No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology

by Elizabeth Knox

  “Mrs. Amelia,” he states, grinning like a fool.

  Fuck me.

  Amelia didn’t tell me last time I had been by her house that her daughter was coming back to Portland. Then again her and I have an unspoken agreement about not mentioning her daughter to me.

  “Charlee’s home,” I mutter, clenching my jaw as I narrow my gaze on Bowser.

  “Yep and she has a cute kid with her too,” he chuckles, tapping a hand on the table.

  Shit. Charlee has a kid.

  Shooting up out of my chair, I storm through the clubhouse and out the door. With quick movements, I get to my bike, straddle her, and bring her to life. I back out of my spot in the parking lot, point my girl in the direction of Charlee’s mom’s house, and hit the throttle.

  It doesn’t take me long to get there, I honestly don’t even know what the fuck I’m doing but as I pull up in front of the house I’ve been to several times over the past twelve years, but never once did I see any photos of Charlee with a kid, then again I wasn’t ever looking for a reason to stare at her face. My anger comes back tenfold. When Charlee broke up with me back then, I’d been pissed.

  I should be over what she did, quitting us when we could have made it work. Sure, I wanted to join the military, but I also wanted her in my life as well. Charlee could have gone to college while I was doing what I had to do. I’d have found a way to come to her as much as I could.

  Parking my bike, I swing my leg over as I climb off. Striding up the front walkway, I step up to the front door and ring the doorbell. When I don’t hear anything coming from the other side of the door, I hit the bell again.

  “I’m coming.” My stomach tightens at the sound of her voice.

  As the door opens, I clench my jaw and place my hands on my hips as I wait for her reaction. Last time she saw me, I was still coming into my body. Now I’m the man she could have had but chose to leave.

  Chapter Three

  Charlee

  I’m rendered speechless, blinking with my mouth held wide open. I probably look like someone who’s having a stroke, staring at the man I left all those years ago, the same man who’s changed so drastically.

  Kaden is no longer the scrawny, preppy boy I left when we were barely adults. Now he’s . . . a tank. His shoulders are broad and I can see the obvious impressions of abs through his white t-shirt. But his physique isn’t the only thing that’s changed through the years. He now has a scruffy beard, sporting that few days old without a shave look . . . and the ink. Up and down his arms, going under the confines of his shirt and coming out through the collar of his shirt, spanning up his neck. With his deep mahogany eyes, he doesn’t say a word, further causing anxiety to creep up.

  “Kaden,” I rasp out, finally able to speak.

  “Fuck, I thought the boys were jokin’ with me.” He laughs lightly, rubbing a hand over his jaw. A nervous tick he’s kept from when we were younger it seems.

  “Boys?” I question, but as I do, I take a moment and see a leather vest around his shoulders. It’s a deep camo green color, and there are a few patches on it. One reads ‘Deathstalkers MC’ and another reads ‘Enforcer’. “Oh yeah, your biker club.”

  He cocks a brow. “You been keepin’ tabs on me, Bailes?”

  “No, I’d just ask Mom how you’ve been from time to time.” Immediately I defend myself. It wouldn’t even matter if I’m keeping tabs on him. The thing I’m keeping from him is my secret, which is upstairs right now. Stepping out onto the porch, I shut the door behind me.

  “You good, Bailes?” He calls me by my last name again, something I’m not used to. I know it’s a common thing in the military branches, yet it feels so insincere.

  “What’re you doing here?” My nervousness is obvious in the way my voice cracks through every word.

  He snickers and shakes his head. “What? I can’t just stop by?”

  “You’re not the type to ever just stop by.”

  He cackles lightly and as I’m about to speak he stops me. “Every Tuesday is when your mom goes shopping. Who do you think is the one who goes to the store with her to help load her car up and get everything unpacked in the house? You know she’s not capable of doing it herself.”

  Narrowing my eyes in on him, I’m shaken. Why would he help my mom? Like, honestly? Why would he . . . I don’t understand.

  “Right now, you’re trying to figure out why I’d help her, right? Wondering why I’d do something like that, after the way you ended things.”

  “Well, I see your mindreading ability is still sharp as ever,” I mutter, trying to avoid eye contact with him. It’s odd, how I feel ashamed for the fact he’s helping my mom while I’ve been across the country.

  “I hated you. That’s why. I fucking hated you for what you did to us. Hated you for years . . . and then after a while I felt guilty about it all, so . . . since you weren’t around, I decided to check in on your mom once every couple weeks. For a while everything was good with her, but you know she can’t get around like she used to. When going to the grocery store became a huge task for her I offered to help, and in return she’d make me her famous sloppy joes and banana pudding. It was a good deal, help a sweet old lady and get a nice homecooked meal.”

  At his admission I find rage storming through my body. Taking a step forward I push my hands against his chest and curl up my lip. “You had the audacity to hate me for breaking up with you? We were eighteen, Kaden. We were practically children, trying to figure out what to do. One day you were telling me you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, couldn’t see your life without me, and the next you enlisted in the Marines without so much as a conversation with me. You didn’t even talk to me about it. I wanted a life with you, not one without you.”

  He licks his lips as he sinks his hands in his pockets and begins pacing. “I don’t think we should be diggin’ up old shit, Charlee. Not when we both have a ton of shit we never said to the other.”

  “Yeah, I think that would be best,” I grit from where I stand, glaring at him, ready to rip his head off for being the biggest dick on the planet.

  We were kids. Kids who didn’t know what we wanted, who had horrible communication issues, two people who tried so hard to make what we knew would eventually come crumbling down, last longer than its expiration date.

  “Your mom told me you were married, but I don’t see a ring on your finger,” Kaden says as he leans up against a post, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Immediately I glance down, realizing I haven’t been wearing my ring. I shake my head. “I’ve recently become separated. Going through a nasty divorce.”

  Kaden’s eyes go dark for a moment, like he’s off daydreaming. But suddenly he begins chatting again, “Sorry you’re going through that.”

  I scoff, “I doubt it. You’re probably happy I’m getting divorced. You forget, Kaden Kelly, I know you. I know how that brain of yours works.”

  He cackles lightly. “A lot has changed, Bailes. You knew how things worked. I’m not the same boy you knew back then. After all, haven’t you been able to tell? I’m a man now.” He comes walking over, invading my personal space and bears his eyes into mine, looking over every feature. “And it looks like you’re a woman.”

  “Mom, the TV isn’t working.” I jump, startled by her voice coming out of nowhere. Turning back, I look at my darling daughter, about ready to crap myself.

  It takes me a minute to gather myself. “Um, what do you mean?”

  “The signal is out, I think. It said something about not finding a connection on HDMI three.” She presses her lips together, not understanding what that means.

  Before I realize what’s happening, Kaden is pushing himself past me, offering his help. “Luckily for you, kiddo, I’m great with technology. I’ll have it fixed for you in no time.”

  As Kaden walks beside Vivi, I try not to freak out.

  My daughter’s father is walking beside her, and I have no idea if he knows.

  God. />
  I’m fucking terrified.

  Chapter Four

  Kinetic

  Seeing Charlee after all these years, I didn’t know what to expect. Sure as hell didn’t expect the tightness that builds deep inside me, knotting itself around my gut like a snake constricting its next meal.

  I didn’t know how much seeing her would affect me. Didn’t matter, I helped her mom out all this time when she needed it. Shit, I’d been pissed to find out Charlee moved to New York, leaving her mom out here alone with no one to help her. I get she wanted to go to college, become someone. I didn’t think she’d forget about her mom, or anyone else in town for that matter. At least she still called to check on her.

  As much as I’d been furious with Charlee for leaving me the way she did, left me without even hearing me out, I was down-right livid to find out she’d gone off and married some jackass. The day I found out, it wasn’t pretty, my brothers tried to get me to calm my shit.

  Hawk, my Prez, ordered me to the ring that we had set up in the back of the clubhouse. In the ring, he got two of the prospects at the time, to spar with me. They both ended up not making the cut when it came time for them to earn their votes.

  ‘If they can’t hold their own against my Enforcer, they have no business being in this club,’ Hawk had said when he’d given them the boot.

  Later that night having calmed down, I’d spent the night in my room with a bottle of Jack and three of the firecrotches, trying to erase the memory of Charlee. Shit didn’t work. I still felt it. For years.

  At the sound of Charlee’s daughter talking, I’d looked around her to find the most beautiful kid I’d ever seen, hair like her momma’s but the kicker was the eyes. Eyes I know all too well since I look at them every day. This right here is the only confirmation I need to know she’s mine. The kid looks about eleven, or twelve anyway. Her mother thought so lowly of me to not allow me the decency of knowing I had a daughter.

  Fuck.

  Charlee. God dammit!

  Rather than let my anger show in front of the girl, I smile and let her know I was a whiz when it came to electronics and could help her out. I didn’t bother looking at Charlee at this point. If I did, I’d snap and the kid didn’t need to see that. Not when she didn’t know who the fuck I was.

  “You had the audacity to hate me for breaking up with you? We were eighteen, Kaden. We were practically children, trying to figure out what to do. One day you were telling me you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, couldn’t see your life without me, and the next you enlisted in the Marines without so much as a conversation with me. You didn’t even talk to me about it. I wanted a life with you, not one without you.”

  Charlee’s words circle around in my head. Is that why she broke up with me? She found out she was carrying my kid and was afraid I’d be killed?

  Naw, something about this bullshit isn’t right. From the time we started dating she knew I always wanted to be just like my ol’ man. To be respected for what I did for our country. Too bad it didn’t turn out that way. I was medically discharged with a Purple Heart after the hostage event. I was lucky they allowed me to keep Koda. It’s a rarity that handlers get to keep their dogs, but he’s more than a dog to me. He’s my entire world, gotten me through many sleepless nights.

  “What’s your name?” the little girl asks.

  Fuck, she’s not just a little girl. She’s my daughter. That’s something I’ll have to get used to.

  “My brothers call me Kinetic,” I tell her as she shows me the TV that she was complaining about. Taking a quick look, I figure the issue out. All I needed to do was pop the cord back into her Roku. “Easy enough, the HDMI cable was pulled out a tad. Just needed to be pushed all the way back into place. Might need to get your mom to go get another cable though. If it happens again, try troubleshooting it yourself and do what I did.”

  “Troubleshooting? What’s that mean?”

  I smile. “Fixing it. It’s just a fancy way of saying it.”

  “Cool, thanks. So, if they call you Kinetic, is that your real name?” she asks, scrunching her nose up the same as her mom used to do when we were together.

  “Nope, name’s Kaden Kelly. However, no one ever calls me by my name anymore except your grandma and my mom,” I chuckle, grinning at her.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Charlee standing there watching her daughter interact with me, arms crossed over her chest, pushing her tits up higher.

  “Mom, how cool is that, Kaden’s last name is my middle name?”

  What the fuck?

  “Mr. Kaden to you little girl, but yeah, baby. It’s really cool,” Charlee stammers, clearing her throat.

  “It is. Mom picked my name. My real dad wasn’t around, so he didn’t have any input. I’m Vivianna Kelly Bailes, but everyone calls me Vivi. My dad likes the name though, so that’s good! Right, Mom? Dad likes my name!” she declares with a shrug only a kid her age could pull off.

  Charlee presses her lips together and nods.

  Fuck. She calls Charlee’s husband, Dad? Talk about yet another blow Charlee has dealt me.

  Burying the anger once again to keep Vivi from noticing, I give her a grin. “That’s a pretty awesome name. I dig the nickname. My momma’s name was Anna so gotta respect your full name.”

  It pisses me off even more that she gave my daughter ‘Kelly’ as a middle name rather than last. Then again, in Charlee’s eyes Vivi isn’t mine. She’s her douche of an ex’s kid.

  Suddenly the air in the room becomes stifling and I need to get out of here. “Well, kiddo, I gotta be going. If you ever need help with electronics get your mom to give me a call. Your grandma has my number.”

  “Ugh, sure, but why does my grandma have your number?” Vivi asks, brows furrowing.

  “A couple of my brothers and I help her out when she needs it,” I inform her.

  “Oh, okay, so you were talking to Mom on the porch to check on her?” Fuck me she’s just like her mom always with the questions.

  “Yeah, baby girl, I was checkin’ on your grandma. I’ll catch ya later,” I state, keeping my grin in place, only to lose it when turning from Vivi to meet Charlee’s gaze. “I’ll be in touch,” I tell her without giving her a chance to respond. I storm past her and out of the house doing everything I can not to slam the door shut in the process.

  With fast strides, I get to my bike in order to get as far away from Charlee as I possibly can right now.

  Looks like tonight will be another one with a bottle of Jack at my side.

  Chapter Five

  Charlee

  “Vivi told me Kaden came over earlier and helped her with her TV. Is that true?” my mother asks from the couch with both her feet propped up on pillows on the coffee table.

  I nod, sipping on my hot peppermint tea, reading my daily E! News celebrity gossip. “Yep. He did. Thank goodness too, because you know I’m horrible with computers and stuff,” I comment, floating around the subject. My mother’s never flat out asked me if Kaden is Vivi’s father and while I’ve been thankful for that, I really have a gut feeling like this is going to end soon.

  “You’re pussyfooting around it, aren’t you?”

  Cocking a brow, I divert my attention away from my phone and look directly at her. “Why ask questions when you already know the answer?”

  A smug smile pulls at her lips. “Because I enjoy giving you a bit of hell. What can I say?”

  Shaking my head, I go back to reading my article. “Dad really rubbed off on you before he passed,” I mutter, remembering the way he’d pick on me at every opportunity.

  “In more ways than one.”

  I have to do a double take. Peeling my eyes away from the phone, I look at her and she busts out laughing. “Mom! Goodness, and you go to church!”

  “Everyone needs to have reasons my dear,” she snickers, enjoying herself all too much right now.

  It must be the pain meds making her a little loopy and relaxed. Otherwise she’d
never say anything like this to me. Before her surgery, she did ask that I not allow her to be on pain medicine for more than a week, so I’ll be slowly tapering her off them and giving her Tylenol in replacement.

  “I can’t believe you said that. Coming from the woman who had my pastor give me the birds and the bees talk.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to do it. It was awkward, and who else to help you keep your legs closed than getting the talk from your pastor, and then being judged by God. If you ask me, I was a smart mom . . . but not smart enough, considering . . .”

  Cocking a brow, “You don’t mean that.”

  “Of course not, I’m only proving a point. Now, let me get back to what I was saying. I knew years ago she was Kaden’s. You were leaving little hints at every turn my dear. I don’t know why you never told him but given the way Vivi told me he rushed out of here, I think you know he figured it out.”

  “Mom, please, don’t.”

  “Charlee, Kaden has never been a dummy. Vivi looks so much like him. She has his eyes. They’re practically carbon copies, and don’t make me list every other feature she has that’s his.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, I release it, trying my best to relax.

  A knock comes to the door and internally I groan, praying it isn’t Kaden. “Are we expecting anyone?” I question, rising from my seat, I put my phone down on the coffee table and head to the front door. Pulling the handle open, Esther, one of my mom’s church friends who’s been recently widowed, is standing there.

  “Esther, goodness. What’re you doing here?”

  “Oh, well. I figured you’d need a night to yourself and told your mom this afternoon I’d come on up and hang out with her and Vivi. I haven’t seen that little girl of yours in ages! I hear she’s grown like a weed.” Esther pushes past me and makes herself comfortable, as do most of my mother’s church friends. She heads straight over to my mom, sitting directly beside her and they start chatting instantly. Vivi’s upstairs playing some video games so I won’t go bother her. Instead, I go back to my seat and grab my phone, but my butt doesn’t hit the cushion before my mom is wagging her finger at me.