by Brown,A. S.
"Um, can you just walk me back to the bookstore on Fifteenth?" I ask softly.
He helps me to my feet, and I stagger a bit from the pain in my knees.
Looking down at me, he brushes the hair from my face to look at the wound on my forehead. "This is pretty deep." He pulls off his long-sleeve shirt and presses it to my head. Leaving him in only a plain t-shirt. No coat. "You should probably get it checked out. You may need stitches, and you may have a concussion. You should probably file a police report, too. That fucker needs caught."
"Yeah, maybe. I would really like you to walk me back to my bookstore so I can call my friends." I'm not sure where that guy went and I really only got a good look at his hands. I definitely don't feel safe at all. I'm not even sure how safe I am with this guy but he saved me, after all, so he can't be that bad, right?
"Sure. Are you OK to walk?"
"Yeah. I think I am." I look up at him while holding his shirt to my head. He's very tall. Well, I'm very short so maybe he's not really tall but compared to my five-foot frame, he’s a giant. "Thank you … For helping me." He doesn't smile at me but gives a swift nod as his response, which I find odd.
Clearing his throat, he asks, "So, what's your name. I'm Dalton." He holds his hand out for me to shake it. Placing my hand in his, a rush of warmth courses through my body as he squeezes softly.
"Marin," I tell him softly.
"So you own a bookstore, huh?" he asks on the way back to the bookstore.
"Yeah. Chapter Fifteen; it’s fairly new. We opened a little over a year ago."
He finally smiles, and it's definitely a sight to be seen. Bright and beautiful, a definite contrast to his dark demeanor. "I get it. Fifteenth Avenue, Chapter Fifteen."
I laugh as we reach the door. "What can I say. I'm not very creative. Well, here we are."
"Let me at least walk you in."
Nodding, I open the door. Cole jumps up from behind the counter as soon as he sees me.
"What did you forget …" he trails off as he takes a good look at me. "Oh, my God. Marin! What the hell happened? Who is this??"
Dalton doesn't miss a beat. He reaches his hand out to shake Cole's and explain what happened.
"Hi, I'm Dalton. I was walking down fourteenth street when I noticed a man attacking someone, and I rushed over. Marin asked to come back here, and I wasn't going to let her walk back alone."
"Attacking you? What the hell! Are you OK?"
"I'm fine, Cole. I'm just going to call Amelia and Joey to come pick me up and have one of them drive my car home." Cole glances between Dalton and me.
"Well, I'm glad someone was there. Thank you for saving her, Dalton." He reaches over to shake hands with my savior.
"Hey, it's not a problem. I wasn't going to let someone hurt her,” he says as if he already knows me.
“She may need to see a doctor, though. She took a hit to the head and her knees are a bit scraped up."
"We'll make sure of it, thanks."
It’s a strange feeling listening to the two of them talk about me like I'm not here.
"Well, I better get going. I'm glad you are OK, Marin."
"Thanks to you. Let me walk you to the door." I turn back to Cole. "Can you call Amelia and Joey?"
"Sure thing, Mare bear."
Waiting, I watch Cole walk back over to the counter before I turn back to Dalton. "Really, thank you again. I don't know what else to say." Since the bleeding seems to have stopped, I attempt to hand him his shirt back.
"No, you keep it." I laugh, because why would he want his shirt back all bloody? "You don't have to say anything. I did what anyone would have done." He glances around the store again. "This is a pretty awesome place. I never even knew it was here."
"Yeah, well, we are still pretty new so …" I trail off, not sure what to say to him. He's so handsome it makes me a bit uneasy. His light eyes against his dark hair is such an intense contrast.
"Do you happen to have books in here on how to run a business?"
What a strange question. "Well, I suppose I do."
"I might stop in again. I have recently acquired a business, and, to be honest, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I'm a mechanic, that's it. I'm not a business guy."
I have no idea what makes me say what I say next. "Well, I could pull a few books and we could sit down together. I can give you a few pointers … if you're interested, of course." I have to force myself to stop talking before I start rambling.
"I'd like that." He smiles down at me. "Are you here every day?"
"Yeah, for the most part. We are slow on Wednesdays so could you stop sometime on Wednesday? We are here from nine to eight."
"Yeah, I think I can be here." I nod but stare at him. He looks down at me, and the smile leaves his face, and, for a moment, we only look at each other. Shaking my head, I rid myself of the strange feeling that is slowing consuming me.
"Well, thank you again, Dalton. Oh! I will clean your shirt and have it for you on Wednesday."
“Thanks, but you really don’t have to. I have a ton of them.” He winks. “I guess I will see you Wednesday."
"Yes … Wednesday." He gives my hand a quick squeeze and turns and walks out the door. I stay there and watch him walking swiftly down the street in the direction we came from.
"Hey, Mar, Amelia and Joey are on their way," Cole says as he walks toward me. I turn and face him as the first tear streams down my face. He reaches me and places his hands on both sides of my face and wipes the tear away with his thumb. "You sure you're OK?" He pulls me into a tight high.
"Yeah. Do you think I should call the police?" I ask as I pull back.
"I do, but it’s your decision. Do you want to talk about it first?" he asks.
I shrug and start to tell him everything that happened. I don’t even realize I’ve started crying through my story until he wipes my tears away.
The door flies open and in runs Amelia and Joey. She throws her arms around me and squeezes me as tight as she can.
"Oh, my god, Marin. I was so worried." She grabs my shoulders and looks at my face, scanning it over for injuries.
"I'm OK. Really. The cut on my head isn't even bleeding anymore, and I don't feel weird so I'm sure I don't have a concussion. I just want to go home now." Amelia lets go of me and turns to Joey. He hasn't said anything yet. He only stares at me with worry. "Hey, Joe … say something."
Rubbing his hand up and down his face and then lacing them together on top of his head, he says, "Jesus Christ, Marin, I was losing my mind."
Cole decides to join the conversation at this moment. He's not stupid; he can sense the tension and worry radiating off of Joey. "Thank god Dalton was there. I guess he saved her life."
"Who the fuck is Dalton?" Joey asks, anger infiltrating his tone.
"Calm down, Joey. He's just some guy that happened to be walking down the street and see me being attacked. I'm not really sure what happened. I guess he pulled the guy off of me. He got a few good punches in too before the guy took off." I walk over and place my hand on his arm to calm him. "He walked me back here, like I asked him to, and left."
"Well, I wish he would have stuck around. I need to thank him for saving your life."
We hug for a moment and it feels nice to let the tension seep out of me. I love Joey. He is my lifeline now. Besides Amelia, I count on him for everything.
"Come back on Wednesday night; he said he was coming in to get a book," Cole says with a smirk.
"What?" Joey and Amelia exclaim loudly.
"It's not a big deal, guys. He said he never knew about the book store and was looking for a book about starting a business."
"Hmm … OK. Well, maybe I should be here just in case he's bad news."
Cole rolls his eyes and walks back over to the register. "Oh, please. You should have seen that man. There was no way he is anything more than good."
"Anyway …" I break in. This conversation has gotten way off track. "Can we go? I really just want to
get some rest. Rain check on dinner."
Amelia links her arm through mine. "Sure thing, babe. We hadn't ordered yet anyway. We can do it another night. But, I'm staying at your place tonight." I open my mouth to object "I don't want any arguing. I know you will be fine, it's more for my peace of mind." I don't argue. I won't admit it, but I will be happy to have her there. I don't want to be alone tonight.
We say our goodbyes to Cole and head out into the brisk evening. I'm ready to get this day from hell over with and start fresh tomorrow.
Chapter Three
Dalton
Quickly, I make my way back toward the spot where Marin was attacked in search of the piece of shit that could do something like that to such a sweet, delicate person. She is so tiny and fragile I'm not sure how his disgusting body didn't break her.
But she is already broken; I could see it in her eyes. Their lifeless brown has a story to tell, and it isn't a happy one judging by the dullness they hold.
Glancing around the sidewalk and across the street, I don't see anyone. The guy that tried to hurt her must be long gone by now. It's a good thing because I want to kill him, and I really don't need to get myself into any more trouble. I should probably head back to the garage and get some sleep anyway. It's been a long day.
At least I got the papers filed at the bank for the transfer of the garage account into my name. That should make my uncle happy since he has been bugging me for weeks to get this taken care of.
Uncle Mel hasn't been in the greatest health over the last two years; in and out of the hospital with pneumonia and his emphysema because he smokes like a damn chimney. You would think he would quit, but he won't even hear any of that. His response is, "That's hogwash" anytime the subject is broached. Either way, he can't keep up with the garage anymore and decided it would be a good way for me to get my life back on track, so to speak. So he signed everything over to me.
So here I am, the proud but confused owner of Mel's garage that sits on the outskirts of town.
Hell, I can't argue with him. I was stumbling down a steep slope with my involvement with Sonny and J.R. I'm lucky I'm not in prison. I don’t know the first thing about running a business, though. Sure, it's just a garage. But he is expecting me to do everything from making sure all the bills are paid to greeting customers, on top of what I already will be doing—fixing cars. At least Liam will be there, and I guess I can hire someone if I need to.
As I approach the lot, I see there are only two cars left for the night. My '75 Bronco that I still haven't gotten a chance to fix up the way I want, and a newer model Nissan car sitting closer to the front of the lot. I hop up into my Bronco and get it started, turning up the heat as high as it will go. As I rub my hands together trying to warm them, I notice a car approaching. It pulls up next to the Nissan and a guy gets out of the back seat. The window is rolled down on the passenger side and he walks over to talk to the person in the car.
Marin.
He reaches in and places his hand on her face to comfort her. I want nothing more than to jump out and go make sure she is OK, but I can't do that. She doesn't know me. I sure as hell don't need to have someone like her in my life right now. Not when things are still so fucked up.
I'll see her on Wednesday when I go to find a business book or something to help me and that will be the end of that.
He's not giving off the vibe that he is a boyfriend and wouldn't she have said, "Call my boyfriend" if she had one? Process of elimination says he’s the Joey she was having called by the guy at the bookstore.
The guy walks over to the Nissan, unlocks it, and gets in. The other car leaves with the Nissan following.
I'm glad her friends are with her, but I would be lying if I didn't have a twinge of jealousy in the pit of my stomach.
Jealousy over a girl I know nothing about and most likely never will.
I pull out of my space and drive slowly back to the garage, trying to rid the dark-haired beauty with the doleful brown eyes from my thoughts.
Chapter Four
Marin
By Tuesday late afternoon, I'm ready to pull my hair out. I'm used to being on a certain schedule and lying around at home all day throws me completely off.
Amelia stayed with me last night like she said she would and we just kind of hung out all night. We did call the police and they wanted to come over right away. I don't know how, but I somehow managed to talk them into waiting until today.
Of course, they showed up at the ass crack of dawn.
Amelia hadn't even left for the store yet and they were beating down the door. I guess they can be a bit protective of me considering everything I have been through. Detective Merritt even showed up with the officers to take the report.
Once they took the report, they gave me the same speech I am used to hearing, "We are going to do everything in our power to find who did this." It took everything I had in me not to roll my eyes at them. I don't expect much, not because I think they are bad at their job or anything, but more so because I really had nothing to go on. I didn't even tell them about Dalton. I didn't feel comfortable bringing him into this and I really don't even have any information about him, either. Amelia gave me hell for it, though.
"He got a good look at the guy! He could know something," she pleaded once the police left, but I begged her to drop it because I really just want to forget it happened.
Once Joey got my car back here last night he made me promise I wouldn't park in that cheap lot anymore. I have no problem making and keeping that promise. He also made me promise to take today off and stay home and get some rest. He and Amelia are on store duty this morning and afternoon then Cole and Gwenn are coming in this evening again to work until close. I really owe these guys and need to plan something special for them. Dinner or gift cards or something. They go above and beyond the normal employee duties. They keep me sane. They give me a tiny sliver of happiness every day that I don’t get anywhere else.
But now … I'm bored. I want to be at the store. I want to get out of this god-forsaken house. I've already finished the book I was reading, watched four episodes of The Vampire Diaries, and ran the vacuum. Now, I find myself back on the couch. Glancing around the room, I try to think of something to do when I catch the engagement photo on the fireplace mantel out of the corner of my eye.
Walking over, I pull it down off the mantel and cradle it to my chest.
"Benji." I laugh. "Stop goofing off and hold still so she can take the picture."
Vanessa, our photographer, has us leaning against a tree on the edge of the forest close to my parents’ house. I always wanted outdoor pictures for our engagement and wedding. Benji just wants to keep goofing off, though, and I can tell that she's getting pissed.
"What?" he asks as he continues to smile slyly while rubbing his back up and down the tree. "My back is itchy. Isn't this how a bear does it?"
I grab his hand while I giggle and pull him to me. He leans his head down so his forehead is touching mine and the brightest smile I have ever seen graces his face. It's beautiful.
I can hear Vanessa snapping away, catching as many candids as possible.
"I love you, Marin. You complete me in every way, and I would make you my wife right this minute if you would let me. Promise me you will never leave me?"
I whisper back to him as he leans down to kiss me, "Never …" His lips touch mine in a sensual kiss. It's not long before I hear Vanessa clear her throat.
"OK, you two love birds. Let's get finished up." She jokingly rolls her eyes and walks down through the field. I go to walk behind her when Benji pulls me back to him.
"Just one more." He winks and descends to my lips again.
I shake my head to rid myself of the memory and wipe the tears away. I promised him I would never leave, but he never promised me he wouldn't. It's been over a year and he's gone, and I think I am finally starting to realize that he will never be coming back.
******
I must have been wal
lowing in self-pity for quite some time because the next thing I know is there is a slight knock on the door and Amelia walks in. "Hey, babe. How ya feeling?" It’s pretty obvious that I have been crying all afternoon and I'm pretty sure she notices because she rushes to my side. "Hey, Marin, honey. What's wrong? It's going to be OK. You know that, right? They will catch the guy. I’m sure of it.
Shaking my head yes, she engulfs me is a hug. "Yeah, I have just been thinking about Benji today and how I think it’s finally starting to hit me that he's not coming back."
"Oh, honey." She pulls back and looks at me, pushing the hair off my face that is now sticking to me from the salty tears. I shrug and the water works start again.
"Marin, now you know I'm not a super religious person, but I am a firm believer that when someone leaves this Earth, if someone loves them enough, they are never gone. I know He is always with you." She gently takes the picture out of my hands and looks down at it. "I believe that he loved you so much that he would want you to move on. To have a happy life. He was so full of life himself that there is no way that he would want you to not move on and have the life you deserve."
"I know." I take the picture back and jump up off the couch and walk over to place it back on the mantle. "I think that’s why I'm sad. I think it's time. I mean … I'm never going to give up looking for who did this but I'm not going to focus on it so much now. I am going to trust that the police can do their job." Turning back around and facing her, I sigh. "Well, I'm going to try, anyway."
"You know I will be here for every step of the way. I would never let you go on this journey alone Marin. You’re more than my best friend, you’re the sister I never had." She winks.
Sitting back down on the couch I prop my feet up on the coffee table. "So how did it go today? And where is Joey?" She fidgets a bit and her cheeks turn a bright apple-red. "What?" I poke her in the side. "Why are you fidgeting and blushing?"