by Tonya Brooks
Mark knew he had no business getting involved with a woman he didn't intend to marry when that was what she wanted and needed. It wasn't fair to her or Kylie and he wasn't selfish enough to take advantage of either one of them. Which left him right back where he'd started, he realized in defeat.
She was right, dammit. He'd be her friend and business partner, but anything more was out of the question. Desi would find a nice man who wanted a family and they'd still be friends and partners. It wasn't like he'd lose either one of them. They just wouldn't need him as much. Somehow that thought made him angry and this time, he pounded the pillow harder.
Chapter Six
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The next morning, Mark had Luke join him in the library while the kids were eating breakfast and asked bluntly, “Can a man get a court order to test a child's paternity if the mother doesn't want him to?”
Luke sat down heavily in a reading chair and demanded, “What the hell have you done?” He couldn't believe Mark had been careless enough to get a woman pregnant, especially after they'd witnessed the hell that Matt and Harley had been through.
“Not a damn thing,” Mark assured him when he realized what his brother was thinking. “I'm talking about Kylie's father.”
“What about him?” he asked with a frown.
“Desi called me last night, completely freaked out because he showed up demanding to see the kid and threatening to get a court order to prove she's his,” he explained angrily as he paced the length of the room. “Can you believe it? The bastard's got balls. Hell, he didn't even want her to begin with. What gives him the right to try and be a part of her life now?”
Luke understood the sentiment. Kylie's father seemed like a first class bastard after the way he'd treated Desi, and he had a hard time trying to imagine him wanting to be a part of Kylie's life after he'd paid her to have an abortion. “I wouldn't worry about it too much,” he advised. “It's not unheard of for a judge to rule against a mother in a case like this, but it’s not very likely either.”
Mark stopped pacing, his expression hopeful. “You're sure?”
The attorney nodded solemnly. “Unless there are extenuating circumstances like neglect or abuse, there shouldn't be any reason for the court to grant his petition.”
“Desi's a great mother,” Mark defended adamantly. “She'd never abuse or neglect her own child... or anyone else's for that matter.”
Luke barely hid a grin of amusement at his protestations. It seemed the lady really had gotten to Mark, after all. The fact that he had volunteered to keep her daughter this week was a dead giveaway. His older brother spent a lot of time with Jed when their nephew was here, but he was family. The only reason he would have made such an offer had to be to impress her mother. It seemed that Desi had made quite an impression on Mark as well.
“Then she shouldn't have anything to worry about,” he announced and glanced at his watch. “Do you mind if I eat breakfast now? I've gotta be in court in an hour.”
“Yeah. Thanks, bro,” Mark replied in relief as he followed him to the kitchen.
~~~~
Later on in the morning, while the kids were playing in the tree house, Mark called Desi and when she answered, he asked in genuine concern, “Are you feeling better, Desi?”
“I'm not sure,” she admitted as she peered out the blinds at a car parked across the street. “Josie is convinced there’s a man watching the house.”
“What?” he expostulated incredulously. “Are you sure?”
“He's been sitting in a car across the street for the last couple of hours,” she admitted, her own tone worried and anxious. “Mark, I'm scared. What if he's still here when I move? If he follows me to Lakeside...”
“Don't even think about it,” he commanded in a reassuring tone. “Call the police and report him as a suspicious character. They'll make him leave.”
“We thought about that, but if they make him move then we won't know if he's still watching or not,” Desi explained, at a loss to handle the situation and near the end of her rope.
Which made sense but he sure as hell didn't like the idea of a strange man watching her. Kyle must have hired someone to keep an eye on her so she didn't try and disappear again. The bastard was smart, he'd give him that. They just had to figure out how to outsmart him. He needed to be there. “How long will it take you to pack your things?”
Desi didn't have any furniture and it wouldn't take her too long to pack what she and Kylie owned. “A few hours,” she admitted in confusion.
“Then start packing,” he advised. “I'll be there as soon as I can get a flight.”
“You're coming here?” she asked in disbelief that he would do such a thing.
“I'll call you when I've made the arrangements,” he said as he glanced at his watch. “Don't worry about anything, Desiree. I'll handle it.”
She stared at the phone in disbelief when he hung up. Desi was beyond shocked at this point. She couldn't imagine why Mark was coming or what he planned to do, but she knew instinctively that she could trust him to handle the situation. Desi had never met a man that she could depend on to be there for her when she needed him, and she didn't quite know what to make of it. Then again, she hadn't had the best examples in the past.
Her step-father had been the worst. Leonard had married her mother when Desi was six and made their lives a living hell. He didn't like children and considered his step-daughter a nuisance at best and was jealous of the attention that Renee lavished on her. The more he picked on Desi, the more her mother defended her, and Leonard actually began to despise the child. His animosity convinced Renee that they had no future together and the volatile Frenchwoman threatened to leave unless he started treating her daughter better.
Furious that she would even consider leaving him, and over the worthless bastard, as he called Desi, Leonard began to treat the child much better and even convinced his wife that he wanted to adopt her so they could be a real family. Renee was thrilled at his change of heart and readily agreed. That was when her husband showed his true colors. Now that Desi was legally his, he threatened to fight for custody if Renee ever dared leave him.
Hurt beyond belief that he could be so callous and cruel; Renee moved into the guest bedroom and refused to sleep with him again. That was when things went from bad to worse. Her step-father began to drink heavily and was both verbally and physically abusive to his wife and daughter.
Their marriage had been intolerable for years before the accident ever happened. Desi couldn't even remember why they had been in the car with him, but she'd never forget anything else about that night. Leonard had been drunk as usual and when he passed out behind the wheel, the car had kept on going straight when the road curved to the left. They had been airborne for endless seconds before the car had plummeted nose first into the river.
Renee had been terrified because she had witnessed what was happening and screamed a warning as she reached for the wheel, but it was too late. The car was going too fast to begin with and there was nothing she could do to prevent them from going over the embankment. The seatbelt kept her upright, but the force of the car hitting the surface of the water slammed her head against the passenger window hard enough to shatter the glass.
Disoriented from the blow and in excruciating pain, the frightened mother had realized the car was filling up with water. She managed to get out of her seat belt, lean over the back of the seat and unbuckle her terrified daughter. The sight of her mother’s face covered in blood frightened Desi even more and she clambered over the seat into her arms, the icy cold water pouring in all around them.
Renee had climbed out the window with Desi in her arms and swam with her over to the riverbank. She had instructed Desi to stay there while she went back to get Leonard. Traumatized by the accident, Desi had screamed and begged her mother not to leave her, but Renee knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she just let an unconscious man drown. Even if he was a worthless bastard. S
he swam back out to the car, her movements slowing from being submerged in the icy water as well as from loss of blood.
By the time she got there, Leonard had been revived by the cold water but was still too drunk to get out of his seatbelt and the car was filling up fast. His wife grasped the buckle and fought with it but it had jammed and she couldn't get it loose. Knowing there was nothing that she could do for him, she tried to get back out the window, but consumed by terror, Leonard grabbed her ankle and refused to let go. No matter how hard she kicked and fought, he wouldn't release her until the car filled completely full of water and he began to claw at the seat belt in desperation. Somehow he managed to get it open and forced his body out of the broken window and to the surface.
By this point a number of cars had stopped and several men rushed down the embankment to help. Desi kept screaming for her mother and two of the men dove in to try and find her when Leonard drug himself onto the bank and passed out again. They returned to shore with Renee's cold, lifeless body and no amount of CPR could revive her. Desi was in a state of shock and taken to the hospital for treatment before they released her into her step-fathers custody.
The coroner had ruled her death an accidental drowning, but Leonard knew the truth and couldn't bear to even look at himself in the mirror, much less at the child that reminded him of the woman that he had killed. He stayed drunk day and night, and vented his anger on the girl anytime she was within striking distance. He hated Desi as much as he hated himself, if not more, and he did everything he could to make her as miserable as he was, right up until the day she had left.
Desi had never really understood why her stepfather had hated her, but his abuse had left her vulnerable to the first man that had shown her affection. She'd never dated because there just wasn't time for a boyfriend. She went to school every day and worked two part time jobs in the evenings just to stay alive. And that was how she had met Kyle. He had come into the gas station where she worked and with his blonde good looks, she'd thought he was the most handsome man she'd ever seen.
When he had smiled at her and asked her name, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. When he asked her out, she nearly fainted. Guys like him did not date girls like her. He was a rich kid that was here for the summer and she was from the wrong side of town.
She had stammered a refusal that had only amused him and made him even more persistent. Kyle had loved a challenge and he was determined to get Desi. He kept coming by the convenience store and the video store where she worked, showering her with flowers and candy until she gave in and went out with him. He took her out to dinner and they sat there for hours just talking and for the first time in her life, she felt special, as if someone really cared about her. Kyle took her home, kissed her goodnight and told her to dream about him. Desi did and their second date was just as magical. They went to a movie and he kept his arm around her the entire time and by their third date, she was hopelessly in love.
That night, Kyle took her to a party and offered her a drink. She declined the alcohol so he got her a soft drink and after she drank it, they wound up dancing under the stars and she didn't remember anything after that until she woke up in a strange bed the next morning with him beside her. Desi had been mortified to discover that they had made love, but Kyle had laughed and kissed her and made love to her again before he took her home. Thankfully, Leonard had still been asleep when she crept inside the house to get dressed for work.
For the next two months, Desi spent every moment that she could with Kyle and then she realized her period was late. Terrified at the prospect, she took a pregnancy test and discovered that she was pregnant. Kyle had flipped out when she told him. He'd accused her of lying, sworn that she was trying to trap him, and kept insisting that it had to be someone else's baby. Desi had been hurt beyond belief that he could doubt her, that he could think she'd let someone else touch her and had declared her undying love for him. He had laughed nastily, called her trailer park trash, stopped his car and left her crying on the shoulder of the road.
Desi had walked home in despair; her naive dreams shattered along with her heart, and could not believe that he had treated her like that. What had happened to the charming man she had fallen in love with? And what was she going to do now? There was no way she could bring a baby into Leonard's home. As much as he hated her, he'd probably kill her and the baby if he found out that she was pregnant. Two days later, Kyle's father had arrived at the gas station with an envelope that he slapped on the counter in front of her. He told her to get an abortion and disappear before he walked out without another word.
Desi had counted the money with trembling hands and couldn't believe it. Mr. Chadwick had given her twenty thousand dollars. Twenty thousand! It was more money than she'd ever seen before and she couldn't believe it was real or that he expected her to destroy the child that she and Kyle had created. Stuffing the envelope in the waist of her jeans, as soon as her shift was over, Desi began walking home still in a state of shock and some rational part of her brain knew that Leonard would take the money away from her if he found out about it and she also knew there was nowhere in the house that she could hide it from him. Lord knows, she had tried often enough with her pitiful paychecks only to discover he had spent the bill money on alcohol.
Then she realized that she didn't have to go home ever again. She could take the money and move away from Leonard and his abuse. She could get on a bus and disappear like Mr. Chadwick had told her to. She could make a fresh start for herself and her baby and never have to see Leonard or Kyle again. Without a second’s hesitation, she headed to the bus station and boarded the first bus leaving town.
When it stopped in Miami, she got off and walked inside the terminal with the rest of the passengers and sat down on a bench, not knowing where to go or what to do. Desi had no idea how long she sat there before she felt someone sit down beside her and looked up into the most compassionate blue eyes she had ever seen. The other woman had simply said, 'You look like you could use a friend.' and Desi had broken down and began to cry.
Harley had taken her home with her and she and Josie had put her to bed and she'd slept around the clock. The next day, she took a shower, dressed in the clothes that Harley had thoughtfully provided and went down to the kitchen where Josie made her eat. The two women had listened patiently while she tried to explain and they had taken turns holding her while she cried. Josie had assured her that she had a home with them for as long as she wanted it and she'd never found a reason to leave. This was the first real home that she'd had since she was a child and thanks to Kyle, she was going to have to leave it.
Desi sighed wearily and told Josie what Mark had said and the older woman went to the nearest moving company to get boxes and bubble wrap. The two of them began to pack up all of Desi and Kylie's belongings in a somber mood.
~~~~
Mark booked a one way flight to Miami and barely had time to explain what he was doing to his father before he raced out of the house to make it to the airport. He called Desi to get the address and let her know that he'd be arriving in about three hours. He was relieved to hear that she sounded calmer than she had the last time he had spoken to her. He instructed her to call a moving company and offer them whatever she had to in order to get them to arrive at the house today at three and that he'd explain everything when he got there.
Normally he liked flying, but this time Mark was too anxious to get to Miami to relax and enjoy the flight. He was aware of the very attractive flight attendant that catered to his every need with more attention than was necessary and the fact that he barely noticed her interest in him attested to his preoccupied state of mind. His only concern was to get to Desi and take her safely back to Lakeside.
When the taxi dropped him off in front of the Victorian bed and breakfast, he spotted the man sitting in a late model sedan across the street and saw him lift a camera to take his picture. Keeping his face turned away, Mark exited the vehicle, walked up to the door and
inside the house without knocking as if he lived there. Much to his surprise, a distraught Desi threw herself in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Baby, it's okay. I'm here now,” he said soothingly.
Desi wasn't even capable of speech right then so she lifted the crumpled document that she held and he read it over while he held her. Kylie's father had served her with a court order to get a sample of the child's DNA for paternity testing just like he had threatened to do. Sonuvabitch! Mark was absolutely furious that the bastard was putting her though this and would love to get his hands on him. But right now his main priority was to comfort the woman in his arms.
He dropped the papers to the floor and scooped her into his arms to carry her to the sofa where he sat and just held her as she clung to him helplessly. Mark murmured words of assurance, promised that he wouldn't let anyone take Kylie away from her and swore that he'd take care of her and her daughter and he meant every word. He would do everything humanly possible to protect both of them from being hurt again
His hands were as soothing as his voice as they caressed her back and hair as if he were comforting a child. Her tears tore at his heart and Mark knew that he would do anything to never have to see Desi cry again. “Please, don't cry, Baby,” he pleaded and brushed a tendril of hair from her damp cheek. “It's killing me to see you so upset.” At a loss to deal with the situation, he tipped her chin up and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
The gentle sweetness of his action pulled Desi out of the despair that she had sunk into and she stared up at him with a myriad of emotions shining in her bloodshot eyes. Needing his tenderness more at that minute than she had ever needed anything, she framed his handsome face with hands that trembled and kissed him. She was amazed that this wonderful, caring man had been concerned enough about her to just drop everything at a moment’s notice and fly down here to help. Desi had no idea what he was planning, but she knew with every fiber of her being that she could trust him.