A Better Place

by Jennifer Van Wyk

  But when I open the door, what greets me is something I dreamed I’d never see again, but in my nightmares feared I would.

  “Hi, angel.”

  And with that one greeting, my heart stops beating, and my stomach drops.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Jack

  James texted me this morning, asking me to stop by Balance when I had the chance. I hadn’t thought much of it. I drop in a lot after school. Sometimes he wants help, sometimes he wants me to test a recipe, sometimes, I think, it’s just to hang out. I really don’t know, but I always make sure to stop. And not just for him. Because I want to also.

  I walk through the front doors and straight to the back where his office is, knowing that’s where I’ll find him if he’s not in the main restaurant.

  “Hey, boy. How was school today?”

  “Eh, it was fine. School is school.”

  “Yeah, I kind of felt the same way when I was there.” He nods his head in understanding.

  “So, what’s up? Why did you want me to stop in here?”

  “I have a question to ask you,” he says, digging into his pocket. He pulls out a small velvet box, placing it in front of me.

  Holy crap. I know my eyes are so wide I look like they’re about to bug out of my head. My palms are actually sweating a little bit, too. I wipe them on my jeans and lift a shaky hand toward the box but don’t open it. “Uh, I think you’re asking the wrong person that question.”

  “Nah, I need to ask the man of the house permission first.”

  “What?”

  He reaches over me and opens the box to reveal a diamond ring since I can’t seem to get my hands to do it. I have no clue what a good ring is, but this one is pretty and sparkles, and I know my mom will bawl like crazy if he asks to put it on her finger.

  “I want to ask your mom to marry me. I promise I’ll do right by her. By both of you. You both mean the world to me — and Lily. I would be honored to call her my wife. To have both of you in my life forever. Do I have your permission to ask her to marry me?”

  I place the box down on the table in front of us and furrow my brow, confused by why he would be asking me if he can marry my mom. But at the same time, I’m not the least bit surprised. From the very beginning, James has made it clear that he respects me and sees me as more than just a kid. “Are you serious?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “You’re asking me?”

  “I am. You’re her family, Jack. I just want to expand that family a tad bit,” he says, showing me two fingers separated only barely. “You can think about it, if you need to. I’m a patient man.”

  I don’t need time to think about it. I know without a doubt there’s no one else who would treat my mom the way he will. And with her past? I’m ready for someone good in her life.

  “Yeah, James. You can ask my mom to marry you.”

  He smiles huge and pulls me in for a hug. Mom has always been an affectionate person but it took me a bit of time to get used to having it from anyone else. Especially a man.

  “Thank you, Jack.”

  I nod my head, feeling a little overwhelmed and not being able to say much else.

  After he asks my opinion on a couple floor samples he got in, I tell him goodbye and head out the door to go home.

  I can’t believe my mom’s going to be getting married. Not that I am shocked it would happen someday, but I had no idea James would ask me if it was okay.

  I shouldn’t be surprised. James is definitely different than any other man I’ve ever known. He’s incredible and everything I hope to become. The fact that he loves my mom, that he loves me… well, it makes me feel like a wuss… but yeah, I can’t deny that it makes me feel pretty damn good.

  I love that he treats me as his equal. And today is a prime example of that.

  When I turn down the road to our house, my mind is still stuck on what James asked me. But the second I see my driveway, it goes into hyper drive. I squint, trying to see the car a little better but don’t recognize it. Until I see the license plates.

  Arizona.

  Shit.

  I reach into my pocket and text James. My hands are shaking so badly that I drop my phone into the grass. I don’t even know for sure if Vince is here, but considering he was hanging around and the license plate is from Arizona, I don’t want to take any chances. I bend down to pick it up, feeling like I could throw up.

  Me: The Wolf is here.

  James’s response is immediate.

  James: I’m on my way. Please be careful.

  James: Called police …

  Just as I’m sliding my phone back into my pocket, I hear glass break, and I sprint into the house, ready to take on whatever is on the other side of the door.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Carly

  I stare into the eyes of my nightmare. The man who from the day we returned from our honeymoon told me I was worthless. Told me I was damaged, a slut. Told me he couldn’t look me in the eye after he knew the things I would do sexually. The eyes of the man who wouldn’t allow me to have friendships, who controlled every aspect of my life, dictated every piece of clothing I put on my body, every brush of makeup I swiped on my face.

  These are the eyes of a man who once told me I was beautiful then within days turned around and made me feel like I was filthy. This man. This man once made me feel like I was the only woman in the world. Like I was wanted. Needed.

  This man lied.

  “Vince…” A name I never expected to say again, at least to his face.

  “Miss me?”

  “Wha — what are you doing here?”

  “I missed you. Haven’t seen you in… well, let’s see. How long has it been? When was it again, that you decided to leave with my son? Kidnap him and, I’m sure, spread all sorts of lies.”

  “I think you were the one who made that decision for me, Vince. The moment you put your hands on me in anger, with no sign of love to be found. The moment our son had to save me from your hands, when he was only thirteen years old.”

  His eyes flash in anger, probably wondering where my voice was coming from. Little does he know, what he did to me that day didn’t make me weaker. It gave me strength. He actually did me a favor when he threw me through the house in front of Jack. He did us both a favor. His actions provided what I needed to move forward. To get out.

  “I see you’re still the same nagging bitch you always were,” he sneers, pushing me aside with his shoulder and taking a step into my home.

  “You’re not welcome here, Vince.”

  “Like hell I’m not. I’m here to get my kid. You know, I may have signed the divorce papers, finally being rid of you. But I didn’t abandon my son. You took away that choice for me.”

  Is he out of his mind?

  “I took away that choice?!” I scoffed. “Me?”

  “Am I fucking stuttering, woman?”

  “Oh no. You’re plenty clear. You’re just speaking like a delusional asshole.”

  “What the hell did you just call me?” he asks, voice loud and booming in my small home.

  Before I can react, he advances toward me and grabs me by the arms, pinching so tightly I know I’ll have bruises in the morning. I try in vain to yank free, my butt bumping into the end table, knocking off the lamp. It lands on the floor with a crash.

  His grip is unrelenting. His eyes are glazed over, the anger coming off him in waves.

  “Let me go,” I demand, my voice coming out as a cry.

  “No, I think I’ll hang on. See, the last time I let go of my wife, she disappeared on me for three years, took my son with her. So no. I’ll not let go again any time soon.”

  I wrench my arm away and shove him. “Vince, you weren’t the one who let go. I left. Remember that? Your true nature shined through and rather than sticking around to let it come down on me or turn on Jack, I left.”

  He barks out a sinister laugh as he advances toward me again. “You think you can take a few class
es at some gym and suddenly…”

  Before he realizes what is about to happen, I reach out and swing, hitting him square in the nose. I stand back, arms still up, ready to fight, ready to dish out all that I’ve learned in the last few years. I resist the urge to hold my hand against my chest because damn it all, that hurt way more than I expected it to. It felt amazing, though. “What? Fight back? Hit you like you did me? Strangle you? Throw you across the room?”

  “You bitch!” he roars, holding his bloody nose.

  “What? You don’t want someone who can defend herself? Let me remind you again. I left you, Vince. Now I suggest you do the same.”

  “Or what?” He advances as if he’s about to attack me, but I don’t flinch. I may once have been weak, but the years away from him built up my confidence, made me realize that I am more than what he tried to make me.

  “Or you’ll have to deal with me.” I hear Jack’s deep voice cut in.

  In an instant, Vince takes a step back, assessing the son he didn’t get to see change into the man he’s becoming, with absolutely no help from him.

  “Jack,” Vince says, his voice coming out just barely above a whisper.

  I look at Jack in the way I would assume Vince is. Seeing him for the first time in three years. He’s taller, broader, voice deeper. He styles his hair, has stubble on his face, braces on his teeth, keys from the vehicle he drives dangling from his fingers.

  “Vince.” He nods his head once and comes to my side in a flash. He pulls me slightly behind him.

  When we left, Jack was tall but hadn’t grown into it yet. He hadn’t fully developed. In his mind, he couldn’t defend me. But now, three years later, he’s used our distance from Vince to become someone who could — and would — protect me at all costs.

  “Look at my boy. All man,” Vince says, chest puffing out as if he had anything to do with the changes that have occurred in my son.

  No, that was all Jack. Maybe a little bit of me, Tate, and now James, too. But mostly, that was all Jack. His determination. His strength where we were both once weak.

  “I’m not your boy.”

  “You’ll always be mine. Even when your mother tries to cloud your mind with lies,” he sneers in my direction.

  “Lies?” Jack asks, his voice calm, head cocked to the side. “I’m sorry. Was it Mom who was lying when I saw you choke her? When I saw you throw her across the room? Was my mind playing tricks on me, Vince?” he bites out his name, causing Vince to take one step toward us. “Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare take a step toward us.”

  “Is this how you’re raising our boy? To curse at the man who raised him? Gave him life?” he asks, his body pressing into mine, close and demanding.

  Jack reaches over and grabs ahold of Vince’s arm, trying to push him away from me. “You’re not a man. Nor anyone who raised me.”

  “Boy…” he says, reaching his hand back as if he’s going to backhand him, but Jack stands tall, ready to take anything Vince is planning to throw.

  “Stop right there,” I hear and look at the door. Standing inside are James, Tate, his friend Will, and a man dressed in uniform who I recognize as Jack’s friend, Blake’s dad, Brad. I have no idea how they got here, how they knew Vince was here, but I’m so grateful for their presence.

  Vince looks over at the doorway and narrows his eyes.

  “Oh, I see my whore of a wife’s boyfriend decided to show? Had to bring the cavalry with you, huh?”

  “How did…”

  “How did I know you were fucking pussy-boy chef here? I’ve been watching you for a while now.”

  “The flat tire?” I ask to which he nods, unashamed.

  “It was you who James fought at the gym?”

  His grin is pure sinister, confirming what James and I already questioned.

  “That day James came here. He said my house was unlocked.”

  He shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal.

  “And you broke into my classroom and moved things around?” I ask quietly and don’t dare look at James.

  He knew I had a few things happen to me that made me nervous and told me that if something else occurred, I needed to tell him. This one I hadn’t told him yet. It must have happened over Christmas break because I noticed a few things out of place when I returned to school. At the time, I hadn’t thought anything of it and, not that I wanted secrets between us, but I hated making him worry over nothing. So much took place during break I had second-guessed myself whether or not I imagined it. Turns out I hadn’t, and there was something to worry over.

  “You really need to invest in new locks, Carly. You never know who could make their way into your home.” He followed his ominous comment with a wink that churned my stomach.

  “How dare you.” I seethe. I start toward him, ready to take him on, but James holds me back.

  “How dare I?” he asks, voice loud, vein in his forehead popping. “You ungrateful bitch! I did everything for you! You repaid me by what? Taking Jack away from his father?” He takes a menacing step toward me once again. At his movement, James shifts next to me, and Jack takes a step forward, shielding me farther from his father.

  “I said stop right there,” the commanding voice of Brad filters through my home.

  Vince glances over at the door once again and takes a step back, almost as if he hadn’t noticed the police officer with James.

  “Officer, nice of you to come. This woman kidnapped my son. And, as you can see, she just punched me.”

  “That true, boy?” Brad asks Jack, his eyebrows raised. By the look on his face, he doesn’t believe Vince in the slightest.

  “Nope. Just got a bloody nose, it seems. And no kidnapping. This jerkwad beat my mom, so we left.”

  Brad’s face turns red as he shifts his attention to Vince. “You beat on Carly, sir?”

  “Just a misunderstanding,” Vince stupidly says.

  Brad raises his eyebrows. “A misunderstanding, huh?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He points to the two of us. “Seems they think differently.”

  Vince rolls his eyes.

  Still the same old cocky ass.

  I’ve had enough, so I take two steps toward him, square my shoulders, and look him dead in the eye.

  “You need to leave, Vince. I told you three years ago not to come looking for us. I told you we were done. I meant it then, and I haven’t changed my mind since you tried choking me.”

  As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know James is close to his breaking point. And by the look on Tate’s and Will’s face, as well as Brad’s, they’re about done also. From beside me, I can feel the heat coming off James as well as hear the deep inhale and exhale of his breaths.

  “We’re not done, Carly. You stole my son from me, and I don’t plan on leaving here without him,” Vince says, his voice growing increasingly louder with every word spoken.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” Jack says firmly.

  “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave Carly’s home, sir,” Brad grits out angrily.

  “I’ve done nothing wrong. You can’t force me to leave.”

  “No? I seem to remember hearing her ask you to leave. And since it’s her home, I’d say I have good reason to ask you to vacate the premises.”

  Tate, who’s been oddly quiet, steps forward, arms crossed over his chest.

  Will stands next to him, mimicking his stance.

  “You heard him,” Tate says. “Get out.”

  Vince looks to Tate and over to Will, noticing their bulk and size before shifting his attention to James. “What’s wrong, James,” he bites out his name. “Can’t fight your own battles, so you have to bring in the muscle?”

  “Oh, I’m certain I can fight my own battles. But you see, Vince,” he says in the same tone used on his name, “unlike you, I don’t choose to fight someone not as strong as me. I don’t choose to pick on someone smaller than me. So bringing my friends? It’s not for my protection. It’s for
yours.”

  I almost laugh at the look on Vince’s face at James all but calling him weak. “You really think I need protection? Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “I know I’m the man who’s in love with this woman right here. I know I’m the man who will do anything to protect her. I’m the man who considers this boy my son, even after only knowing him for a few short months, and would also do anything to protect him. So you see, I’m the man you chose not to be. Maybe I should thank you.”

  Vince scoffs, shaking his head. “Thank me? THANK ME?!”

  “Sure. Thank you, Vince. For being such a supreme dick that it brought Carly and Jack to me.”

  Vince’s face is as red as a beet when he finally loses it. “You asshole! You think you can come in here, take over my life? Steal what’s mine away from me?” Vince roars, clenching his fists.

  Brad steps between the two men as Jack takes a step to the side, bringing me with him. Tate and Will are now standing on either side of James, but he doesn’t seem to need them.

  James, almost tauntingly, spreads his arms out to the sides. “No. You see, what you’re not getting, is that I’m not taking anything that’s yours. Carly? Jack? They’re mine. Maybe I wasn’t fortunate enough to have them for the past twenty years, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let either of them go now that I have them.”

  If we were in any other situation I’m fairly certain I would have kissed every single inch of his body for the declarations he’s just made. However, we’re definitely not alone. And we’re definitely not in a place for us to be making out.

  Vince lets out a loud growl and shifts in a way I know he’s getting ready to attack. James pushes me over to Jack, and Brad steps aside as Vince advances toward James, swinging and punching him first in the stomach and then in the face, blow after blow while I watch in both horror and confusion as James stands there, accepting every hit that comes his way.

  “James!” Jack shouts, ready to step in front of him as well, but Tate steps over and holds him back.

  “Let it go,” he tells him.