One Call Away

by Emily Goodwin

  “I’m pretty sure it’s true,” I say and turn on the water. “So we have to hurry.”

  “You’re lucky I already fucked you.” He comes into the bathroom and runs his eyes up and down my body. “You are beautiful, Sierra.”

  We get in the shower and wash quickly. Since Chase had planned on staying the night with me, he brought clothes. We change into PJs and go into the kitchen.

  “I have homemade cheesecake from my parents,” I start and open the fridge. “Do you want any?”

  “Yeah, sounds good.”

  I pull the dish from the fridge not a moment too soon. Thunder booms and the power goes out.

  “Hang on,” I say and feel my way to the kitchen sink, dropping down and opening the cabinet beneath it. I turn on a flashlight and use it to locate my candles.

  “Those lanterns come in handy,” Chase says after we stick candles in them throughout the house.

  “I know, right? I’ve been told I have too many as decorations, but look at this. So practical. The cats won’t get into the flames this way.”

  The wind is blowing against the back of the house, so we take our cheesecake and a blanket to the front porch. We sit close together on the bench, eating in silence as we watch the storm rage on around us.

  I look at Chase as lightning flashes, illuminating his handsome face. Lisa is wrong. There is nothing off about him. At all. And if there were…I don’t think I’d care.

  20

  Chase

  “The twins are measuring a week ahead. Melissa is getting induced Friday unless she goes into labor before then,” Josh tells me. It’s Monday night and the bar is slow, as expected. The regulars are all here, drinking away their problems like usual.

  “Is that a good thing to measure ahead?”

  “It’s not bad, and actually matches with what we thought was the original conception date.”

  “You remember the day?”

  Josh lets out a snort of laughter. “Unlike you, I wasn’t getting it every night. Dakota went through a phase of only falling asleep if she was held and would end up in our bed. Melissa and I didn’t get many opportunities. We took what we could get, and it resulted in identical twins.”

  “They weren’t planned?” I can’t help but ask. Accidental pregnancies might be on my mind.

  “Eh, not really, but we knew we wanted another kid someday. It happened sooner than we expected, though with pulling out being our lazy way of preventing, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”

  His words hit me and I feel the blood drain from my face.

  “Y’all too?” he laughs. “What the fuck are you thinking? You know that shit doesn’t really work. I’m surprised Sierra lets you—nope, don’t want to go there.”

  And now I’m laughing. “I can’t even fucking think about it.”

  “I hope you don’t have to, but seriously, did you miss sex ed in school? Or maybe you’re hoping for a little Chase. You and Sierra would make nice babies.”

  “Not fucking funny, dude.”

  “Oh it is. To me.” Josh turns and goes to another customer, and a group of middle-aged women come in the doors making a beeline to the bar. One sees me, smiles, and keeps walking, but the other two come to a standstill. Smiles realizes her friends stopped, and turns, wondering what’s going on. They shake their heads and look at me, trying to warn Smiles about something. She rolls her eyes and comes up, ordering three beers.

  Now that she’s in front of me, I recognize her as one of the waitresses from Suzy’s cafe. Her hair is down now, and she has quite a bit of makeup on. I bring them their drinks and move away, wiping up spilled whiskey. Over the music, I can hear the women talking.

  “Sierra Belmont is dating him,” one whispers.

  “How did he land a Belmont?” another quips. “I mean, he’s good-looking, but—” Her voice is cut off by laughter coming from the opposite end of the bar.

  “Sierra’s a smart girl, if she feels safe around him, we should too,” the waitress says firmly, and I wipe the same spot over again just to listen. They turn their conversation to the upcoming Fourth of July festival. I move on, and the night goes by slowly. Around ten o’clock, Melissa calls Josh and says she’s not feeling well. Apologizing more than once for making me close by myself, he leaves in a rush and texts me an hour later to say they think Melissa is in labor and are headed up to the hospital now.

  I’m happy for my brother and excited to have two nephews that I’ll know from the start this time around. By eleven-thirty, the bar is empty except for the local drunks, and after finding them rides home, I close down and am upstairs by midnight. I text Sierra, not wanting to call and wake her up, then get in the shower.

  I check my phone before going to bed. Sierra hasn’t texted me back, leading me to assume she’s sleeping. Thinking about her lying in bed, eyes closed, looking innocent yet still sexy as fuck at the same time brings a smile to my face.

  With the image of Sierra on my mind, I open my voicemail. Sierra and I have a good thing going. I need to delete these messages and pretend it never happened. Or maybe I should listen to them one more time, commit them to memory so I don’t fuck up again.

  Sierra never told me about her brother in Orlando. I heard it on a message and slipped up. I can’t be that careless again. What she’s told me and what I’ve heard from the messages blur together in my brain. I need to forget everything I wasn’t supposed to hear.

  Or better yet, I could come clean. Almost clean? Tell her I listened to the first one then deleted the rest. It doesn’t sound as bad. I sigh and look at the messages. There are more that I haven’t listened to, and that last message calls to me.

  Why is it the last?

  What made Sierra finally stop calling?

  “It doesn’t matter,” I tell myself out loud. I need to delete them all. Move on and not bring this up again until Sierra and I are happily married with a kid or two. It’ll be a thing of the past and she’ll be annoyed for half a day then get over it because clearly we were meant to meet and end up together.

  Whoa.

  The thought comes so naturally to me it’s jarring. I feel so strongly for Sierra already and know I’ll never meet another woman like her in my life. I have to delete the messages.

  My other phone rings, and I snatch it off the nightstand. I haven’t heard back from Jax, and I’m starting to worry. When I see Beth’s number and not Jax’s, the worry intensifies. Not wanting to talk to her, I let the call go to voicemail. She leaves a message, and my heart is in my throat when I push play.

  “Chase, baby,” she starts and I can tell right away she’s drunk. Beth is usually drunk. “Where the fuck are you? I haven’t had a decent lay since the last time we were together. Fucking hell, I miss your cock. You better not be dead.”

  There was a time when her dirty-talk was a turn on in an I-know-I’m-getting-some sense. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed sex with Beth, as well as with the previous women I dated or hooked up with. Compared to what I have with Sierra…it’s all nothing. Am I finally seeing the difference between fucking and making love? I always thought the latter would be lame, tender, boring sex, but it couldn’t be further from the truth with Sierra. I’m fucking her, that’s for sure, but it’s more than physical.

  I put the phone back down and get situated under the covers. After half an hour of lying in bed wide awake, I get up and go into the main living area. The cabinets in the kitchen are dated, with the oak stained a dusty-colored brown. The wallpaper in lieu of a backsplash is ugly and peeling, and the original hardwood floors are in need of some major TLC before they have to be replaced completely.

  Dark paneling has been put up along one wall, covering the brick. It’s dark, cheap, and makes this place feel like a time capsule back to the early 80s. It makes me cringe every time I see it, and the smell of musk clings to the compressed wood. If I’m going to make this place mine, I need to make some changes.

  “Wow,” Sierra says, stepping over a pile of brok
en paneling. “You’re making good progress.”

  I rip another piece of paneling off the wall and toss it with the rest. I was up until four am last night tearing shit apart and picked up where I left off when I got up.

  “The brick is in good shape,” I note, moving to the last section to tear off. “I was a little worried there was a reason it was covered up.”

  Sierra comes closer and touches the wall. I know her well enough now to know exactly what’s running through her mind. These walls have seen so much over the decades. I remove the last piece of paneling and toss it into the pile. Despite the air conditioner being on, the sunlight has warmed up this space and I’m sweating from the physical labor. I wipe sweat from my face and chest, and Sierra goes to the fridge, getting me a glass of ice water.

  “Thanks,” I tell her and drink it all.

  “Seeing you all hot, sweaty, and shirtless is turning me on,” she tells me, biting her lip and running her fingers over her stomach, which is exposed from the crop top she’s wearing. “Just add a hardhat and a tool belt and I’d feel like I just walked onto a porn set.”

  “I can roll with that,” I say and grab her by the waist. Sierra hooks her arms around me, widening her legs and pressing her hips into mine. “Well, ma’am, I’ve just finished the renovations on your apartment and need to collect my payment.”

  “Oh no,” she says, shaking her head. “I don’t have any money. Is there any other way I can pay you?”

  She’s naked and on top of me in a matter of seconds, and we end up on the floor between the couch and the large window. We’re both sweaty when we’re done and get in the shower together.

  “What time do you have to go to the bar tonight?” Sierra asks me as we get dressed.

  “Around nine. Earlier if it’s busy.”

  Sierra makes a face. “It might be busy. There’s a town meeting tonight about the Fourth of July Fest at seven. They usually last an hour or so and everyone needs a drink after.”

  I laugh as I pull on boxers and sit on the bed. Sierra skips her bra and puts her shirt back on. The faint outline of her nipples is visible, making me want to fuck her all over again. “Do you go to those meetings?”

  “I have before. Lisa and I had the bright idea to be on the town council a few years ago. They take that shit seriously. We got off it as fast as we could.”

  “What’s the deal with the Fourth of July Fest? I heard people talking about it at the bar last night.”

  “The town shuts pretty much down for the day. There’s a parade in the morning, a cookout, drinking, and dancing during the day, and then fireworks at night. Last year Josh hosted the after-party in the bar’s parking lot. It was a lot of fun. Since the babies are due close to the holiday, someone else is doing it this year. Speaking of babies, have you heard from him at all?”

  “The last I heard Melissa got her epidural and was getting ready to push.” I make a face at the thought, and Sierra mirrors it.

  “That’s exciting! But I can’t imagine pushing two babies in a row like that. Do you know what names they picked out?”

  “They had a few picked out but weren’t choosing until they met the boys. We can go visit them tomorrow if you want.”

  “Are they at Mercy?”

  “Yeah.”

  Sierra’s face pales. “I don’t think…the last time…” Her eyes flutter closed and she takes a breath before looking at me. “The last time I was at Mercy, I held Jake’s hand as he died. I…I don’t think I can go back yet. I’m sorry.”

  Her words bring hurt to my heart. Both at her loss—I didn’t know she watched him die, that she saw him take his final breath—and that what we have isn’t enough. It’s stupid, and probably immature to think I could love her enough to erase the pain of the past. But that’s what she’s doing to me.

  “I understand and don’t be sorry. We can see them at home.”

  “You should go,” she says. “I can tell you want to, and I think it’s sexy you want to see your nephews.”

  “I’ll make sure to send you pictures of myself holding the babies then.”

  Sierra gives me a coy smile. “Make sure you do.”

  I grab a shirt from the closet and put it on. “You said you like to decorate, right?”

  “I love to.”

  “Once I get this place updated, want to help me decorate?”

  Sierra’s eyes light up. “Um, yes!” I don’t have to say it for Sierra to understand, which solidifies how right we are for each other. I don’t say it, but she knows.

  I want this place to be home.

  Sierra was right. After the town council meeting let out, everyone came here. I don’t quite understand why a town of roughly three thousand needs this many fucking people on the council, either. For a solid two hours, we’re nonstop busy.

  Almost everyone asks me about Josh, Melissa, and the babies. And they all seen disappointed I don’t have any updates. And a handful of them eye me apprehensively, tensing when I come to their table or bring them a drink, similar to the women last night.

  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this town is fucking weird.

  It’s going on eleven when I get time for a break. I hurry up the stairs to Sierra, who’s been busy mapping out exactly how she wants to decorate this place. She went home to take care of her cats and get overnight stuff and brought along her computer and several interior decorating magazines to flip through, keeping busy while I worked downstairs.

  She’s on the couch, wearing sleeper shorts and a tank top, with a blanket draped over her shoulders. The blanket is light pink and has a big rainbow-colored unicorn in the middle. She brought it over as a joke since I don’t have throw blankets for the couch. But once we decorate, she’ll get a stylish one, she promised.

  “Hey, babe,” she says, looking up from her computer. “Sounds busy down there.”

  “It is. Those council members are an interesting crowd.”

  She laughs and sets her computer on the coffee table. “That’s a nice way to put it. Your phone was ringing. Someone called a few times.”

  I reach into my pocket for my phone, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, the other phone.”

  “Yeah, the other one. It’s probably an old girlfriend begging you to come back to her, isn’t it?”

  My arms fasten around Sierra’s waist. I don’t think I’m going to make it back to the bar. “Probably. But she’s got nothing on my new girlfriend.”

  Sierra’s eyes light up and she smiles before kissing me. We haven’t talked about titles or exclusivity. I think it went unsaid. Though saying the title out loud is fucking nice.

  “No,” Sierra whispers. “She doesn’t.”

  We kiss again and then Sierra tells me what she has planned. Time goes too fast, and I have to go back to the bar. I grab my phone on my way out and see it was Jax who called. Three times. I step outside by the river and call him back.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” he answers on the second ring. “Chase Henson lives.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” I say back, grinning. “What kind of shit are you in now?”

  “Remember the set of Lambos we took back in Chicago?”

  “That’s kind of hard to forget.”

  “Right? That’s the problem. The guys we took them from want them back.”

  I run my hand through my hair. “Of fucking course. But we don’t have them.”

  “I tried to tell them that. Tried to say why we took them in the first place, and it only made things worse. It was, what, six…seven months ago? Those assholes must have made a couple good deals since then and are putting a cash prize on my head.”

  “Fucking hell. Did you talk to Jefferson?”

  “He’s on vacation. In fucking Europe. For three weeks. Who the fuck goes to Europe for three weeks?”

  “We did. I think we were there longer.”

  “Shit. Right. I need to lay low until he’s back and can get those assholes properly dealt with. Where the hell are you?” he asks.


  “Summer Hill, Mississippi.”

  “Still? Beth said you went to deal with family shit. What the fuck is taking so long?”

  “My dad died.”

  “Fuck. I’m sorry, Chase.”

  “Thanks, but it’s fine. I was never close to him.”

  “Yeah,” Jax goes on. “But he’s your fucking father. So, what are you still doing there?”

  “Helping my brother. His wife is in labor with twins as we speak. Where are you?”

  “Indianapolis. I’m making my way to Miami to wait out the remainder of the three weeks on a fuck-cation with Jackie Sullivan.”

  “That chick you recovered the necklaces for?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Isn’t she like fifty?”

  “Don’t talk shit about her.”

  I laugh. “Easy tiger.”

  “Only problem is her husband is home for a few more days before going on a business trip. Mind if I stop by for a day or two?”

  “No. It’ll be good to see you.” I give him the address, and before we hang up, Jax asks me one more question.

  “What the fuck is really going on? You fall off the grid then pop up in the middle of nowhere in the south. Are you being held against your will by your inbred relatives?”

  “Fuck you, and goodnight. See ya later.”

  I met Jax when I took a job in Reno. Our line of work is solitary, dangerous, and makes it hard to trust anyone. Jax helped me out of a bind, and I returned the favor. We realized how well we work together, and how we could actually get more money by taking on more jobs as a team. He’s the only person besides Josh and Sierra I consider a friend. I’d be lying to say a part of me didn’t miss him.

  But an even bigger part thinks having him come here is a bad fucking idea.

  21

  Sierra

  “Stay here.”

  “What?” I mumble, confused why Chase is telling me to stay in bed. Like I had any intention of getting out. The sun is just starting to rise and we left the window cracked so we could better hear the river. I could stay in bed all day and it wouldn’t be long enough.