Breathe

by Kristen Ashley

  But this wasn’t the point Trane was making.

  He was telling Chace they were keeping an eye on him.

  Not a surprise but an annoyance. Deck could definitely take care of himself. When, in the flash of an eye, you could calculate your height, weight, muscle mass, the poundage behind your swing, aim and connect knowing exactly what kind of damage you’d inflict to wherever you connected, you could seriously fuck someone up. This wasn’t theoretical. When they were in high school and college together, Chace had seen it firsthand. Jacob Decker never got bested, not only because he was freaking tall and seriously strong but because he was fucking smart.

  But if Trane and his band of assholes got impatient, they could aim at anyone to make their point to Chace.

  Deck was in that firing line.

  He made a mental note to phone Deck on the way to the hospital and repeated, “Step back.”

  Trane’s eyes locked to his son.

  “And, if you see Faye Goodknight any longer, your mother will want to meet her.”

  Trane stepped back then. This was because Chace angled out of the car and he had no choice.

  But Trane didn’t retreat, just gave him room so Chace, unfortunately, ended up nose to nose with him.

  “You don’t breathe her air,” he whispered.

  “You’ll never learn it’s not advantageous to wear your heart on your sleeve,” Trane replied, sounding put out that Chace had not learned one of the many useless lessons he’d tried to drill into him when he was a kid.

  “Wore it for Ma. Anyone who wants to get at me knows I’m that kinda man. Got nothin’ left to hide. The thing you don’t get is, that kinda man is the kinda man a real man wants to be so there’s nothin’ to hide.”

  “Foolish?” Trane’s voice was snide.

  “Protective.” Chace’s was firm.

  “If you give it all away, Chace, you’re not protecting yourself.”

  “It isn’t me I’m gonna protect.”

  “Therein lies your faulty strategy.”

  “No, see, the kind of man you are expends his energy to save his own ass. The kind of man I am doesn’t do shit to have to worry about that and instead, he works his ass off to keep those worth his efforts safe. So the message I’m sending is, I give a shit about someone, you do not fuck with them or you fuck with me.”

  “And is Faye Goodknight worth those efforts?”

  Chace didn’t reply.

  Trane kept his eyes locked to his son’s for a while then he muttered, “At least she has a Master’s Degree.”

  They’d looked into Faye.

  This wasn’t entirely unexpected. It was sooner than he would have guessed. It was also annoying.

  “Faye doesn’t exist for you and she’ll exist for Ma when I decide she does,” Chace told him.

  “Then I’m sorry to disappoint you further, Chace, since I shared with your mother over breakfast this morning that you’re seeing someone. I thought it wise, since I learned you’d had dinner with her parents at Rosalinda’s last night.”

  Chace felt a muscle in his cheek jump.

  “Things are progressing swiftly,” Trane noted quietly.

  Chace held his gaze and kept his jaw clenched.

  “Valerie will give it time. She won’t want to pressure you. My guess, you have about fifteen minutes before you get her call to ask you and Faye to dinner.”

  Fuck.

  Fuck.

  “She’s very excited,” Trane continued then his lips twitched and the piece of shit had the balls to finish, “She never much liked Misty.”

  Chace was done. “You gonna move back or am I gonna have to drive over you?”

  “We haven’t had our talk.”

  “A talk we’re not gonna have. Two seconds. Move away or I roll over you.”

  Trane held his eyes.

  Then his changed slightly and he whispered, “You know I didn’t like that happening to you. You also have to know I didn’t want you to see what you saw.”

  “It happened. I saw it. All your money, you can’t undo it.”

  “You need to look after the Walkers,” Trane advised quietly.

  “They’re lookin’ after themselves. Ty is gettin’ me your tapes. I’ll text you when you can send a lackey to pick them up.”

  It was barely there but Chace was close enough to see the relief flash through his father’s features.

  Then he said, “Newcomb.”

  “By the book.”

  “Chace –”

  Chace leaned into him so their noses were almost touching.

  “By the book, Dad. Call off your goon squad. This shit is not gonna go away unless you pull your fingers out, pay attention and stop makin’ your problems everyone else’s.”

  “They’re getting impatient,” Trane whispered.

  “That hasn’t escaped my notice, seein’ as a man’s dead.”

  Trane opened his mouth to speak but when he did, Chace’s gut roiled in a sick way because he had to give the bastard something.

  “Don’t,” he whispered and the way that word came out, Trane shut his mouth. “For Ma, I’ll give you this warning. You say shit right now, I will walk right into that building and report it. So don’t. Don’t give indication you have knowledge about a murder and a break-in. Help me help Ma and keep your fuckin’ mouth shut.”

  Trane held his eyes for long moments but he didn’t speak.

  Chace was done.

  “Ma calls, I take Faye to her, you are not there,” he told his father.

  “She won’t like that,” Trane replied quietly.

  “Make some excuse and make it a good one. That won’t be a problem. You’re a practiced hand at that.”

  Trane shook his head. “She wants us to be a family, Chace, and if this relationship with Faye Goodknight progresses she’ll want that even more.”

  “Then get creative because she’ll get that from me, from Faye but you will not be involved.”

  “Regardless of the outside situation, I agree with your mother. You’re my son. If you marry this woman –”

  Chace cut him off to growl, “She’s not ‘this woman’. She’s Faye.”

  Trane nodded, his eyes flashing, Chace’s words giving it away but he let it alone and carried on, “You marry Faye, you have children, those will be my grandchildren.”

  “You’ll have not one thing to do with them either.”

  A flinch.

  Jesus.

  The asshole flinched.

  “Chace,” Trane said softly before Chace could process the flinch, “I made a mistake. Men make mistakes.”

  “My dead wife shoved shit up your ass in order to blackmail you so she could maneuver her body into my bed,” Chace clipped, Trane flinched again and Chace went on crudely, going in for the kill. “I get a man might like ass play. Your kind of play, I don’t get. You’re correct. I’m your son. Means you’re my father and I should never have seen my father doin’ that shit. It’s entirely fucked up in a way so jacked it can’t be described that we’re even having this conversation. Then you got nailed after you got off, protected your ass and set mine swinging. That is not a father. Takin’ us back to earlier, Dad, a good man, a real man, he fucks up, he lets his ass swing so his son’s doesn’t. You not only didn’t protect me, you pulled me right into your shit. So, breakin’ that down, you’re my father but you also are not. That means, when I put a ring and Faye’s finger and yeah, Dad, I said when, you will not be her father-in-law and you sure as fuck will not be a Granddad to our kids. Please, God, do one fuckin’ thing for me in my life as your son. Give me that. Give my woman that. And give my kids that.”

  Done, he turned, angled up into his truck and slammed the door.

  Without looking at his father, he shoved the key in the ignition, turned it, put it in gear and threw an arm around the passenger seat, looking over his shoulder to back out.

  He didn’t scan to see where his father was when he pulled out of the Station parking lot.

&n
bsp; He did, five minutes later, pull out his phone to take his mother’s call.

  She was in a state but luckily a good one. So excited she was babbling.

  “I’ll get Donatta to cook! All your favorites! Oh Chace, darling, I’m so pleased you’re finally healing after Misty. This is excellent news and I cannot wait to meet her. I’m just certain she’ll be fabulous.”

  What she both did and didn’t mean was, after Misty, anyone would be fabulous. She didn’t mean it nasty. It was nonetheless true.

  When she actually met Faye, she’d be beside herself and undoubtedly the next day would go shopping. For what, it was a tossup but Chace guessed baby shit first, wedding shit second and expensive presents for Faye that would convince her she had Keaton Love third. She’d hide the baby shit and wedding shit and she’d be in Carnal the day after to lay the expensive shit at Faye’s feet.

  Fuck.

  As he’d done his whole life, he gave in because he didn’t have it in him to burst her bubble. He did manage to delay this dinner for three weeks. They needed time to settle Malachi. He needed time to prepare Faye for the dinner. Last, he needed time to prepare for it himself.

  She was disappointed at the delay but she was eventually getting what she wanted so she hid it, just not well.

  Chace disconnected with her, connected with Deck, gave him the head’s up and then he pulled into the hospital parking lot. He grabbed the books, headed in, got Malachi’s new room number and went to his room.

  He stopped just at the door when he saw what was happening inside.

  Malachi’s color was definitely better. He was wearing the pajamas Sondra had bought him. He was awake, alert, his hair cleaned, the bruising on his face fading and he was smiling at Faye who was sitting in a chair beside his bed and had her hands up in front of her.

  “Are you this old?” she asked, moving her fingers around, flashing numbers at him that Chace couldn’t entirely see because he could only see her left hand but that hand opened wide and fisted three times. In other words, he counted fifteen on just one hand.

  Still smiling, Malachi shook his head.

  “Okay, how about this old?” Faye went on.

  More flashing of hands. More of Malachi smiling and shaking his head.

  Her voice got softer, sweeter and she asked, “How about this old?”

  Malachi’s eyes dropped to her hands, they shifted to her face and, the smile still in place, he nodded.

  “Nine,” she whispered then, “I have a nephew who’s going to be nine this week. His name is Jarot.” She leaned in and shared conspiratorially, “But when you meet him, you can’t tease him and call him carrot. He doesn’t like that.”

  Malachi’s smile got bigger but it fled his face when his eyes darted to the door and he saw Chace.

  Faye twisted in her chair and she aimed a smile at him.

  He smiled at her then looked at Malachi. “You’re good, buddy. I’m just here to bring your books.”

  Malachi’s eyes dropped to the crate Chace was carrying and stayed there as Chace rounded his bed, giving it plenty of room as he went to the windowsill.

  “I’ll set them up here and you can tell Faye where you want them after I’m gone,” Chace muttered.

  He moved to the deep windowsill, set the crate down and carefully arranged the books as they’d been arranged in the box, keeping them in order and placing them as Malachi had had them in the shed.

  When he turned back to the bed, he stayed at the window and saw Malachi’s eyes on the books, going up and down, counting, reading, assessing they were all there. Chace also saw, on the hospital table positioned over his bed, the book Faye had been reading him last night as well as a row of plastic wrapped Snickers bars that had been opened, two empty wrappers showing he’d dug in.

  “I’m gonna steal Faye a second, talk with her and then I gotta go back to work,” Chace told Malachi and the kid’s eyes shot to him. “You need me to pick anything up when I come back after work?”

  Malachi stared at him then shifted his eyes to Faye.

  “Malachi isn’t up to talking yet, honey,” Faye said quietly and Chace looked to her. “You have to give him yes or no questions,” she advised.

  When Chace looked back to Malachi he saw a hint of fear in his face and tenseness in his body. This said loud and clear he wasn’t up to communicating with Chace at all.

  When Faye spoke again, Chace would know she’d read this as well.

  “Chace is staying over there, sweetheart,” she said gently. “He would never hurt you. He was the one who sent his friend to find you so we could get you to the hospital, make you better then take care of you. But we both get things are a little scary now. Still, he’s willing to do a favor for you so maybe you could help him out by letting him know what you want like you do with me. Just nod your head but to Chace. Okay?”

  Malachi held her eyes for some time then, what Chace assumed was a yes, he looked at Chace.

  So Chace asked, “Do you want a cucumber?”

  Malachi’s head jerked slightly, his eyes flashed then, thank fuck, his lips twitched before he shook his head no.

  “Broccoli?” Chace went on and he heard Faye’s soft, quiet giggle but he didn’t take his eyes from Malachi who again shook his head no.

  “Twix?” Chace continued and Malachi pressed his lips together and nodded. “Strawberries?” Another nod, another eye flash, the kid liked strawberries. Finally, quieter, Chace asked, “Have you read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?”

  His lips parted, he liked that a fuckuva lot better than strawberries and he shook his head.

  “When I was your age, bud, that was my favorite,” Chace shared. “You want Faye to read that to you?”

  He bit his lip but nodded his head.

  “I’ll pick it up,” Chace muttered.

  Malachi just stared at him.

  Chace gave him a smile then looked at Faye and asked gently, “Can I talk to you a minute?”

  She nodded, turned to Malachi and got out of her chair but bent slightly over him. “I won’t be gone long and then I’ll be back and we can talk some more.”

  He held her gaze and nodded.

  She reached out, touched his cheek lightly, going in slowly but the touch was fleeting before Chace watched her profile give him a gentle smile and she whispered, “Be back soon, sweetheart.”

  She moved, Chace rounded the bed at a distance feeling Malachi’s eyes on him so he gave him a flick of two fingers and a wink and walked out with Faye. He stopped her outside his room so Malachi could see her through the window by the door.

  Her eyes were searching and he knew her mind was still on their phone conversation when she asked, “Is everything all right?”

  “My Dad paid me a surprise visit,” he shared, saw her body give a small, surprised jolt as her brows shot together and he moved into her, curling his arms loosely around her. She lifted her hands and rested them lightly on his chest as he muttered, “It’s okay.”

  “Why did he visit you?” she asked.

  “Why does he do anything?” Chace evaded. “Mostly to be an asshole.”

  “Is your Mom okay?”

  He nodded. “She’s good. Got a call from her too. We’re invited to dinner, three weeks.”

  “All right,” she replied hesitantly, her eyes still searching his face.

  “It’ll be okay. Dad won’t be there,” he assured her.

  She continued studying him before, for him, she let it go by whispering, “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t know what went down but I do know it’s unpleasant seeing him. So I’m sorry.”

  Chace gave her a lift of his chin and changed the subject. “Those books, they’re special to him. My advice, talk to him, put them where he wants them. He’ll probably want them close and tell the staff to leave them be.”

  She nodded.

  “Should we be concerned about the fact he’s not speaking?” he asked.

  “I don’t know yet. They’re having a child psycholog
ist come up and have a chat with him after lunch. They say at this point that it isn’t really surprising considering how he was living and how he was found. He’s not refusing to eat. He’s communicating nonverbally. He’s not agitated. Except for not talking, he seems to be in good spirits. He does have some hesitation around the nurses but they’re going gentle and he settles pretty easily. He doesn’t seem to like men very much so it isn’t just you. They have a male nurse on this ward, he came in, Malachi didn’t like it. He noted it immediately and assured me he isn’t coming back.”

  That said a lot but Chace didn’t share what it said.

  Faye went on, “We’ll know more when the psychologist speaks to him. But they’ve examined him and it isn’t physically that he can’t talk. Whatever’s holding him back is psychological.”

  Chace nodded and asked, “Word from your parents?”

  “All good. The house passed inspection. Apparently the spring schedule of foster care classes started last Saturday so they’ve enrolled Mom and Dad. But they’re going to place Malachi there tomorrow. Dad’s at work during the day but Mom works at home and can be around twenty-four, seven which they said is good. So it’s all in place.”

  Silas was a geologist who worked for an environmental consulting company based in Chantelle. Sondra was a part-time bookkeeper who did the books for a variety of businesses in town including the Italian Restaurant, Holly’s Flower shop and La-La Land Coffee. She worked at home, available to Malachi. Perfect.

  “You’ll wanna be there tomorrow,” Chace guessed and he knew it was accurately because Faye immediately nodded.

  “I already called my volunteers. I’ll open up and get them sorted then the two of them are going to handle things. Mrs. Bagley has closed for me before. She has keys. That’s good too.”

  “Right,” Chace muttered then he told her, “I’ll pick up some stuff for him, the book and bring it here after work but, darlin’,” he pulled her slightly closer and dipped his face to hers, “your Mom comes, you gotta give him time alone with her. Start teachin’ him to trust her. You don’t have to be gone hours but he’s gotta get used to her without you around. Okay?”