by Rachel Hanna
“You know I'm going to help you, right?” Aaron said looking into her eyes as he took her hand between both of his. He was strong and masculine and steady, and she desperately needed that right now.
"You don't have to. As I said before, this isn't your problem. You wanted to know what happened, and I'm telling you. I think you deserve that much after all that you've helped us already."
"And as I said before, I'm doing this for you and Tyler. He's never had a normal life, and that boy has a light inside of him that deserves to shine. I intend to do everything I can to make sure that happens."
“So what do we do?” she asked sighing as she leaned back on the sofa. His hands slipped away from hers, and her heart sank when she no longer felt his touch. What was that about, she wondered to herself.
“The first thing I'm going to do is call my sister,” Aaron said standing up as he reached into his front pocket in search of his phone.
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. She actually used to date a private investigator. I think the first thing we need to do is get a track on this guy to make sure that he's not heading toward this area. Do you think he'd hire anyone else to do his dirty work?”
“I certainly wouldn't put it past him. After all, he has access to criminals anytime he wants, but I think he'd rather do the job himself. He's probably extremely angry at me right now and feeling like I got one over on him. He won’t just allow that to happen. He's going to come after me. There's no question about that.”
“Then we need to get on this fast. Here, I brought this notebook. Write down his full name and as much personal information as you have. I'll call Addison and we'll get to work on this.”
Tessa looked up and smiled. “Thank you. No one has ever tried to help me. I don’t know what I did to deserve finding you as a friend, but I will thank God every day for it.”
“Well, get used to it. That's what friends are for, right?” Aaron whispered as he handed her a pen.
“I think this is going a little beyond the typical friendship,” she said without thinking.
Aaron fidgeted for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“I just mean that I've never had a friend who is willing to help me protect myself from a deranged ex,” she said with a laugh trying desperately to change the subject.
“Oh.” Was that a hint of disappointment in his voice?
“Do you have any idea why he wanted to hold you captive rather than just letting you get on with your life?”
“He was highly jealous. He didn't want anyone else to have me if he couldn't. I wanted to leave, to get out of the situation I was in, but he wasn't about to let that happen. He would date women and actually bring them home, have sex with them and then come force himself on me. It was a power trip.”
“But why wouldn't he have wanted Tyler?”
“I don't know, he was angry with me I guess. He also didn't want anyone to know that he was holding me captive, so he would've had a hard time explaining this new baby boy. As time went on, I noticed he was drinking more and I'm pretty sure he was taking drugs too, so he was just out of control all the way around.”
“Tessa, I'm so sorry that you had to deal with this. I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you. You’re not alone anymore.”
“Aaron, I don't want you to put yourself in harms way because of me. It's bad enough that Tyler and I are always in danger, but you and your family don't deserve this. I'm telling you that he's crazy and will do anything to get back at me. You can still walk away from this. You can still forget you ever met me. Because there is a chance you could get hurt trying to protect us.”
“I'm willing to take the chance,” Aaron said looking in her eyes as he reached out and touched her hand again. “Don’t you know you’re worth fighting for, Tessa?”
She stared at him and then looked down without answering. The emotions building up in her chest were overwhelming her ability to speak or think. “For now, I'm going to go make a call to Addison and give her this information. Hopefully, her friend will be able to help us out and find out where he is right now. As long as we can keep track of him, you'll at least have some semblance of peace.”
“I suppose, but there's always the chance that he's got one of his goons after me. It might not be him, but I really think he would want to do this himself.”
“Hey, maybe we'll get lucky and he won't seek vengeance,” Aaron said with a shrug.
“We won't get that lucky.”
* * *
As Tessa sat in the living room, she could hear Aaron on the phone in the kitchen. He was talking to his sister who was giving him information on how to get in touch with her friend. A few moments later, she could hear him making that all important call to the friend whose name was Stan from what she could understand.
After a five-minute conversation, Aaron came back into the living room with a smile on his face.
“What? Is there news already?” she asked.
“ No, it just feels good to have something underway.”
“Yeah, it actually does. What did you tell him?”
“I didn’t go into specifics. The less that people know, the better. I just told him I needed to keep track of someone, so he’s looking into it right now. While we wait to hear back from Stan, I had a plan for us to do something,” he said smiling and rubbing his hands together.
“A plan?”
“Yes. There is a part of this property that I'd like to show you.”
“Okay…”
“Don't worry. We’ll be safe way out here. No one knows this place is back here, and we can see them coming before they ever get to us.”
“I'm not worried, Aaron. I feel safer right now than I have in years.” She looked up into his gorgeous face and he reached out to pull her up from the sofa.
“And don't worry about Tyler. I just texted my mom and she said he's doing fine.” He squeezed her shoulder as if to comfort her.
“I'm not worried about Tyler either. You have to understand, I haven't had a family in a long time, and I never really had a normal one. It feels good to have people helping me for once. I know it won't last long, but I really do appreciate it right now.”
“Why do you say it won't last long?”
“Because you're not my real family. I don't expect you to take on my problems and help me out in the long term.”
“Tessa, you've got to stop this.”
“Stop what?”
“Putting this wall up around you. It's okay if people care about you and help you. Let me care, okay?” he said softly as he rested his hands on her shoulders. Every nerve ending in her body lit up at his touch, but she wasn’t about to show it. Still, her heartbeat sped up and she was sure she might hyperventilate at any moment.
“But how can you care about me? You don't even know me. I understand that you're just being nice like you would to anyone.”
“That's not true. I don't help everyone like this. In fact, I didn’t want to be around anyone after my breakup. When you met me, I was coming home from a self-imposed exile to the mountains. I was trying to calm myself down, get rid of the anger. I was trying to be alone, so I certainly wasn’t up for helping anyone.”
“Then why me?” she finally asked softly, wondering if it was the wrong question to pose to someone who was trying his best to protect her.
“I don't want to scare you.”
“Scare me?”
“Yeah. Because it might make me sound like a lunatic or a stalker myself,” he said with a little laugh.
“Come on. Tell me.”
“Well, when I saw you out in the rain wrestling with your dog, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are. After having gone through such a heartbreak recently, it was nice to see a beautiful woman and watch her smile. Then, when I saw you in your swimsuit down by the shore with your son, I can't say that I wasn’t a little bit attracted to you.”
She started to smile and looked down at her feet.
“So you're
helping me because you think I'm pretty?”
“No. It helps, but no,” he said with a smile. “I'm helping you because I like you, for one thing. I think you're a nice person, and I really like Tyler. And like I said before, I hate bullies. So, I'd like for you to stop questioning the reasons why I'm helping you if you don't mind.”
“Okay. Fair enough. I’ll stop asking. So where do you want to go then?”
“Come on, I'll show you. I don't want to ruin the surprise.” She smiled, and for the first time in a long time she was excited to be surprised about something. All of the surprises that she’d had in most recent years were not good ones. Like the surprise of finding out that her ex was an abuser or the surprise that she was going to spend years locked in the basement of his home, unable to see anyone.
They went out to the car and he opened the door for her. “We have to drive there?”
“This is a huge property, so walking would take too long and we’d be tired before we even got there.”
“Okay,” she said as she slid into her seat and watched him walk around the vehicle.
They drove down the long gravel driveway deep into the woods behind the house. A few moments later, she could see an opening and what appeared to be a body of blue water.
“What's that?” she asked with all of the enthusiasm of a small child seeing the ocean for the first time.
“That is a blue spring. At least that's what we call it. Some underground springs come directly from the ocean and feed into this small pond.”
He walked around and opened the door for her before she could get out. She wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to the chivalrousness of a true Southern gentleman, but she was sure willing to try.
“This place is beautiful,” she said as she looked around and tried to take in all of the scenery. With the lushness of the green trees and the beauty of the sparkling blue water, she’d never seen anything like it.
“We used to come down here and fish when I was a kid sometimes. The cool thing is that some of the aquatic life from the ocean filters to the springs over here so sometimes I'll see things like little crabs running here along the shore,” he said pointing to the ground.
“It's like your own private oasis,” she said. She thought to herself how nice it would be to have a private spot where no one could find her, but she also knew that it would be short-lived. She wasn't about to put Aaron or his family in harm’s way, so she couldn't tell him that she planned to get the heck out of Dodge before her ex found her.
Chapter 7
Aaron wasn't used to having a woman to care for like Tessa. Natalie had never really needed him, but it felt good to be needed. As the youngest of his siblings, he’d always longed to have a brother or sister to care for, but he was the baby. It was kind of nice to be able to comfort Tessa and tell her everything was going to be okay.
It'd only been a couple of days since he’d known her, but he felt a fierce sense of protection that went far beyond just being a Southern gentleman. Of course, his mother had instilled in him that he was supposed to be chivalrous and protective of women in general, but this was something else entirely.
He also wasn't accustomed to feeling such strong feelings for someone in such a short period of time. Even with Natalie, it had taken years to get to the point to where he wanted to propose marriage. A part of him would always believe that he only did it because he was getting older and felt like it was time to settle down.
He thought to himself how strange it was that those feelings of anger that he had toward Natalie had dissipated in the last two days as his focus had shifted. She no longer seemed relevant to him, and he felt ambivalent about her even taking up space in his mind anymore. Maybe it was just a good distraction to have Tessa and Tyler around, but he couldn't convince himself of that.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"See that canoe over there?" She looked across the shoreline and then back at him.
"Seriously?"
"Why not?"
"I've seen a lot of people tip over in those things! What if we fall in?" she asked with a giggle.
"Then we’ll dry off." He laughed and then realized that she really was a little bit scared of going out on the water with him in a canoe. Maybe he shouldn't push her, he thought, but he really wanted her to have an afternoon to enjoy herself before his sister called back with whatever news she would have about Tessa's ex. “If you don’t want to…”
“No, it’s okay. I want to,” she said nodding her head as if she was trying to convince herself.
“Don’t worry. I go out in canoes all the time. I’m an old pro,” he said as he walked backward down the shore to get the canoe. Not looking where he was going, he tripped on a rock by the shore and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Aaron!” she yelled as she ran toward him, but she also tripped and fell right on top of him, both of them just inches from the water nipping at the land.
“Are you okay?” Aaron asked, pulling her long hair away from her face as she struggled to hold up her head. “Tessa?” he said softly. She was laughing so hard that she couldn’t speak and then buried her head in his chest. He joined in her laughter and put his arms around her.
“I’m so sorry…” she said between breaths. “I thought you were hurt, and then I tripped…”
“It’s okay. This has been the best thing to happen to me in months,” he said with a chuckle, and that only sent her into further hysterics. “You have the best laugh I’ve ever heard,” he said softly as she turned her face up to his. Never in his life had he wanted to kiss someone so bad. He could almost taste her full lips, and he wondered what those lips could do to him in other places. As if she sensed his inappropriate thoughts, and maybe the inappropriate things his body was starting to do to him, she slid backward and up onto her knees next to him.
“Um, maybe I should help you get the canoe this time,” she said with a nervous giggle.
“Tessa,” he said as he touched her arm and sat up. “It’s okay. I’m not expecting anything from you, okay?”
“I wasn’t… I didn’t…” she stammered.
“You’re beautiful and funny and sweet and smart, and I’m a man. But you don’t have to be nervous around me. I don’t take what isn’t mine like that jackass of an ex did. You belong to you, Tessa. Don’t you ever let any man take that control from you again, you hear me?” he said with more intensity than he meant to project. Her eyes welled up, and there he was again - about to make a woman cry.
“You’re like a Hallmark card. How do you know the right thing to say every single time?” she said softly as she blinked her eyes quickly to stop the tears.
“I don’t. Trust me. Several women might disagree with you on that one,” he said with a wink as he pulled both of them to their feet.
“Well, apparently some women are too dumb to know what they have,” she said quietly as she walked toward the canoe. Aaron’s heart quickened for a moment, but he pushed the comment to the back of his mind and helped her slide the canoe into the water.
* * *
She was beautiful. No doubt about it. And he was going to get screwed again. Somehow, some way, she would break his heart just like Natalie did, but it wouldn’t be her fault. It would be some jackass abuser named Ethan’s fault, and he’d like to put his fist into his…
“You okay over there?” she asked, breaking his thought - which was probably a very good thing.
“Just enjoying the scenery,” he said, looking directly at her.
“Yeah, it’s stunning out here. The trees, the blue water…” She seemed oblivious to the fact that he was talking about her. She thought so little of herself, and it pained Aaron. How did some idiot get so much power over her for so long? “You love the outdoors, don’t you?”
“Yes. I’m definitely the outdoorsy one in our family. I was always outside as a kid, finding bugs and building tree houses. Broke my arm twice in the same year falling out of tree
s.”
“Seriously? Ouch! I’ve never broken a bone. Not adventurous enough, I guess,” she shrugged.
“Breaking bones is for idiots, and I was definitely an idiot as a kid. I have three older brothers, and they loved to dare me to do stuff. One time, Kyle dared me to climb onto the roof to get a Frisbee he’d thrown up there. My Mom came outside just in time to see me fall into the bushes. I was all scratched up, but I only broke a toe that time. Miracle.”
“That is a miracle! It must have been nice to grow up with siblings. Someone always has your back,” she said as she watched the oar he was rowing with glide back and forth in the water.
The trees shaded the pond just enough that only slivers of sunlight were coming through, and the breeze was just enough to blow the soft waves of her hair across her bronzed shoulders. Afraid she would catch him staring at her, he finally spoke. “Siblings are great, except you have to share everything with them. Like Christmas. When we were struggling for money, Christmas could be very slim pickings, and my mother would have to spread the gifts out between five kids. She was far too proud to ask for help from anyone. Sometimes, I’d get jealous of friends at school who had both parents and got lots of gifts…” Suddenly, he felt like a jerk. Here he was complaining about not getting enough Christmas presents as a kid when Tessa had lost both parents and been abused. “Damn, Tessa, I’m so sorry. I should have thought before I spoke,” he said, putting the oar down and running his fingers through his hair.
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t have it anywhere near as bad as you did. What am I complaining about?”
“Aaron, we all have things that make us upset or sad from our pasts. We all have stories. No one person’s story is any less legitimate than another’s. I wasn’t thinking anything bad about what you were saying at all. I was just enjoying your stories.” She smiled the most genuine smile at him, and it made his heart ache for her. How could any man have had a woman like this and spent every waking hour trying to make her not smile? Not feel loved. It was beyond his comprehension.