Always for You: Jack (Sergeant Joe's Boys #1)

by Alexis Morgan

  After one last look around to make sure neither Toby nor Lawrence was around, he headed straight to where the trio sat on a bench talking. As usual, the two guys flanked Shelley. From what he’d learned about their past, Justin and Shelley had been a couple for several years now and were inseparable. Casey had teamed up with the pair at some point because there was safety in numbers.

  Shelley spotted Ricky first and pointed him out to the others. Then they were all three up and heading straight for him.

  “Kid, you’re back!”

  He appreciated the hugs and slaps on the back, but the scent of unwashed bodies and dirty clothes hit him hard. They couldn’t help it, and he didn’t hold it against them. It was more of a reminder of where he’d been only a short time ago, watching over his shoulder constantly as the four of them scrambled for every scrap of food they ate.

  Despite Jack’s promises, Ricky didn’t hold out much hope that he’d never end up back on the streets again. So far, he’d treated Ricky okay, but it had been these three people who’d made sure he’d survived those first hard days and nights after he’d left home.

  Home. That was a laugh. He hadn’t had a real home since he’d lost both of his parents. Although his dad was the only one who’d actually died, in a lot of ways he’d also lost his mother that same night. Ricky had tried his best to be there for her, but nothing he’d ever done to help had been enough.

  He realized that Justin was talking to him. “Sorry, man, I must have zoned out. What did you say?”

  “I was asking where you’ve been. We were worried until Toby told us he’d seen you the other day. Something about you scoring a good gig somewhere.”

  How much did he want to share? Not a lot. While the trio had been good to him, they did hang out with Toby. Considering they’d known him longer than they had Ricky, he wasn’t sure if he could trust them to keep anything he told them to themselves. He settled for a partial truth.

  Holding up his broken arm, he said, “I ended up in the hospital when this happened. The cops called CPS, so they got their hooks in me and parked me with some old lady and her jerk of a son. I’m only hanging out there until I get the cast off.”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he felt guilty. Marlene wasn’t just some old lady, and Jack wasn’t a jerk. At least not most of the time.

  Shelley smiled at him. “I’m glad you found a safe place to hole up for a while. Did the cops figure out who beat you up?”

  “No, they haven’t.”

  And he wasn’t going to tell them. Maybe that was stupid, and the thought of Lawrence behind bars made him want to smile. However, the guy already hated Ricky. It was tempting to tell the cops, but he didn’t trust them to keep Lawrence locked up. For sure, if they arrested the man, the bastard would come after Ricky the second he made bail. If that happened, Ricky might end up in the morgue instead of the hospital.

  Actually, there was no might about it.

  It was time to change the subject. “Are you guys doing okay?”

  “Same as always.”

  “That’s good,” Ricky said, considering “same as always” only meant none of them had run into any major problems lately.

  Shelley smiled at him again. “You got here just in time. We were about to head down toward the waterfront. Want to come with us?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  On the other hand, maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Ricky only had another hour or so before he’d have to haul ass back to the house. Maybe it was time to spring for a meal for his friends.

  “I might have a better idea.”

  Justin moved to the side to get them out of the way of other people walking by. “What’s that, kid?”

  Ricky pulled out a wadded-up twenty-dollar bill, one that looked as if it had seen far better days. “I found this in a parking lot yesterday. I thought maybe we could pick up some teriyaki chicken and rice at that restaurant down on the corner.”

  That sure got their attention. All three stared at the money as if they hadn’t seen anything like it in a long time. Maybe they hadn’t. Whenever they panhandled, people usually handed over a dollar or two. Even a five-dollar bill was cause to celebrate.

  Shelley looked really happy about the prospect of a hot meal. “That sounds great, Ricky. Do you want me to come help you carry it?”

  “Yeah, if you don’t mind.”

  Besides, if he got her alone, he might be able to slip her a little more money. She was good about seeing that any cash they got was put to good use. Casey was more likely to blow it on a comic book when what they needed was food.

  They started off down the street to the small restaurant. Ricky went inside by himself and studied the menu. He could get three orders for just under twenty dollars. It was tempting to order a fourth, but the others might wonder how he’d paid for it. They were used to dividing up whatever they had, so sharing three orders wouldn’t bother them at all.

  He picked up the two bags of food and carried them outside to where Shelley was waiting for him. She insisted on taking both bags. “Boy, that smells good, Ricky. We didn’t have much in the way of breakfast this morning.”

  “Here, take this, Shelley.” He held out some more wadded-up bills, a five and three ones. “I know it’s not much, but maybe you can pick up something at the store for tomorrow.”

  She quickly shoved the money in her pocket. “Are you sure you found this, Ricky? I don’t want you to get in trouble with that lady you’re living with for stealing money.”

  Ricky was always surprised that Shelley had survived so long on the streets with her basic, sweet nature intact. “I’ll be fine. Don’t sweat it.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  They walked on in silence to where the others waited on one of the benches in the park. Shelley didn’t mention anything about the additional money as she made quick work of dividing up the food and passing out forks. All four of them ate without talking. Ricky enjoyed the chicken, but not as much as the others did. Of course, he’d been living on Marlene’s excellent cooking for a while now, which had pretty much spoiled him for anything else.

  “I’m full. Does anyone want the rest of my chicken and rice?”

  Immediately, Justin and Casey both held out their paper plates. He scooped some onto each one before handing the rest to Shelley, who tried to refuse. “You should eat that yourself, Ricky. You paid for it.”

  “No, that’s okay. I had a pretty good breakfast this morning.”

  And would have two more good meals after he got back to the house, which would be flavored with a heavy sprinkling of guilt knowing this might be the only hot food his friends got all day.

  As soon as they were all done, Ricky tossed the trash in a nearby can. The others were already up and moving. Wandering around the streets with them had lost its appeal. Besides, he’d have to head back to Jack’s place soon if he was going to get home on time.

  “Listen, guys, I’d better go. The old lady doesn’t like it if I’m late.”

  Shelley frowned. “Are you safe there? Because if you’re not, you’re welcome to come back and hang with us.”

  “No, I’m doing okay. Like I said, I need to stay off the streets until my arm heals. After that, I’ll see how it goes.”

  Justin stared down at Ricky’s new shoes, and then his eyes traveled upward. “It looks like you’ve scored some pretty nice clothes living with her, man. You want to be careful wearing shoes like that out here on the streets. Dudes kill for stuff like that.”

  The sudden flash of envy in Justin’s eyes had Ricky fighting the urge to back up a step. “I’ll be careful.”

  Suddenly leaving seemed like a real good idea. He was sure that Shelley would never lift a hand to hurt him. Right now he wasn’t so sure he could say the same about Justin, and Casey would follow the other guy’s lead. It was definitely time to disappear.

  “I’d better be going.”

  Casey stepped around to block Ricky’s way. “What’s the hurry? Y
ou just got here.”

  “Yeah, I did, but if I don’t get back on time, I’m not sure what the old lady will do. Maybe call the cops or something.”

  He regretted saying that as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Both Justin and Casey immediately went on full alert, and Shelley looked real worried. “Why would they do that? Nobody cares what happens to people like us.”

  Not too long ago Ricky would’ve agreed with her. But he remembered how worried Jack and Caitlyn had been when he had taken off the other day. They weren’t faking their concern; he was sure of that much.

  “Maybe she’s just making idle threats, but I don’t want to risk it.”

  He nodded first at Justin and then Casey. “It was good seeing you, guys.”

  Then, on impulse, he hugged Shelley. “Take care of yourself.”

  She looked pleased and hugged him back. “You, too, Ricky. Thanks again for the chicken, and like I said, you’re welcome to hang with us anytime.”

  “Especially anytime you find another twenty just lying around somewhere.”

  Justin laughed as he said it, but the guy was dead serious. Ricky didn’t mind sharing his money with them, but he hated to think that a free meal was all he was really good for in their minds.

  “See you around.”

  But maybe not. He walked away in the opposite direction than he needed to go. Considering Shelley and the others immediately headed down toward the waterfront, he probably didn’t need to take a bunch of extra precautions to make sure they weren’t able to track him back to Jack’s house. As far as he knew, Justin and Casey had never hurt anyone, but then he didn’t know much about their lives before he’d met them. They all had secrets, him included, so it just made good sense to keep his old friends separate from his new ones.

  Funny how such a short time away from his friends had changed how he felt around them, like he was out of step and had to watch every word he said. There were things he didn’t want Jack and Marlene to know, but they weren’t always on his case with a bunch of questions he couldn’t answer.

  He circled back in the right direction only to spot Toby standing at the far end of the block. The other kid was facing the other way, but he could change direction at any second. Ricky froze and looked for a place to hide. There weren’t any stores on this block, so he couldn’t duck inside a building until Toby wandered away.

  Hiding in someone’s yard was only looking for trouble. The last thing Ricky needed was for someone to call the cops on him. He started to backtrack to the corner when a familiar pickup truck cruised to a stop across the street from where he stood. Jack rolled down his window.

  “I was just on my way home for lunch when I spotted you walking. Want a ride?”

  Damn straight he did. Ricky sprinted across the street, glad to have the bulk of the truck as a shield between him and Toby. He climbed in the cab and slammed the door shut. As Jack pulled away from the curb, Ricky risked a look back in Toby’s direction. There was no way to tell if the truck stopping to pick him up had drawn his attention. Either way, it was too late to change things.

  “Everything okay, kid?”

  Ricky realized he was breathing far harder than the short sprint across the street would account for. He forced what he hoped was an innocent smile. “Yeah, everything’s cool. I just thought I saw someone I knew as I crossed the street. It wasn’t him.”

  “Did you find your friends?”

  “I did. We hung out for a while, but they had somewhere to be. I told your mom I’d be home for lunch, so I decided not to go with them.”

  Jack had turned his attention back to the traffic in front of them. “You could’ve called her to let her know you had a change in plans. She would’ve understood.”

  “I never thought of that.”

  That wasn’t a lie, but the real truth was that he couldn’t wait to get back to the house where he was safe and didn’t have to worry about who might be waiting around the next corner.

  They had ridden in silence for a few blocks when Jack cleared his throat. “Ricky, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you…well, actually, tell you…and I’m hoping you won’t mind.”

  Ricky figured he knew what was coming next and could’ve let Jack off the hook. However, it was fun watching the big man squirm a bit. When he didn’t say any more, Ricky took pity on him.

  “So where are you taking Caitlyn tonight?”

  “Out for dinner and then maybe some dancing.” Jack jerked his head around to stare down at Ricky. “You knew?”

  “I guessed. It wasn’t hard.” He gave in and laughed. “It’s been a real hoot to watch you trying to act all cool around her, like you’re only interested in how I’m doing on my assignments.”

  Jack shot him a disgusted look. “What gave me away?”

  “Maybe the way you drool whenever she walks into the room.”

  “Watch it, kid.” Jack punched Ricky lightly on the arm. “Do you want to get out and walk? Because, you know, I could accidentally back over you a couple of times.”

  “Nope, I’m good.” He leaned his head back and made himself comfortable.

  However, it was time to settle the matter since Jack was still looking a bit twitchy. “I can’t imagine what she sees in a guy who is pushing thirty and lives with his mother.”

  “Hey!”

  This time there was a bit of temper in Jack’s protest. “But I’m okay with you and her as long as you don’t get in the way when I’m having my lessons.”

  “Really?”

  Ricky couldn’t believe that his opinion really mattered, but evidently it did. “Yeah, really. Just make sure you treat her right, or you’ll answer to me.”

  They both knew that Ricky didn’t stand a chance against a guy like Jack, but he meant every word. He was sick to death of seeing the women in his life treated poorly.

  Evidently Jack took the threat seriously, because he wasn’t smiling when he said, “Message received and understood.”

  Chapter 12

  Jack parked the SUV in front of Caitlyn’s condo. He’d gotten there a little too early and had driven around the block twice before finally deciding it was time. Despite telling himself over and over again that he had no reason to be this nervous, he couldn’t seem to calm down. Even if it had been a hell of a long time since he’d been out on a date, he still remembered the basics. He’d even ironed his shirt and dug his dress pants out of the back corner of the closet.

  The restaurant he’d chosen was nice without being over-the-top fancy. He wanted to impress Caitlyn, not overwhelm her by trying too hard. Hell, maybe this whole thing was a mistake. She was a nice woman, one who deserved a guy who had his life together. Not an ex-soldier with a bad knee and no idea what he’d be doing a year from now.

  Okay, that wasn’t true. As long as Ricky and Marlene needed him, Jack would be right where he was. Besides, it was too late to back out now.

  The march up to her door didn’t take nearly enough time for him to calm his nerves. After one last long breath, he pushed the doorbell. He shifted from one foot to the other as he waited for Caitlyn to open the door. When she finally did, his pulse kicked straight into hyperdrive. What if Ricky had been right about that whole drooling thing?

  Caitlyn was starting to look a bit nervous to the point she looked down as if to make sure her clothes were in good order. God, he’d only been with her fifteen seconds, and already he was screwing things up. It was time to regroup and try again.

  He held out the small bouquet of roses and lilies he’d bought for her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare, Caitlyn, but you look amazing.”

  She took the flowers and immediately held them close to her face to take a deep breath. “Thank you, and these are lovely. Come on in while I put them in water.”

  Caitlyn disappeared around the corner into what must have been the kitchen. Unsure if he should follow, Jack hovered near the front door and studied the living room. She’d furnished it with nice-looking furniture that w
as both stylish and comfortable looking. It was the kind of room where he could picture his mother and her friends enjoying a cup of tea, but he also could see him and Ricky chilling out watching football and chowing down on pizza.

  In short, it was like Caitlyn herself—attractive and a definite pleasure to be around.

  The woman in question returned with the flowers in a vase. She set them on the coffee table. After arranging them to her satisfaction, she rejoined him by the door. “I’d say you shouldn’t have, but I love fresh flowers.”

  Before he could say anything, she gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you.”

  It was tempting to see if she’d be interested in heating that kiss up a bit. But considering their dinner reservations were in half an hour, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. They had plenty of time to reach the restaurant, but only if they left soon.

  “I don’t mean to rush you, but we should probably get moving. I hope you like seafood.”

  “I do, especially crab and prawns.”

  That was a relief. At least he’d done one thing right. “That’s great.”

  Caitlyn picked up a small purse and a shawl in the same soft blue as her dress. As she moved, the skirt swirled and drew his attention to her legs. Jack had never seen her in anything except slacks, and right now he was thinking that was a damn shame. He’d always been a leg man, and hers were now officially right up there on his own personal all-time-greatest-hits list.

  He stood back and let her lead the way out the door and waited as she locked up behind them. A few seconds later, they were in his SUV and heading for the restaurant. Neither of them had said a word since leaving her place. While it wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable situation, it could be if the silence dragged on for much longer. Jack had never had the gift of gab that his brothers did. Tino, especially, had an uncanny talent for charming the ladies. Maybe Jack should have called him for some tips before setting off tonight.