“I can’t,” he said.
“You know why you can’t, asshole? Because I’m a man and the only fucking thing you seem to be able to hit is a kid. What an easy target, huh?” Full of rage, spit spat out with my words.
“I won’t… do it… again,” he said short of breath.
My forearm only crushed his esophagus more. “Of course, you will. It’s who you are. I know men like you. In fact, you’ll punish him for you being a fucking pussy with me. Because you’re weak. Money says that kid is still standing out there waiting for you because he knows. He knows what waits for him.” My fists clenched, itching to make contact with this guy. “Most kids would have run off because they don’t listen to their parents at that age. Let’s you and I walk out there and see. If I’m wrong, you get a free punch on me. If I’m right, you apologize to him.”
He gasped for air, resting his hands on his knees.
“Let’s go,” I barked, nudging him.
The man stepped out in front of me, rubbing his throat. I stuck close behind. When we rounded the corner where we both left the boy, bam…there he stood fearful eyes, one bruised, hesitantly looking up at his father.
The piece of shit cast a sideways glance my way. “Exactly,” I said. “Apologize.”
The little boy looked up at his father as he spoke—words that I felt pretty confident would be reneged on the moment he got home. The boy watched and listened carefully. Deep down, he didn’t understand why his father hurt him sometimes. The young one wouldn’t understand until later that other boys weren’t getting hit too. He’d hide it even when people asked; he’d protect his father.
I ruffled the boy’s hair as I walked past, not getting coffee, not getting anything and walked to my car in order to not grab the boy and run. My chest filled with a deep breath as the thoughts of what had just happened digested in my head. To say that was a life changing moment was an understatement. For the first time, my life had purpose. As I watched the boy and his sperm donor pull out of the parking lot, I knew there was one place I needed to go.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Ren had called six times and texted four times. A smile swept over my face. I hoped this is how life would be for me. Things might get me down, but Ren would be there to bring them right back up. I wanted to be that for her too. Forever.
A flock of birds darted out of a tree along the road, two lagged behind, hovering along my path, twisting and dancing around each other in the wind. Not until I passed them did, I realize it was a cardinal and blue jay. My mother’s words, for the first time in a long time, came flooding back. A cardinal is representative of an angel watching over you, and a blue jay is a mate for life. As crazy as it sounds, those two birds were a sign—a sign from Abby maybe? Abby being my angel in heaven. Ren my mate for life. Everything did happen for a reason. Sometimes hurt is inevitable. Sometimes going through the hurt is a must. It somehow empowers you to find the better you. I’d found the better me.
Epilogue
Six years later . . .
CAL AND I met the two boys when they stepped off the van. Fear of the unknown clouded their eyes. One was 10 and one was 11.
“Hey guys,” I greeted them, but neither boy met my gaze. Self-esteem was always something we worked on straight away.
Cal tossed me the broken suitcase and grabbed the plastic trash sack that the other boy used as a bag. They followed us around back, on occasion talking to each other. The big bunkhouse we had built was nearly full. Ever since we had become a licensed group home, the abused boys came filing in. The difficulty wasn’t bringing them here. These boys were shown a side of life, land and love they’d never experienced. Three squares a day. Pool day. Horse day. Cal was more than receptive to the idea when I had brought it to him six years ago. Sal managed the ranch while Cal and I managed the kids. Keyona was key in helping too. There were eight of us in all.
I watched the boys point at the pool and grin.
“You’ll get to swim there later,” I said, falling back into step with them.
Even though this world was unknown to them, their eyes took in every part of their surroundings. Cal saw to their healthcare and my beautiful girl who was finishing dental school saw to their dental care. The hardest part of all of this—after the parents completed their joke of a reintegration plan, these boys went right back home. Home to a place where the parents signed a safety plan to make sure the child was safe. With complete disgust, my head shook at our joke of a system. A system that removed kids from their homes while the fucking perpetrator stays. I remembered the safety plans before my mother left. I remembered the social workers walking through the trailer. Hell, I remember them asking me if I was getting hit—unequivocally I would answer no. At a very young age, I knew how it worked. I knew what would bring more pain to me and to my mom. There was no doubt these boys did too.
As we showed the boys their beds, we set their bags on top of the blanket. Cal snagged a new travel bag for the boy with the trash sack and handed it to him. The boy whispered an inaudible thank you.
“Ok, fellas,” Cal said. “The rules are simple. Every morning you will get up, shower, eat breakfast and be ready for the school bus. Joss here will go over times with you. After school, there is a routine that will also be explained to you. I assure you, you will be happy and safe here. You will treat every boy in this bunkhouse with respect. Bullying on any level is completely unacceptable. You will support your bunkmates—they too are struggling with the same things you were at home.”
Both boys glanced at each other, recognizing a similar look in the other’s eyes, but quickly looked away. I bent down level with them, lightly placing my hands on each of their shoulders.
“I’ve been there too, guys. My father wasn’t the nicest of men. And, well, I was his punching bag.”
Their eyes skated over my face, the knowledge registering that others survived what they were going through. Usually when I shared these words, there was a mixed reaction—I couldn’t explain it.
“Hey, boys,” My brother Jake came strolling out of the horse stable. Cal had given him a job a few years ago. Obviously, Cal had been more than fair to my family.
“Hey, little brother.”
I high-fived Jake proud that he was a part of my life.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Ren’s name equaled instant smile.
I need your help. I’m kinda hurt. By tavern. Can you help?
Panicked, I glanced up at Cal. “I gotta go. You got the boys?”
“Yes, I do.”
Honestly, I’m not even sure what he said. I sprinted to the stable, jumped on Fiona bareback and took off, digging my heels into her side. I rode that horse harder than ever before trying to get to my girl. What the hell was she doing out there anyway?
Fiona kicked a trail of dust behind us, and Juliet was upright and tied to the post when I pulled Fiona to a stop next to her.
“Ren?” I shouted, rattled with my eyes scanning all around. “Ren!” I screamed, running toward the tavern door. My racing pulse beating my pace.
The minute I got inside, my eyes fought to adjust. “Ren?”
“Don’t be angry,” she said. “Please. I didn’t know how else to get you here.”
The candle light all around the tavern lit the place. Candles on the bar, the table tops, on the floor. Finally, my eyes settled on Ren.
“You’re not hurt?”
She shook her head full of curls. Curls? Rarely was her blonde straight hair curled.
“Ren, you can’t do that. You know I’d come to you no matter where you were or what you wanted. Just say come here. All you have to do is ask.”
“Come here,” she whispered. Swaying from side to side in her white, spaghetti strap sundress. Her thin arms tucked behind her.
My pulse began to slow, knowing she was okay. Staying angry at her would forever be difficult. The smile that had been my undoing on the first day I met her still slayed me all these years later. And, she threw it at me—a full-blown
one—as I neared her.
“You smell nice,” I said.
“It’s a special occasion.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, taking hold of her waist and pulling her close.
“Do you know that I love you?”
“Yes,” I said. “I know. I love you too.”
She swatted her hand my way. “I know that. I trust that. But you don’t give me what I want.”
A slow grin found my lips. “I’ve told you before, your father can spoil you, but I’ll take care of you.”
That head full of blonde curls shook again. “No, that’s not what I mean,” she said, turning around and grabbing something from the bar. Patiently, I watched her. I’d watch her all day. My eyes left her momentarily, taking in every single burning candle. There had to be close to a hundred. When I turned back around, Ren knelt in front of me.
“Marry me.” She opened the small box and a beautiful diamond ring glistened up at me. Her eyes glistened too. “Please, Joss. I want to be your wife.”
A swallow lodged in my throat. I’d thought about asking Ren to marry me a thousand times, but I never wanted her to question my motives. There was a lot of money where the Briscoe ranch was concerned, I didn’t want anyone to question it. Especially since Ren was the heir to it all. The money meant nothing to me.
“You aren’t answering,” she whispered.
“You picked out your own ring?”
Giggling, she nodded.
“Ren, I’m supposed to do the asking.” I chuckled, fearful of upsetting her.
Her eyes fell and she closed the box. “You never will because of the money.”
Without thinking, I snatched the box from her hands, lifted her and dropped to one knee. My heart felt like it was coming out of my chest and hell, I knew she was going to say yes.
“Ren Bird Briscoe.”
She giggled and bit down on her bottom lip.
“From the moment that I met you when you stood dripping wet and treated me horribly for occupying your pool house.”
“I treated you horribly?” Her voice shot up about ten octaves.
“Don’t ruin my proposal.” I winked. Her lips rolled together as if she was going to keep quiet. As if… “You taunted me with your preppy, good for nothing joke of a boyfriend.” She nodded, fighting a smile. “You drove me mad with that purity ring because my thoughts about you were far from pure.” I wiggled my eyebrows. Blood inched into her cheeks as she covered her face. “You ran around this ranch in skimpy shorts, driving me mad.” I plucked the ring from the box. “And still, I can’t imagine a single day without you. Ever. I want to be there every morning when the sun explodes across your face. I want to be there when that moon meets the mountains to lay a kiss on your forehead. When your day is long and tiredness finds you, I will put you to bed. I’ll take the kids to school since I get to be a stay-at-home dad.” I smiled while two tears found their way down her cheeks. “I would love to marry you, Ren. More than anything in this world. Will you marry me?”
“May I talk now?”
“Well now, that all depends on what you’re gonna say. Just smile for yes and do a back flip for no.”
That laughter, that smell, those damn eyes, her body—collapsed into mine. When my arms wound around her, I held tight to the ring pinched in my fingers.
“I love you so much,” she cried.
“I love you too.”
As Ren wept on my shoulder, I stared up at the ceiling. I knew years ago when Abby died that I’d find her again in heaven, but I also knew at the time that I needed to change myself if I was ever going to get there too. Finally, I believed I would see her again. Ren would be at my side, and I just had to hope that would be alright.
To the Readers~
Thank you so much for reading Convicted. Joss and Ren were a fun couple to write about and I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. I’ve worked in the judicial system for years and I enjoy making it a part of my writings and books. Though I am certainly no expert and the judicial system is different in every state—it’s fun to write it into fictional stories.
If you want more fun sexy stories, please head to Amazon and check out
my other books. Most of them are free in Kindle Unlimited.
To my friends and family~
I love you and thank you for all that you do to support me. Go Jayhawks, Go Ducks, Go Cubs.
K, B, Z~ 1!
Other Titles By Kristi Pelton
Just One of the Guys Series:
Old Enough to Love
Finally, One Summer
My Someday
Standalones
Pure Will
Sessions Interrupted
A Haunted Heart
Slick
Dibs
Scars and Tats
Your Honor
Follow Kristi on Amazon
CONVICTED Page 24