Stay With Me (Hope Valley Book 5)

by Jessica Prince

  “Oh, wow,” I breathed, finally understanding the fullness of my situation. “I’m a parent now.”

  “Yep.” Tempie nodded with a giggle. “Not just a foster parent but a full-blown, until-your-dying-breath parent.”

  Oh damn. Okay. I freaking loved that. My face split into a giddy smile, but the moment shattered when Zach came through the front door a minute later and slammed it shut behind him with such force the glass panes in the tiny windows along the top shook.

  “Hey! Whoa!” I called, rounding the island and moving his way. “What’s going on?”

  “I hate that stupid school,” he seethed, his head down, eyes to the ground as he stomped toward the hall. “They’re all a bunch of assholes!”

  I saw Tempie’s wide-eyed look as I caught up with Zach and stepped in front of him, cutting off his access to the hall. “First off, watch your language.” I placed my fingers beneath his chin and began to lift his head. “Second, tell me what’s—” The words died on my tongue as I sucked in a startled gasp at what I saw. “Oh my god!” I cried, dropping into a crouch to get a better look at his face. “What the hell happened?” The skin beneath his right eye was puffy and swollen, an angry purple bruise was already forming there, and there was a smear of dried blood beneath his nose that he’d obviously tried wiping away, but not before it had dripped onto the collar of his shirt and stained the material. His hair was ruffled, and his eyes were glistening with rage and unshed tears. “Tell me, Zach. What happened?”

  He gave his shoulder a jerk, trying to dislodge my hold as he grunted, “It’s nothin’. Just leave me alone.”

  “Absolutely not. No freaking way. Someone hit you, Zach, and I want to know who.”

  “It’s none of your business,” he clipped, looking at me with such anger and sadness that it ripped my heart in two.

  “Honey, it’s—”

  He pulled in a deep breath, then leaned forward and yelled, “I said leave me alone!” leaving me so stunned I couldn’t move as he rounded me and ran down the hall, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

  Woodenly, I turned to face Tempie, who was looking toward the hall with worried eyes.

  “What about now?” I asked on a whisper. “You think this is one of those times I should just let him work through it on his own?”

  She gave her head a violent shake. “No way in hell. You might want to give him a chance to rein in his anger, but once that’s done, you don’t let up until you find out what’s been going on.”

  I nodded in total agreement.

  “And when you find out the name of the little asshole who did that to him, you better call me so I can go with you to take care of it. No one messes with one of ours.”

  She had that right. And when I found out who it was who blackened my boy’s eye and bloodied his nose, I was going to rain down holy hell.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cord

  I took the steps up to my apartment at a full run, going two at a time, keeping my heartrate up. I usually tried to be at Rory’s as early as possible, typically leaving straight from work, but in the past week and a half, I’d been so consumed with her and Zach that I’d let my workouts go to hell. So when I got off today, I’d hit the weight room in my complex hard, then went for a run. I still wasn’t in the same shape I’d been in before being shot, but I was getting close, and I didn’t want to risk back sliding.

  I hit the landing to the second level and finally began to slow, my thoughts pulling to the fact that all I had left to do was shower, dress, and pack a bag to stay the night before I was finally back where I wanted to be. That being on the ranch with Zach and Rory.

  I reached the third story and turned toward my apartment as I pulled the earbuds from my ears after silencing Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” that had been playing on my phone. I was only a few feet from my front door when I looked up and came to a dead stop.

  “No,” I clipped, the heat suffusing my veins having nothing to do with the workout I’d just put myself through. “No fuckin’ way. We’re not doing this.”

  “I’ve been trying to reach you for weeks,” Laurie said, her tone snide and her face pinched in an unhappy scowl.

  “I’m aware, Laurie. I’m also aware that you should’ve taken my failure to answer or return your countless messages as the hint it was meant to be.”

  Her hands landed on her hips as her scowl intensified. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  Jesus. I knew she was smart; that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that when she wanted something, she ignored everything else in her pursuit of getting that something, even the obvious. “It means I have absolutely no desire to speak to you. Now you need to go. I’ve got shit to do.”

  “By ‘shit to do,’ I take it you mean you’re going to see her?”

  At that snarky question, I felt the heat in my veins grow hotter. “That’s none of your business. Now I said we’re not doing this, and I meant it. Go home.”

  I moved to step around her, but she cut right back into my space. “We need to talk, Cord.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I gave you that time a couple weeks ago at Alpha Omega, and you didn’t bother to use it wisely.”

  “You barely gave me a chance to get a word in edgewise!” she cried, throwing her arms out. “And with all those people watching… I didn’t know what to say. Please, Cord. There’s so much we need to discuss. If you’d just give me a second—”

  I reached up to pinch the bridge of my nose, fighting to keep my anger in check as I spoke in an even voice. “Laurie. There’s nothin’ to talk about ’cause we’re done. If you’re here to explain your reasons for bailing for seven fuckin’ months after I got shot, I don’t want to hear them.”

  Her eyes turned sad, and I could see the tears starting to gather at her lower lids. “I get that you’re mad, Cord. You have every right to be—”

  “I’m not mad,” I corrected. “I was at first, but that was months ago. I don’t want to hear it because I honestly don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me, Laurie, because we’re done. I don’t care why you left or why you came back.”

  “I came back because I’m in love with you!” she exclaimed. “I made a mistake, sweetie. A huge, huge mistake, and I’m so sorry. But we can get through this.” She came close and tried to place her palms on my chest, but I grabbed her wrists before she found purchase, using the hold to move her back a step.

  “I don’t care about that either,” I said. “What we had, Laurie, it’s in the past. You need to move on. I don’t want this to end bad between us. I’d like to think back on that time when we were kids and cherish those memories. For a long time, you were all I had. Those memories are important to me. I don’t want to lose them, so I’m askin’, please, let this go so they don’t turn sour.”

  The sadness on her pretty face dissolved and an ugly bitterness took its place. “This is all because of her,” she spat. “Your precious Rory.”

  “Don’t,” I warned on a deep rumble as I began to lose grip on my patience. “This isn’t about her. It’s about us not fitting together anymore.”

  “We could fit if you’d just give us a chance! I broke through once. It took work, but I did it. I got you to trust me, and that turned into something so incredible, Cord. I can break through again. I know I can. I can make you love me again.”

  “Laurie, stop,” I grunted. “Christ. Just stop.”

  “Do you have any idea how it feels? All these weeks trying to get ahold of you, trying to reach you so I could apologize and start mending this breach between us, and you’ve been running around with her. It’s humiliating! I know you took her to The Groves, Cord.”

  My chin jerked back and my body locked tight. “What the fuck?”

  “Yeah.” She sneered. “Sue Ellen told me everything.”

  Sue Ellen Mayfield. Christ, I should have known. There were red flags going up left and right that I shouldn’t have gotten back with Laurie when she moved to Hope V
alley, and the biggest, brightest flag was that she was the kind of woman who’d become friends with a person like Sue Ellen Mayfield. That woman thrived on gossip and drama to the point that she’d actually stir shit up herself just to be entertained. And Laurie had fallen into a fast friendship with her.

  “I also know you’ve been playing house with her and that kid.”

  “You need to stop now,” I warned as red coated over my vision. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t heed my advice.

  “What you feel for her, it isn’t real.”

  “Last time I’ll say it, Laurie. Quit now before you really piss me off.”

  “You’re blinded by her because she’s taken that boy in when you didn’t have anyone to do that for you. That’s all!”

  “That’s it,” I growled, taking a step closer and getting in her personal space. “I warned you, but you didn’t fuckin’ listen. As usual, you want somethin’, you go all out to get it, even if that means actin’ like a self-centered brat. I told you not to spoil those memories, but you just couldn’t keep your mouth shut, and now they’re ruined. And that’s all on you. You and I were done before. But now I mean it in a way that, when I look back on that time, I won’t feel anything but annoyed that the sweet girl I used to know grew up to be what you are. You broke through once, but now you can leave this town in your rearview mirror knowing you’ll never, ever break through again. There isn’t a breach between us, Laurie, it’s a goddamn shark-infested ocean you’ll never be able to cross.

  “What I have with Rory and Zach doesn’t have a goddamn thing to do with you, and I better never hear you so much as mention them ever again. For a year and a half, I put up with your games and your temper tantrums because I remembered the girl you used to be, the girl I once loved. But I don’t like a single thing about the woman you’ve become. You’re manipulative and jealous and insecure. You always treated Rory like shit because you felt threatened. You never wanted to get to know the guys I work with because you couldn’t stand the fact that I didn’t give you my attention every hour of every goddamn day. You would’ve been lucky to have women like Rory and her friends in your circle, had you bothered to give them a shot. But you didn’t. And that’s your loss.” I pointed my finger in her face, her tears having no effect on me whatsoever. “We. Are. Done. And when I say that, I mean we’re done in the sense that you no longer exist for me. If I see you on the street or in a restaurant, I’ll keep on going without it even registering it’s you sittin’ there. And again, this is how it is because you made it that way.”

  “Cord,” she whispered, her voice and chin trembling as tears spilled down her cheeks. “You don’t mean that.”

  My lips parted to tell her I absolutely meant every single word I’d just said, but before I got the chance, my phone started ringing. I pulled it out of the pocket of my athletic shorts, seeing Rory’s name on the screen, and put it to my ear. “Dollface, now’s not really—”

  “I know you’re probably busy, Cord, and I’m so sorry, but do you think you could come over here?”

  Her voice was a discomforting mixture of worry and anger, and I immediately went on edge. “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone gave Zach a bloody nose and a black eye!”

  That red covering my vision turned so dark it was nearly maroon. “I’ll be right there.”

  Her voice dropped to a whisper, the relief stark in her words as she said, “Thank you, honey.”

  I hung up the phone and shoved it back into my pocket as I headed to my front door.

  “Cord, we’re not—” Laurie tried, but I stopped her with one last look over my shoulder.

  “You’re not even here.”

  Then I unlocked my front door and pushed inside. The only thought in my head was getting to my boy and my woman so I could figure out what the hell went wrong and set about making it right.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Cord

  I could hear Rory raging from inside the moment I stepped onto the front porch, and when I pulled opened the screen door and twisted the knob to let myself inside, that rage grew even louder.

  She was pacing the living room and ranting into the phone held to her ear. Instead of interrupting her, I decided my best course of action was to wait until she was finished.

  “I’m telling you, my child came home today with a black eye and a bloody nose. That is unacceptable! And seeing as you’re the principal and you’re responsible for the well-being of these children, I want to know how you intend on handling this.”

  I leaned my shoulders against the wall and watched with a growing sense of pride as she ripped the principal of Zach’s school a new one so brilliantly, I didn’t think the man would be able to sit for at least a week.

  She went quiet and continued her pacing as she listened to whatever the man on the other end of the line was saying. Then she stopped and barked out, “Yeah, you do that. And I expect to know what the outcome of your investigation is.” Another pause. “Uh-huh.” Then “We’ll just see about that, won’t we?”

  Then she hung up and, with a sound akin to a growl, launched the phone across the room. Fortunately it hit the couch so it didn’t break.

  “I take it that call didn’t go as you’d hoped.”

  She spun around and glared, but through it, I could see the pain written all over her face. “He won’t talk to me about it,” she clipped, throwing her arm out and pointing in the general vicinity of Zach’s bedroom. “And the principal doesn’t have a goddamn clue what’s going on. So all I know at this point is that my boy’s been beaten up. I don’t know by who, I don’t know where it happened, and I don’t know why, so I can’t fix this for him and make everything better!”

  Tears of frustration formed in her eyes and immediately started falling down her cheeks. I pushed off the wall and went to her, wrapping her up tight in my arms as she struggled to calm her breathing. “Okay, dollface. It’s all right. It’s gonna be just fine,” I said softly, hoping to god I could soothe her, because I hated her seeing so distraught.

  She looped her arms around my waist, holding on to me just as tightly as she pulled in a deep, calming breath. “I just want him to be okay,” she whispered a minute later. “I want him to be happy and have a good life.”

  I removed one arm from around her and placed my fingers beneath her chin to tip her face up to mine. “He already has a good life, baby. You made it that way.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. When she finally looked back at me, shadows darkened her beautiful blue eyes. “God, Cord. You should’ve heard that guy. He was so condescending. He actually asked me if Zach started the fight. Can you believe that? The principal of a school! One of his students is being beaten up, and his first instinct was to blame him! It’s like he’s not as important as the rest of the kids because he’s a foster child. I hate that guy.”

  I did too, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was track him down and beat the shit out of him. But after witnessing Rory’s outburst, it was clear that I had to remain the levelheaded one this time around.

  “Let me try talking to Zach, see if I can get him to tell me what’s going on.”

  She inhaled deeply, casting her gaze over my shoulder as she nodded. “Yeah, okay. That’s a good idea. And while you do that, I’m gonna have a glass of wine.”

  My lips stretched into a grin. “Okay, honey.”

  “A big one. Maybe even two.”

  “Do what you gotta do, Rory.”

  I leaned in and gave her a kiss and one last squeeze before letting her go and moving down the hall to Zach’s room. I rapped my knuckles on the door and waited for his permission before twisting the knob and stepping inside. The second my eyes landed on his face, that fire that had been burning in my gut exploded as if gasoline had just been tossed onto it. I had to clench my jaw against the need to rage, knowing it wouldn’t do anything but terrify him.

  “She still mad?” Zach asked as soon as I closed the door behind me.


  “She’s upset, yeah,” I answered, moving to his bed and sitting down on the side of it. He pushed away from the headboard and scooted down to sit next to me, his little legs dangling beside my longer ones. “But can you really blame her? You came home bruised and bloodied. She hated seeing that.”

  He hung his head, staring at the toes of his shoes as he muttered, “She’s been yellin’ for a while. She didn’t sound upset. She sounded pissed.”

  I didn’t bother correcting him on his language. That was something I’d leave up to Rory. Truth was, my vocabulary was a lot worse when I was Zach’s age, so it didn’t bother me the way it did her. “Yeah. She’s pissed. She called the school and didn’t feel like they were doing all they should to protect you, so she made her unhappiness about the situation known.”

  He whipped his head up, his eyes big. “She was yellin’ at someone from the school?”

  “Your principal.”

  “Wow,” he breathed in wonder, looking straight ahead.

  “She’s fierce when it comes to the people she cares about, Zach, and she cares about you a great deal. You’re important to her, and if something bad is happening to you, she’ll fight tooth and nail to put a stop to it.”

  His chest rose as he pulled in a deep breath, and once he let it out, his shoulders slumped. “I yelled at her,” he said quietly, his tone full of contrition. “She just wanted to know what happened to me, and I yelled right in her face. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Lifting an arm, I wrapped it around his shoulders and pulled him closer so we were side to side. “No, you shouldn’t have. But we all do things we regret when we’re upset. It isn’t the end of the world, bud. You’ll go out there, and you’ll apologize.”

  He looked up at me, panic filling his brown eyes. “But… what if she doesn’t—”

  “She will,” I cut in. “She’ll forgive you, kid. Don’t ever doubt that for a second. She’ll forgive you because you mean something to her. That’s what people who care about each other do.”