Bye-Bye Baby

by Morgana Phoenix

  Calla saw him first. Her little face broke into a grin and she bulldozed several people darting across the tarmac to lunge into his arms. It had been so long that she’d done that, that Cole never hesitated scooping her up and crushing her to him.

  “Hey, baby!” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “How’s my girl?”

  “Good!” She squeezed his neck. “I missed you.”

  He held her tighter. “Missed you, too, Cal.”

  She drew back to peer down into his face with a crinkle between her brows. “Are you mad at me?”

  “For what?”

  “For not telling you about Damon sooner?”

  He pushed back a curl that had caught the corner of her mouth. “It was wrong, you know that, don’t you?”

  Calla nodded. “I know and I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I was just so mad at him for always getting to be with you. You’re my daddy. I don’t want you to be his. I thought if he got in trouble, you’d give him away. But my stomach hurt all week and I had to tell you.”

  That statement sounded so much like what Lily used to say every time she felt guilty that Cole almost laughed.

  “You owe Damon an apology,” he told her instead. “He did something nice for you and got in trouble for it.”

  Her little face bunched in annoyance, like he was asking her to eat slugs, but she reluctantly nodded. “Okay.”

  He kept her up in his arms even when he spotted Damon and waved with the arm not tucked beneath Calla. The boy hurried over. Cole ruffled his hair.

  “Hey, little man. How was your day?”

  Damon shrugged. “Okay.”

  “Good.” Cole set Calla down. “Damon, Calla has something she wants to say to you.”

  Calla shot Cole a look of betrayal, but she faced Damon with a deep set frown. “I’m sorry I let you get in trouble.”

  “And?” Cole prodded.

  Calla puffed up her cheeks, rolled her eyes heavenward and mumbled, “And thank you for helping me.”

  Damon stuffed his hands into his pockets and frowned down at his boots. He mumbled something into the front of collar of his coat that sounded faintly like it’s okay.

  When neither said anything further, Cole stepped forward. “You guys ready to go home?”

  “Where’s Mommy?” Calla asked.

  “She is running late, so you get to hang out with me for a while. That okay?”

  At Calla’s nod, he led them to the car and yanked open the back door for them. Calla slid in first and went all the way to the other window. Cole was helping Damon in when there was a shout from somewhere across the parking lot. Cole turned, one hand on the door.

  Parents and children scurried in all directions, rushing to and from their cars. No one else seemed perturbed by the sound he’d heard.

  “Cole?”

  He turned his head down towards Damon. The boy had one foot in the car, the other planted on the concrete, but he was staring up at Cole with concerned eyes.

  Cole patted his back. “It’s nothing.” He grinned. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Damon slid into the seat. Cole waited until both seatbelts had securely clicked into place before shutting the door and turning away. He came face to face with Eddy Comb.

  Disgusting in filthy clothes, week old growth and hair that hadn’t seen a shower for probably longer, he stood on the curb a stone throw away, watching Cole through bloodshot red eyes. But it was the crowbar in his hand that Cole focused on.

  “The sheriff’s looking for you,” he said with all the calm he could muster while carefully slipping a hand into his pocket and punching the lock button on his remote device. Behind him, the car doors locked with a click. “You should turn yourself in.”

  Mr. Comb smirked. “Is that your legal opinion?” He staggered off the curb and wove his way forward a dozen steps. “You got my kid.”

  “He’s not yours,” Cole answered smoothly. “You lost him the minute you raised your hand to him.”

  The crowbar lifted and was pointed at him. “He’s my kid and you’ll give him back.”

  Cole never so much as blinked. “Over my dead body.”

  That seemed to please the other man. “We can arrange that.”

  He dove at Cole, crowbar raised over his head. Cole just managed to duck out of the path of the swing. He heard it rebound off the roof of his car, heard Calla scream before it was swallowed by the roar of rage that exploded between his ears. Pivoting, he rose, driving the full force of his weight behind the uppercut that sent Eddy Comb’s head snapping back with a sickening crunch. Blood burst from his mouth as his jaw shattered. The metal bar clanged to the ground a second before Comb’s body dropped down next to it on his back.

  Cole wasn’t done.

  He lunged for the man. His hands closed around the collar of his filthy jacket. He hauled him up so their noses were inches apart and Cole was suffocated in the foul reek of beer.

  “I told you I’d destroy you, you son of a bitch.”

  The man’s eyes tried to focus, but Cole had already pulled back, body and arm. He punched him, again and again, driving his fist into the man’s face until it was a mess of blood and broken flesh. Comb never fought back. Maybe he was too drunk, or too dazed from the blows, but he hung limp from Cole’s hands, taking it with the occasional grunt.

  But it wasn’t enough. He needed to suffer for what he’d done to Damon. He needed to know what it felt like to be powerless as someone bigger and stronger beat the shit out of him. He needed to feel helpless and scared.

  “Cole!” It was that small voice that punctured the red haze clouding all other thought. It gripped his rage like hands, stopping him, pulling him back.

  He lifted his head and found himself caught in another set of blue eyes, these ones wide with fear as they peered back at him from the backseat of his car. There were tears in Damon’s eyes as he called Cole’s name and slammed his little fists against the glass.

  Cole jerked back, stumbling away from the unconscious frame of Eddy Comb. Others had crowded around them, looking on in horror.

  He wiped his bloody hands down the length of his thighs. Shame and guilt ate through him. And he knew Damon would never forgive him. It was hard for a child not to love their parents, no matter how much they didn’t deserve it.

  “Mr. McClain!” Mrs. Hamill broke through the crowd in her pretty burgundy dress suit. Her wide, horrified eyes went from the torn skin on Cole’s knuckles to the heap that was Damon’s father. “What…”

  “He went after the children,” one of the women in the crowd said. “I saw the whole thing. He attacked first.”

  Several others nodded, but Cole wasn’t listening. He staggered to the car and pushed the unlock on the car remote. He yanked open the door, breathing hard.

  “Damon, I—”

  The boy threw himself out of the car and straight into Cole’s legs. His arms clamped around his waist and he mashed his tearstained face into Cole’s abdomen.

  Beth barged into the hospital room twenty minutes later like a woman about to take on an army. Her green eyes skipped from Damon and Calla sitting in the plastic chairs in the corner to Cole sitting on the hospital bed with gauze around his hands with barely contained terror.

  “Oh my God!” She rushed to Damon first, taking his small, ashen face between her hands. “Are you okay?” She didn’t even wait for an answer before grabbing Calla. “Are you hurt?” Calla barely managed to shake her head before Beth was turning towards the bed. She ran to Cole and suffocated him with her arms. “Oh my God!” She sniffled into his shoulder. She jerked back, hands anxiously running over him. “Where are you hurt?”

  “We’re okay,” he assured her.

  “Okay?” she blurted loudly, stumbling back several steps like he’d just sworn at her. “I get a call from the hospital saying you’ve been admitted and that there was a fight and Damon’s father…” She broke off, wheezing. “Do you know the sort of images that went through my head?” she screamed. “I t
hought you’d been stabbed. I thought Damon had been taken. I thought…” She doubled over, hands dropping to her knees as she gasped for breath.

  “Hey.” Cole slid off the bed and went to her, only to get punched in the chest.

  “Get away from me!” she snarled at him. “I am so pissed at you!”

  “Ow!” He rubbed the spot, but backed away. “What did I do?”

  “What did you do?” She straightened and somehow managed to take over the entire room with her anger. “You took about twenty damn years off my life, that’s what you did. What were you thinking?”

  “He came at me!” Cole protested. “I was protecting the children.”

  She didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. But her anger remained, crackling and sparking just behind her eyes. Thankfully, rather than unleash anymore, she turned to the children.

  “Are you hurt? Damon? Calla?” This time she waited until they both shook their heads before speaking again. “Thank goodness.” She stumbled over to them and yanked them both into her arms. “Oh thank goodness.”

  Cole just stood there, shaking his head.

  Beth drove them home, muttering to herself the entire way. Cole remained quiet, as did the children. At the apartment, she charged on ahead, flipping through keys until she found the one to let them into the suite.

  “Beth, baby,” Cole tried to speak soft and quiet as she ripped off her coat and pitched it aside. “Everything is fine,” he told her, not fully understanding her anger.

  “I know that!” she snapped, whirling around to face him.

  “Okay…” Cole turned to the children standing mutely behind him. “Why don’t you two go into Damon’s room and play for a little bit, okay? I’ll be in there with snacks in a few minutes.”

  Neither argued, probably relieved not to be around Beth at that moment.

  Cole waited until the door had shut before facing the fuming woman in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

  Beth paced, which and agitated. “Do you have any idea how scared I was? I mean, I was just sitting here and the phone rings and it’s the hospital saying you’d been hurt.” She rubbed a shaky hand over her face. “I couldn’t breathe. I just kept thinking all these horrible things and…”

  This time, when Cole went to her, she collapsed into his chest. Her arms went around his ribs and she squeezed him until a few cracked.

  “We’re fine,” he promised into the top of her head.

  Her head rocked from side to side. “I thought I was going to lose you. That was all I could think the whole way to the hospital. I didn’t know what the hell I’d do if…”

  “Shhh.” He kissed the spot under his lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her body shook with the weight of her barely suppressed trepidation. She clung to him with a desperation that left nail marks in his back.

  “Beth…”

  His concern for her was ignored. Her arms tightened even more if possible.

  “I thought I lost you before I could tell you,” she choked into the fabric of his jacket.

  “Tell me what?”

  Her breath came out ragged and tight with a sob. “That I love you. That I never stopped, not once. That I will always love you and that I am so sorry I made us lose four years together. If something had happened to you, I would never forgive myself.”

  “Stop,” he whispered gently. “Look at me. I’m fine. I have a few cuts on my hands, but I’ll live.”

  “Good!” She jerked her head back to glare viciously up at him with a tear ravaged face. “I’ll never forgive you if you die on me, Cole.”

  A smile turned up the corner of his mouth. “I’ll do my best.”

  Satisfied, she rested her head on his chest. Her breathing had slowed to its normal tempo and she was no longer trembling from head to toe. Cole continued to hold her until she had stopped sniffling.

  “Did you mean it?”

  She didn’t ask what he meant. “More than I’ve ever meant anything. I love you, Cole McClain.”

  The evening continued at a much less eventful pace. Cole started on supper while Beth helped Damon and Calla with their homework at the kitchen counter. The atmosphere was calm, almost peaceful. He watched Beth, watched the way she tucked her hair behind her ear before leaning in to fix a problem. He watched the way she smiled and touched the kids on the back when they got an answer correct. Every movement she made pulled his attention. Thanks to her, he almost burned and cut himself multiple times before their supper of fancy chicken, wild rice and asparagus was finished.

  It was around the time he was ladling the meal into plates when Lily and Willa walked through the door.

  “Is it true?” Lily demanded at once, paying only half a mind to removing Willa’s coat.

  “That I’m still the sexiest man in Willow Creek? Why, yes, yes it is true.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “About … you know.” She flicked a glance towards Damon who was coloring in three of the same shapes. “It’s all over town. Nancy actually stopped me on my way here to tell me.”

  “’course she did,” Cole mumbled. “And I don’t know what you heard so…”

  “And maybe we should save that talk for later,” Beth interrupted. “I think it’s been a long day for a few of us and we don’t need the reminder.” She ran a hand down Damon’s back in indication.

  Lily nodded and motioned Willa to the sofa.

  Sloan arrived an hour after that. They put the kids on the sofa, around the coffee table with the TV on while the adults crowded around the kitchen counter. The small talk was idle and almost automatic. He knew they were all waiting for him to say something about the insane day he’d had.

  “Did the sheriff question you?” Beth asked at last.

  Cole nodded. “I told them everything.”

  “Maybe you can tell us everything,” Lily said. “I’m kind of curious to know what happened.”

  He told them about his fight with Eddy Comb and waiting for the sheriff to arrive.

  “Henley took Eddy Combs to the hospital,” he finished. “But after that, he’s getting sent as far away from here and Damon as humanly possible and the sheriff is going to make sure he doesn’t get out any time soon.”

  “That’s it?” Sloan prompted dubiously.

  Cole nodded. “Pretty much. I think it helped that several of the other parents saw what happened. I’m also pretty relieved none of them mentioned me going Hulk on his ass. I doubt the sheriff would have been so understanding.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Beth said. “I think Sheriff Henley has a soft spot for you boys. I mean look at all the breaks he’s been giving you … and me. How often does that happen?”

  Lily, Cole, and Sloan exchanged glances.

  “All the time,” Lily said. “Willow Creek has its many faults, but we all know each other. It’s kind of like one really big, dysfunctional family. The sheriff’s a good man. He’s fair and he goes by instinct as well as the law.”

  Beth shrugged. “That doesn’t happen in the city. I mean, you break into someone’s house and you’re looking at court hearings for a year, plus community service and a pretty shiner on your record.”

  Something in the way she said it had Cole squinting at her. “Care to share with the class?”

  “Of course not,” she mumbled.

  “Uh huh.” Cole decided to let it slide this one time.

  “Well, I’m just glad that bastard’s in jail,” Lily said. “I do, however, wish I could have hit him with my car first.”

  “You’re not running anyone over in my baby,” Sloan said.

  Cole nodded. “Eddy Comb’s a big guy. You’re looking at least transmission damage.”

  Beth and Lily laughed.

  Sloan looked unimpressed. “None of y’all are allowed near my baby. No respect.”

  Sobering, Lily set her hand over her husbands and squeezed. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be gentle.”

  Something dark and hungry flickered behind his broth
er’s eyes as he studied the tiny blonde. Neither said anything, but the look they shared was borderline erotic.

  “Okay, you two, take it somewhere else,” Cole said. “There are innocent minds in the room.”

  “The kids aren’t paying attention,” Sloan said.

  “I meant me,” Cole replied.

  Beth choked on her rice. Lily had to pat her back before it dislodged. Cole grinned at her and earned a sharp glare in return.

  “So are you going to tell us how the meeting at the bank went?” Sloan interrupted.

  Beth and Lily both looked at him, eyebrows raised expectantly, waiting for him to tell them the news.

  “I didn’t get it,” he said finally.

  “What?” came from both women simultaneously.

  “But your presentation was amazing,” Beth said. “Clearly the people at the bank are idiots. I mean, if they can fork over a loan to open a store that sells only stamps, when there’s a fucking post office just down the block…” She blew out a breath that came out in a growl. “They’re morons. We should look into going to a different bank, maybe one in the city who—”

  “He’s lying,” Sloan mumbled, still shoveling bits of chicken into his mouth.

  Beth choked on her rant. Her green eyes shot from Sloan to Cole. “What…?”

  Cole grinned at her. “You are adorable when you get all outraged.”

  “Cole!” Lily flung an asparagus at his head. “You’re such an asshole!”

  “Children!” he scolded teasingly and was assaulted by Lily’s strangling arms when she scurried around the counter and flung herself at him.

  “I’m so proud of you!” she screeched into his ear.

  “So, you got it?” Beth prompted.

  “Yup.” Cole beamed at her. “They actually gave me more than I asked for.” He squeezed Lily once before gently setting her back. “It’s enough to get a shop, equipment, advertising … and enough to hold me afloat for the next few months while business picks up. There’s still paperwork I need to fill out, but I got it.”

  “Aw, baby.” Beth went to him and wrapped him in her arms. “I knew you could do it. I’m so proud of you.”

  “I think this warrants a celebration,” Sloan decided. “Why don’t we take Damon tomorrow night and you guys can … do whatever it is you do.”