by M Dauphin
When the knock on the door came shortly after we ordered our pizza I didn’t think anything of it. When I answered the door, however, I didn’t see anyone there. No pizza on the porch, no car in front of the house. It was a little unnerving to say the least. These mind fuck games had to stop.
“Who is it babe?” Molly asked as I returned to the porch. Shit.
“No one”
“What do you mean?” She looked at me with worried eyes.
“Nobody was at the door, Molly. There was no car, no pizza, no person.”
“Huh...that’s creepy.”
I agree. Fucking creepy. Soon after the pizza was delivered and all doors and windows in the house were locked, we were back on the couch trying to enjoy the rest of our night. I had a hard time focusing on anything else but what had just happened. I had a bad feeling about this.
26- Rob
What a whore. These last few days of getting to know her without having him staring at me were great. I really thought he was out of the picture. I thought he had taken himself out of her life. I was starting to actually feel something for her. Obviously nothing more than physical, Lord knows I’m not one for vanilla relationships. Hell, I knew she went to the hospital without him, I knew he had been out of her life, and all I could think about was how great it was going to be when I finally fucked her. Maybe I’d video it and send it to him. He was out of the picture, but I could still fuck with him.
Now, seeing them on the couch all fucking day, then him answering the door like he owned the place really pissed me off. He doesn’t deserve to be happy. A man like him doesn’t deserve to be enjoying himself. I had to knock on the door. It was dangerous, but it was an easy mind fuck. One that would keep him on edge. Soon, Nate. Soon you will know what it feels like to have your world ripped away. It’ll be unfortunate for poor Ms. Ward….but sometimes there are no better options.
27- Molly
It’s a bad day today. Ever since the knock on the door last night I can’t help shake this feeling, and unwelcome thoughts keep running through my mind. I’m trying to stop them, but I can’t help it.
He hates me. He hates what I did to our baby, and he hates that he’s stuck with me.
But he did come back for me.
But that was before he knew my body betrayed us.
I couldn’t stop the swirling thoughts, going back and forth. He said he’s here for good. That he’s not going anywhere. He spoke the words, but now that he knows I can’t have his kids, does he mean them still? I need to stop thinking for a little while. I know we need to talk, Tatum knows we need to talk. It’s just, I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to say the words out loud. I don’t want to hear that he feels stuck with me. I don’t want my heart to break again. Instead, I throw myself into the only thing that has never let me down: my business.
The Delany wedding is four days away. I have four days to finish preparing things, which luckily are almost done due to my awesome dedication (and lack of anything else to do when Tatum was absent last week). After these four days, I’ll be shooting the biggest wedding of my career, creating the most beautiful pictures for the bride and my portfolio. Hopefully things will settle down a little after this wedding, but right now I’m turning all of my attention to the big show.
On Monday I wake up and start to get dressed for the studio. Tatum rolls over and looks at me with tired (and sexy as hell ‘how did I get so lucky’) eyes.
“Where do you think you are going, missy?” he asks, his still sleepy voice present.
“Work. I have a lot I need to get done to catch up from missing the weekend. The wedding is in just four days. Are you coming in to help out?” I ask, hopeful that he does. If anything just to be near him, so when I have one of my inevitable breakdowns that I know will happen he will at least be there for me.
“Uh…what?” he looks incredibly confused for a man that just woke up looking incredible sexy two minutes ago. “You aren’t still shooting the wedding this weekend, are you?”
I laugh. Loud. We are not having this fight again.
“I am. I need this Tatum. More now than before. I will be keeping you on as assistant this weekend, though, whether the Delany’s like it or not. I need you there with me, supporting me.” I pleaded.
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighs loudly. I know his brain is working pretty hard right now since he just got up and I threw a curveball at him before he was fully awake. I waited there, at the side of the bed as he thought.
“Molly sit. I need to tell you something.”
His voice gave me a hint I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.
“Listen, I was going to wait to tell you all of this until I had it figured out, but with you still doing the wedding I think you need to know. Stay here.” He said and he walked out of the room. A few minutes later he came back with a box.
“Open it” he ground out, then walked to the other side of the room as I was left sitting on the bed next to the mystery box. I opened the flaps and looked inside. A tiny blue baby blanket was folded inside. It was dirty and there was a note card setting on top. I pulled the note out and read both sides, chills running through me as the meaning of the card set in.
“What is this Tatum?” I whispered as he stared out the bedroom window.
“It’s my son’s baby blanket. The one he died in.”
I gasped and pulled the blanket out of the box. It was light blue with tiny darker blue stars and incredibly soft.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, exactly. This showed up on the porch last week. The night you stayed late at the studio. I don’t know who it is from but I have my guesses. Molly, this blanket along with everything else from the time in my life was ordered to be destroyed. I didn’t want anything to remember it. It sounds cold but I was hurting. It shook me to the core when I opened the box. Then when I found the note I was actually spooked. I don’t do mind games well, and someone is obviously playing one with me.”
He then filled me in on the Delany connection to him, why he thinks Rob hates him so much, and why he believes Rob is in the lead for prime suspect. He doesn’t trust him, that’s for sure. I could hear his voice pleading with me to back out of the wedding and take myself out of the connection to the Delany family, but I couldn’t do that. Not with four days left, they would never find someone able to do it on that short of notice.
“That’s a lot of speculation, Tatum, without any hard proof that it was actually him. I can’t back out of the wedding now.” I said, shaking my head at the mess that we were in.
“I realize that, and I don’t think you need to. I honestly don’t think he’d ever hurt you, you have formed a friendship with him. Just know that from here on out I will not be leaving you alone when there are Delany’s around.”
I was okay with that. After all, I was starting to get the feeling from Rob that he wanted a more personal relationship with me. He did stop by quite a few times when Tatum was gone last week, and most of his visits didn’t have a real reason. I had also caught him on more than one occasion looking at me like a piece of meat, and it was unnerving.
“Fine. That’s all I can ask of you. Now get dressed. We have a very demanding Delany to deal with this morning.” Oh I knew he was going to be pissed that Tatum was still on board. Hell, by the way he was looking at me last week he was going to be pissed that Tatum was back in the picture at all.
***
We grabbed a coffee on the way into the studio. I was in the front grabbing some folders when Rob walked in and smiled. He obviously didn’t know Tatum was here.
“Hey you. How are you feeling? You gave everyone a scare last week. That’s decaf coffee, I hope.” He said as he glanced at the cup in my hand. How do I respond to him? Does it matter if he knows or not? The truth shall set you free, I guess.
“I’m not pregnant anymore, Rob. Thanks…though..” I said awkwardly.
“Oh. God Molly, I’m so sorry to hear that.” He said as he
came over for a hug. Of course, that had to be the time that Tatum walked back up front from the storage room. Of. Fucking. Course.
“Need another one of those eyes blacked out, Delany?” he growled as he casually set down the boxes I had him bring up.
Rob laughed and backed up.
“Well. Back in the picture are we Tatum? Shame, Molly. I thought I had you pegged for someone a little smarter than that.” He was such an ass. Before the two of them could get in another macho man match, I spoke up.
“Actually Rob, I am glad you stopped by. I have been wanting to tell you that I will not be in need of your assistant’s services this weekend. A photographer is only as good as their right hand man. Mine is Tatum. Take it or leave it. I don’t shoot the wedding unless he is there.”
There. It was said. I’m holding my ground on this one. He glared at Tatum for a moment, then looked those piercing black eyes straight at me.
“That’s a very bad decision, Molly.” He said through gritted teeth.
“Then find another photographer.” I was done playing him games. I didn’t need them money that badly, and the public knows how difficult it is to deal with a Delany, so my reputation wouldn’t get hurt too bad. Hopefully. I stood there, hands on my hips, ready for a verbal lashing from the second hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. Instead, his lip turned up into a half smile, and he nodded his head, then turned and left. Whatever he came here for must not have been that important.
I smiled to myself, pleased that I was able to stand up to the infamous Robert Delany, especially with those eyes staring me down. I glanced over at Tatum and he was watching me with so much love in his eyes I could have burst.
“My God, Molly. You are one amazing woman.” He said, and finally started walking towards me.
The butterflies that I had been missing the last few days finally came back when he looked at me with those eyes. The connection between us right now was unbreakable. He was radiating love for me. That I could tell just by his body language. He cupped my face and tilted my head up to look at him.
“I love you so fucking much it hurts when you aren’t near me. You make me want to be a better man for the rest of my life. One day I will show you how much you mean to me. Words alone aren’t enough. One day, Molly. God, I love you.” He said, and his lips slammed into mine, causing me to grab his arms as I kissed him back.
Good Lord it felt like it had been a lifetime since he has kissed me like this. I was really starting to believe he didn’t want me anymore, but this kiss just blew all other kisses in the history of lip locking out of the water! A mixture of urgency and tenderness, his lips danced across my skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps along the way. When he broke the kiss I almost fell into him. His hands began running up and down my arms, as he looked down at our connection. This man would be enough for me for the rest of my life, child or not. He’s all I need in this world.
28- Tatum
“I can’t say enough how sorry I am that I wasn’t here for you, Molly.” I said, resting my forehead on hers. I felt like I always needed some type of physical connection with her. It wasn’t good enough to be next to her, I needed to be touching her.
“I know, Tatum. I know how sorry you are, but even if you were there the outcome wouldn’t have changed. I have forgiven you, you need to forgive yourself.” She said with determination to make it true.
I chose my next words carefully. I didn’t want to spook her, but she needed to know that we weren’t out of the dark yet. Nothing had been done yet about the note I received, not with the events of this past weekend weighing down on us.
“You know. When you were in the hospital after what Brian did to you, I walked in the room to see you for the first time and freaked out. It took my dad finally opening up and treating me like his son in order for me to walk back in for you. I was so afraid that by being mine, you would end up getting hurt far worse than you would without me.”
She watched me quietly, letting me speak.
“The pain I felt after I left you was the second worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I don’t want to feel that again. I’m so fucking worried about this whole Delany situation, and I can’t shake the feeling that something awful is about to happen. All because of me.”
“Don’t you dare say that, Tatum. This is not your fault.” She shook her head.
“It’s not. I agree. It wasn’t me that put him the car the wrong way. It wasn’t me who ran the red light. It WAS me, though, who let her leave when she was obviously upset. It was me who let him go with her in that car. I could have fought, but I didn’t.”
“You need to stop blaming yourself, Tatum. What happened was not any part your fault.”
“The Delany’s seem to think differently. Why else would they send me that note, and his blanket?” I couldn’t stop the feeling that this was just the beginning of a bigger battle. I hated being in the dark. I think it was time to call the old man again.
“Call your dad, Tatum.” She said, as if she could read my mind. This woman amazes me every single day. I nodded and excused myself to make yet another phone call for help. It’s funny, I thought when I left a few months ago we wouldn’t have to cross paths ever again. Come to find out, I’ve needed him more now than I ever have before. Strange how things work out.
I called his cell first, hoping to catch him before he got home to my mom. I knew I was going to get grief for not coming home this past weekend, but it wasn’t even an option I was going to run by Molly. Thankfully he answered on the third ring, right before his voicemail picked up.
“Hello, boy. I got your e-mail. I hope everything is alright.” He liked Molly, I could tell from the worry in his voice.
“Yea dad. Things are ok, considering the circumstances. It stinks, but it’s nothing we can’t work through.”
“You know, your mother miscarried three times before your brother came along, God rest his soul.” That was new news to me, but I know my mom is a quiet woman when it comes to personal matters. Without any daughter’s to talk with I’m sure she is holding in all kinds of stuff.
“I didn’t know that Dad. That’s terrible.”
“It’s a way of life. Sometimes, it just isn’t meant to be.”
I grunted in response. It might not have been in the master plan, but damned if I wasn’t still upset about it.
“Anyway son, what did you need? You don’t typically call to chat.”
“No. I don’t do I?” I should fix that. Maybe my dad and I could fix our strained relationship once and for all. “Listen Dad, some funny things have been happening lately. I need your take on it.”
I then proceeded to fill him in on the note, the blanket, Molly’s connection with the Delany family, and the fact that Robert Delany was Candace’s brother and we didn’t know anything about it. He knew bits and pieces of the story behind the note, but when I put it all out there in one conversation it seemed outrageous. Jesus, this all seems so messed up. I finished up and the line was silent, all expect for a low whistle coming from my dad’s end of the phone.
“Wow. Tatum, those Delany’s…they are dangerous. Very. Dangerous.”
“I know dad. I don’t know what to think. You think the note and blanket were from him?”
“I do. I think you and Molly both need to lay low for a few days while I have some people look in to this.”
“I would say you are right, but Molly has a wedding shoot this weekend for a Delany boy. Rob will be there, as he is the cousin of the groom.”
“Don’t do it, Tatum. Don’t let her go.”
“Believe me, Dad. I’ve tried. We settled on me being by her side the whole time.”
“Then don’t let her out of your sight, and I mean it. I’ll contact you soon.” And with that he hung up. Well shit, when my dad is that worried I know this is big. It felt like he was holding out information, though. Like he knew more than he was letting on. Whatever was the case, I now had my dad and all of his powers on my side, helping me g
et to the bottom of yet another fucking revenge escapade.
29- Molly
Tomorrow is the big day. Well, the first of three big days. Rob kept us on as photographers, but he isn’t happy about it. He has only stopped in the studio when he knows for a fact Tatum isn’t there which is really unnerving, and he has been getting way too close for comfort these last few times. Luckily there are only four more days of dealing with him and his crazy family until I am free from all of their drama. The money will be nice, but I’ll be happy when this is all over and we can continue unpacking the boxes that are taking over my house. Everything had to go on hold when the wedding was moved up, so we still have two rooms that are full of boxes from his place in Texas and my leftovers from my parents in Washington.
Tatum said he had a few errands to run before the day ended, so he has been gone about an hour now. I don’t know where he went, I don’t know when to expect him back, but I do know that the quiet it nice. I sit down at my desk, everything prepared for the wedding this weekend, and sigh. Man these past few months have been hard, and this last weekend really put a damper on my spirit. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m pulling up the pictures on my computer that I’ve cried over many times. Going through, I delete every picture of Brian that I have. He is a part of my past I’d rather not remember. What I don’t delete, though, are Alice’s memories. I scroll through dozens of times, looking at myself before tragedy struck. I looked so happy, so naive. Would I trade any of what happened, though? If I could have kept everything as it was, would I have really wanted that? Brian was a drug lord, for Christ’s sake. He was never the man I thought he was. Was raising a child in those circumstances a good idea? And if things hadn’t played out like they did I would never have met Tatum. I’m not sure if I like the sound of that. There are no tears as I close out of the file I’ve double clicked on hundreds of times in the last five years. Just perfect clarity. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m broken, but I am still able to love. Tatum loves me for me, no exceptions. He does ugly business for his father, but he doesn’t hide it. I’m sure if I asked him he would tell me just exactly what he did…but I don’t want to ask. I trust him. I trust him more than I ever trusted Brian. I love him more than I ever thought I loved Brian.