtains. Claire stretches and opens her sleepy eyes one at a time.

  “Good morning beautiful.” He wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her soft naked body in closer to his.

  “What time is it?” she mumbles as she rests her head on his chest and yawns again.

  Max rubs her back slowly up and down with the other hand stroking her hair. “It’s going on six o’clock.”

  “It’s too early to be awake just yet.”

  “I want to talk to you about tomorrow.”

  “Fine. But need coffee first,” Claire mumbles.

  Max jumps out of bed and she watches him strut naked to the bathroom. He can feel Claire’s eyes on him.

  “Enjoying the view?” he teases.

  She gets up on her elbows. “Actually, I am, thank you.” Her eyes roam slowly from his feet, up over his tight ass and linger on his broad shoulders.

  He disappears in the bathroom for a minute before returning and slipping on a pair of shorts.

  “Come on. Coffee time. As much as I’d

  love to see you stay naked all day, I think for the sake of the kids it might be best to get dressed.

  She groans while she crawls out of bed and grabs some clean underwear from the chest of draws then slip on a strapless sundress.

  Claire stands in the doorway of the kitchen, watching Max making coffee and buttering some toast.

  She grins to herself, remembering he’s going commando underneath those shorts.

  Is this what her life would be like? She

  has been thinking long and hard lately about what she should do. Yes, she loves Max and Dillon. Is it enough? Is it too soon? Should she take her boys back to the city? Or, is this where they are supposed to be?

  So many questions going through her head. She needs to sit down with her boys and have a family meeting.

  If they decide to stay then the
y’ll need to find a place to stay. This arrangement with Max is nice, but he never signed up for a permanent roommate.

  “Come in and sit. Your just in time, breakfast is ready.”

  “Thank you.” Claire sits at the table and Max alongside her.

  “I want to take you into town tomorrow for the day. It’s our annual town picnic. Everyone takes a tray of food or some

  sort of dish to share.”

  “That sounds amazing. I would like to contribute to the table as well. I’d like to take my cupcakes. I think it’s time. I’m ready to start my dream.”

  “That would be the perfect plate for you to share. You better be ready to be inundated with orders.”

  Max offers to drive into town with a list of everything that Claire needs to make three dozen cupcakes.

  While Max is in town Claire gets a start on two batches with the ingredients she already has in the pantry.

  An hour later Max walks through the front door with everything on Claire’s list.

  She spends most of the morning baking and decorating her cupcakes.

  When Max parks his car in front of the park, Dillon asks if they can run ahead to meet up with their friends on the playground.

  “Yeah, we’ve got this,” Max answers and waves them away. “It’s probably better that we carry all these cakes, they’re excited and I’d hate for them to trip and ruin them all. ”

  Claire stares over the growing crowd in the park feeling nervous and overwhelmed. She has spent three long quiet years hiding away from the world. Now in front of her is close to two hundred people

  “You’ll be fine,” Max tries to ease her worries. “Claire, everybody is going to love them.” He hands Claire two containers and he carries the other three. “Do you trust me?”

  She nods her head and he encourages her to follow him. “Come on. I’ll be right here beside you.”

  She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath the exhales slowly. She looks at Max and smiles. “Okay, lets do this.”

  Max leads Claire along the winding path, passing several groups of people.

  “Good morning Constable Novak.” “Howdy Ma’am.” The greetings keep coming as they get closer to the two large marques. One with tables full of food and two barbeques. The other marque has a few tables and chairs where the elderly are sitting around talking and a few are playing cards.

  “Constable Novak,” a woman steps beside Max. “Here, let me clear some space for your… Oh my, those look amazing.”

  “Thanks Annie.” As soon as there is enough space to put all the cupcakes down on the table, Max wraps his arm around Claire’s waist.

  “Annie, this is Claire. Claire, this is Annie. She owns the local cafe.” Max introduces the ladies.

  “Claire, do you mind if I…” she says as she eyes off the cupcakes.

  “Please, help yourself.” I smile and slip the lids under the containers.

  Another woman stands beside Claire and asks how she is.

  Claire stares at her confused. “Sorry. I think you must have me confused with somebody else.”

  “Shirley. Just the woman I was hoping to see.” Max grins and pulls Claire in closer into his side. “Claire, this is Shirley Phillips. The woman who lives across the road.”

  “You’re the one who helped me? The woman who rang the for the police?”

  “Yes my dear. I’m knew something was

  wrong outside because my dogs usually only bark like that when they see a snake or a fox. Then I heard a call for help and immediately rang for Constable Max Novak.”

  “Thank you, Mrs Phillips. When Max told me who called, I’ve been wanting to thank you.”

  “Please, call me Shirley. Mrs Phillips was my mother-in-law,” Shirley winks as she smiles.

  “Shirley, it is then.”

  “I’m glad I was there to help. I couldn’t allow that… that monster hurt you like that.” Shirley takes Claire’s hands and gently squeezes while caringly looking into her eyes. “This may be a small town, but we sure as heck look out for one another.”

  Max excuses himself, leaving Claire and

  Shirley to get better acquainted. He walks over to Dillon, Kane and Leo asking them to come get a drink and whispers something in their ears.

  Shirley glances up and down all the tables at all the food. “Now these look too good to eat. I’m guessing you made these.” She leans in and whispers to Claire, “We have never had anything so stunning on the table before.”

  Annie reaches for her second cupcake, telling Shirley she should try one because they are going fast.

  “These are the most delicious cakes I have ever seen. Do you have a business or a business card? Do you do larger birthday cakes?” Annie asks.

  “Thanks. I’m thinking about starting a business, but I don’t have any cards, sorry.”

  “I will pay you good money for a cake. My daughter’s birthday is coming up next month.” “Okay. We can talk later about what type of cake you’re wanting.”

  Claire looks around at what could be the start of their new life. Kane and Leo have made many friends. She could see herself and her kids settling here long term.

  Max pours the kids a drink and asks them to hang around for a little while. He steps behind Claire, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Claire, how are you doing?”

  “I’m doing great,” she spins around in his embrace and smiles up at him.

  Max takes a step back and take her by her left hand. “Claire…” he looks deeply into her eyes before dropping down to one knee in front of everyone.

  “Max?” Claire gasps in surprise, covering he mouth with her right hand. “What are you doing?”

  A crowd gathers around them and Claire blushes. The women smile from ear to ear with admiration knowing what Max is about to do.

  “Claire, I know we haven’t known each other very long but this feels right. I love you and I love Kane and Leo. Your two boys and Dillon are already like brothers. You have filled the hole in my heart that has been empty for six years. I never imagined being with another woman after Dillon’s mother passed away. But you have lit a spark in my heart.”

  Max gestures for the three boys to come over and join them and they’re grins are huge, their just about jumping out of their skins with excitement. “We are already like a family. Claire I have already asked Kane and Leo for their approval…Claire will you do me the honour to be my wife?”

  “Yes,” a tear escapes the eyes and runs down her cheek. “Yes Max, I’d be honoured.” Max stands, hugging and kissing her. Kane, Leo and Dillon wrap their arms around them too. She gazes into Max’s loving eyes, “But please, call me Amber.”

  “Okay, Amber it is.”

  - The End -

  Acknowledgements

  To my husband : I want to thank you

  for all your support you gave me.

  And to everyone else who has supported

  me, thank you. xx

  Also by J.L. Belcher