by Susan Stoker
Bailey stared at her brother in surprise. He’d already thanked her, but it had been in passing. He sounded honestly sincere with his thanks this time. “You’re welcome. But I think Nathan did most of the work.”
The man blew off her words. “Nonsense. You made sure everyone was happy, handed out napkins, made sure everyone got a cupcake, rented the shelter, volunteered to be Darth Vader and be attacked by light sabers . . . you did the hard stuff,” Nathan said with a smile.
So Bailey sat. And watched her little brother, who never voluntarily did any kind of manual labor without being asked fourteen times and then threatened. And then he usually complained while he did it.
But not today. He and Nathan carried four boxes of presents to the back of her Chevelle, and made three runs to Nathan’s car to fill it with all the trash bags. They even walked around the shelter grounds, making sure there was no stray trash on the ground. Bailey heard Nathan tell Joel that it was the polite and right thing to do to make sure they left the area better than they found it.
Finally, the shelter was spick-and-span, and it was time to go.
The three walked down to the parking lot. Nathan put his hand on Joel’s shoulder and knelt down in front of him. “I told your sister about the phone, so you don’t have to hide it from her.”
Joel looked up at her then. “Are you mad?”
“No, not at all. You’re old enough to have the responsibility of it, and it’s a good idea.”
“In case Donovan finds us.” It wasn’t a question.
Bailey sucked in a breath. Nathan had said they’d talked about Donovan, but she wasn’t expecting this.
“Right,” she choked out.
“You’re not with him anymore, right?” Joel insisted.
“No, Joel. I’m not with him anymore, and I don’t want to see him again. He’s not happy I left him, and I’m afraid he might come looking for me. And you.”
“To make you go into his room with him,” Joel said solemnly, nodding his head. “I’ll make sure I call Nathan or someone if he shows up.”
“Happy birthday, buddy,” Nathan said, squeezing his shoulder. “Go on and get in the car while I say ’bye to your sister.”
“Okay,” Joel said, oblivious to the bomb he’d just dropped on his sister.
The second he was in the seat and the door shut behind him, Nathan took Bailey’s hand and led her around to the back of the car where he stopped and turned her so her back was to the car and she was looking up at him. “Breathe, Bailey,” he ordered.
“Did he mean what I think he meant?” she asked in a choked voice.
“Yeah. He did. But, Bailey,” Nathan said, putting both hands on her shoulders and leaning down so he could look her in the eye, “he loves you and is happy you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do anymore.”
She closed her eyes. “God, I’ve done a horrible job in raising him.”
“No, you haven’t,” Nathan said sternly. “Look at me.”
She did.
His dark eyes glittered with intensity. “You got out. You got him out. You have to go forward. You can’t go back. Live for today and tomorrow, not yesterday. Okay?”
She nodded. It made sense. As much as Bailey wished she could turn back time, she couldn’t. She hated that Joel knew sort of what went on behind Donovan’s bedroom door, but he was safe now, away from Donovan, and she’d do whatever it took to keep him that way.
“You’re right. Thank you for talking to him and giving him the phone. It makes me feel better.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Why?” The question popped out before Bailey could stop herself. It sounded extremely rude even though she didn’t really mean it to be.
“Because we’re friends. And friends call each other to chat,” he said solemnly.
Bailey chuckled. “Are we gonna go and get our nails done too?” she joked.
Nathan smiled, and Bailey noticed for the first time how it lit up his face. Butterflies swam in her stomach, and she reminded herself that she only wanted to be friends with the fascinating man in front of her. Friends only.
“No, but that doesn’t mean I won’t take you if you want to go. Go on. Get home. Call me if you get scared or anything feels weird. I’m always only a phone call away.”
Strangely, that made her feel safer. It was silly, she lived quite a bit away from Castle Rock and presumably wherever Nathan lived, but the reassurance that she could always call him made her feel not so alone.
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for sharing Joel’s birthday with me and my family.”
She shook her head, ready to tell him once more that she should be thanking him, when she saw the serious light in his eye. He wasn’t just saying that. He was honestly appreciative of being able to spend time with Joel and her.
“It was our pleasure,” she said, standing on tiptoe and kissing Nathan’s cheek. Her lips tingled where she touched his slightly scratchy skin. Without another word she backed away, raised a hand to give him a half wave, and climbed into her car.
Chapter Fourteen
Bailey’s phone rang the next morning, and she groaned as she turned over to try to see her clock. She and Joel had stayed up way too late looking at all his presents—the boy had been way too pumped up on sugar, soda, and excitement to go to sleep.
But because of Nathan and his brothers, she felt somewhat safe in her little home. The alarm system meant she didn’t have to search the house before allowing Joel inside. When she was inside and the alarm was set, she could pretend that everything in her life was normal. That she wasn’t waiting for her ex-boyfriend to find her, possibly kill her, and take Joel away forever, turning him into a rapist, killer, and thug.
She squinted her eyes and saw that it was 5:41 a.m. Feeling more alert, because anyone calling her this early could not be good, Bailey grabbed her cell and clicked it on.
“Hello?” The word came out croaky and rough, letting whoever was on the other end know without a doubt they’d woken her up. Why people always tried to pretend they hadn’t been asleep when they answered a phone was something Bailey had never understood. The other person was the one being rude and calling way too early or late, so why would she pretend not to have been asleep so the other person didn’t feel bad?
“Bailey! It’s Alexis! Grace is in labor! You gotta come to the hospital.”
“Now?” Bailey asked incredulously.
“Yes! Now!” Alexis insisted, sounding excited and panicked at the same time.
“But babies generally take a while to be born,” Bailey pointed out.
“I know, but Grace apparently started having contractions this afternoon at the party, but didn’t tell Logan. Then he got called out on an emergency job. He got back around ten and found Grace doubled over in pain.”
“Why didn’t she call you? Or Blake or Nathan?” Bailey asked, now up from the bed and looking for her jeans.
“She said she didn’t want to bother anyone and that she figured Logan would be back sooner than he was. Anyway, she’s been at the hospital all night, and Logan just called us. The doc says she could have them any second now. So get your butt down to the hospital!” Alexis finished on an almost yell.
Feeling the urgency herself now, even though she really didn’t know Grace or Alexis that well, Bailey tugged on her jeans as she told Alexis, “Okay, okay. I need to get Joel up, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I’m so excited, I just can’t stand it,” Alexis told her. “Hurry. See you soon!” Then she hung up.
Bailey stood in her dark room and stared at her phone for a moment. She was half-tempted to go back to bed, but knew if she did, Alexis would probably just keep calling her. And besides . . . she really did want to see the babies. Grace and Alexis obviously didn’t harbor any ill will toward her because of her association with the Inca Boyz and Donovan, and if they didn’t care about her history, Bailey would try not
to either.
She missed having girlfriends, and Grace and Alexis seemed like the kind of women she’d like to get to know . . . not to mention Felicity. She had been surprised at the number of tattoos the other woman had. But the more she spoke with her, the more Bailey realized that Felicity’s eyes hid something terrible. It was the same look Bailey saw when she looked at herself in the mirror. But Felicity was smiling and going through her life as best she could. Bailey wanted to get to know her better. Wanted to get to know Grace and Alexis better too.
So she whipped off her sleep shirt and grabbed the bra she’d dropped on the floor the night before. She opened her dresser and pulled out a long-sleeve fitted T-shirt. She wasn’t quite ready to parade her tattoos to Castle Rock just yet, no matter how hard she was trying not to care.
Knowing the hard part was ahead of her, Bailey went to Joel’s room and opened the door. She could see him lying on his back, both arms over his head, sleeping the sleep of the dead.
“Joel?”
He didn’t move.
“Joel?” She tried again, louder.
When he again didn’t even stir, she went into his room and touched his shoulder. “Joel, you need to get up.”
He groaned that time.
Bailey shook him and spoke louder. “Joel! I need you to get up. We need to go to the hospital. Grace is having her babies.”
He finally rolled over and glared at her between slit eyes. “Don’t wanna. I don’t give a shit about babies.”
Damn. Looked like grumpy, disrespectful Joel was back. “Please? Logan, Blake, and Nathan will be there.” She hated bribing her brother with the presence of the men he so obviously looked up to. She’d prefer that he did as she asked without giving her grief, but she’d use what she had if it meant they could get going faster.
“Women are only good for fucking, having babies, and cleaning house,” Joel muttered as he rolled over and swung his legs over the side of the bed away from her.
Bailey took a step back in shock. God. She’d thought leaving her brother with Donovan would be okay, but he’d obviously picked up some of the fucked-up beliefs of the gang in the short time she’d let him hang out with them. The thought depressed her. She was the worst sister in the world. If Joel turned out to be a gangbanger, it would be all her fault.
She didn’t reprimand him though; for the moment it was enough that he was getting up. “I’ll get us some breakfast while you get ready,” she said softly, backing out of the room, not giving him a chance to berate her further.
For just a moment, Bailey leaned against the wall outside her brother’s room. She closed her eyes and imagined what her life might be like four years from now. A ten-year-old Joel who bitched at her was one thing. A teenager who treated her like she was back in the midst of the Inca Boyz was another altogether. She wouldn’t do it. Not again. Now that she’d gotten out, she didn’t want to go back.
She needed to do something about Joel, but she was at a loss as to what she could do. Deciding to think about it another time, she made her way to the kitchen to get both Joel and herself something to eat before they headed out.
Within thirty minutes they were making their way into the emergency room at the Castle Rock hospital. As soon as they entered, Bailey saw Nathan, Blake, and Alexis sitting on some chairs in the corner.
Alexis came rushing up to her, exclaiming, “It’s about time you got here! The last time Logan came out, he said that it was only a matter of time!”
Next, Blake wandered up to his girlfriend, put his arm around her chest, and hauled her into him. “Relax, Alexis. Jeez, you’re more worked up than Logan is—and that’s saying something!”
He then turned to Bailey and Joel. “Hey. We’re glad you could come down.”
“Thanks for calling. I know I just met you guys, but I’m really excited.”
Alexis opened her mouth to answer, but Joel beat her to it.
“This is stupid,” he exclaimed grumpily. “Who cares about babies anyway.”
The moment the words were out of his mouth, Nathan was there. “Good morning, Joel. It’s good to see you too.”
The boy’s eyes came up guiltily, and he stared at Nathan for a beat, but he just grunted.
“I know you’re tired and not used to getting up this early, but you wanna try that again?”
It was a question, but it wasn’t. Bailey held her breath. She was embarrassed that Joel was acting the way he was, and even more so that it had been Nathan who had reprimanded him, and not her.
“Morning,” Joel said only fractionally less grumpily.
“Better, but still disrespectful,” Nathan warned, not looking away from the boy. “You forget about our conversation yesterday already?”
Joel heaved a huge sigh, then bit his lip and looked at the floor. “Good morning,” he said with a lot less attitude than anything he’d said since being woken up that morning.
“Good morning, Joel,” Blake echoed, as did Alexis.
Nathan put his hand on Joel’s shoulder and said, “Happy day after your birthday. I’m sorry you had to get up so early, but we’re all really excited about Grace’s babies. I get that you’re a bit young to feel the baby love, and that’s okay. Why don’t you go over there and have a seat. I brought my iPad if you’d like to play a game while we wait.”
That got Joel’s eyes up from the floor. He looked up at Nathan. “Cool. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Before the boy could make his way over to the chairs, Nathan leaned down, whispered something into his ear, then stood up and warned, “No more disrespect, Joel. Yeah?”
He nodded and sucked both lips in.
“Go on then,” Nathan told him, squeezing his shoulder once and dropping his arm.
The adults all watched as Joel walked across the waiting room to the chairs Nathan indicated and pulled the electronic device into his lap. He was quickly engrossed in whatever game he was playing.
“What’d you say to him?” Blake asked.
Nathan shrugged. “Just the password to my iPad.”
He turned to Bailey then. His eyes were intense, and she tried to read the emotions she saw in them . . . with no luck. In some ways Nathan was an open book; in others he was a complete mystery.
The four adults made their way over to the seats, and Alexis said, “You know what the best part of this is?”
“What?” Blake asked, his hand resting lightly on Alexis’s lower back as they walked.
Bailey couldn’t take her eyes off the man’s hand. The tattoo on her own back tingled and itched. She could feel Nathan walking just behind her, and she imagined him putting his hand on her skin. Then she imagined the look of disgust on his face when he saw her naked for the first time as he realized what the tattoo branded on her skin meant. That she was contaminated by the stench of the Inca Boyz. Would forever be. She walked a little faster so there wasn’t any chance he’d be tempted to touch her like his brother was touching Alexis.
“That this means I won the bet,” Alexis crowed, looking up at Blake with an evil smile on her face.
Nathan chuckled as Blake rolled his eyes.
“I’d say I was upset, but there’s no way I’d want Grace to have to go another week before she had those babies,” Nathan said. “This is one bet I’m happy to lose.”
“I had already lost,” Blake said with no remorse in his voice. “What are you gonna spend your money on?”
Alexis pretended to think it over before declaring, “Girls night out as soon as Grace is able. Me, Bailey, Grace, and Felicity will go to the Hideaway Bar and Grill and chill.”
Blake raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend as they settled into their seats. “You honestly want to go and get drunk after what happened”—he paused and glanced over at Joel, who was engrossed in his game, then continued—“the last couple of times you drank?”
Alexis grimaced, then shook her head. “We’re not going to do shots until we’re sick, Blake,” she admonished. “We’re gonna be civi
lized women and have some wine, some finger food, and gossip. Then when we’re all gossiped out, we’ll call you guys, and you can join us.”
“I like that plan,” Blake said, leaning into his girlfriend and nuzzling the side of her neck, while his hand disappeared behind her back in the chair.
For some reason their display of affection embarrassed Bailey, and she looked away, right into Nathan’s eyes, which were devouring her as if she was a meal and he hadn’t eaten for days.
She knew he’d said that he would be her friend, but the look he was giving her wasn’t any kind of look she’d ever received from any friend before. Or from Donovan either. It wasn’t lust, it was . . . affection. As if simply her being in his sight satisfied him on an elemental level.
Then he blinked, and the look disappeared as if it hadn’t been there at all. He smiled and joked, “I’m not sure I’d have much gossip to add, but I wouldn’t turn down an invitation to hang with all the pretty people in this town.”
Bailey frowned at him, not liking his self-deprecating humor in the least. But before she could say anything, Blake asked Bailey where she worked.
For the next forty minutes or so, the adults chatted while Joel ignored them all, engrossed in the iPad in his lap. Finally, when Bailey thought Alexis was gonna burst with anticipation, Logan appeared in the doorway.
“Everyone’s happy and healthy,” he announced with his arms raised above his head as if he was king of the hospital and everyone sitting around morosely were his subjects.
His brothers jumped up, as did Bailey and Alexis, and rushed over to him, congratulating him and asking about Grace.
“She’s good. For a while they thought they were going to have to take her in for a C-section, but she was finally able to push through it, and our sons were born. They’re small, but generally healthy. They’ll be put in the neonatal intensive care unit for a while to make sure their lungs and insides are all working properly, but the doctor says he thinks they look good. If they show no signs of any problems, we can probably take them home within the week.”
Blake clapped his brother on the back, and Nathan simply beamed at him.