They looked at each other and huffed out the door.
It wasn’t until my shift was over that things got worse. I’d finally calmed down enough to close out the bar. When walking to my car, I noticed right away that it had been vandalized. The windows were smashed out on the driver’s side and my lights had also been shattered. I pulled out my cell phone and called the police, before heading back into the bar to wait for their arrival.
While I sat there, I was fuming. Gavin was to blame for all of this. He’d done this to my life. I dialed his number, not knowing what was going to come out of my mouth.
Vessa? You alright?
Funny that you care so much now.
Seriously, it’s almost midnight. Where are you?
I’d be on my way home if your little whore didn’t vandalize my car.
What are you talking about?
Your little girlfriend…you know, the one that is carrying your child?
The line went silent.
Gavin, you did this to yourself. Now you expect her to get an abortion? What kind of sick asshole are you? You have kids. You can’t just force her to get an abortion because you screwed up. It’s your responsibility to take care of that child.
I just want you, Ves.
That ship has sailed. There is no us and there never will be. You ruined everything and I can’t stand to look at you.
Please give me another chance.
Hell to the no! Once the officers take my statement I am coming home. I’m packing up the rest of my things and starting a new life. When we are separated for twelve months, I will file for divorce. Do you understand what I’m saying, Gavin? We are done!
Where are you going to go?
None of your damn business!
Please don’t take away my kids, Ves.
I won’t keep the kids from you, but you have no right to know where I’m going. This is my goodbye, Gavin. I gave you so many years of faithfulness and you just tossed me to the side. You have broken my heart more than I care to count. I hope one day you can change and be the man that I always wanted you to be.
I hung up the phone right when I heard the car pulling into the parking lot. Two officer’s climbed out of the car and headed toward mine. “Damn, Vessa. Someone did a number on this.” Tommy Barnes was someone that I’d known since grade school. I didn’t know his partner at all.
“I don’t know their names, but one of the girls that did this is carrying Gavin’s child.” I said it to get a rouse out of Tommy. He’d never really understood my dating Gavin.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
“Wish I was.”
“I didn’t know you were separated.” He started walking around the car to assess the damage.
“I just found out.”
“I knew you would find out. I wanted to tell you myself, but it wasn’t my place.” He wouldn’t look at me after that comment.
“What do you mean? You knew?”
He leaned against the car and shook his head. “Vessa, I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, but Gavin has been hooking up with random girls since high school. I never could understand how you could overlook something like that.”
“Overlook? I had no idea! You knew this whole time?”
“The whole town knows, Vessa. He didn’t really sneak around. Hell, I saw him last week holding hands with some young girl.”
I ran toward the dumpster and puked. Apparently, I was the laughing stock of the whole damn town. This had been happening right in front of me for years. I couldn’t face these people. I couldn’t look at anyone the same. Not after they had all kept this dirty secret from me.
I pulled my keys out of my pocket and pushed Tommy to the side. “We’re done here!”
“Vessa, wait! Don’t do something you’re going to regret.” He knew me too well.
I didn’t respond as I pulled away from both officers. I was aware that I was sitting on a mound of tempered glass, or that it was pretty cold outside, especially with no window. All I cared about was killing that son of a bitch.
Gavin was sitting outside as I pulled into the driveway. He had a cigarette in his hand and stood up as I jumped out. I walked by him, ignoring that he even existed. Room by room I packed up what we needed. I grabbed the kids out of their beds and walked them out to Gavin’s car. Ever since he’d sat them down and gave him a version of what he’d done, they’d wanted nothing to do with him. Our youngest didn’t quite understand, but he got that my heart was broken and that was enough for him.
The last thing I grabbed was a handgun. I planned to blow off his dick, as I rode away.
He followed behind me. “What are you doing with that?”
I aimed it at his crotch.
“Vessa!”
I took the gun and shot out one of the tires on my vandalized car. The power of having the gun in my hand made me feel like I had the upper hand. I aimed it at our front door. “This is what you did to my heart.” I fired once again, blowing out the glass.
Gavin put his hands in his hair, probably wondering if he was next. I knew the kids were in the car and I didn’t have the balls to murder or shoot a man, especially someone they loved. I took the gun and smacked him in the jaw with it. He grabbed the gun from my hand and tossed it behind us on the ground. He had ahold of my arms and tried to pull me into his chest.
It took all of my might, but I freed myself from his hold. Then I punched him several times. “I hate you! I fucking hate you!”
“Vessa, I ended it. Where you really going to shoot me? You think I’m going to let you leave me in my own car? I’m calling the cops!”
“You have pretty much banged the whole town behind my back. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? This car is in my name. Since your little whore ruined mine, I am taking this one. Call whoever you want. I will be long gone.” I hated this man so much.
He put his head down and wouldn’t answer.
“Goodbye, Gavin!”
I didn’t wait for him to reply.
My kids were crying in the backseat, so when I got a couple blocks away, I pulled over the car. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”
I had no plan. The only relative that I had was an aunt that lived in West Virginia. It was a two hour drive and I couldn’t just show up on her doorstep. Luckily she owned a bar, so calling her this late wasn’t going to be too damaging. I felt horrible since I didn’t really keep in touch with her. She looked so much like my mother and the reminder was still painful for me.
Her raspy voice answered. Hello?
Aunt Sue, it’s Vessa.
Vessa, honey, are you in trouble?
Finally, I started to cry. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. I’m in trouble and I don’t have anywhere else to go.
You come right here. Whatever it is, I am here for you, sweetie. You just get yourself here in one piece.
Can we come tonight?
The door will be open.
Thank you so much, Aunt Sue.
You are family. I don’t turn my back on that. It’s going to be alright, Vessa.
The kids and I cried to whole way, until they finally fell asleep. I assured them that we were going to start a new life and that I would make sure they still got to see their Daddy. It would be rough, but I couldn’t keep the kids from him. Sure, he’d call the cops and I would have trouble to deal with, but I needed to be away from him. This was my only option.
I was about twenty minutes from my aunt’s place when the tractor-trailer came into view. The damn thing was on its side and sliding right for my car. I couldn’t slam on my brakes and risk flipping the car with my kids in the back, so I swerved to avoid a head on collision.
I woke up in a hospital room, with a police officer sitting beside me. He told me that my kids were with my aunt and then he hauled ass out of there, like I had the plague.
The next thing I knew, nurses and doctors were coming into the room to check my vitals. I needed to know if I was in some
kind of trouble. If my children were okay, why was there a cop sitting next to me?
Chapter 5
Ramsey
By the time I got home it was nearing five in the morning. I was exhausted, but couldn’t seem to relax enough to get a couple more hours of sleep in. That mother’s face looking over at me, was haunting me. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad she was going to be okay. The last thing I wanted was another mother dying too soon on my watch.
For the next few weeks, I avoided the bar and Sue’s phone calls. I didn’t want to be involved in the accident anymore and I was sure that she was calling to talk to me about why else I hadn’t been by. After exhausting all of the excuses that I could conjure up, I finally had to take her call.
Hello
Ramsey Towers, why haven’t you answered my messages?
Sorry, Sue. I’ve been busy.
Doing what? Lots of cats stuck up in trees?
Is there something that I can do for you?
You’re damn right there is. My niece and her children would like to thank you for what you did for them. I’m making you dinner and you ain’t telling me you can’t come. I know you don’t have plans, so don’t even think about using that as an excuse. Be at my house at six.
Sue…I…
Six sharp.
The woman hung up before I could argue with her. I hated to be put into a position like this to begin with, but to be forced to socialize was even worse. They were going to ask questions and I just didn’t want to have to answer any.
The rest of my afternoon consisted of a six pack of beer and a million excuses of how I could get out of going over to Sue’s place. By the time that six o’clock came around, I was out of beer and ideas, so I showered and headed over.
I’d no sooner pulled up outside when a little boy came running toward me. “How come you didn’t use your siren when you came here.”
I chuckled considering how he thought that police vehicles had to have the siren on at all times. “There wasn’t an emergency.”
“My name is Logan. My birthday is in two weeks and I am going to be six.” When he smiled, I noticed that he was missing a couple teeth.
“Nice to meet you Logan.” I started to walk past the boy.
“What’s your name?”
This kid wasn’t going to let me out of his sight until he was done drilling me. “My name is Ramsey.”
“What kind of name is that? It sounds like a good name for a dog.” He had his hands on his hips waiting for me to reply.
“It was my grandfather’s name.”
“Why?”
Suddenly, a voice cut in to our conversation. His sister, who was a lot taller, came walking toward us. “Don’t pay attention to my brother. He never shuts up.”
“You shut up, Asha! You’re a butthead!”
“I’m telling Mom!” She ran back inside and I could hear her calling out for her mother.
The little guy followed her into the house, so I followed behind him. Sue came walking out of the back of the house with a kitchen towel wrapped around her hand. I could see the red coming through the fabric. “You’re just in time for the entertainment. I seem to have cut my hand pretty bad.”
I’d never been in her house before, but I followed the woman back to a bathroom, where she started running her hand until the faucet. “How’d you do this?”
“Cutting a damn onion. Do you believe that? I’ve been cutting up onions my whole life and when I finally have company over, I manage to cut off half a finger.”
I reached up into the cabinet and helped Sue get her wound clean. While helping her apply a bandage, I heard someone walking up behind us. “How bad is it?”
I turned around to see a very different woman than I had seen lying in that hospital bed. After just a short time her bruises were almost gone. Even where she’d had stitches had healed up nicely. The woman wore little makeup, but what she did have on accented the coolest looking hazel eyes.
When she kept waiting for me to say something, I realized that I had been staring. “Sorry…I think she’s going to be fine. It may be best if one of us does the rest of the cutting.”
She smiled and then turned her attention back to her aunt. “You sure you don’t need stitches?”
“I have survived worse. Let’s just get dinner done and not worry about me.”
I moved out of Sue’s way so she could lead us toward the kitchen. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes and walked toward a sliding glass door. “Everything is ready except for the lasagna. It has about twenty more minutes to go. I’ll be back in when I’m done with this.” She held up her cigarette as she walked out the door.
I placed my hands on the countertop, trying to avoid making eye contact with the woman. She cleared her throat, forcing me to do it anyway. “Cat got your tongue?”
She was an attractive woman and I think she knew it. Her long blonde hair was perfectly straightened and it hung down her back. She was wearing an old Van Halen t-shirt that accented her breasts. One of her arms was full of tattoos, while her other arm only had ink on the wrist.
Noticing that I was pretty much staring at her chest, I looked up and creased my brows. “I’m not much for conversation.”
“How come? Aren’t you the sheriff? Surely you have to interact with people.” She was putting the plates out on the table as she spoke.
“I do my job and mind my business.”
“Alrighty then.” She turned her back to me and mumbled something.
A long time ago, I would have challenged her attitude. That was the old me. The new me didn’t care what she thought. I just wanted the night to be over with. “Are you feeling better?”
“My head still hurts, but I’m under a lot of stress, so it may not even be from the accident.”
I wasn’t going to ask her business. By asking hers, I would have to explain mine and that was never going to happen.
“I left my old life, if you’re wondering. The kids and me, well, we will survive.”
I didn’t mean to smile, but she had this spunky attitude that was both intriguing to me and also a warning sign that I need to steer clear. I hated that the kids had to be involved in something as major as picking up and leaving. Did they have a father out there somewhere missing them? “Sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, I bet you are. I just wanted you to know, in case you had any ideas about us hooking up. I’m not interested and it would just be a waste of your time. I know my aunt thinks that you and I could be good friends, but I don’t expect anything from you.”
“I didn’t come here for that. I can assure you that I have no intentions when it comes to you or anyone else. I don’t date and I don’t have friends.” I sounded like a serial killer.
“Then we are on the same page. Good. Now we can enjoy our dinner.” She held her hand out and waited for me to shake it. “My name is Vessa. I’m a recently separated mother of two. I don’t have a pot to piss in, so I moved in with my aunt. That’s my story.”
I shook her hand knowing damn well that she expected me to respond the same way to her. “I’m Ramsey Towers. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Mr. Secretive? You aren’t going to divulge any information about yourself?” This was a bad idea.
“I have no story to tell. I’m the sheriff of the next town over. I do my job and mind my own business.”
She backed away from me and shook her head. “Clearly, you don’t want to talk about it. I know when to back off. Listen, I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of my kids the night of the accident and sitting with me at the hospital. It was nice to not have woken up all alone.”
“Just doing my job.”
Sue came walking in at the perfect time. I was about to run out of reasons why I didn’t want to talk about my past.
For dinner, we all sat at a large dining room table. The little guy, Logan, sat across from me, staring a hole into me. “Have you ever shot someone?”
“Logan!” His mother didn’t like the
question much.
Knowing his age, I chuckled and sat down my fork for a second. “Being a police officer isn’t about shooting people. I do a lot of other things for the people of my town.”
“Like what?” He wasn’t going to give up.
“Well, you saw me tend to your car accident. I also investigate when crimes have been committed and try to stop the bad guys before anything else happens.”
“Like having to shoot em?”
“Logan, I am not going to say it again!”
“Exactly like that.”
“When I grow up I am going to be a superhero. Mom says that cops just write tickets and act like jerks. I don’t want to be a jerk.”
It was hard not to laugh, but as I looked over and saw Vessa’s face turning a shade of red, I couldn’t help it. I’d been called worse and it didn’t make me want to change occupations.
The girl, Asha, asked to be excused. She had blonde hair like her mother and I could see the resemblance in them. She seemed polite at the dinner table, but once she and her brother were excused, I could hear them going at it in the living room. Finally, their mother had to get up and intervene.
I helped Sue clean up the table, while Vessa stayed with the kids. It was better that way, since I didn’t want to have to talk to her. Everyone wanted to know my story. I was just sick of it. Couldn’t people mind their business and live their own lives?
“Did you enjoy the food?” Sue asked as I handed her a plate.
“You know I love everything you make. Hell, I’d be skin and bones if it weren’t for your cooking.” Jules had always done the cooking in our marriage. I honestly never learned how.
“My niece is a good girl. We all got problems, but she’s got a big heart.”
“Are you trying to set me up? You know I’m a private man. I’d be no good for her or anyone else.” It was true. I’d given up on love.
“I think that you could be friends. You two are the same. Always dwelling on the past. I don’t know your story, Ramsey, but I know something’s made you be the person that you are now. Whatever it is, you can’t hold it in. It’s not healthy. I ain’t saying you have to date her, but there is nothing wrong with being friends with someone. Besides, she’s taking over at the bar and you are going to have to get used to seeing her.”
Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) Page 4