“You’re supposed to have that in your pocket,” Bam told her.
She looked at him, questioningly.
“The phone,” he clarified.
She nodded.
Bam watched as she took payment for her fountain. He also noticed the man’s friend moving closer to Everly. So he moved to intercept.
Suddenly Everly realized that Bam was standing at her side. Literally, at her side, her entire body pressed against his. She turned her face up to his, “Bramley, is there a problem?”
Bam looked at her customer’s friend while he answered, “Nope. Not anymore.”
Everly addressed her customer, “That’s it, it’s all yours. Do you need help getting it into the truck?” she asked as she slipped her phone into her pants pocket.
“Naw, I got it. My wife’s gonna love it. Thank you, I really appreciate it.”
“Thank you! If you have any problems hooking it up, just give me a call,” Everly told him.
The man leaned down to get one edge of the fountain and tried to lift. It just barely budged. He called to his friend, “Cal, can you get the other side?”
“Sure, I got it,” Cal answered. He rushed to the other side of the fountain and leaned over to help lift it. Between the two of them, they managed to move it only a few steps at a time before having to stop and set it down.
As soon as they set it down, “Cal,” as the man’s friend was named, would smile at Everly.
Bam was getting really pissed off. So was Bear, Make man stop! he snarled.
Bam stalked forward, “I got it,” he leaned over, picked up the large copper fountain as though it was made of plastic and stomped out of the door with it, yelling over his shoulder, “You wanna open the tailgate, so I can put it in?”
Both men were standing there with their mouths hanging open. “How the hell did he do that?” Everly’s customer asked.
“Oh, he’s a power lifter,” she stammered.
He looked out at his truck, where Bam waited for them to open the tailgate, “Wow,” was all he said.
He thanked Everly again and ran out to where Bam waited.
Cal, of course, stayed behind for a few minutes, “Look, if that’s your boyfriend, just let me know, and I’ll back off.”
Everly looked at Bam helping her customer arrange the fountain in the back of his truck so that it wouldn’t shift. She smiled sadly and shook her head, “No. No, he’s not my boyfriend. I’m not seeing anyone. I’m just not ready right now.”
Cal nodded, “I understand. But I’d love to take you to coffee, or dinner, whatever you’d like. So if you change your mind, just give me a call,” he reached out his hand with a business card in it.
Everly smiled at him again and took the card so she wouldn’t hurt his feelings, “Thank you, but I’m just not in a very good place right now.”
“No pressure, just keep it in case you change your mind.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Then Bam was back, “Your friend is waiting. You should go now.”
Cal made no move to go, just stood there, grinning at Bam.
Bam pushed harder, “Right now. Go.”
“Bam!” Everly said.
“What?!” he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
Cal laughed, “It’s okay, really. I gotta go anyway.”
He put his hand out to shake Everly’s hand. When she put her hand in his, he lifted it to his lips and kissed her hand.
Bam snarled.
Cal held up his hands, “Alright, it’s okay, I’m going, I’m going,” he said smiling. “Let me know if you change your mind,” he again told Everly before he turned and left the building.
Everly immediately turned to him, “You can’t be rude to my customers, Bam. I need their business.”
“I wasn’t rude; I helped them load their fountain.”
“You were rude; you told one of them to leave now,” she countered.
“No, it wasn’t rude. It was just truth. His friend was waiting,” Bam said.
“You snarled at him!” she accused, voice raising.
“No, I didn’t; Bear snarled at him!” he declared.
This was getting her nowhere; she threw her hands up and walked away from him. Naturally, he followed.
“Why are you aggravated?” he asked her.
“Why are you here?” she asked him.
“To make sure you’re okay,” he told her, as though she should know this.
She stopped and faced him, “Why?!”
He looked at her, now confused himself, “Why what?” he asked.
“Why are you here making sure I’m okay?” she asked, obviously getting irritated with him.
“’Cause I’m supposed to,” he told her.
“Why are you supposed to?” she fairly shrieked at him in exasperation.
“’Cause it makes me feel better!” he told her, also exasperated.
“Fine!” she threw up her hands in frustration and headed for the stairs.
“Fine!” he answered and headed for the front overhead doors.
She paused on the bottom stair and watched him approach the doors. As he got almost through them, she called out, “Thank you for the pastries and the tab you set up for me at Joanne’s.”
He stopped, turned around to look at her, directly in the eye, “You’re welcome. I like taking care of you.”
She smiled at him, then just barely any power to her voice, she said, “Are you my Mate?”
His whole face dropped, he felt like he’d been punched in the gut, his eyes dropped to the ground before slowly raising once again to hers. He shook his head, slowly, and very hoarsely he said, “I’m not enough.” Then he was gone, not even a shadow remaining as he left her as quickly as he could.
Thirty minutes later, Everly was still sitting on the bottom stair in her work shop. How could he not think he was enough? She wondered for the thousandth time. Male everything, her Fox whispered to her. She agreed, Yes he is. We tell male, Fox urged. He doesn’t want to hear it, she answered on a sob.
She looked around her shop. She didn’t want to be here right now. And she’d already made one sale for the day, so she decided to close it up. She walked around, turning off all her equipment, turning off all the light switches, pulling down the overhead doors and sliding the latches into place where they met the floors. Once her place was dark save for the sunlight streaming in through the windows and cracks in the aluminum siding, she walked out the front door.
The front door to Vince’s opened, and he looked up to see who’d entered. He’d not opened for the day yet, but a pretty little blonde, with as many curls as Everly had, had stopped for something to eat. She’d been passing through, looking for a new place to start. She’d been driving for days and needed somewhere to make a stop. He’d not been able to turn her away, so he’d let her stay and made her some food. He’d been touting the benefits of small town life and telling her that there were a couple of places in town that needed help. He didn’t know why, but he had the need to talk her into staying. The job at the insurance company seemed to appeal to her the most, so he was concentrating on that angle. He was flirting a little, too. Just a little. He was just beginning to get her to smile when the door opened, interrupting him. “We’re not opened…” he started to call out, then saw that it was Everly. He saw the look on her face and hurried from behind the bar to get to her. “Everly, honey, you alright?” he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and holding her back, while he bent his knees a bit to be able to see her eyes.
She looked at him sadly, “No. I’m not.”
He let out a low growl, but immediately quieted himself and lowered his voice, so the woman sitting at his bar wouldn’t hear, “What did they do? You were supposed to call me at the first sign, Everly.”
She looked at Vince, confused, “Huh?” then realizing, “No! Oh, no! Not them. It’s Bam,” she said.
“Bam? Bam hurt you?” Vince asked.
“Not intentionally,” she s
aid looking up at him, “I asked if he was my Mate, and he said no.”
“Is that all he said? No?” Vince asked her, voice trying to be soothing.
She shook her head, “No. He said he’s not enough, then he ran.”
Vince wrapped her in his arms, holding her and rocking her, “It’s gonna be okay, baby. He’s yours. He’s just got so much to figure out before he’ll believe it. Just give it some time.”
Everly wrapped her arms around Vince and allowed him to hold her and make her feel like she mattered to someone, if only for a little while.
After a few minutes he held her away from him again, tucked a stray piece of her wild, curly hair behind her ear, and said, “Why don’t you go on up, baby. Take a shower and get in bed. Be sure to lock the doors. I’ll bring you up some food later on, okay?”
She was lost in her thoughts, she felt so defeated. How was she ever gonna make Bam see that he was everything? She didn’t even look up at him, “Yeah,” she whispered and turned to go.
He watched her go; she seemed so despondent, he called out, “Straight into bed, baby. I’ll be up in a little while.”
The little blonde at the bar shook her head. He was just flirting with her, now he was telling his girlfriend that he’d join her in bed in a little while. All men were pigs. She was so sick of all of them. She pushed her plate away and made to stand from the bar stool. Vince watched Everly leave the bar, and when he turned to go back to his spot at the bar right in front of the little blonde, she was standing to leave.
“Hold up! Where are you going? You didn’t even finish your meal,” he said.
She just shot him a look that said, asshole, and continued slipping on her coat.
“What did I do? What’s the problem?” he asked her, voice more calm now, trying to soothe her just as he had Everly.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. I’ve got to go. I have more driving ahead of me,” she told him.
“Honey, you need to rest. You told me yourself you’ve been driving for days; it’s dangerous to drive for so long without rest,” he told her.
She turned on him, green eyes snapping, “Do not call me honey. I am not your honey.”
He immediately held up both hands, dropping his voice another octave to try to calm her even more, “Okay. I understand. But at least please get some rest before you take off again. For your own sake.”
“And where would you have me sleep? In the parking lot? I’m just gonna go,” and her heels clicked her way to the door, echoing on the floor.
“Wait, no! I’ve gotta work all night, so why don’t you sleep in my place upstairs?” he called out, desperate to talk her into staying.
She froze, turned slowly, until she was facing him, and she slowly took one, then another step toward him, her eyes flashed fire, and she was livid, “You want me to sleep in your home with your girlfriend there?” she said in steady measured tones.
“What?!” he asked, thoroughly lost.
“You are an arrogant ass! I have never in my life met a man who is so convinced of his own self-worth that he sends his girlfriend to bed, then invites another to sleep in their home. What the hell is wrong with you?!” she ended on a shout.
She couldn’t believe it! He was grinning, he thought the whole thing was funny! This wasn’t funny; this was disrespectful on so many levels.
He chuckled a bit, and she yelled at him, “This isn’t funny! Does she know how little you respect her?”
That sobered him, a little, “I live alone. You’d be sleeping in my home.”
Brandi pointed toward the front door, “And where is she sleeping?”
Still grinning, Vince answered, “In the apartment next door.”
“So you keep her in one apartment while you do whatever you like in another?” she asked incredulously.
“Well, kind of,” he said, scratching his head.
“You have a lot to learn about having a girlfriend, buddy,” she stated, hands on her hips.
He flashed her a smile that would have blinded had it been electrified, and she couldn’t help but notice that he had perfect teeth, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“And if you aren’t careful, I’ll march right up there and tell her…what?” she asked him, his words sinking in.
He was still smiling at her, loving that she seemed jealous that he might have a girlfriend, “I said, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Well, who was that girl?” she asked flustered.
“She’s a friend of my sister’s, she’s like family. She’s staying in my sister’s apartment for a little while. My sister just got married and moved in with her new husband, and her apartment was empty. Everly’s having a hard time, so she’s staying here, so I can watch over her,” Vince explained.
Brandi’s eyebrows wrinkled as she thought it all through. She opened her mouth to answer a few times, but no matter what she thought to say, it didn’t justify her outburst. She ended up not saying anything.
Vince stood there, watching every emotion she had flit over her face. She was enchanting, absolutely adorable. And he didn’t know why, but he really needed her to get some rest, stay for a while, maybe for longer. Mate, his Lion whispered in his mind.
“What?!” he asked out loud.
“I didn’t say anything,” she immediately retorted.
“Oh, I thought I heard something,” he tried to cover. His Lion, again, said, Mate, then he started purring. Oh, fuck me! Vince thought to his Lion. Lion immediately stretched out in his mind like a cat waiting to be petted, replying, Yes, fuck now. Vince rushed to inform his Lion, No! Not gonna fuck her now, she doesn’t even know us!”
“Are you okay,” she asked
He snapped his attention back to her, “Of course, why?”
“Because it looks like you’re concentrating really hard. Either that or you’re really constipated,” she told him with a smirk.
“I am not constipated!” he told her.
“Okay, if you say so. Look, it’s been real, but I…” she turned halfway to the door, but didn’t get to finish her statement.
“Please, go upstairs, I’ll walk you there, give you my only set of keys, show you around, where everything is, and you can get some sleep. Take a long, hot bath. Watch TV for a while, whatever you want. Just please stay a while. You really don’t need to get back on the road without any rest. And you said yourself that you don’t even know where you’re going.”
She didn’t say anything, but she was relaxing, had turned completely toward him, rather than half turned toward the door.
He kept up his attempt to convince her, “Look, you don’t know where you’re going. You’re obviously running from something. We’re a quiet little town. I know of a few people looking for help. Maybe you’ll like one of them, get a job. Stay a while. I have another place to stay so you can stay at my place while you look for somewhere else.”
Brandi looked up toward where she assumed the apartments were. She was really, really tired of running. And it really didn’t matter where she stopped she’d have to start all over wherever it was. She looked at the big, beautiful golden-haired man waiting for her answer. She sighed deeply, a sadness permeating her every cell, “I am so… tired.”
He immediately started toward her, slowly so as not to spook her. “Let me take you upstairs. Just rest, we’ll work out everything else later. Okay?”
She watched him as he slowly approached her, “Okay. But I get the only keys.”
“Yes, Ma’am, you do,” he answered, handing said keys to her to further assure her he meant her no harm.
As he walked her through the door and around the corner of the building to the stairs that led to the apartments, he said, “I don’t even know your name.”
“I’m Brandi,” she said.
His Lion immediately snorted, Always need Brandi in bar. Vince answered, Yup, we have always needed a little Brandi in our bar.
Chapter 11
Valerie and Maia walked through their front doo
r and tossed their purses on the couch. Valerie went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. She twisted the top off and lifted the beer to her lips and stopped, with the rim of the bottle pressed to them. She lowered the bottle, sighed, and set it on the table, untouched. Maia giggled, “I was wondering if you’d catch that.”
“Yeah, I caught it, no more alcohol for me for a while.” She picked up the bottle, walked over to the sink, and poured it down the drain. “Damn, and I so need a drink,” Valerie murmured.
“It’ll be okay, Valerie,” Maia soothed.
“I know. I do. I’m just stunned. I’m not sure I know how to take care of one baby, much less two,” Valerie chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “And I haven’t even told your dad yet. What if he’s not ready? I mean, we just got married. Just mated. What if he had different plans?” she asked.
Maia smiled, reached out, and covered Valerie’s hands with hers, “He’s going to be thrilled. You know how badly my mother hurt him. He’s going to be thrilled that he gets another chance to be a dad.”
Valerie smiled, though a little worriedly, “Well, we’ll find out tonight, won’t we?”
“We will! How are you going to do it?” Maia asked, getting even more excited.
“I’m not sure yet. But I want to do it while everyone is there, having dinner together this evening, that way everybody finds out all at once. Don’t you think?”
“Yes! That’ll be so great! Oh, and invite Vince and Joanne and everyone, too!”
“Great idea! And I’ll make pan fried pork chops and fried potato and onion hash, and those tiny little creole green peas that your dad loves so much.”
“Yes, and I’ll make that cold water cornbread he’s addicted to! Oh, and a cake, we can make a cake with blue and pink layers, and frost it in white, so when we cut into it, the blue and pink show,” Maia added.
“We’ve got a lot to do, let’s get busy!” Maia exclaimed.
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