For The Love of Easton : A Single Parent Romance and Sequel to For The Love of English

by A. M. Hargrove

  Dad became serious all of a sudden. “English, enjoy every minute you have with Easton. In one blink, she’ll be headed to college and you’ll wonder where the time went.”

  I looked up into his soft gaze. “It’s already flying by. I can’t believe she’s six.”

  “She’s a great kid and you have yourself to be proud of for that.”

  “Come on, you two had a hand in it too.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe a little, but it was mostly you. You did the hard work.”

  “And I had the best role models in you and Mom.” I hugged him with all the strength I could muster.

  Tristian and Easton ran back into the room as he chased her. She was laughing her head off, and when I saw the tiara propped on his head, I joined in.

  Dad chuckled. “Would you look at them?”

  “He’s nothing but an overgrown kid.” I shook my head, but was thrilled to see Tristian enjoying this so much. This was what he’d never had growing up. My heart danced as I observed them.

  “You couldn’t ask for anyone better with her.”

  “She loves him more than she loves me.”

  “Tell me about it. That’s how you were with your mother. She always put you under the rainbow.”

  It was true. I remembered telling Dad that so many times. “You can thank me for playing matchmaker.”

  “Yep, which was why I returned the favor.” I had no comeback as he smiled smugly.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Tristian

  My phone tweeted and I saw it was Landry. “Hey, little bro, what’s up?”

  “You better come over here. We got some news from the police. They’re on the way too.”

  “Let me grab English and we’ll head over. We’re at work so it may take a little longer.”

  English’s nose was almost pressed against her computer screen.

  “Do you need glasses?” I asked.

  She jerked at my voice. “Jeez, you scared me. I didn’t hear you walk in.”

  “Sorry. But seriously, your nose was right up there.”

  “Yeah, I was working on this tiny detail. I have glasses but hate them.”

  “We’ll get you a better pair. We have to go. The police are on the way to the house of horrors and we need to get over there.”

  She grabbed her purse, told Beck we were headed out, and we left. Traffic was light since it was late morning, which made the trip up shorter than expected. When we arrived, several cars were in the drive.

  Everyone waited for us in my father’s old office. Glum expressions clued me into the fact that the news probably wouldn’t be in our favor.

  After introductions were made, Clayton began. “I wanted everyone here to hear the conclusions. Even though we know both cars were tampered with, there isn’t enough proof to say who did it. Since your mother had access to all vehicles and could have driven the silver Mercedes at any time, it’s feasible to assume she’d driven it sometime in the past. Her prints could go back prior to when this took place.”

  Then Detective Randolph, who was assigned to our case, continued. “Mr. Summers is correct. We’d like to bring her in for questioning, but if she refuses, there isn’t any legal way we can compel her to come. One thing we don’t have is any video surveillance. Do you have security cameras out here?”

  Stanton hit the desk he leaned against with his crutch. “Dammit, how could we have forgotten about that? Of course we have video. Dad upgraded the system a couple of years ago, so it’s quite sophisticated.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t get too excited. I’m pretty sure they erased the footage from those days.”

  Stanton’s smug expression clued us into that meant nothing. “If they did, it’s not a problem. When Dad upgraded, he went all the way. After thirty days everything is then stored on the cloud. Unless they have access to that, which they don’t, then we’ve got them.”

  Randolph held up a hand. “I don’t want to be a bubble-burster, but sometimes the cameras don’t catch everything if they aren’t positioned properly.”

  Stanton chuckled. “Don’t worry, they will be. They’re set to scan every minute or so. In other words, they’re not stationary. As I said, Dad went all out. And now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if he suspected something.”

  I was thinking the same thing. “Maybe he did and that’s why he did such an extensive upgrade.”

  “Do you have the login information?” Randolph asked Stanton.

  “I do. I can share it so you can check it out someplace else.”

  Stanton grabbed a piece of paper off the desk and scribbled down the information. Then he handed it to the detective.

  “I’ll get to work on this immediately and let’s keep this under the radar,” Randolph said. “If they suspect anything, they might be in the wind.”

  We all agreed and the detective and Clayton left.

  After Landry walked them out, I said, “I can’t see our mother getting her hands dirty under the hood of a car. I say she had help with this. What do you think?” My question was directed at my brothers.

  Stanton nodded. “Agreed. Mother wouldn’t even give us candy when we were kids. She didn’t want her hands to get sticky. So digging under the hood of a car? I can’t see it either. Running someone off the road, yeah, but not the other.”

  Landry rubbed his chin. Then his finger popped up. “What if she paid someone to do it? Like Grady, our mechanic?”

  “I thought of that too, but would he agree? Grady is a stand-up guy, or seems like it anyway. I’m almost positive Sherman would do it. Or he could’ve hired someone to do it. But I’d lay money down that Mother and Sherman were in this together.” My statement had all eyes turned in my direction. “The day English and I came out here, Mother walked into this office like she’d just gotten out of bed with someone. When I asked her who it was, she basically admitted it was Sherman. Thus, he had just as much motive as she did. His client was a major source of income, but with Dad out of the way, and potentially you, Stanton, Mom stood to inherit the money. Or so they thought. But when they found out about the codicil, and that Dad had outwitted them, all their plans crashed.”

  English gaped. “That’s awful.”

  “Greed makes people do awful things,” I said.

  Stanton, who was leaning against the desk, stood. “So now what? Sherman is a wily fox and won’t fall for any traps we might set. How do we get them to admit their guilt?”

  “We wait to see what the videos show. If he or Mother are on it, then they’re busted.” A smile curved my mouth. “And if it doesn’t, why not set a trap for them? We can beat them at their game.”

  “How? Any ideas?” Landry asked.

  Nodding, I said, “We know they wanted Stanton removed since they thought he would be the beneficiary. Then they wanted English out of the way because she stood to inherit since she’s my wife. Going for both of them again would be too obvious. That leaves me because I am in control of the money. But the question is how? Will they try another car accident? It’s highly unlikely since they had two failures, not to mention it would be too obvious.”

  “Then what? Poison?” Stanton asked with a slight chuckle.

  “I wouldn’t put anything past those two,” I answered.

  “You can’t be serious?” English squeaked.

  “Oh, I am. They killed Dad, tried for you and Stanton. They won’t stop until they succeed.”

  “Tristian, I don’t like this at all.” English touched my arm then held on to it. Her frown lines were gorges between her eyes.

  I pulled her next to me. “Don’t worry, starshine. Nothing will happen to me or anyone else. I promise.”

  “I’m really scared.” She tightened her grip around my arm. “If they are the ones doing it, they need to be stopped, but you have to be careful.”

  What I didn’t tell her was I was frightened too, but not for myself. My concern was for Easton and her.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  English />
  The next couple of days passed with sleepless nights. Every time I drifted off, images of Tristian lying dead in a ditch somewhere awakened me. It was horrific. I’d run to warn him, but my legs were mired in mud and I couldn’t get there. Then I’d see his lifeless body and wake up with a start.

  Detective Randolph finally called and asked us to meet him at the station. We were both eager to get there and learn if he’d discovered our criminal.

  We were led to a small conference room and when everyone arrived, he sat down with a file folder filled with papers. “Your father must’ve known something was going on. Not only were there security cameras on the exterior of the house, he installed two in your mother’s bedroom. She, erm, entertained her friend there quite often, and they weren’t shy about what they discussed. Luckily, your father suspected something. While the video won’t be admissible, the audio is.”

  Tristian impatiently said, “Let’s cut to the chase. Did we get them?”

  Randolph scoffed. “We got them all right. Take a look at the transcripts from their conversations.” He passed out copies of it and waited while we read. They’d damned themselves with their carelessness. The tension in the room grew to a sizzling point. It was difficult to tell who was more pissed off—Stanton or Tristian.

  When everyone finished, Stanton said, “I’d like to put my hands around their necks.”

  I flinched at his vicious words, but Tristian patted the top of my thigh.

  “I know what you mean, but it wouldn’t solve anything,” I said. We glanced at each other.

  Stanton said, “I disagree. It would give me pleasure for them to look into my eyes knowing why I was doing it.”

  Detective Randolph cleared his throat. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. We’re planning to bring them both in for questioning. I’m assuming you read the part where they also blackmailed your auto mechanic into helping them. They’ll be charged for that too.”

  “Will arrests be made?” Tristian asked. “I’m curious about this because now you have solid evidence.”

  “We are presenting this to the DA to see if we can get arrest warrants.”

  Stanton asked, “When will we know?”

  “Hopefully in a day or so. I’m fairly certain we’ll get what we need.”

  We left and went back to work. Tristian was silent as he drove.

  “Are you okay with all this?” I was worried because he was usually more talkative.

  “Fuck, no. I knew she was a terrible mother and had no feelings for her children, but this? Having proof my mother is a murderer makes me sick. And that fucking lover of hers. They killed my father for what? They gained nothing from it.”

  “Only because your father outsmarted them.”

  “True, but you almost died because of it. He never should’ve married the witch.”

  “I’m glad he did because if he hadn’t I wouldn’t have you.”

  His hand clasped mine and I prayed he felt the positive energy flowing from me. “What would I do without you?”

  “Don’t look at me, buster. Just drive.”

  “You’re my favorite distraction.”

  “You’re mine too, but eyes on the road.”

  We made it back to the office and Dad asked how everything had gone. I gave my head a slight shake, but Tristian gave him all the details. His voice trembled a bit as he told the story.

  “I’m speechless,” Dad said. “I knew you suspected it, but when the cold facts are revealed, it’s a different story. Why don’t you two go home and take the rest of the day off? Working when your mind is on overload with this information is impossible.”

  “You’re right. Come on, Tristian, let’s get out of here.”

  We stopped at a restaurant en route to the house and ate lunch. Then I asked if there was anything Tristian would like to do.

  “Yeah, be alone with my wife. I need to get my mind off this and there’s only one way to do it.” His half-lidded stare got my lady bits tingling.

  “Hmm, you sure?”

  “I’ve never been more sure.”

  We got home and raced to the bedroom. I only had a couple of hours until it was time to pick Easton up from school. But those were some amazing hours.

  Tristian initiated things, but I stopped him. This was his time, his place, to forget things and I would do my best to make it happen. I stripped off his clothes and licked my lips when his cock sprang free. My mouth watered at the sight and I wrapped my lips around it and listened to him sigh. As I sucked him and pumped his cock, his sighs turned into deep groans.

  I didn’t want to waste his orgasm in my mouth, so I took off my underwear and slid his erect cock inside of me and rode him hard. He caught my rhythm and we rocked ourselves to an epic climax. His hand pressed my hips against him and he flipped me over. Then his mouth invaded mine. He was possessive and demanding as his tongue torched my body.

  Flames rippled up my flesh and when his lips encircled my nipple, I arched into him. My fingers blazed a path up his back and landed in his hair, and my nails found purchase on his scalp as his mouth moved to my clit. Tristian was a generous lover, and he was even more so this time. He nipped me with soft kisses, causing me to moan, and then his kisses became more purposeful. He tunneled inside me with his fingers as he flicked my nub repeatedly with his tongue. It wasn’t long before I soared into another orgasm.

  His eyes locked onto mine as I lay there breathless and panting. “I love you, English. More than I ever thought possible. You make me forget where I came from, who I am, and what I was. I’m a new man with you.”

  I caressed his cheek as my heart flipped inside me. “I want so much for us, for you. I want our home to be something you never had. A haven, a place where love shines every day.”

  “It will because it already does. I see you with Easton and know what love is. I didn’t understand the true meaning of unconditional love until I met you. You’ve changed everything in my life, everything I ever wanted. I was a guy wandering around, with a camera in hand, snapping pictures of things I thought were beautiful. Nothing was beautiful in my life before you. Now, everything is because of you.”

  My arms locked around his neck and I kissed him. “You’re my reason to love. Loving a man didn’t seem like a thing I would ever consider. But with you, it’s a part of me. I can’t imagine not loving you. And Easton is crazy about her daddy.”

  His smile wiped away every fear I held in my heart and soul. “I hope someday, you and I can make lots of Eastons. It doesn’t have to be now, but I’m ready whenever you are. I want to be a good father, one who’s around like yours was and is.”

  “Oh, honey, you already are. Easton dotes on every one of your words, and the way she loves to play with you is telling. She wouldn’t have anything to do with you if she didn’t love you.”

  His mouth dipped to touch mine. “Good, then how about we practice?”

  “Practice?”

  “Yup. Making a few more Eastons. I think four or five more would be perfect.”

  The laugh that erupted was contagious. He joined in a few seconds later. His wishes put me at ease and my worries vanished that afternoon.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Tristian

  It took another week before I heard back from the police. I ran into English’s office, only she wasn’t there. My next stop was the kitchen. She was standing in front of the coffee maker, brewing a cup.

  “Hey.” Her smile could be the cause of global warming if they ever investigated it.

  “Hey back. Guess what? I just got off the phone with Detective Randolph. They’re headed out there right now to arrest my mother and Sherman, if he’s there. I doubt he is. My guess is he’s fled the coop.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  I shrugged. “Just a wild theory.”

  “Let’s hope not. I want them both caught. They need to pay for what they did.”

  Later that day, Clayton called. He wanted to give us an update of what h
ad happened with the arrests.

  “Did they get them?” I asked.

  “They did. Fortunately for us, they were both, er, indisposed when the police showed up. They had to wait for them to get dressed.”

  “For fuck’s sake. What time was that?”

  “Late morning, I assume. But they’re both in custody now.”

  My breath whistled out from between my teeth. “That’s a relief. No more worries about any of us getting hurt.”

  “Or ending up dead. I’m very sorry about your father, Tristian. I didn’t tell you before, but this whole plot is psycho.”

  “Greed will do that. My mother was crazy her entire life, the coldest person I’ve ever known. But I truly never thought she’d stoop this low.”

  “No one ever does when murder is involved. Just ask the cops and they’ll tell you. Most of the time it’s a family member who committed the crime. I hate it happened to you.”

  “Thanks. So do I.”

  “I’ll be in touch if I hear anything else.” We ended the call after that.

  I sat at my desk, thinking the whole thing through and wondering how it had gone so wrong.

  “Why so gloomy, mister?” English walked in, making me smile. “Looks like someone needs to be put back under the rainbow.”

  “Now that you’re here I’m already under it.”

  “Good, but I have something for you anyway.” She pulled a large piece of paper out from behind her back and presented it to me. On it were two big people and one small one. They were standing underneath a rainbow. “It’s from you know who. She wanted you to have this so you could be under the rainbow with her every day.”

  I swallowed the clot in my throat as it threatened to choke me with tears. What kind of grown man cried when his step-daughter gave him a drawing? What in the everloving fuck was wrong with me?

  “Hey there, you okay?”

  My head rapidly went up and down, and I was sure I would nod it right off my neck. After clearing my throat a couple of times, I said, “Fine, I’m fine. This is… I, uh, don’t really have the words to express what’s in my heart.” I buried my head in my hands, doing my best not to look the fool.