He takes a second to respond. “That I’m a better person than I truly am. That I don’t have to hide in the darkness.”
I pull back and place my hands on either side of his unshaven face, loving the feel of his whiskers. “There’s nothing wrong with the darkness, Tate. That’s the only time the stars get to shine.”
******
It’s been three days since the fight up at the bar. Thank God for Parker. Geez, I never thought I’d say that. But, somehow, he was able to keep the guy from talking, and I didn’t question just how he did that. Knowing Parker, he probably told the guy that he was either gonna lock him away or told him that he can call him anytime he’s in trouble. Parker could be his personal get out of jail free card.
Whatever, I couldn’t care less. It’s over with and we have moved on.
We have both been busy with work. The bakery has been slammed and Slade has got security jobs lined up for the guys. They bought an office just a few doors down but I don’t know why. They still hang out at the bakery all the time.
I’m in the front of the bakery waiting on customers as the guys are in the back with Sam and Courtney. I wipe my hands on my apron as I make my way behind the cash register.
“Hello.” I smile brightly. “Welcome to Angel’s Dream. What can I get you today?” I ask when an older man walks up to the counter.
His kind blue eyes hold mine as he speaks. “I would like a slice of the strawberry cheesecake,” he says as he reaches into his nice suit jacket to retrieve his wallet.
I get it out and package it for him before I give him his total. “Thank you, Missy,” he says kindly, and I pause.
“Do I know you?” I ask, tilting my head to the side in thought. He doesn’t look familiar and it’s not very often that I work the front. I just came up here to give Courtney a potty break. But, in all honesty, I know she’s just back there sitting down chowing down on a brownie or two.
He smiles warmly. “No. Your nametag gave it away,” he says with a wink, before he turns and walks out.
I take a look through the glass doors to see if anyone else is about to walk in before I head to the back. Sure enough, Courtney is sitting at the table with the guys as she sucks her fingers clean.
“What’s up with you and all the chocolate these last few days?” I ask her as I sit down next to Tate. He reaches out and drapes his arm over my shoulder.
“Aunt Flow is about to visit. I hate that bitch,” she says with a frown.
Sam laughs. “I was waiting for you to announce that you and Josh were pregnant again.” Just hearing the word pregnant makes me think of our baby. I mean, I think of it daily, wondering what it would have been and what he or she would have looked like. A girl can worry until she’s sick, but it won’t change a thing.
“No. Josh wants to wait until the boys are a little older before we have another one. I wouldn’t mind pushing one out right now,” she says with a smile on her face.
Parker shudders. “Do you have any idea how disgusting that sounds?” he asks her in all seriousness, making Slade smile.
“Do you know how disgusting it is having to listen to all the sex stories you tell us?” Before he can answer, she adds, “Giving birth is a miracle.”
“So is getting my dick wet,” Parker says wiggling his eyebrows.
“You’re right.” She looks him up and down with a sour look. “It’s a miracle that you even manage to find a woman to sleep with in the first place, let alone a different one every day.”
He rubs his hands together with a smirk on his face. “What can I say? I’m a miracle worker when it comes to the bedroom.”
“Sure, you say. I have yet to hear a woman say that,” she says with an eye roll.
“So, are you guys gonna be able to make the mini vacation?” Sam asks, looking at Courtney with a smile, changing the subject.
“When are you guys going on a vacation?” I ask, curious.
Sam’s smile drops off of her face and she looks over at Slade. “You didn’t ask them?”
He stops mid bite into his Danish when she speaks to him and he turns to face us. “We’re planning a camping trip sometime this summer. You guys are invited.” He smiles politely. “Sorry, I forgot to ask.”
“Camping?” Parker laughs. “Since when do you go camping, sweetheart?” he asks looking at Sam.
She looks offended by his question. “I used to always go camping. Why?” She places a hand on her hip. “Do I not look like I would now?”
“Was that back before you discovered makeup and high heels?” he asks looking her up and down. Sam is very beautiful. All the girls envy her. Her long, dark hair is pulled up in a high ponytail. She has a pair of dark skinny jeans on and a white long sleeve shirt. Her green apron makes her bright green eyes look like they glow. And of course she has a pair of heels on. She never leaves the house without them.
“What is that supposed to mean?” she snaps.
“You just don’t look like the kind of girl who camps.” He shrugs carelessly.
“You look more sissified than country girl.”
“Well your pussy ass doesn’t look like it camps either,” Courtney says, defending her, and we laugh. “So what’s the verdict?” Courtney asks looking to us. “You guys going or not?”
I look over at Tate. I’m not sure he likes to camp. I do, though.
He leans over and whispers into my ear. “Will you be okay? What if you have pain?”
I actually smile at him being concerned for me. It’s sweet but it’s also months away. I can’t predict the future but I do know I haven’t had any pains in a while. “I’ll bring my meds. No worries,” I respond, whispering back.
He pulls away and nods. “We’re in.”
“Yay,” Sam says clapping her hands.
“Wait? Where’s my invite?” Parker asks pushing his bottom lip out.
I laugh as I stand up and walk over to the counter where Sam stands. I need to start baking a cake order for a wedding this weekend.
“You can come,” Slade says, with a careless shrug.
“Thanks,” Parker responds dryly.
Sam smiles. “Why don’t you bring a date? That way she can keep you warm in your tent.”
“Who in the hell goes camping in a tent when we can rent a travel trailer?” Parker asks, shaking his head.
“We do,” Courtney responds.
They all start to talk about what all we will need when I look down at the counter and frown. There in front of me sits my nametag. I look down at my shirt. That guy said he knew my name from my nametag, yet I wasn’t wearing it. I shrug it off as no big deal. Maybe he’s been in here before, and I just didn’t remember him.
I shrug it off as my phone vibrates in my pocket.
Kat: Don’t forget to stop by and feed Boner today. Please.
Me: I know. I’m going on my lunch break. How’s the trip going?
I guess her boyfriend’s not from around here and they went to go see his parents. That’s all she told me. I have never met the guy, but from the stories I have heard—he’s a real dick.
Kat: As usual I want to rip his head off.
I laugh as I text her back and tell her to try and have fun.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TATE
“What are we doing here?” I ask as Missy unlocks the door and enters the unfamiliar house.
She had woke up this morning telling me that on her lunch break today she had to go to some friend’s house and feed Boner. I was half asleep and by the time she said boner, I had gotten one myself.
“I have to feed my friend’s dog,” she says making her way into the kitchen.
“And his name is Boner?” I ask, confused.
She nods, as she opens up the bottom cabinet and pulls out a bag of dog food the size of her.
“Here,” I say walking over to her and picking it up. “Where’s the dog?”
“Out back.” She walks toward the sliding glass door that sits in the back of the kitchen.
“What?” she asks, turning to face me.
The dog comes to the screen door and sits on its ass. It’s a pit bull. A huge-ass black and white pit bull. It has a cropped tail and cropped ears. The thing has to weight seventy pounds, which is huge for that type of dog. Most top out around forty-five pounds. It has more muscles than some men I know.
“You are not going near that thing,” I say looking over to her.
She looks between the two of us a few times. “Why not?”
“It may attack you.”
She rolls her eyes. “Not all pit bulls are aggressive.”
“I know. But have you been around it before?” She shakes her head. “Exactly. It might think that you are its dinner.” I place the bag on the ground and open the cupboards until I find a bowl. I dip it into the bag and open the door quickly before I swing the bowl out, tossing the food over onto the back porch.
“Tate.”
“What? He can eat it off of the ground,” I say before I do it a few more times. “Come on,” I say once I put the bag back up.
I look at the plain walls as we make our way back to the front door and frown. “Did they just move in here?”
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“Because they have no pictures. No nothing.” There’s a couch and a loveseat in the living room. And a glass coffee table. That’s it. Most girls I know hang pictures up or decorate some sort.
She frowns. “Well, from what Kat has told me before, I guess her and her boyfriend fight often. She throws things, like pictures, and breaks them.” She shrugs and I nod my head in understanding. She doesn’t want to put nice things out because she will just destroy them. Got it! I understand anger issues very well.
******
I’m lying in my bed later on that evening with Missy sleeping beside me when I hear a soft knock on my door. I slowly get out of bed without waking her and throw on a pair of sweatpants, before opening it up to see Parker standing there with a file in his hands.
“What’s up?” I ask.
He holds up the file. “I need to speak to you,” he says before turning around to walk down the hall.
I find him in the kitchen sitting down at the table with the file closed, sitting in front of him. “What’s this about” I ask pulling out a seat for me to sit down myself.
He places his hand on the file before he speaks. “Jonathan has been released from prison.”
His statement catches me off guard, and it takes me a few seconds to understand that my mother’s ex-husband is now free. “How do you know that?” It can’t be possible. It just can’t. I had that motherfucker put away.
He raises an eyebrow. “So you knew he was in prison?” he questions, and I realize my mistake. I’ve always told my other friends who ask me about him that I have no idea where he was and that I didn’t care. Truth is, I always knew. In jail.
“Yes.” I reach out to grab the file, but Parker pulls it back to him before I can grab it. “What the fuck do you want, Parker?” I ask, getting pissed off at him.
“I want to know why you have been lying.” He arches a dark eyebrow.
“That’s none of your fucking business!” I say, my voice rising.
He crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m a police officer…”
“You think I give a fuck what you do for a living?” I snap. “Just because you’re my friend doesn’t mean you can go behind my back and start digging up shit that you know nothing about.”
He sighs heavily. “I am your friend. And I know some of the things that the bastard did to your mother and you.”
“No, you don’t.” I don’t care what files he read. They don’t tell everything.
He ignores me and continues, “But he’s free. I know that you were the one to put him in the hospital and prison—now he will be after you.”
Do you ever a have a bad feeling? Like in the back of your mind you just know that something isn’t right? I’ve been having this feeling all day. I’ve been at Sam and Marie’s house for almost five days now. And everything seemed fine until this morning. I just woke up with the feeling in the back of my mind that I needed to go home.
I had called my mother five times but she won’t answer. The house is silent as Marie and Sam are still fast asleep on this early Sunday morning.
I make my way to the garage and see the four-wheeler that Jack had gotten Sam for her twelfth birthday. I open the garage and push it out far enough to where I can start it without waking them up.
I could take Marie’s car, but my house isn’t more than fifteen minutes from here. I don’t have to go on any major highways, and I don’t have a license. I’m only thirteen after all. The entire way to my house the voice in my head that is telling me something is wrong grows louder and more convincing.
As soon I see my driveway up ahead I can see my mom’s car and his car parked in front of the house. I pull the throttle as far back as I can and run the thing up onto the front yard before I bring it to a sudden stop and jump off of it.
I hear glass breaking by the time I make it to my front door. I try it and find that it’s locked. With my heart racing, I make my way to my bedroom window. I learned years ago to leave it unlocked—to give me a way into the house unseen and to have a way out as well.
I climb into my bedroom and slowly make my way to the hallway outside of my door. My heart pounds in my chest, and my breathing is faster.
What am I doing? I’ve never stood up to him. I always feel big, wanting to save my mother, but I always end up getting my ass beat for it.
I come to the end of the hallway and I see my mother lying face down on the carpet. There’s blood in her hair and shreds of glass on the floor as well. I can smell the alcohol from here. Beer, he’s been drinking. He always drinks. He’s nothing but a worthless fucking drunk.
With sweaty hands and a fast beating heart, I walk into the living room and kneel down beside her. I roll her over and my heart breaks at how much damage he managed to do this time.
“Mom?” I choke. Pushing her brown hair from her face. “MOM! Wake up,” I cry as my tears run down my face.
A dark laugh comes from behind me. My head snaps to the left to look behind me. “Finally decided to come home, son?” he asks as he stands at the end of the hallway with a smirk on his face and a beer in his hands.
I hate it. He always calls me son, even though he knows that I’m not his son. And I’ve known it for a while now too. But the bastard continues to keep calling me that and tries to tell me what to do.
“What did you do to her?” I ask, looking back down to her. She lets out a moan as she moves her head from side to side but her swollen eyes are still closed.
“Just taught her a lesson,” he says still wearing that smirk on his face. He lifts his drink in salute. “One day when you become a man you’ll understand what that means.” He tosses back his beer and my jaw tightens.
I’ll never touch a woman like he touches my mother. And he never will again either. I take all of my anger, all of my hatred for him, and charge him. He never even sees me coming. He’s too fucking busy finishing off his beer to see it.
My shoulder makes contact with his stomach, and I knock him back. His beer goes flying to the floor and we both slip in the liquid, causing us to fall. He looks up at me stunned and for once I have an advantage.
Parker stands and it pulls me out of my memory. My hands are clenched down by my sides and my teeth are bared. He goes to hand me the file but I reach out and knock it from his hands. The file falls to the floor and I take a step back from him not wanting to fight him. This is the part of me that I hate. The darker side that wants to destroy everything. The part that he still has a hold of.
“Hey. I know him.”
I spin around and see a very sleeping looking Missy standing in the kitchen wearing my oversized t-shirt as she stares down at the open file
to a picture of my mother’s ex-husband.
“What do you mean you know him?” Parker asks, stepping around me to face her.
She bends down and picks up the picture. “He came up to the bakery yesterday. You guys were in the back. I was working the front. He came in and bought a slice of cheesecake.” She tilts her head to the side. “He must be a regular.”
“What makes you say that?” Parker asks, his concern growing every second like mine.
“He called me Missy,” she says simply. “When I asked if he knew me he said he read it on my nametag. But when I got to the back, I realized I hadn’t been wearing it.”
Parker spins around to face me, and I realize just what he’s thinking. He’s free, and he’s already here in St. Louis. Fuck me! My mother’s ex-husband is the last person I want that to be. He is evil to the highest power. And I’m sure he has been planning his revenge since the day I had him put in the hospital and then the day I had him locked up.
“There are cameras all over that bakery.” That was the first thing Slade made sure that place had before it even opened. “Call Slade and have him meet us up there. I want to look over the footage. If he’s been there more than once I want to know it,” I say before I turn to look at Missy. “That guy is my mother’s ex-husband, and he is bad news.” I point to my room. “Go get dressed. I’m taking you to your apartment and you’re going to pack up all your shit and then I’m bringing you back here.”
Her mouth opens as if she’s about to object. I don’t give her the chance. “Do not fucking argue with me, Missy,” I snap. “As of right now, you live here with us, and you go nowhere without me.”
She narrows her eyes on me before she spins around, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder and walks out of the kitchen.
“Call Slade,” I snap, looking over at Parker as he just stands there.
He sighs. “I’m going to help you. And he’s not going to even get close to Missy. But I need to know everything about this man. Are you willing to tell me that?”
If he would have asked me a few weeks ago, I would have said fuck no! Parker is my friend, yes, but I don’t talk about my past. But what choice do I have now? I asked Missy for a chance, and after all I put her through, she actually is giving it to me. Do I want to risk losing her to a crazy, worthless drunk who likes to beat on women? Am I that selfish that I won’t do whatever I can to help her? No. I’m not. She means more to me than that.
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