Shit, she really needed to get out of her head. At this point, she was starting to battle with herself.
“What the hell are you thinking about in here?” Trent asked as he made his way around the corner.
Teal jumped, then scowled at herself for still being jumpy in her own home.
He crossed his arms over his bare chest. Though the bruising and reddened flesh had long since disappeared, Jake’s shotgun blast had left scarred and mottled flesh behind to mix with old wounds and aged ink from Trent’s past.
Teal placed the bottled water on the counter just as Trent’s gaze followed hers to his healed wound. One thing she truly loved about her man was that he never hid his scars from her. The past had made him a new man—a better man—and his fear of her running had dwindled to a point where it was quickly fading away.
Once Teal reached him, she placed her palm over his heart, enjoying the steady thump. “You tired?”
He grinned, the earlier stress fleeing—no doubt in hopes of sex with his wife. “Exhausted, you?” Trent wrapped his arm around Teal, allowing his left arm to hang at his side.
She didn’t speak on her growing concerns about his arm. It seemed tonight wasn’t the time to talk about anything heavy, and as Trent rocked his growing erection into her stomach, Teal whole-heartedly agreed with that idea. Lowering his head to place his lips on hers, Teal smiled as Trent’s long hair fell from the messy bun and surrounded their faces, momentarily cocooning them in a veil of blonde tresses.
Pushing up on her tiptoes, Teal met Trent’s lips in a soft kiss, just as the tinkle of her phone sounded. Pulling back, she glanced at the digital clock on the stove. “It’s late.” No one other than Katie or Logan called this late, and after Teal had asked Katie to respect her newlywed status, it was only Logan who flat out ignored her request.
Trent’s gaze followed hers to the time and groaned. “I swear, if that is Logan again, asking about my arm, I’m gonna kick him in the balls.” He moved away from her and glanced at the screen. He released a litany of curses before he answered the phone.
“Logan, for fucks sake, I would like to take my wife to fucking bed, but I can’t do that if I am on the phone with you.” Abruptly, Trent’s face reddened in fury and Teal could hear shrill screaming coming through the headset. She watched as Trent took the phone from his ear and eyed the screen once again. “Ma’am, who the fuck are you, and why are you using Logan’s phone to call my wife?”
Teal moved closer, concern clouding her mind. The voice had sounded vaguely familiar, but without being able to place the phone directly to her ear, Teal was unable to place the voice. Trent continued to fume, as the woman’s voice grew.
“I am asking you to tell me who you are.” More shrill screaming shut Trent up, but only for a moment. “No, fuck no. You can’t speak to her until I get a fucking name.” Trent’s growl would have terrified a sane person, but Teal was starting to think the person on the other end was far from sane, which had her wondering again who the hell was calling from Katie and Logan’s place.
Leaning in closer, she tried to concentrate on the woman’s voice. Just then, as if fate hadn’t put enough on her plate tonight, Trent’s eyes closed in defeat and the color drained from his face. When his eyes opened again, his next words made bile rise in her throat.
“Here.” He handed her the phone. “It’s your mother.”
Chapter 8
Trent waited for Teal to grab the phone from his hand, then thrust his hands through his hair. He’d gone and cursed Teal’s mother out, but he’d do it again, without a doubt, if the woman continued to call him a backwater hick. At least he saw where Teal got her saucy-ass mouth from. Man, Logan deserved a kick in the balls for allowing this woman to use his phone to catch them off guard like that.
Sensing Teal’s stress, he moved closer, wrapping her in his embrace as she pulled the phone to her ear and spoke. “Mother?” Her tone held no warmth, but the chilling air one would offer an unwanted guest or stranger. Though, behind the chill lay anger—sharp and deep-seated hate. Her ridged form melded easily into his, accepting the soothing embrace he offered.
Later, he’d ask why she still hadn’t told her mother the news about their marriage. Thinking on it now, it felt good to throw that in the woman’s face. Fuck, his mother-in-law was a straight up bitch.
His wife gripped the phone hard enough to crush it, her anxiety evident in her tense posture and attitude. Trent knew the fear a parent could wrought in a child. He knew the sense of fear his stepfather had placed in him with each swipe of the belt or cigarette burn. But for Teal, he sensed a different brand of fear. The kind of fear Trent had faced every day in his life—the fear of disappointing everyone around you.
Trent massaged her shoulders, squeezing the tense muscles. The acrid stench of entrenched mother-daughter dysfunction settled in the air.
She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry.” Her tone brokering not a hint of apology. “The condo has new occupants now. You cannot stay there.” Trent had never heard hide nor hair from Teal’s mother in the time they’d been together. Though he had no example of the actions of a good mother, Trent knew that a mother who gave at least one fuck about her kid would pick up the phone in a year.
Teal had promised to inform her mother about their nuptials, but it’d seemed she failed to do so.
“Now isn’t a good time. We have—”
Trent glanced down at her silence.
Teal pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “We don’t have room.” She stopped again, her body tensed.
Trent pulled back. Not even thinking to lower his voice, he asked, “What the hell does she want?” Annoyance flared to life when she ignored him and continued to speak, or rather be spoken to.
He recalled every memory of Teal’s references to her mother. Not a damned one of them gave him the cozy-grandma feel he’d hoped Emma Mae would experience. Between his own human incubator and Teal’s mother, Emma Mae didn’t stand a chance. But that was where he and Teal came in. It was their job to offer their daughter what no one had ever been able to offer them—unconditional love and protection.
Teal glanced up, ire burning bright in her eyes as her mother spoke, knowing whatever was being said would be something he’d loathe. What the fuck was going on in that conversation?
Teal shook her head. “Maybe for a day or two, but that’s all.”
Teal threw her head back and sighed. “Mother, I am not jobless—per se.” Her harsh tone withered, transforming into one of uncertainty. She bit her lip. Finally, sick of not being able to hear both sides of the conversation, Trent pulled the phone from Teal’s hands and place the call on speaker.
Preoccupied with the stress wrought by an overbearing mother, Teal didn’t complain. She merely sagged against the counter, her body shaking in anger as her mother spoke. “And, if you don’t have a job, it isn’t like you can’t accommodate your sister and I. Teal, always so damned head strong, even when you are in the wrong.” A strained sigh sounded through the line. “Despite our commonalties—”
“We couldn’t be more different.” Teal finished.
“Absolutely.”
Trent’s eyes narrowed at the woman’s words. He couldn’t have this nonsense in his house for a few reasons. The first being, Teal’s reaction to her mother’s phone call alone. It spoke volumes to the stress that having her in his home would cause his wife and child. Shit was already tense over that email and his endless hours of overtime.
Hell, he knew Teal wanted to take the job, even after her promise to stay at home with Emma for a year. He needed to nip this shit in the bud, and fast.
“I just don’t think it is a good time now,” Teal said. “I have too much going on, and with the baby—” She placed her head in her hands as if she’d already admitted defeat to the request.
A loud huff sounded. “You want to tell me what is really going on over there? And what damned baby are you talking about? Why is it Katie—a child who is not my o
wn—the only one willing to talk to me about what is going on? Teal, what the hell have you done to your life?”
At that, Trent snatched the phone and ended the call. Thinking better of it, he turned the device off. He then turned and gripped the counter, using it to hold him up. “What the fuck was that about?” The anger he felt wasn’t directed at Teal, but at her mother.
Placing her head in her hands, she turned to him. “I haven’t told her anything about our life yet.” Sheepishly, she looked up at him.
Trent shrugged. “And why would you?”
Teal’s stressful gaze turned to one of confusion. Her dark eyes tracked over his face, no doubt in search of answers. Trent reached up and caressed her cheek. She leaned into him, causing his chest to expand at her acceptance of the comfort he had to offer. She always made his chest tighten with pride and his heart accelerate with need. Each touch felt more intense than the next.
He couldn’t let her feel bad about this. “Baby, since you’ve been with me, she’s called you how many times? She didn’t even know what was happening in your life until she needed a fucking place to stay.” He waited before he spoke again. Waited for the Teal he knew, the Teal she hid from the world to surface from behind that tough as nails exterior. “When you needed her most, where was she? You did shit on your own until you met me, and now we do things together, as a family.”
Teal nodded. “I know, but you know just as well as I do how a mother can fuck with your mind.”
He chuckled. “Don’t bring me into this.”
Teal slapped his chest. “You know what I mean, Trent.”
And he did, he just didn’t want to get in to the heavy why of it. His past and her present were far from his mind when Teal pulled back to stretch. Arms raised over her head, her chest thrust out, pushing her heavy breasts front and center. Trent started to reach out and she batted his hand away.
“Explain something to me?”
Trent cocked a brow. “What?”
“How do you . . .” She bit her lip, struggling with what she wanted to say. “How did you get over having shitty parents?”
Okay, that took him right out of the nice haze the sight of her breast had put him in. Cock soft and a churning feeling in his gut, Trent took a receding step back.
Teal reached for him. “Hey, sorry. I know we don’t talk about this. I just—I guess I am just wondering how you dealt with it.”
He sighed. This was what he loved and hated about Teal. She took from him, things he’d never offered a soul—the truth about how his past had molded him.
“My mother is a completely different beast than yours. Polar opposites to be exact.” The vault of long repressed memories opened and his head filled with the pain and suffering of the past. “Where your mother forced the importance of a good education on you, mine reminded me that I was the reason she’d dropped out of high school.”
Trent shrugged, as if learning his mother despising him hadn’t carved a valley in his heart. Teal’s soft hand on his cheek jolted him from his thoughts and he focused on forgetting the fear, the past, the anger, and the lies. And now, all that was left was Teal and Trent, two souls who’d crashed into one another leaving a maelstrom in their wake.
“My mother played a role,” Teal said. “She was cruel and kind. You never really knew which monster you’d wake up to in the morning.”
“But she offered you kindness?” Trent had wished his mother knew the definition of the word.
Teal shook her head. “Not in the way you think. I’d have preferred her cruelty.”
Confused, Trent lifted her chin to meet her gaze. “Why?” Was the only word he could speak. He’d known the cruelty of his mother and felt it at his father’s hands. He couldn’t fathom anyone wanting such pain and suffering in their lives.
“Because, at least then, I knew where I stood. The mood swings and the mind games fucked me up. Every morning my sister and I would sit at the breakfast table waiting for my mother to come around the corner.”
Trent placed his hands over Teal’s arms and caressed her smooth skin as she spoke.
“It was misery waiting. My stomach would be in knots and my head dizzy.”
“But she never beat you?” Trent asked.
“No. But sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if she had hit us. Physical wounds heal, but the mental breakdown she put us through . . .”
Trent felt the goosebumps on her skin, along with a shudder that rolled through her body. He eased her closer. If he could, he would protect her from her past and the pain that littered her memories. “Any kind of abuse can leave emotional scarring, Teal. I don’t wish that on you or anyone else. This is why we took Emma Mae.” Placing his hands on either side of her, he said, “Do you want your mother in your life?”
She peeked up at him. “I’ve worked very hard to keep her away from me.” She glanced away, and tears filled her eyes.
He hated her tears, but he told himself that he would be the only person who ever saw them, and the one person to always soothe them.
The room seemed to almost darken and center on her; the only illumination, a greenish glow from the overhead microwave clock. The wind danced around outside the house slapping against the shutters sending falling swirls of dust up and into the black night sky. Trent sensed all of this, knew it like the back of his hand.
In the distance, beyond the walls of his home the sound of car horns sounded, a few dogs barked, and the scent of burning fire wood lingered in the air, a draft came in from an open window. All the scents and noises faded into the background as he lifted a hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Trent leaned in and kissed each damp cheek. Then he took her hand in his and placed it to his heart. “It’s just me, you, and Emma Mae. That’s what matters baby. Remember that. It’s important. Always remember that.”
Chapter 9
The sky held a gray hue, as if it would open up at any moment and drop a load of wet inconvenience onto Teal’s lap. Pushing the stroller over the pebble stone sidewalk—a nice contrast to her and Trent’s neighborhood full of eroded concrete—she noticed every difference between her home and Violet’s, from the manicured lawns to the BMWs.
But what Teal noticed more than anything else was the lack of women jogging down the streets. There were no women in yoga pants jumping into SUVs, hands full of Starbuck cups, no stay-at-home mothers walking babies, or any other shit she thought rich women did all day. Though I shouldn’t be too surprised. Most of these homeowners owned parts of Kentucky, so how would they have time to sit at home?
Teal checked on Emma before knocking on Violet’s door. “Hey,” she called when a bleary-eyed Poe cracked open the door, his overnight schedule evident on his face. It was early, and she was sure he wanted to be in bed.
“Hey, pretty lady.” Poe’s welcoming voice was like magic to her ears.
“Morning, Poe.” Teal placed her foot on the back of the stroller and pushed a bit to lift it over the lip of the entrance.
Poe leaned in and helped Teal enter. “What you here for?”
Teal paused. Violet had asked her over. Of course, it’d been a couple of weeks since Violet had been able to make time for her, but Teal remembered it like it was yesterday. Mainly because it was yesterday she’d gotten the invite.
Poe was lifting Emma Mae from her stroller when Violet came around the corner, a bright smile on her face. Teal felt like a fool as relief washed over her. She had nothing to do today, so if Violet canceled . . .
“Hey, Shug.” Violet made her way over to Poe, and Emma was now wide-eyed and giggling up a storm. “Glad you made it.” She pulled on Emma’s little chubby fingers and pinched her chubby cheeks.
Teal parked the stroller inside and shut the front door. “That little monkey has kept me up late for the last three nights, teething. Got me looking like Poe over there.”
Poe’s gruff laughter sounded, followed by a softer voice as he answered in baby talk. “Emma Mae, tell your mama, when you own a b
ar, eight AM is the middle of the night for you.”
They all chuckled, then Violet cooed. “I can see those little, horrid teeth pushing through her sensitive gums.”
Teal was used to this. Once you had a child, you became invisible. Enter the room with a new hairstyle and a baby on your hip, and people would notice your daughter’s little curl, or that she’s missing a dang sock.
Removing her light coat, Teal hung it in the closet adjacent to the door and headed back over to the bunch. “Those damned teeth will be the death of me.”
“A little rum’ll fix that right up,” Poe added. Teal pursed her lips.
“I am not putting rum in my baby’s mouth.” She held her hands out for her daughter and Poe obligingly returned her with a good-natured smile.
Violet motioned for Teal to follow her. “Honey, you don’t pour it down her throat, you rub it on her gums.”
Her admonishing tone rubbed Teal the wrong way. She may not have given birth to the child, and yeah, she was confused about quite a few things, but she had the sense to know she wasn’t supposed to feed the child alcohol.
They made their way into the sitting room, where she and Violet spent most of their time.
Violet plopped down into the seat and slipped off her heels. “Whew!”
Teal glanced over to Violet. “What?” She noted the apologetic look on her friend’s face. Placing Emma on the plush carpet, she pulled a few of her favorite toys out of her diaper bag. Emma snatched up a My Little Pony in one hand and her Bumble Bee transformer in the other.
“Well, I guess I noticed the face you made when I spoke about the rum.”
Teal’s brow furrowed and annoyance flared. Lately, it seemed the smallest things had her on edge. She tried to censor her tone, as she knew Violet hadn’t meant any harm. “As a woman with no prior knowledge about raising a baby, I still think I have enough sense to know a frozen rag would be better than liquor.”
Indebted: 'Til Death Do Us Part (Teal & Trent Book 3) Page 6