Saving Her

by Mia Ford

  And every time I was late picking her up, or missed a recital, or didn’t show up for a PTA meeting, I said to myself that I was doing it for her. I was working the night oil for my daughter, to give her the life she deserved.

  Until I got shot, of course, and realized I was probably not doing it for Kelly after all. A part of me still missed Janice, and that same part seemed to have an inexplicable death wish.

  Sometimes I look back at all that, and wonder what the hell went wrong. When did I forget to take care of myself for her sake? When did I think it would be okay for her to grow up without both parents?

  Maybe those hours of therapy didn’t help after all, buddy.

  Maybe. And maybe I had been pushing people away for the exact same reason. Why build long-lasting relationships I didn’t expect to keep, right? It was why I had never been on a date, why I had never let any woman into my life, and definitely why I couldn’t even fathom the idea of sharing a bed with someone Kelly might one day call ‘mom’.

  Which made my attraction to Jenni Wright even more confusing!

  She was definitely my type. Brunette, check. Slim, check. Smile that could melt steel, double-fucking-check. But there was something else there, something more than just the way she looked. It was in her eyes, a hint of mischief, a touch of a desire to live on the wild side. Reading her was definitely not easy, but that had been clear enough. And maybe that was exactly why I was feeling the way I was. Janice had that same spark, the willingness to jump headfirst into the unknown.

  Dammit, she had even made jokes about the cancer when the pain had been bearable enough for that.

  Jenni Wright…

  The truck hit a small speed bump, and I was abruptly brought back to where my mind had wandered off to. Samuel was pulling into the driveway of a small workshop, Pete’s Garage in large painted uppercase letters on the front. I remembered the shop from my childhood, a lot of long afternoons spent with my father and Pete as we fixed up whatever the Ford had been complaining about then. It felt a little nostalgic.

  “Okay, you kids stay here while I go talk to Pete,” Samuel said, jumping out of the truck.

  “Take me with you,” Kelly said, following suit.

  I watched from my seat as the two of them disappeared into the shop, then turned to look at Jenni. She was huddled up near the door of the backseat, biting her lip as she gazed out the window. She smiled at me when she saw me looking, and I felt parts of me melt immediately.

  “So, what brings you back to Kent?” she asked.

  “Decided to spend the summer with the old man, show my daughter where her father grew up,” I replied.

  “That’s nice,” Jenni smiled. “Is it her first time here?”

  I nodded. “Ever since her mother died, and we’ve kind of been avoiding free time.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Jenni said, her eyes suddenly wide in shock. “I had no idea.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It happened almost ten years ago.”

  “That’s a long time to be avoiding ‘free time’.”

  I shrugged. “We’re not very good at mourning.”

  “And Kelly?”

  “She has to deal with me, which I think is probably the hardest part of it all,” I said.

  “I know where she’s coming from,” Jenni said, looking out the window again, her eyes glazing over.

  “Mother, too?”

  Jenni nodded. “But she walked out on us,” she said. “I’m sure it’s not the same, but the end result pretty much is.”

  I laughed. “Hank isn’t exactly the lenient type.”

  “Tell me about it,” she smiled. “But he’s a great dad, all things considered.”

  “Is that why you stayed back in Kent?”

  Jenni hesitated, then shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she said, frowning. “Partly, yeah, but I don’t hate it here, either. It used to be a great place to live for a while.”

  “Used to be?”

  “The college campus brought a lot with it,” she replied. “Good business, but also late-night parties, drunk drivers and of course, our all-time favorite, drugs.”

  The DEA agent inside me suddenly woke up. “Drugs?” I asked.

  Jenni looked at me, and for a second I had a feeling that she was about to tell me something she wasn’t supposed to. It looked like she was conflicted over what to say and what not to.

  “The usual,” she shrugged. “Weed, a couple of synthetic garbage, you know?”

  I did, and I also had a feeling there was a lot more to it than that. It was in the way she said it, how she looked away while trying to act like there was nothing serious to it. I made a mental note to ask Samuel about that later. The last time I had checked, Kent wasn’t exactly the place most people would associate with drugs.

  I was about to ask her more, when a knock on the window startled me. Samuel waved for me to come out and help him with the chains, and as I stepped out of the truck, I glanced back at Jenni. She was looking out the window again.

  Pete was standing next to my father, the hood of Jenni’s car up as he hunched forward to check the damage. “Right, it’s the alternator,” Pete said. “Don’t have the parts now, but should get ‘em in a couple of days.”

  Pete stood up and stretched, then gave me a wide smile. “Welcome back, Alex.”

  I shook his hand. “Thanks, Pete.”

  “You tell Jenni she can come pick this up on Monday,” Pete continued. “Till then, she betta find herself another way to go about her day.”

  “Thanks, Pete,” Samuel said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “We’ll manage, just do what you can.”

  I unhooked the chains, then helped Pete push the car into the garage. “Now don’t you be a stranger, kiddo,” he said. “You gotta pass by here more often.”

  I walked out of the garage with the promise that I would. Kelly was standing in the middle of the driveway, waiting for me.

  “Grandfather’s invited your new friend to dinner,” she said with a smile.

  I gave her a wary look. “Does that bother you?”

  Kelly shook her head quickly. “Nope, I like her.”

  “You don’t know her.”

  Kelly frowned and tapped her index finger on her chin. “Let’s just say I have a feeling about her,” she said. “What’s the world I’m looking for? Intuition? I think that’s what you keep throwing at me, right?”

  “One day that lip of yours is going to get you into a lot of trouble,” I smiled, resting my arm around her shoulders as we walked back to the truck. Samuel was talking to Jenni, and she looked over at us as we approached.

  “Your father’s trying to charm his way into my heart,” Jenni said.

  “Yeah, be careful about that,” I replied. “A real heartbreaker, that one.”

  “So, a man can’t ask a beautiful woman to join him and his family for dinner?” Samuel asked, looking at the both of us with an amused smile on his face.

  “Well, we could use the company,” I chimed in. “Normally, the three of us can’t really stand each other, so you’d be like a buffer.”

  Jenni laughed. “Only if it’s okay with Kelly,” she said.

  Nice. She knows how to play this right.

  “Are you kidding?” Kelly rolled her eyes. “Please come. Save me from these two geezers.”

  Jenni laughed again and nodded. “Fine, dinner it is. Where are we heading?”

  “The Red Roof,” Samuel replied, hoisting himself into the driver’s seat as the rest of us got into the truck.

  I stood back to let Kelly in and was a little surprised when she opted for the backseat next to Jenni. I gave her a confused look, and she shot me a warning gaze that made me smile.

  It looked like I wasn’t the only infatuated with Jenni Wright.

  Chapter 8: Jenni

  The Red Roof wasn’t the kind of restaurant where you expected to see the rich and the glamorous. But it was one of the best in Kent, and probably the only place you could really take
a date to. The owner, a wonderful woman whose mother had opened the restaurant thirty years ago, tried her best to make the atmosphere as cozy and welcoming as possible. Which just added to the appeal. The fact that she had a sort of monopoly on fine dining in Kent didn’t change the fact that she put her heart and soul into the place.

  Which was one of the reasons why the place was packed when we walked in. A lot of times, just getting a table at The Red Roof required a reservation, but apparently Samuel Logan was so popular there, they already had a table ready for him. It felt nice to be able to just walk in and eat, and I giggled when Samuel leaned in and told me that he should probably be charged rent for the table he usually occupied.

  We were led to a table in the back, close to the window that looked out onto North Main Street, but was far enough to give us more of a woodland view than street. It was a charming little setup, and I slid into my seat comfortably, a little taken back when Alex actually pulled out my chair for me. Whoever had said chivalry was dead, had obviously not gone out with Alex Logan before.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to The Red Roof for a comfortable dinner with friends. The most recent memory of the place was when Garth had brought me here for a quick dinner and a quite memorable fuck out back.

  “So, what’s good here?” Alex asked, opening the menu.

  “Everything,” Samuel replied quickly. “I’d stay clear of the chicken, though. You’ll probably end up ordering seconds.”

  I smiled at that, and turned my attention to Kelly who had abandoned her menu and was watching the other guests. “Not hungry?” I asked.

  Kelly jumped a little and looked at me. “It’s just, this place seems a lot like something out of a bad Rom-Com.”

  “Kelly, eyes on the menu,” Alex said.

  “Seriously,” she said. “Look at everyone around us. I mean, they’re practically making out in public. It’s gross.”

  I laughed. “It’s one of the few romantic places in Kent, so you’re going to have a lot of dates here.”

  Kelly looked at me for a beat before she shrugged and turned her attention back to the crowd. “There’s really not a lot to do in Kent, is there?”

  “You’ll be surprised how much fun you can have outside the big city,” Alex said.

  “Sure, dad, if you say so,” Kelly replied. “And what’s up with that guy? He’s staring at us as if he knows us.”

  I turned my attention to where she was looking, and felt my heart jump into my throat. Sitting a few tables away, hidden by a table of six, was Garth. I had missed him coming in, and the tables between us would have kept him out of sight if Kelly hadn’t pointed him out to us. Garth was smiling at me, winked, and stood up slowly. I didn’t recognize the people he was with, but one of the women looked like she had just stepped out of a ‘Whores R’ Us’ catalog.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Alex turn just as Garth weaved through the tables towards us. “Is that Liston?” he asked.

  Samuel just grunted, and I could see the look of utter disgust on the elder Logan’s face.

  “If it isn’t Alex Logan!” Garth greeted, arms wide and voice as loud as ever. I cringed as people turned towards us. It was just like Garth to make a scene. “Heath told me you were back!”

  He didn’t wait for Alex to stand up and clapped him on the back, quickly putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling at him like they were old friends. I saw Alex eye Garth’s hand, then shoot him a smile that bordered on discomfort.

  “It’s nice to see you, Garth,” Alex said, slowly pulling away from Garth’s hold.

  Garth leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Hi, babe. I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

  Marking his fucking territory. Next thing you know he’d probably piss on my leg.

  I saw Alex eye us before quickly looking away just as Garth turned to him again. “I was just asking Sam about you,” he said. “Told me you moved out of the old house.”

  “Yeah, we did,” Garth nodded. “Got us a nice little place on the outskirts, really sweet deal. You should pass by sometime, let me give you a tour. Maybe I could even convince you to sell that crap hole you’re living in and move into something fancier.”

  I could see Samuel’s face go red and daggers shoot from his eyes. It never ceased to surprise me how much Garth can piss someone off with an off-hand remark like that.

  “I’d like a tour,” Alex said. “But to be honest, I’m an old-fashioned kinda guy.”

  “So, are you back for good, or just visiting?”

  “Visiting,” Alex said.

  “You’re still in Miami, right?” Garth asked, returning his hand on Alex’s shoulder, something I’ve seen him do all the time. It was Garth’s way of showing the person in front of him that he had the upper hand, and from the looks of it, Alex knew that, too. And was not liking it.

  “That’s right,” Alex said, his smile faltering for only a moment.

  “Homicide, was it?”

  “DEA.”

  Garth’s smile faded a bit. “Yeah, that’s it. The D-E-A. Keeping the streets of Miami free of drugs.”

  “Something like that,” Alex said, forcing a tight smile.

  There were few times when I had seen Garth interact with others. Most of the time when we were together, we were either arguing or fucking, and in both cases, alone. It was rare that I actually got to witness his dealings with other people, and there was a good reason for that. When it came to social skills, pretentious was an understatement in regard to Garth Liston, and he had a way of getting under your skin, which pissed off most people he dealt with.

  And in the case of Alex Logan, I could see he wasn’t fairing any better.

  I was impressed by Alex’s control, although there were enough signs to show that he was as comfortable with this back and forth as I was watching it. His jaw was clenched, his smile just a little too wide, and his eyes betrayed him completely. Garth would definitely pick up on that, no doubt about it, but if he did, he wasn’t showing it. Right now, he was marking his territory, letting Alex know who the bigger fish in this pond was, and he was doing it with the grace of a Neanderthal.

  What the hell do you see in him?

  I asked myself that question all the time. I would have loved to write it off as just a sexual attraction, but a part of me knew that the bad boy ensemble was something I was pretty much drawn to like a moth to the flame. The only question was, how long would I be able to put up with Garth’s shit before it became too much.

  “Hey, while you’re here, why don’t you talk to your old man about selling that piece of land he’s been holding on to?” Garth asked, leaning in as if he and Alex were old friends.

  “Why don’t you ask me yourself?” Samuel said.

  Garth smiled at him and raised both hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m just the middle man here. Gotta do the job, you know. Don’t shoot the messenger and all that.”

  “I got a double-barrel that would love to do just that,” Samuel replied.

  Garth’s eyes darkened, although the smile never left his face. I knew that look, although I’d never actually been on the receiving end of it. Luckily. Garth wasn’t used to be told that he couldn’t have something; it was as if you had insulted him just by saying no. Samuel didn’t seem to care, though, and stared right back at Garth, resolute.

  “Your old man’s stubborn,” Garth said through clenched teeth.

  “You can’t really blame him,” Alex replied. “He’s really hung up on that bit of land. I suggest you tell your friend, whoever he is, that he should stop trying and maybe look for something else.”

  Garth’s gaze shifted to Alex, and for a second there, the look they shared made chills run up and down my back. I shifted in my seat, adjusting myself for no other reason other than to avoid the awkwardness, and briefly met Kelly’s eye. She smiled at me and winked, as if she knew how I felt and was trying to console me. Don’t worry, my dad’s got this, her eyes seemed to tell me, and I smiled w
eakly back.

  “You know, they’re offering quite a lot of money for it,” Garth said. “More than it’s worth. Enough to put your daughter through college and then some.” Garth reached for Alex’s shoulder, but this time Alex quickly brushed the hand away. “I think you should talk with your old man. It’s not fair for you, Alex. He’s not going to be around forever, and chances like these only come once.”

  “You know, I think we’ll be okay,” Alex said. “Besides, Kelly’s looking forward to student loans, aren’t you sweetheart?”

  “The backbone of the American economy,” Kelly replied lazily. I smiled. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.

  Garth looked at Kelly, a look that gave me chills, and smiled. “Smart girl.” He turned back to Alex and smiled even more. “I heard your wife passed. Sorry I missed the funeral, man.”

  I winced. That was a low blow.

  Alex, though, seemed unfazed. “That’s okay,” he said. “We hardly noticed you weren’t there.”

  Garth’s smile dropped. I quickly turned away, hoping he didn’t see the smile I had failed to control, and adjusted myself in my seat again.