Off Limits

by Vivian Ward

  “Oh my, God! Chase!” She screeches, trying to pull her skirt down. Zeke quickly zips up his pants and turns around to face me, but stares at the ground. Abby hops down from the bar, smoothing her clothes, and narrows her eyes at Melanie. “What is she doing here with you?”

  “What? Are you crazy?” My words come out so sharp and sarcastic that even I shock myself.

  She’s really got some nerve. Abby’s the one who created this whole no-dating policy, and has made sure that everyone—but her—has abided by it. I know she’s not going to get snarky with me about Melanie.

  “How long has this been going on?” I grill her, pointing to her and Zeke.

  “That’s not the point, Chase! I don’t work here all the time like you do, and I don’t run off the help.”

  I laugh at her snide comment, like she’s so much better than anyone else who works here.

  “It’s exactly the point. Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Abby.”

  She points at Mel, “You know, I’ve never really liked you, but it takes balls to work here and break the rules. I want you out of here!”

  “Why? Because you got busted? Because you got caught red-handed with your hand in the cookie jar? Please!” Melanie says to her.

  “She’s not going anywhere,” I say to my sister. “Just like Zeke’s not going anywhere. I guess we’re all going to have to learn to live with breaking the rules, huh, sis?”

  Her face turns from a light crimson color to almost eggplant. You can almost see her blood pressure rising as she realizes that I’m not backing down and nobody’s taking her shit.

  “Whatever, Chase! I’m out of here.”

  Grabbing her purse off the barstool next to where she was just fucking Zeke, she tosses it over her shoulder and marches out of the building. Zeke’s still standing there, completely silent, waiting for me to give him an earful.

  Once my sister’s out of the club, I burst into laughter. “Zeke, don’t sweat it man. We’re still cool. You take care of her, though. Okay?”

  He smiles, “You got it, Boss. I’d never let anything bad happen to her.”

  I don’t know what the hell a gentle giant like him would see in a girl like my sister, but if it makes him happy, I’m happy for him. He could do a hell of a lot better with a sweet girl, but I’m no one to judge.

  “Go on, get out of here,” I nod toward the door. “I’m sure she’s pretty pissed, so you might want to go cool her down.”

  Without another word, he salutes me and walks past us, leaving Mel and I alone.

  “What the hell was that?” she asks. “I can’t even believe it, and I saw it with my own two eyes!”

  I shake my head. “I know, right? Crazy. I would’ve never guessed it in a million years, but you know what this means, right?”

  “What’s that?” she asks.

  “It means that we can do whatever the hell we want. We won’t have to sneak around. I’m pretty sure after what we witnessed today, Abby won’t have anything to say to me for quite a while.”

  We both get a good laugh out of it until I realize that I have to clean the bar.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I nod, “I’m going to have to clean that up. It’s so disgusting,” I say.

  “Nah, it’s easy. Watch,” she says. Grabbing a couple of bar towels, she sprays the bleach solution that we keep behind the counter and wipes it down. “Good as new.” She pauses for a moment, biting her lip. “Do you really think she’ll leave us alone?”

  “She doesn’t really have a choice, does she?”

  “Yeah, I guess not,” we both laugh.

  Chapter 23

  Melanie

  “Are you sure you really want to do this?” I ask Chase before we go into the bank.

  “I’m one hundred percent positive. I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he leans over and kisses me on the cheek.

  After catching his sister with Zeke, he was able to work out a deal with her to sell her his share of the club so we could pursue a business together and open a salon.

  Since Chase has basically ran the club by himself with very little help from her, he can take over that portion of the salon and I was able to start going back to beauty school this fall so that I can earn my license.

  We started living together shortly after the state picked up charges against Garrett and put him away for two years. He ended up getting charged with stalking, harassment, attempted assault for grabbing me in the parking lot, and bodily injury for assaulting Zeke and Chase.

  Things have never been so good in my life, and Cam loves the three of us living together as a family. He looks up to Chase as a role model, and the two of them get along so well that he’s even asked if it’s okay to call him dad.

  “Mr. Taylor, you can come in now,” the bank manager says, inviting us into his office. “How can I help you today?”

  “My sister is buying out my half of the club that we co-own, and I’d like to move that money over into a different account because I’m starting a new business with my fiancée.”

  The bank manager smiles at me, “Congratulations, Miss—?”

  “Parker,” I say. “I’m Miss Parker, but not for long.”

  “Oh? When’s the big day?” He asks, leaning into his desk to grab a manila folder.

  “September 20th, 2018,” I proudly announce.

  “That sounds like a lovely date,” he nods. “Mr. Taylor, I’ll need you to sign these forms to withdraw the funds from the account that your sister created so that we can set your new account up.”

  Chase scribbles his signature on the forms and slides them across the desk. “And when we open the new account, I’d like to add Melanie to them.”

  The bank manager looks surprised. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to wait until things are official?”

  Chase grins at me, “No, they’re already official. I love this woman, and we’re getting married. Once we’re married, we can just change her name on the paperwork, right?”

  He nods, “Yes, of course, if that’s what you’d like.” He turns his attention to me. “Is that what you would like, Miss Parker?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Chase reaches over and takes my hand, lacing his fingers through mine as the bank manager draws up the paperwork for the new account. We’ve already filed all of the necessary forms to open the salon and have all of our business documents with us.

  “And this will be for, ‘Hairsay’?” he wrinkles his nose.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” Chase says. “We’re opening a hair salon.”

  He shakes his head and chuckles, making his potbelly jiggle. “That’s quite the name.”

  “Thanks, I picked it myself,” I say.

  We’re only at the bank for about an hour and a half before it’s time to pick up Cam from school. Normally, Chase picks him up because I’m in classes until 4, but I took the day off to finalize our business plans for the salon.

  Even though we’ve got everything in order with our paperwork, it’ll be at least a year before it’s up and running. We’re in the process of purchasing the building, and then we’ll have to order all of the equipment that we’ll need and have it installed. Chase wanted to install it himself, but I insisted that we have professionals do it to save him the work. He already helps with so many other things.

  “Wait here,” Chase says, taking off his seatbelt as we pull up to the kindergarten building to get Cam.

  “What? Why would I do that?”

  “So we can surprise him.”

  I like his idea so I stay buckled in and wait for him to come back with Cam. He’s doing so well in school. I thought he’d have an adjustment period because he was only used to being around adults, but he gets along well with the other kids at school. His teacher said he’s a classroom charm and that she loves having him.

  As they’re making their way back to the car, I hear Cam pleading with Chase to tell him what the surprise is.

  “You’l
l see when we get to the car,” Chase tells him.

  “Is it McDonald’s?” I hear Cam ask.

  “No, it’s better than McDonald’s.”

  “Oh man! Is it pizza?”

  “Nope, it’s better than pizza.”

  When they’re about ten feet away, I jump out of the car and say, “Surprise!”

  Cam’s face lights up. “Mom! How’d you get here?”

  “I came with Chase,” I say, squeezing him. “How was your day?”

  “Good,” he says. We get back to the car and he starts inspecting it before getting in.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him as I wait for him to climb inside.

  “I’m looking for my surprise. Dad said I had a surprise.”

  Chase and I both laugh. “I’m you’re surprise!” He looks disappointed for a minute, and then he grins at me, flashing me those gorgeous eyes of his. “Do you want to go buy some McDonald’s?” I ask.

  “Yes!” he gives us a thumbs up.

  Before heading home, we stop by McDonald’s to grab him a Happy Meal. It doesn’t take much to make him happy.

  “Are you glad that we finally have the money all squared away?” Chase asks.

  “Yeah, but I still feel guilty that you’re basically putting everything you have into my business. I wish you’d let me take out a loan so that you’re not using every cent you have.”

  He wraps his arm around me, “Babe, I’d do anything for you. Money’s only paper, and we can always make more. Besides, I’m going to put you to work to earn it all back once the place is open, so don’t sweat it.”

  I playfully punch him in the arm. “Whatever, Chase Taylor! You are so silly.”

  He leans in and kisses me, but we’re rudely interrupted by Cam. “Ewww! That’s so gross. Are you guys swapping spit with each other? I saw your tongue in each other’s mouths!”

  “What?” I wipe my mouth. “We were doing no such thing, Cam! Go back and play with your toys.”

  “You guys were licking tongues!” he insists. “That’s so disgusting. Why would anyone want to lick tongues? You’re gross mom and dad!”

  “What are we going to do with him?” Chase sighs.

  “I don’t know? Keep him?”

  “Yeah, he’s definitely a keeper.”

  Epilogue

  5 Years Later

  Rushing around to get the salon opened on time, I realize that I forgot to pack Cam’s lunch for his field trip today.

  Shooting Chase a quick text, I ask him to take a sack lunch up to the school so Cam doesn’t starve all day while his fourth grade class visits the museum and goes to the park.

  “I’ve already got it covered. I made him a PB&J sandwich last night and put it in the fridge. He took it this morning before he left,” Chase texts back.

  I swear, I don’t know what I’d do without that man. I must be the luckiest woman in all of St. Louis because I’d be so lost without him.

  But I remember having this pregnancy brain when I was pregnant with Cam. The only difference is that I didn’t get this ditzy until I was about seven months pregnant with him.

  Later this afternoon, we’re going to go to our ultrasound appointment to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl. I’m hoping for a girl, but I’ll be happy as long as the baby’s healthy no matter what it is. Chase wants a boy, but that’s because he likes playing with Cam and he says they need another player.

  I’ve got the best husband on Earth and Cam has the best dad in the world. Chase adopted him right before Garrett finished serving his time. At first, we thought we were going to have to fight for the adoption because the law says that the biological dad must either sign over his rights or you have to prove he’s an unfit father.

  No judge would have any problem seeing him as an unfit father seeing his violent history, his record and the fact that he’s never supported Cam since our divorce, but it would have cost us a lot of money to prove all of that to the judge.

  Luckily for us, Garrett let us take the easy way out and signed over his parental rights to Chase, who proudly and eagerly accepted them.

  All morning, we’re swamped at the salon because word of mouth has traveled so fast around the metro area. We’re fully booked with all of our stylists and I’m looking to hire two more. The main problem is that I’m very selective in who I have working here because we have the best hair stylists around. Chase and I have hired some of the most talented people that we could find, and they’re a great bunch to work with.

  By the time my afternoon appointment rolls around, I’m starving and ready for lunch. I’m not sure if the sensation in my belly is hunger from my stomach rumbling, or if it’s the baby finally starting to move.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, please follow me,” the nurse emerges with our chart in her hand.

  She makes me hop on the dreaded scale, which I never look at. I always close my eyes. It’s bad enough that you develop cankles when you’re pregnant and you pee all the time, but then they want to weigh you in like you’re livestock. I hate the whole process. I just want our sweet baby to be born already so we can meet him or her, and play with the baby all the time.

  “Same as last time, Mrs. Taylor. Good job,” the nurse says. “We’re going to put you in room three today. The doctor will be in soon. Go ahead and put this on, please.”

  Lovely, the wonderful paper gowns that we’re all dying to get into when our normal clothes don’t fit. It’s like, “Here, we know cotton no longer stretches around your swollen abdomen. Let’s see if you can bust through this paper.”

  I change into the awful paper gown and try to cover myself as best as possible while Chase and I wait for the doctor to come in.

  “You know what, Chase? I might have to get my wedding ring sized. It barely fits because I’m retaining so much water, and I’m only 20 weeks!”

  “It’s okay, babe. We’ll resize it every month if that’s what you need. I’ll make the trips to the jeweler myself.”

  We’re interrupted by a knock on the door when Dr. Grayson waltzes in. “Good news, we’re going to find out if your baby has an innie or an outtie today!”

  She’s having way too much fun with this, but I don’t mind because I’m super excited, too. First, I want to find out that the baby’s growing properly, and then I want to know the gender so we can start picking out names.

  A plop of cold jelly hits my stomach, making me jump.

  “It’s okay,” she says. “It’ll warm up in just a minute as I move it around with the wand, and as soon as I’m done, you can get all cleaned up. Just bare with me because it gets kind of messy.”

  Within a few minutes, we see our tiny baby floating around on the screen. It’s hard to make out what everything is but Dr. Grayson stops often to take pictures and measurements, and explains what we’re looking at.

  “Everything appears to be normal. You might even be a week further along than we originally estimated, but we won’t know that for sure until we do your next ultrasound at eight months. Would you like to know what you’re having?”

  Chase and I are both nodding and grinning like a couple of bobbleheads.

  She zooms in on the sex of the baby and smiles. “Well, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, it looks like you’re going to be the proud parents of a sweet baby girl in a few months.”

  My heart swells with joy, and I’m ecstatic. I know it’s not the news that Chase was hoping to hear but his smile appears even bigger than mine.

  “Would you like some pictures to take home to show off?”

  “Yes, please! Everyone’s dying to see these pictures.”

  She prints out a few snapshots that she took and hands them to me. “Here’s your baby. You can go ahead and get cleaned up. I’ll need to see you back in one month, so don’t forget to schedule your appointment before you leave because we book up pretty fast.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” I say, grinning at the pictures.

  On our way home, Chase and I begin discussing names. “We can get a ba
by book if you’d like and start picking out some names,” he offers.

  “I don’t need a baby book. I know what I’m going to name her.”

  “You do, huh? I don’t get a say in any of this?”

  I smile as he kisses my hand. “Of course, you do. If you don’t like my name, we can figure out something else.”

  “What name did you have in mind?” he asks.

  “Evelyn,” I say proudly.

  “Evelyn? Why that name? Isn’t that an ‘old’ person’s name?” he throws up hand quotes.

  “It is. It’s after my grandma. We can call her Evie.”

  He smiles at me, “Evelyn, it is,” he agrees.

  “That’s it?” I ask. “You’re not going to argue or try to come up with a different name?”

  “Nope. Sounds like you’ve got your mind made up, and I like the sound of Evie. It’s a cute name. What will her middle name be?”

  “How about Judith?” I suggest.

  “Evelyn Judith Taylor. I like that,” he says. “We’ll tell Cam when he gets home from school. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to know that he’s going to have a little sister.”

  “Thanks, babe. I love you. Do you know that?”

  “I love you more,” he says. “And don’t try to argue, because it’s true.”

  “You’re crazy, but I’ll let you believe whatever you want if that’s what makes you happy,” I kiss his cheek.

  About the Author

  Vivian Ward was born in Brooklyn, New York but now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up the daughter of a single mother, her life was a struggle from day to day. When things got hard, she retreated to her room where she would write about fantasy worlds that would take her away from reality. Even as an adult, her passion for writing never went away and now she hopes to share it with the world.

  www.authorvivianward.com

  vivian@authorvivianward.com

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