by Sable Hunter
It was his baby.
It was their baby.
A baby T had asked her to abort. A baby T had denied, along with Glory herself.
T’s heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. He was overwhelmed by a feeling of loss and sadness. He loved Glory more than anything in this world and he’d forced her out. Hell, he’d never even told her he loved her. How could he expect her to love him or be with him? He didn’t deserve her after how he’d acted.
He’d grown up to be his father.
Glory was the very best part of his life and he’d chased her away with his stupid temper and now she was gone forever.
He looked down at the ultrasound and while staring at the image of his child, all the events and happenings of their time together crashed down on him like a powerful wave. One by one, he reviewed his days, his thoughts, how he’d acted, what he’d felt. That was when the truth hit home.
No. He wasn’t the violent man fate had determined he would be.
Glory had gone out of her way to show him what kind of man he could be. He hadn’t lashed out in anger at her when she teased him by rearranging his things or when she’d told him how she’d dented his beloved truck. Glory did those things to show him he was more in control of himself than he’d been willing to accept. Even the other night at the bar - the old T would have struck first when confronted by that group of young men and discussed things later. Looking back, he’d held himself in check, dealing with the situation without violence and even though it hadn’t registered at the time, he was now shocked by it.
Glory Bee Hudson had gone beyond what anyone would expect, even putting herself in harm’s way, to show T that he wasn’t who he thought he was, that he was a good man who could be trusted. T looked at himself in the mirror on his bedroom wall. “And you chased her off.”
He looked down at his bandaged hand. Maybe his temper wasn’t entirely under control, but he’d struck the mirror out of anger at himself, not anyone else. He hadn’t hurt anyone but himself.
But that wasn’t true.
He had hurt Glory – with his words and with his actions.
Well, no more. The time had come for him to make things right if he could.
The ultrasound drew his eye again. “Maybe we can make this work and maybe we can’t. And even if Glory won’t have me, I damn sure will support her and my baby.” T turned and looked down at Buford. “Let’s go find her, boy.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Calvin’s Bait Shop was dark when T pulled up. It was the first place he’d thought to go search for her and from the looks of it, Glory wasn’t there either. He left Buford in the truck and went to the front door. Peering in through the window, T saw that the place appeared to be empty, there wasn’t even a light on in the back like he’d expected. It was only seven o’clock, but he hoped she was here and had already gone to sleep in her little back room.
“Fuck it,” T said to himself after trying the back door and looking in every window possible. Going to his truck, he rummaged around in the storage compartment housed in the console. Buford could feel his master’s tension and the dog mirrored his stress, turning in circle on the front seat and barking. “All right. You can come.” He closed the compartment and called Buford across the seat and out his door.
T’s loyal companion watched with total focus as T picked the lock on the front door of the shop. Breaking and entering wasn’t a skill he was proud to have, but like he’d told Glory the day after the big storm, it was a talent that had helped him on more than one occasion and today he was glad he had it in his pocket.
“Glory!” he called into the still, stale air of the shop.
T flipped on the lights and searched the small building. Glory was nowhere to be found and it looked as though nobody had been there recently. Even a can of Zoodles open on the table in the back room would have given him some hope, but the place was clean as a whistle.
Stepping outside, he looked in every direction, trying to figure out where she might’ve gone. If it weren’t so dark, he’d walk around to see if he could see which direction her old truck had gone.
And then it hit him. “Dammit!” He’d taken Glory’s truck to Spicer’s and he was still working on it. Wherever Glory had gone, she most likely was on foot. “Damn walkabout.” By God, T would spank her sweet ass if that was the case. Glory needed to be taking care of herself and the baby, not walking off into the sunset.
“She must have come here,” T said to himself. As tenderhearted as Glory was, she wouldn’t have left the live bait to starve. Sure enough, when he went back inside to search the place more thoroughly, he saw where she’d emptied the bait boxes and unplugged them. “There must be some sort of clue to where she’s headed.” He checked her phone to see if she’d made any calls recently, but there were no new outgoing calls since last week.
Glancing around to make sure he’d missed nothing, T saw a note on the counter close to the cash register. Pulling it toward him, he saw Glory’s writing. Plant Mrs. Watson’s pansies for her. Glory had done some work for the elderly woman and T thought she might have known something about Glory’s whereabouts. He looked at his watch. Damn, it was too late to call and talk to her. Old folks went to bed with the chickens.
“Okay, let’s go, boy. Nothing more to find here.” Locking up, T and Buford ran for the truck as a crack of thunder echoed above and the skies opened up and sheets of rain began to fall. “Now what?” he asked the dog after they’d gotten in out of the storm.
Instead of heading home, T drove up and down the backroads, a desperate and somewhat misguided way of searching but he couldn’t help it, the need to locate her was strong and he was hoping that around the next bend, he would find Glory.
When the rain had picked up so much that it made it impossible to see anything, T pulled over to the side of the road. “Think, Beaumont. Where would she have gone?” Glory didn’t know too many people in the area. In fact, the only people he could think that she knew were, “Harper and Revel.”
He tossed the truck back in gear and headed to his friend’s house. If Glory was there, T was certain Revel would’ve told him, unless she’d gotten there today while they were at work together.
T’s head was a mess with worry. He couldn’t think straight and he was almost angry by the time he pulled up to Wildwood.
Harper answered the door after an aggressive knock. “T? What are you doing here?”
“Is she here, Harper?” T looked around the tiny woman. “Glory!”
Revel came around from the kitchen a moment later. “What’s going on, bro?”
“Glory. Is she here?”
Harper looked at her husband. “Glory isn’t here, T-Rex. Why would she be here and not with you?”
“We had a fight the other day.”
“Come in out of the rain.” Harper ushered him into the house and heard Buford bark in T’s truck. “Honey, go get that poor dog out of the truck, the storm must be scaring him to death.”
Almost on cue, another loud burst of thunder boomed as the sky lit up with lightning.
“Just keep your ghosts under control or Buford will have a spell.”
“I’ll protect him from the spooks.” Harper laughed as she sat T down at the big kitchen table and put on a pot of coffee before getting a bowl of water for Buford. “Now tell me what’s going on.”
Revel was back now with the dog and he came into the kitchen to see what had caused T to show up so unexpectedly.
T dropped the bomb right away. “Glory is pregnant.” At Revel’s shocked look, T tried to explain. “I know. I know. I’m supposed to be fixed and this should be impossible, but she is. I’ve seen the evidence.” He took the ultrasound out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
Harper picked it up and just beamed. “This is so wonderful.”
Revel patted his friend on the back. “Congrats buddy. Looks like I’ll have to show you how to change a diaper.” Putting an arm around his wife, he observed dryly. �
�You don’t seem as surprised, sweetheart. Something tells me you were in on the secret.”
“I was,” she confessed. Glory asked me to give her a ride to the clinic. When I asked her why she needed to go, she told me the wonderful news.” She grabbed T in her arms and hugged him hard.
“It is great news,” T agreed. “I see that now. But I didn’t see it when she first told me. I don’t want to go into detail,” there was still a lot of shame about how he’d acted, “but I didn’t handle it well. I said some terrible things and stormed out. I’ve been gone a few days. When I got home today, Glory was gone. I thought she might have come here.”
Neither Revel nor Harper had to ask, they knew T’s previous stance on relationships and his feelings about being a father. “Damn,” Revel breathed out a curse under his breath. “I can just imagine.”
Harper came around and embraced her friend again. “It’s okay T. I’m sure she knows you love her.”
“I’m sure she’ll come back,” Revel reassured. “Couples fight. It happens.”
T fought back a sob. “She has nowhere to go. I’ve already been to the shop and she wasn’t there and her truck is still at Spicer’s. She’s got to be on foot. The nutbar likes to go on little excursions. Walk from town to town. But she’s pregnant now. She can’t be doing that anymore.”
T had made a career out of beating himself up over the things he’d done and now was no exception. This was all his fault, he just needed to fix it.
Harper rubbed his back. “What can we do to help?”
The coffee Harper had made him still sat in front of T. He’d totally lost his appetite. “I don’t know. If it wasn’t raining so hard, I could’ve gone home and looked for some tracks. At least I’d have an idea of which way she headed. I know, I’m grasping at straws here, but I have no idea what to do.”
Revel spoke up. “You aren’t thinking straight. Spend the night here. Tomorrow, I’ll go back to your place with you and we’ll see what we can find.”
T considered it for a moment. Revel was right, his head was foggy, had been for days. He couldn’t think straight to save his life, but he couldn’t just sit around and wait until the haze lifted. Lifting the mug of coffee to his lips, T downed the entire thing. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t just sit on my hands. I’m gonna go home and search the house some more. I ran off in such a hurry. Maybe just being in a place she’s been will help guide me.”
Harper was touched by how T was looking at it, it was clear he felt close to Glory and she hoped that in some way, their souls’ connection could help him.
T stopped at the door. “I hate to put you guys out, but could you look after this rascal for me?” Buford was at his side as always, ready to follow his master wherever he went.
“Come on over here Bu.” Revel was on a knee, rubbing Buford’s ears after the lumbering pup had ran over to him. “Of course, brother. Bu’s always welcome in this house. I hope you find her tonight, but if you don’t, you’ve got some vacation days banked, feel free to use them. I’ll hold down the fort. Just keep me updated on what’s going on and if you need us, don’t hesitate to ask for help.”
Harper ran to T and gave him a huge hug. “I’ll ask around tomorrow and see if I can find anything out. You and Glory were destined for each other, T. Follow your heart and it’ll lead you to her.”
T couldn’t get home fast enough. The storm had moved East in a hurry and he flew down the road on his way home.
Running straight to his bedroom, he opened the drawer he’d cleared for Glory in his dresser. What he saw broke his heart. The only thing remaining was the purple jacket he’d bought at the Rougaroux Festival, it was folded neatly and lying in one corner. T took it out and held it up. He put a hand in each pocket, hoping to find a clue to where she’d gone, but the only thing he found was a Baskin Robbins napkin from that memorable day they’d spent together.
T searched the nightstand and then every nook and cranny of his room before moving on to the washroom. His medicine cabinet was empty and there were no traces of her inside the vanity drawers at all. The only thing he found belonging to Glory was in the garbage, a handful of pill bottles left over from when she’d gotten her medicine refilled. “Damn.” T knew she took pills, but he had no idea how many. Lying them aside, he stood and looking around. T found himself at a dead-end. He’d been to the bait shop and basically ransacked his place. If he hadn’t been in such distress over Glory, the mess would’ve driven his OCD crazy, but his mind was on her and he sat down on the couch to think about his next move.
No matter how long he thought, he found himself out of options. The clock had just rolled past eleven in the evening, but there was no way he’d be able to sleep. Needing a distraction, T made the decision to go clean himself up and redress his wound. In all the commotion of the search, he’d felt the pain in his hand. Danny would be furious with him if he’d popped the stitches. After a quick shower, T sat down at his kitchen table and began unraveling his bloody bandage.
The stitches were still intact, but just as he’d suspected, the movement had opened the wound. Returning to the bathroom, he opened the medicine cabinet to retrieve some antibiotic ointment. Standing over the sink, he cleaned his wound, doctored it, and changed the bandage. Once he was through, his gaze landed on the pill bottles. Curiosity got the best of him. He’d known Glory was sick, but she’d never been willing to talk about what ailed her with any honesty.
T knew what it was like to have secrets, so he’d never pushed her on it. Picking up the pills, he sat down at his computer and lined them up, ready to do some research.
“Fuck!” What he found scared the ever-loving-crap out of him. If he was reading this right, Glory had PAH, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. “Damn, damn, damn.” He tried to absorb some of the articles, but wanted the real story from someone who understood – not from the internet, which was a landscape dotted with false and misleading information. Taking one of the pill bottles in hand, T read the doctor’s name on the label. Dr. Lexington. This wasn’t the doctor at the clinic in New Iberia. Checking the pharmacy, he saw it was one in Baton Rouge. Again, he cursed the late hour. He would call first thing in the morning and talk to the doctor, see what he could tell him about Glory.
With shaking hands, he turned off the computer. He didn’t know all the details, but he knew one thing now.
Glory was sick.
Seriously sick.
*
As the rain came down in impenetrable sheets, punctuated by rumbles of thunder so loud the earth seemed to shake, Glory huddled underneath the bridge. Gazing into the darkness, she stared at shapes that seemed to come to life every time the lightning flashed. All of the tales T had told her about the Rougaroux and hoodoo witches came to life. The close encounters she’d had with the unknown haunted her. She bowed her head and hid her eyes, knowing there was nothing out there to be afraid of. She’d just never felt so alone. What was she doing here? Sleeping out in the open, in the midst of a storm, and pregnant?
What a mess she’d made of her life. Glory clutched her backpack to her as tightly as she could, wishing things could’ve been different. Only when she was too exhausted to hold her head up, did she finally close her eyes to sleep.
…The rhythmic sound of morning traffic crossing the bridge woke her up. After doing her morning business, drinking some water, and eating a stale cinnamon roll, Glory hit the road. She was moving slow this morning. She’d had a bad night, dreaming that she went into labor and delivered her baby in a roadside park. Glory awoke crying when the doctors called T-Rex to tell him the baby had arrived and he refused the call.
“Snap out of it, Glory Bee. You’ve had several days to work through this. Now’s the time to make some decisions.” According to the highway sign, she had eight miles and two rest stops to come up with a plan. Glory considered what might be her wisest move. Thanks to her Uncle Calvin, she had her mother’s phone number. Glory shuddered when she contemplated Vivienne’s reaction to
her showing up pregnant. No, there had to be some other way. Moving off the right-a-way when she heard a car coming, Glory kept her head down and kicked a rock along ahead of her. Her uncle and his wife would make room for her, but they had a hard time taking care of their selves. When the rock bounced off to the right, she went after it, using a soccer move to aim it back into the path. The bakery at Jeanerette kept coming to mind, her cooking was the only talent she had to offer. She just wished there was somewhere she could go, some place where she’d be welcome.
*
How early was too early?
T pondered that question as he sat outside Mrs. Watson’s house at seven in the morning. He’d been there for the better part of half an hour, sitting in his truck, just hoping to see a light go on inside the house.
Suddenly, the kitchen light came on. “Finally.” T climbed out of his truck and headed up the stone pathway. He hadn’t slept at all last night. After what he’d read about Glory’s condition, he was putting two and two together. So much of what she’d said and done made more sense now, especially those whoppers she told. She couldn’t be held upside down, hot showers were dangerous for her, and all the times she’d been breathless hadn’t been because she was bowled over by his sexy appeal – her heart and lungs were just protesting the effort it took to keep her alive. “Jesus!” T raked his hand through his hair. As practical as he was, T rarely believed what he read on the internet, but if even half of it was true about PAH, he didn’t know what they were going to do. He’d already placed a call to Doctor Lexington’s office bright and early that morning and left a message.
When he arrived at Mrs. Watson’s front door, T spotted the morning paper at his feet and scooped it up before knocking. “Got your paper, ma’am,” he said with a big grin when Mrs. Watson opened the door.
Mrs. Watson was in her morning robe. “Good morning, T. Thank you.” She took the paper from him. “Won’t you come in? Whatever are you doing here so early? Are you here to decorate my Christmas tree?”
“No, no, Mrs. Watson.” He stepped in behind her. This wasn’t a social visit, but still, he didn’t want to insult her. “Do you need someone to decorate it for you?”