Her eyes warmed, and she looked as happy as her smile was a minute ago. “Good. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Now, let’s eat.”
I laughed, thankful that at least one sister was willing to give me a chance.
THROUGHOUT DINNER, CLAIRE did her best to include me in the multiple conversations happening at once, but Candace was still icy. I was trying my best to understand and respect the fact that she didn’t know me enough to welcome me warmly, even though the rest of the family had.
Once the dishes were cleared and everyone had a coffee in front of them, Marlene disappeared from the table for a bit, returning with a black leather photo album. Cy made a noise of disapproval.
“Oh hush, son.” She swatted Cy’s shoulder and everyone at the table laughed. “Scoot.” She tapped Cy’s arm again. “Go sit over there, I’ve got some pictures to share with your girl here.”
He groaned again but got up like his mother asked. “If she runs for the hills— ” Another round of laughter filled the room. Cy shook his head, clapped his dad’s shoulder, and glanced at Neil, silently asking them to join him in the living room. I didn’t even want to admit to myself how relieved I was when Candace got up with them.
Marlene sat in the middle seat and opened the cover of the book. I couldn’t believe how adorable Cy was as a child. The way he described himself being larger than his peers was spot on, but his face was so innocent with his cute chubby cheeks.
“And no nude pictures!” Cy yelled from the living room.
Marlene just giggled and held her finger to her lips, whispering, “Shh, look at that cute butt,” before pointing to a picture of Cy running away from her with his naked tush on display. He couldn’t have been more than three or four in the picture.
“Ooh and this one.” She pointed to Cy dressed in a Batman costume for Halloween. “That was his favorite. He was only six years old. Goodness, how time flies.”
I snuck a quick peek to see if she would get teary eyed, but she flipped the page to some cute family photos. Then there were a few of Cy learning to ride a bike, Christmas with Cy and his sisters gathered around Santa, and some of the kids with other people I assumed were family members or friends. There was even a photo of Cy dripping wet at the lake while he stood next to a cute boy similar in age and height holding a fishing pole.
“Who’s that?” I asked, pointing to the photo. I was pretty sure I already knew who it was though.
“That’s Cy’s cousin, Liam,” Marlene answered, and I giggled.
“Cy, told me about trips to a lake with Liam. He said he almost drowned there once.”
“Those two were inseparable growing up—every summer, they fought like cats and dogs, but they loved each other like brothers,” Claire said with a huge smile on her face.
That particular album didn’t hold any pictures of Cy past twelve or thirteen years old, but from all I had seen, he was a cute kid.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.”
“Of course, sweetheart.” Marlene patted my forearm. “Next time we’ll show you the good stuff.”
The three of us laughed in unison before Claire stood from her seat. “I should get those dishes put in the dishwasher.”
“I’ll help.”
“No, you sit. Thank you though.”
At my slight frown, she made sure to add that at future dinners, I would be considered part of the family, so I should be ready for dishpan hands. I laughed and didn’t push it. If they didn’t want my help yet, I would take this time to cuddle with Cy.
Cy walked me out back to the deck. We each had a beer in our hands and the other linked together. He sat in the chair farthest to the left, and right as I moved to sit in the chair next to him, he pulled me down carefully to sit in his lap, kissing me and nipping at my bottom lip.
“Cy.” His name was a lusty whisper as it escaped my lips. We may be alone outside on the deck, but we were not alone at the house, and I needed to remind myself of that. Laying my palm over his heart, I turned to rest my cheek on his shoulder.
“Thank you for coming to dinner with me tonight and meeting my crazy family.” He took a swig from the longneck bottle, and I watched how his throat moved as he swallowed.
“You’re welcome.” I dragged a lone finger down the middle of his chest.
“Don’t start something we can’t finish here,” he said softly.
“Don’t worry, I’m okay with rain checks.”
“Are you now?” With one eyebrow cocked, his hand snaked across my waist, and all of a sudden, I broke out in a fit of giggles from him tickling me.
“Stop! Oh my God, stop!” I couldn’t stop the hysterical laughter I was belting out. “Babe, quit, I think . . . I just . . .” I couldn’t breathe through the laughter.
Finally, after he released me, I ducked my head in the crook of his neck and shamefully admitted, “I think I just peed my pants.”
“Ughh, gross,” Cy jokingly shoved me almost off his lap before bringing me back. His hold tightened around my waist, and he chuckled in my hair.
“Sorry, baby. I just couldn’t help myself.”
“Hmm, somebody’s got jokes.” That warranted a playful smack to his chest as I ground my ass on him.
The screen door slammed open and we both turned to see a straight-faced Candace walking toward us with a beer pressed to her lips. Uninvited, she sat in the seat I should have been sitting in, propped her feet up on the footrest, and took another sip.
“Candace.” I heard and felt Cy’s strong voice say his sister’s name.
“Hmmm,” she responded indifferently.
“How’s Peter, haven’t seen him in a while,” he asked, and I tried to sit up and move off his lap, but he was not budging.
Bringing his mouth to my ear, he firmly said, “Stay,” only loud enough for me to hear. I nodded and relaxed into him again.
“He’s good. Busy, but good.” She took another pull from her beer and turned toward us.
“So where did you two meet?” There was nothing friendly about her question. I let Cy answer.
“Addie introduced us, but I saw her at the gala fundraiser last fall. She looked absolutely stunning in her shiny, green dress.”
I tried not to visibly relax. For a second, I thought he was going to tell her that he met me while I was skinny dipping. Though it surprised me a little that he remembered me from the gala. It had taken me a few weeks, but I had figured out he was the same guy who had caught my eye that night. It wasn’t something I had told him about though.
“Hmm, must be nice being able to afford such a luxury.”
Cy abruptly sat up, holding onto my waist and sneering at his sister. “What was that supposed to mean?” I felt the anger rolling off him. “I was there. What are you trying to say?”
She shrugged one shoulder, downplaying the situation. “Oh, you know . . .”
It was blatantly obvious she had pissed him off, but he tried hard to control his temper. “No. I don’t know, Candace. Care to explain?”
Her response was to take another sip of her drink.
Cy sat ramrod straight and I took that as my cue to stand. Cy stood, locked our hands together, and turned to his sister. “Candace, you know I love you, but right now, I’m not sure what the hell it is that you’re trying to pull,” he said in a low voice. He rubbed his hand atop his head and sighed out a heavy breath. “I’ll see you later.”
I stumbled a little when I tried to keep up with him as we walked through the house in search of his parents to say good night.
MY DAD WAS nowhere to be found, so after I thanked my mom and kissed her good night, I took Natalie by the hand and stormed off. I had no idea what the hell had gotten into my sister tonight. First she almost blurted out about an opening down at the sheriff’s department and then with her ice queen bitch of an attitude.
Then there was my Blue, ever so graciously taking Candace’s shit attitude with a grain of salt.
“Well, at least Claire was nice to me,” she said a
s she clicked her seatbelt. I didn’t have words though. I was still too mad at the way Candace had treated her. I know that Candace was the one to pick me up each time I fell into my dark place. She was the only one beside Natalie to know how deeply high school had messed my head up. She knew about the cutting. None of that gave her an excuse to treat Natalie like that, though.
We were halfway to my place when I felt a soft squeeze of our interlocked fingers.
“Do you mind if we swing by my place? I need to pick up a few things.”
“Okay. You should grab that perfume I like, too.” This got a radiant smile from her. I turned at the next intersection, heading to her place now.
I was thankful that she wasn’t one of those chatty or needy girls who needed to know everything that instant. She knew without me having to tell her that I needed space, and she let me work it out in my head before I talked to her. Maybe about a block before her house, I had to slam on my brakes to avoid being hit by a black SUV barreling down the narrow two-lane road.
“Asshole,” Natalie muttered under her breath, and I laughed. Her anger was kind of cute.
A minute later, I was pulling into her driveway. “I’ll be right back. Unless, you want to come in?” She was already pushing her door open, obviously in a hurry to grab whatever she needed and get back.
“If you’re only going to be a minute, I’ll wait here for you. I need some fresh air anyway.”
She nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”
I left the truck on and hopped out. I crossed my arms behind my head and looked up at the night sky before closing my eyes and concentrating on steady breaths.
That was when I heard her scream.
Blue.
My blood ran cold.
I took off toward the house with my heart pounding in my chest. When I reached the front door, I shoved it so hard it slammed against the wall, denting a large hole in the drywall. Shit.
Natalie was on her knees in the middle of her living room with her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach and tears falling down her cheeks. I dropped to where she was kneeling, wrapped her up in my arms, and carried her over the ransacked mess and out the front door.
Setting her down on the padded porch bench tucked in the far corner, my mind raced in twenty different directions, but I needed to remain calm.
“Shh, baby it’ll be okay, I got you. You’re safe with me, remember, Blue? You’re safe with me.”
Barely nodding against my chest, she didn’t say a word, and her tears continued to soak my shirt. She trembled in my arms, and I had to think fast.
Trying my best to calm her, I loosened her braid, combing through her hair and pressing soft kisses to her cheek. It took a while, but I got her calmed down a bit.
Holding both her tear-stained cheeks in my hands, I made sure she was looking me straight in the eyes before I spoke in a soft, gentle, systematic voice.
“Baby, I’m gonna shut the truck off and grab my phone so I can call Peter down at the sheriff’s department, okay?” She barely nodded her head. I hated that her eyes were vacant. I kissed her lips softly, vowed that I would kill the person who made my Blue’s lips taste like tears, and hurried over to the truck to do exactly as I mentioned.
Running back up the porch steps with my phone now in hand, I stopped in the open doorway for a few seconds to scan the shit storm that blew through her house. Her television looked like someone had taken a Louisville slugger to it, and the pictures she had on the walls were smashed on the floor. What made me see red was her favorite turquoise chair. Someone had taken a knife and cut straight down the middle of it, completely ruining her place of contentment.
I turned to her. “Baby, I’m gonna grab us some water, okay?” She nodded, and I headed to the kitchen. Instead of heading straight to the fridge, I did a quick walk through of her house. Careful not to touch anything, I glanced into the bathroom, which was a mess since whomever had done this felt the need to toss all the drawers and cabinets, but clear.
The spare bedroom looked as bad as the living room and bathroom, but that was empty too. When I opened the door to her bedroom, a cold chill ran the length of my spine. It was untouched.
Assured that there was no one inside, I headed to the kitchen, and using the very tip of my pinkie finger, I opened the fridge and grabbed two waters. She hadn’t moved from her spot and was still crying when I walked back out the front door.
“It’s just stuff, Blue,” I said, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in mine. “We can replace everything. All that matters is that you are okay,” I reassured her, trying to give her some kind of hope. “I love you, Blue,” should have been her reassurance, but that tiny voice still held me back.
She sniffled, and all I saw in her beautiful green eyes was sadness. I handed her the bottle of water, which she took gratefully.
“Baby, I’m going to call Peter now, okay?”
With pursed lips, she gave me a barely there nod, and I moved to sit next to her as I called Peter. He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, what’s up, brother?”
“Fuck,” I whispered unintentionally into the phone.
“What?” he replied sounding confused.
“Hey, sorry, man. I’m here at Blue’s— ” I shook my head in frustration. I stood and walked to the other end of her porch. She didn’t need to hear me talk about her place right then. “I mean Natalie, my girlfriend’s place. Shit, Pete, you gotta get over here, man. Somebody broke in and the place looks like a cyclone touched down.”
“Is anyone inside?” Always the cop, which was why I loved my brother-in-law.
“No, I checked. We just got back from dinner at Mom and Dad’s house. We stopped by for a few things, and next thing I knew, she was screaming.” I needed to breathe and control my temper before continuing.
“I ran in, found her kneeling in the middle of a clusterfuck.” My hand ran nervously through my hair. Who would have done this?
“Okay, man, text me the address, sit tight, and I’ll send someone over right away. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“Thanks man, appreciate it.”
After hanging up the phone, I texted the address to Peter, tucked my phone into my pocket, and made my way back over to Natalie. She was shaking, and my heart broke a little bit. Gathering her into my arms, I held her tightly and stroked her hair as she buried her head in the crook of my neck and cried. The sound of her sobbing was killing me, and I swore again that if I ever caught who did this, they were dead.
After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only about fifteen minutes, I heard the squad car pull up. Apparently Natalie heard it too, because she jolted from my lap.
“It’s okay, baby, wait right here while I talk to the deputies.
“Okay.” A tiny voice that broke me a little more.
I walked down a few porch steps, watching two of Chatham County’s finest climb out of their cruiser. When they spotted me, they both cringed. I didn’t even flinch. Instead, I waited for them patiently. Deputy Brendan “Hollywood” Charles shook my hand, but when the prick Deputy Chester “The Jester” Aimes walked up, I barely refrained from slamming my fist into his face. I hated him in high school and I hated him now. Of all the people in the sheriff’s department, it had to be him that showed up tonight. I puffed out a heavy breath and shoved the anger away.
“So anything you can tell me at this point will help,” Hollywood huffed out.
“Just what I told Pete. We came back here so she could grab an overnight bag, and when she walked inside, she found the place destroyed.”
“Mind if we go in and take a look around?” Hollywood asked. I shrugged and turned, giving Natalie a reassuring smile as I led the two officers into her house.
Hollywood let out a soft string of cuss words as he followed me through the door.
“Yeah, man. I know. I don’t know who or what these sick fucks were thinking but if I ever find— ”
He held his palm up and discreetly tol
d me, “Hey, I know you’re pissed.” He leaned closer so only I was able to hear. “Hell, I would be, too. But you gotta remember who’s here.” He subtly cocked his head in his partner’s direction. “We’ll do everything we can to figure out who the hell did this, but you need to watch what you say around him.” I nodded my head, holding my tongue.
“So, what’s your relation to the owner of this property?” Deputy Aimes asked.
It took every morsel of self-control I owned for me not to tell him to shut the fuck up and that Brendan was the only one who had permission to ask questions here. I wanted to, but my control won in the end.
“This is just her rental, and she’s my girlfriend,” I barked out, liking how natural the word “girlfriend” rolled off my tongue for the second time tonight.
That should’ve been my uniform he was wearing, my badge . . .
I heard the sound of soft footsteps and turned to see my girl walking toward me and straight for my arms.
Aimes mumbled something under his breath, and when I turned, he had that look. That arrogant, over-confident, asshole was checking out my girl. My jaw clenched, but I gave him a smug look. This time I got the girl—a girl he would never have.
Forcing all my attention to Natalie, I pulled her closer and whispered, “It’s going to be okay, baby.”
She nodded her head against my chest, and Aimes cleared his throat and stood a little taller. Fucking dweeb.
“Natalie is it?” Aimes queried.
She turned to look at him without removing herself from the protective hold of my arms. “Yes, I’m Natalie Brentwood.”
“Miss Brentwood, we’d like to ask you a few questions about what happened here tonight, why don’t we step out front. . . away from all of this?” He grinned, and a low growl bubbled out of me. Natalie looked at me with sad eyes and lightly patted my chest.
I was seriously failing at my attempts to keep cool.
With a standoffish demeanor, I let Natalie untangle herself from my arms and follow Aimes outside. Had he done that on purpose? No, this was the job. I would have removed the victim from the scene too. Still, it irritated me to watch him pat her shoulder reassuringly. Maybe if I broke his fingers I would feel better?
Waiting on Faith (She's Beautiful Series Book 2) Page 13