Alec's Dream

by Riley Edwards

  “Shit. Football practice. He good to my Rory?”

  “The best. She came home with a bad tummy, Alec took care of her while she got sick, made her soup, took care of me, handled Caleb because he was freaked out I had a cut lip and black eye, then he promised Aurora he’d make us safe and he kept that promise, Dad. Alec caught Josh after Josh shot at him and the police, but not even bullets flying by Alec stopped him from keeping his promise to my daughter. So, yes, he is good to Aurora.”

  “I’ll come with an open mind,” my dad choked out, then the line went dead.

  I figured my dad would after hearing all of that.

  But I knew I didn’t need to worry. Mom and Dad loved me and the kids. It would take my father thirty seconds to see what I saw in Alec. And my mom would take one look at him and swoon. Then there was Jocelyn. Mom and Dad were gonna swoop in and love her to pieces.

  32

  Alec couldn’t remember the last time his phone had rung so many times in one day.

  Jonny called with an update about Malone. Bail had been denied and he was sitting in a cell until his ass was scheduled before a judge.

  Jameson called to say he was on his way home and everything was good in Florida.

  Macy called to inform him her parents had heard what had gone on while they were on their cruise, her father was beside himself pissed but had promised to come over later with an open mind. Whatever that meant, Alec wasn’t sure. What he did know was Ron Hartley loved his daughter and grandkids, so he wasn’t worried. If the man didn’t see they had that in common, he would in time.

  Then Jonny called again to inform Alec that Macy’s dad had stopped by the station for a brief on Josh Malone and to pump Jonny for information about Alec and Jocelyn. Normally this would piss Alec off. He didn’t like people in his business, and certainly didn’t like people going behind his back to talk about him. But he figured if Jocelyn had been fucked over the way Macy had, Alec would crawl up the ass of the new man in her life. So he couldn’t blame Ron.

  After those four calls, he fielded work calls until Nixon gathered everyone in the conference room for a briefing. Thankfully the new contract didn’t require fieldwork or going out of town. There’d been a string of kidnappings in Jackson, Wyoming and the local FBI office was beginning to think the area was the under attack of sex traffickers. The locals asked Gemini Group to comb through the files of the investigation to see if they missed anything.

  Nixon distributed the case files and Alec took his stack back to his office and started reading. It hadn’t taken long for the calls to start again. Macy to tell him she was stopping by the store on the way home and wanted to know if he or Joss needed anything. Jonny again to update him about the guns and money they’d found in Malone’s basement—the guy was fucked. After that he got back to work and the rest of the day flew by.

  “You leaving?” Nixon asked Alec.

  “Yep. Going to Caleb’s football practice,” Alec returned.

  “And then the Hartleys are coming by to give you a onceover.” Nixon smiled. Alec didn’t, he also didn’t answer because there was no need. Nixon obviously already knew Alec’s plans for the evening. “Ron Hartley isn’t stupid. You got nothing to worry about.”

  “Didn’t think I did.”

  “Right. Listen, before you leave, I wanted to put your mind ease. Don’t think my wife’s planning on taking Jocelyn and fleeing the country anymore.”

  Alec noted that this time when Nixon smiled, it was different. Bigger, broader, happy.

  The smile a father makes when he’s thinking about his child.

  “She’s pregnant,” Alec surmised.

  “Yep. It’s early but we’re having a kid.”

  “Happy for you, brother.”

  “Yeah.”

  Nixon’s features gentled and jealousy slammed into Alec.

  Alec had Jocelyn, but he’d been denied the nine months leading up to the birth. Missed out on the excitement Nixon felt. Then guilt took over—even if Jaime had told Alec about the pregnancy, he sure as shit wouldn’t have been feeling what Nixon was feeling.

  Fuck.

  But one day he would—when Macy was carrying their child. He’d feel it then.

  “Can I help you?” a man asked as he moved to cut Alec off from the practice field.

  Alec approved of the maneuver.

  “Alec Hall,” he introduced himself when the man stopped in front of him. “I’m here for—”

  “Caleb. Yeah, he told me you were coming. Good to meet you. I’m Caleb’s coach, Lou Raio.”

  “Lou.” Alec dipped his chin and took the man’s hand in a firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Caleb said you played.”

  “I did, from about Caleb’s age through high school.”

  Alec left out the part about throwing a ball around with kids in the local villages while on deployment.

  “Just to let you know a little bit about how I run my team, I rotate the boys through positions.”

  “Smart. The boys can’t know their strengths until they’ve played every position.”

  “Right. It also helps stop the arguments. Eighty percent of the boys come into this league wanting to be a QB. The other twenty percent wanna be wide receivers. That leaves me with nine vacant offensive line spots.”

  Alec chuckled remembering his early days on the field. Every young man had dreams of throwing the winning pass or running it into the end zone.

  “What about Caleb? He stand out anywhere?”

  “Yeah, everywhere.”

  Alec could see that. Just from the short amount of time they’d played outside, it wasn’t hard to see the kid had talent.

  “No shit?”

  “Yeah. Every offensive position he cycles through he does well in. When he plays defense he’s the best cornerback we have, mainly because he’s fast, agile, and can slip into the pocket quickly. And the kid can kick, too. Only thing he lacks is concentration. Now, I say that because if he’d keep his head in the game he’d be that much better. But even with half his attention elsewhere, he’s one of the best we got on the team.”

  Pride welled in Alec’s chest along with a healthy dose of irritation. Alec understood why Caleb only gave the game half his attention. Because the other half was used to worrying about his mom and sister. Alec didn’t give two shits Caleb would be a better ballplayer, what he cared about was that a twelve-year-old boy couldn’t push his father’s bullshit out of his mind enough to enjoy something he obviously loved.

  “I’m sure you know about Caleb’s family—”

  “I do,” the coach answered. “I should’ve mentioned I know Jonny, we’re good friends. Also grew up here so I know Macy and Doug.”

  Just hearing Macy and Doug used in the same sentence pissed Alec off.

  “Right. Something you might not know. Macy and I are together, which means things will be smoothing out for Caleb. He and I—”

  “Hey, you made it,” Caleb shouted, cutting off the rest of the explanation.

  Both men watched Caleb jog across the field. Alec did this with anger coursing through his veins at the surprise in the boy’s tone. Then he reminded himself that it would take a while for Caleb to trust him.

  “Hey, bud,” Alec greeted when Caleb came to a skidding halt.

  “Are you gonna stay the whole practice?”

  Christ, he hated Doug Spencer.

  “Sure am.”

  “Hey, Coach, would it be all right if you put me in a QB for a while? I wanna practice what Alec taught me.”

  “Sure. We’re gonna scrimmage the first half of practice,” Lou told him and Caleb’s eyes lit. “Go tell the team to get ready.”

  “Sure thing. And thanks.”

  Caleb took off and Lou turned to Alec. “Since you’re gonna be here, I could use some help.”

  “Then put me where you want me.”

  “Did you know an alligator can’t stick his tongue out?” Rory asked from the back seat.

  “Nop
e. I didn’t know that,” Alec chuckled. “How was school today?”

  Football practice had gone well. Caleb was just as good as Lou had said. The man had also been correct about the kid’s focus. Which was something he’d keep an eye on and if in a few weeks he didn’t start to see a change, he’d have a word with Macy, then with Caleb.

  “Boring,” Rory muttered.

  “You always say that,” Caleb added.

  “Yeah, well, because it is.”

  “Before dinner, do you think you can help me with the passing drill? Coach said I need to work on my follow-through.”

  “Depends on if your mom needs help. Your grandparents are coming over for dinner tonight.”

  “They are? Yay!” Rory shouted from the backseat.

  Caleb was silent, and out of the corner of Alec’s eye, he could see the boy’s mouth twisting. He wasn’t sure if he was worried about his grandparents coming over or if he thought Alec was denying him.

  “So,” Alec continued as if Rory hadn’t interrupted, “if your mom’s got everything handled we’ll go out back. If she needs help or your grandparents want to visit, we’ll make time after they leave.”

  “Okay,” Caleb mumbled and Alec decided to wait until Rory wasn’t around to suss out the issue.

  When they pulled down the driveway, Alec could see Macy’s parents had already arrived. He also noticed Caleb was closing down. This was not how he wanted the first time he met the Hartleys to go, but it couldn’t be avoided.

  Alec parked, shut off the SUV, then turned back to Rory.

  “Sweetheart. Run on inside. Me and Caleb will be in in a few minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  A smiling, exuberant Aurora took off toward the porch. Alec waited until she flung the door open and bound inside before he turned to Caleb.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.”

  There were a few ways Alec could handle the situation. One was to simply let it go and let Macy handle it. But that wasn’t going to help him and Caleb forge a relationship so Alec needed to wade in.

  “You okay with me helping at practice? I didn’t expect Coach Lou to ask, I was planning on just watching.”

  “Yeah, that was cool.”

  “Bud, I need you to look at me.” Alec waited for Caleb to stop fiddling with his backpack and his gaze to meet his before he continued. “There’s a lot going on. A lot of changes. I know everything is happening fast and its gonna take a while for all of us to settle in, but the one way to help that along is by talking about things that are weighing heavy on us. So I’m gonna ask you again, what’s going on?”

  “My dad’s weekend is coming up. Do we have to go?”

  “No. You and Aurora will not be going anywhere.”

  “But—”

  “Caleb, you expressed your concerns to your mom and she heard you.”

  “Dad has a way of making mom do what he wants. I hear what he says to her. I know he’s mean to her then she gives in.”

  The list of reasons why Alec wanted to beat the holy shit out of Spineless Dickhead Doug, he’d lost count. Caleb’s shock that Alec had followed through with a promise was one. The second one of the day was that Caleb was worried the man who was supposed to love and protect them would be mean to his mother.

  Fucking dick.

  “Your mom doesn’t give in, bud. She’s been trying her best to see the good in your dad so you and your sister can have a relationship with him. Your mom’s a strong woman, she also loves you and Rory so much she’ll take more crap than she should if it means you guys get what you need. But even before you talked to her, she’s been seeing some things she doesn’t like, things that are not healthy. You confirmed that. So now she’s doing what she needs to do to protect you and Rory.”

  Caleb remained silent, but to the kid’s credit, he didn’t break eye contact.

  “Do you think I’d allow your dad to hurt your mom? You? Rory?”

  The boy shrugged his shoulders and Alec wanted to roar with anger. Fucking Doug taught his son not to trust.

  “Fair enough. This is one of those things that’s gonna take time. Something you need to know about me, I do not make promises I cannot keep. Also when I make a promise I follow through—always. So when I tell you I promise to keep you, your sister, and your mom safe, you can believe that. But since you can’t trust me yet, you have to know your mom wouldn’t have moved in with the two of you if she didn’t trust me.”

  “Is Mom your girlfriend?”

  “Yes.”

  Alec tried but failed to think back to a time where he’d referred to a woman as a girlfriend. He figured he had in high school, but couldn’t think of a single girl who’d held the title. It also wasn’t lost on him he was having this conversation with his woman’s twelve-year-old son who’d assumed the position of man of the house years ago.

  “Good. She needs someone looking after her.”

  His lips twitched at the boy’s comment, but he still needed to correct him.

  “No, son, your mom can look after herself and the two of you just fine. She’s been doing a damn fine job of it. What your mom needs is a man to stand beside her, to love her, to show her how beautiful, smart, capable, and strong she is.”

  “Isn’t that looking after her?”

  Caleb Spencer was no fool.

  “In a way, yes. But I want you to understand it’s my pleasure to look after all of you and I’m not stepping in because your mom can’t do it all on her own. I’m stepping in because I care about your mom. I care about you and Aurora. I want the three of you here, so we can start building a family, not because your mom needs someone to look after her, though, yes, I will be doing that, too.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, you got anything else on your mind?”

  “No.”

  “Right. Before we go into the house so I can meet your grandparents and we can see where your mom’s at with dinner, I need one thing from you.”

  “What’s that?”

  Caleb’s expression turned funny and Alec didn’t like one fucking thing about it.

  “I want you to think about something and if you can’t give it to me right now, I understand. But when something’s weighing on you and you need to talk, you come to me. I got all the time in the world for you. Even if you don’t wanna talk, you just need to throw a ball, go for a run, jump on a four-wheeler to clear your head, you come to me.”

  Then Alec made the snap decision to give Caleb some more truth. “Rory is six. Thanks to you, she’s been shielded from what’s been going on around her. Pisses me off that while your mom tried her best to shield you, you saw and heard more than you should’ve. And I do not blame your mom for that. I am not mad at her about it, so I don’t want you to think that. I’m simply pissed that a twelve-year-old who should be worried about school, studying, and sports is more worried about the two girls in his life because he’s seen and heard too damn much. With that said, the time for you to worry about them is over. That’s my job now. I worry about the family, you worry about school and playing ball.

  “But more than that, because of what you’ve done, your sister trusts me. She doesn’t know any better. But you? I need to earn yours. I swear to you I will. I will not let you down, Caleb. I won’t hurt your mom. I won’t yell at her and be mean to her. And that is not because I’m promising you I won’t. It’s because a man who cares about a woman doesn’t hurt her—he busts his ass to make sure she knows down to her soul she is loved, cherished, and protected.”

  “I want to live here.”

  The left side of Alec’s chest started to warm. Maybe it wouldn’t take as long as he thought to get Caleb to open up to him.

  “That’s good, because you already do.”

  “I’m ready to go in now.” Caleb hesitated and Alec braced. “Thanks for talking to me.”

  “Anytime, son. Let’s get in there.”

  Alec and Caleb made their way to the house. When he opened the door and walke
d in, the warmth that had started in his chest turned into a burn.

  33

  I had never been more thankful than I was when I heard Alec’s SUV pull down his long lane.

  Mom and Dad had already been there for over an hour. Mom gushed over Joss. That was, she’d scooped up the little girl and started spoiling her after she hugged, kissed, lectured, and paled at the sight of the thankfully faded bruises.

  Dad on the other hand did not pale, his face hardened and anger rolled off him. Then the third degree started. I filled him in on everything that had happened—start to finish—and left nothing out. Not even Jameson going down to Florida to have a word with Doug.

  I’d expected some sort of backlash from my dad for Alec’s friend warning Doug to stay out of Maryland, meaning away from Rory and Caleb. I was essentially taking my kids away from their dad. Something I thought I should feel guilty about but couldn’t summon up the emotion.

  Doug had put them in danger, and not his normal danger—grave danger. He’d crossed the line a long time ago, but his newest activity was the last nail in his already buried coffin.

  When my dad muttered “Pleased to hear that, Macy” in a deep gruff voice that conveyed just how happy he truly was, I was thankful, yet pissed that my dad sounded so relieved Doug wouldn’t be around to hurt Caleb and Aurora anymore, it overcame him.

  My big, strong Daddy showing that level of emotion made my ever-growing hate for Doug grow even more.

  So needless to say, I was on tenterhooks for a variety of reasons, one being my parents were meeting Alec for the first time, but also I was spent from my dad’s prodding. Therefore, when Alec’s SUV pulled up, I wasn’t anxious anymore. I needed him, Rory, and Caleb.

  I needed my family.

  But when Rory bounced into the house, full of energy and excitement sans Caleb and Alec, I started to get nervous. Then my sweet daughter helpfully told her grandparents all about Alec. How she was so excited to live at Alec’s house. How Kennedy and Jameson lived next door and had a dog. How Alec had told her she could paint her new room any color she wanted—which was news to me. How Alec played catch with Caleb. How Alec was my manfriend. She further told my parents that Aunt Becky thought Alec was mighty fine—though Aurora wasn’t sure what that meant. Thankfully.