by Jaime Lewis
◆◆◆
Bailey rested her head against the cool window of the cab. Her eyes were still leaking tears. Even the older cab driver had asked her if she was okay. She felt her phone vibrate again and knew it was probably Alex. As much as she needed a friend right now, she didn’t want to talk to anybody. She was afraid of what she might say, so she thought it was best just to ignore all of their calls until she could think rationally.
As the driver pulled up to the entrance to her building, her phone pinged with a text. After paying the driver, she pulled her phone out. When she saw the name flashing on the screen, she wanted to scream. Her fucking mother. Like tonight hadn’t been bad enough. She read the message.
Bailey, it is important you call me right away.
Bailey snorted. Yeah, the only thing important right now was drinking herself to sleep. Then she got an idea. Maybe a few days away at her cousin’s place would do her mind some good.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A few days had passed since the night Irish had made a total ass of himself. He still hadn’t spoken with Bailey, and to say he was concerned was an understatement. When he picked Sienna up from school this afternoon, he noticed Bailey wasn’t working bus duty like normal. When Sienna informed him, that Bailey hadn’t been at work for the last three days, his internal alerts started going off. She hadn’t answered any of his calls or texts, which he just chalked up to her still being pissed at him. But after he spoke with Ace earlier, it seemed she hadn’t returned anyone’s calls or texts as Alex, Tenley and Autumn had tried to contact her as well.
Irish picked up his bottle of beer and took a swig. He hadn’t had a drop of alcohol since the night of Alex’s gala. Tonight, he was hoping to relax at Bayside, have one drink along with his dinner, then go home and strategize what his next move was to win back Bailey. That plan went to shit when he spotted Derek walking toward him. Shit!
Derek took the seat next to him at the bar and ordered a beer. He didn’t say anything for a minute or two, and Irish knew right away Derek wasn’t there to just hang out. After taking a drink of his beer, the bartender had set down, Derek spoke. “I thought you would be over at Ace and Alex’s with the rest of the crew having dinner.”
He thought so himself but decided at the last minute he wasn’t up for socializing, mostly since the women were still pissed at him. He looked over at his commander and shrugged his shoulders, then took a slug of beer. “I’m not very good company to be around.”
Derek’s lips twitched up. “Girls still giving you the silent treatment?”
“Yeah. Can’t say I blame them either.”
Derek nodded his head and took another drink. “You see the shrink, yet?” Well, that hadn’t taken long. Irish nodded his head, knowing if he hadn’t already seen the head doctor, Derek would have his ass. It had taken less than an hour before Derek caught wind of went down. He was there at the gala but had been on the other side of the room.
“You know, Irish, what happened over in Algeria is a hard situation to overcome. We see a lot of bad shit in our careers and spend a good majority of our time trying to protect women and children. You need to know and understand you did nothing wrong on that mission; you followed a direct order. None of us knew what Madani had planned. And unfortunately, the kid was caught in a really bad situation. You acted accordingly and did what was needed. You did your job by covering your teammates’ asses so they could live to see another day. So, don’t sit here wallowing in your pity and thinking about the ‘what ifs.’ Because I will tell you, son, it will do more harm than good.”
He knew Derek was right. He was a soldier; he followed orders. Yes, there had been times where he disagreed with the order given, but he still followed through with said order. He went to say something, but Derek held his hand up.
“I’m not going to sugar coat it. You fucked up. And in some minds, it was unforgivable.” Irish could only nod his head because Derek was one hundred percent correct. “Look, Irish. I’m not here to lecture you on the fundamentals of a relationship because some time or another, we all fuck up at one point. So, you’re down a point right now. You need to figure your next move and get back in the game.”
“Well, it’s sort of hard when the other team won’t take my calls or answer my texts. Not hearing from her is actually concerning. I don’t even know if she’s okay. The others haven’t heard from her either.”
Derek stared at him for a couple of seconds.
“Let’s just say that she has been in touch with someone.”
Irish wracked his brain. Who else was there that Bailey would have been in touch with? None of his teammates or their women have heard a peep from her since that night. How would Derek know? Unless…. motherfucker!
Irish turned to face Derek. “You!” If Irish had been watching Derek so closely, he would have missed the slight twitch in lips.
“Alex was concerned and asked me to try reaching out. So, I texted her.”
“And she answered you?”
“Like I said, she’s a smart girl,” Derek said, chuckling.
Irish had a million questions, and Derek knew it because he held up his hand. “I don’t know where she is or what she is up to. All that I know is that she assured me she was safe.”
With those words, Derek laid down a twenty on the bar and got up, leaving Irish alone to think. His commander was right. He needed to put the incident behind him and focus on what was in front of him, starting with what he wanted out of life. And that was easy to figure out. There were three things he cared about the most in his life, Sienna, Bailey and his career.
◆◆◆
“Hey cuz, whatcha doing out here all by yourself?” Bailey turned in her chair and looked at her cousin, Jonathan. He closed the sliding glass door and walked across the wooden deck and sat down in the lounge chair next to hers. She had arrived in Alabama the morning after the shit show with Irish at the gala. After talking to Jonathan that night and some convincing by him, she decided it was best to get away for a few days and to think. In the four days she’d been there, she had done quite of bit of thinking. The problem was, whatever she was thinking about always came back to Irish.
There were more civil ways he could have handled the situation, but he didn’t, and that was something that he would have to live with. Even though there are no excuses for his behavior, she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened on that mission that triggered his outburst. She would never forget that blank lost look in his eyes. It broke her heart, seeing him hurting like that and not being able to do a damn thing about it.
She looked up at her cousin. He was watching her intently. He had been worried about her when she had arrived in town. But she assured him she just needed a little TLC and time to reflect on several things in her life.
Jonathan was a very handsome man and a very successful lawyer.
“I just wanted some fresh fall air and to try to clear my mind a little.”
He walked over and took the seat in the chair across from her. “I got all of the papers you wanted drafted today. I can go over them with you later. If you’re good with it, then all they’ll need is your signature. Then I will get them filed.” He gave her a serious look. “Are you sure this is what you want? You know this is going to cause you more headaches with your parents. I don’t trust them and wouldn’t put it past them to try and get back at you.”
She half-smiled at him. “It is. And let them. I will have them arrested so fast they won’t know what hit them. They are lucky I haven’t already pressed charges since finding out that they paid employees at the bank off.”
One of the reasons Bailey had been so uptight was because of her parents. She had a funny feeling in her gut that her parents were after something. On the second night, Jonathan and his friends were having drinks and invited her to join them. When she found out the guy was one of the most sought-after private investigators in the area, she explained the situation about her parents to both of them, and without any h
esitation, the guy said he would check into it. It hadn’t taken him long because the next night, it had become clear her parents had known for a couple of years about her trust fund. They had found out the attorney’s name that her grandfather had used to handle the fund. The guy wasn’t very ethical because he had given her parents copies of everything he had on her. Of course, he had been paid a very nice sum of money for the information. Needless to say, the man would soon be out of a job and facing charges as soon as she delivered the evidence to the police.
As for her parents, they would be served papers of their own. She was legally divorcing them. She wanted nothing to do with them and wanted no association with them whatsoever. She would keep the Anderson name but only because of her grandfather and the respect she had for him. By breaking the ties with her parents, should anything ever happen to her, they couldn’t get their hands on anything of hers unless it was specified in her Will, which would be a cold day in hell. And speaking of her Will, she had Jonathan draw up a new one, making sure there were no loopholes her parents could use.
“Have you decided yet on when you’re heading back home?” Jonathan asked her. She knew he was worried about her going back home by herself, especially in the coming days, once her parents got wind of her surprise for them.
“Probably in another day or two. If that’s okay with you since I kinda just showed up here out of the blue and disrupted your life. Plus, I miss my students.” She was mostly missing Sienna. She started to wonder what Irish and her were up to. As it was just shy of 8:00 pm, they were probably curled up on the couch, watching Disney Jr. God; it had only been a couple of days, and she was already missing them both badly. How was she going to handle going back there and possibly running into them? Of course, you’re going to run into them. You’re Sienna’s teacher.
“Sweetie, you know you are welcome here anytime. You don’t need an invitation to visit. The same goes for my parents. They love you as if you were their own daughter,” Jonathan said, bringing her attention back to him and not the man who still held her heart.
She smiled. God, she wished she had parents like her aunt and uncle. They were wonderful people who knew the meaning of family.
“Thanks, that means a lot.”
“Anything for my favorite cousin.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bailey was going over some paperwork at school. She had returned to Virginia Beach two days ago. She was happy to be back working and spending time with her students. It kept her mind from wandering. Well, at least while she was at school. At home, it was a little different. As much as she was still hurting, she still missed Irish, and being away from Sienna was very hard. She had grown attached to her in the month and a half she’d known her. She found out from Sienna that Irish told Sienna that Bailey had to take a trip. But it was sort of funny because nobody knew where she was, and she didn’t want them to know, even though she felt guilty about not telling anybody and knowing they would be worried about her. At least Derek knew she was safe. Damn, that man drove a hard bargain. And talk about intimidating. When his name showed up on her phone, she knew better than to send him to voicemail. He wasn’t particularly happy about her little disappearing act. But after she explained that she hadn’t meant to make everyone worry, he seemed okay with the explanation and assured her that if she needed anything to call him.
“Uncle Potter!” Sienna called out, catching Bailey’s attention and bringing her back into the present. She looked up, and yep, there stood Potter. All six-foot-five of him, standing there staring at her with a pissed off look. Well, damn. Time to pull up those big girl panties and face the music.
She stood up and holy shit on sticks, her legs felt like Jell-O because they shook so bad. This was going to be a bit awkward, she thought. “Uncle Potter, look, Ms. Bailey is back.”
Potter continued to stare at her, showing no emotion. “I see.” Bailey swallowed hard. Oh yeah, he was pissed, alright.
“Are you picking up Sienna today?” Bailey decided to ask to break the ice. Maybe sticking just to the basics was best.
He walked farther in the classroom, closer to where she stood by her desk. He towered over her, and suddenly the room felt even smaller.
“Yeah, Irish had a meeting on base and is running late.”
She held her hand up. “Potter, you don’t have to explain. Whatever Irish does in his time isn’t any of my business. I’m just glad I’ll get to see some of you around here at the school once in a while.”
“Where have you been? We’ve all been worried,” he asked. She felt a little bad for not returning any calls or messages, but she didn’t feel like hearing excuses made on Irish’s behalf since they were all his friends. Plus, technically, Derek knew she was safe. So obviously, Derek didn’t pass the message on.
“I had some personal stuff I needed to deal with.” Potter raised his eyebrows. Did the man think she was just going to spill all the details just because he asked? “Some private matters that I don’t want to discuss.”
He looked shocked and taken back by her response. Then he nodded his head. “Okay. Well, I’m sure I’ll see you around. I mean, now that you’re back, I’m sure you’ll be catching up with Alex, Tenley, and Autumn.”
She nibbled her lip. “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.”
“Why not?”
“They’re Irish’s friends. Wouldn’t that be making them choose sides? That isn’t fair to them.”
Potter’s expression softened. “Honey, if you think you can get rid of those three women, you’ve got another thing coming. They all adore you. You are part of their gang with or without Irish. And I, along with the rest of the guys, still expect to see you at our get-togethers still. Like I said, we’ve all missed you and have been worried about you. We were almost to the point we were going to have Skittles try and track you down.”
“Really?” She asked, surprised they would have done something that extreme.
“Really,” he told her.
“Well, if it means anything, I’ve missed you all as well, but don’t you think that would be a little awkward? You know, me and Irish being in the same place at the same time.”
“Fuck him!” Potter winced as he said that, realizing he was in a school, and she had to laugh. But then he said something that made her feel uplifted and as if she did belong in their circle of friendship. “Irish fu-…fudged up. He’s paying for it. Trust me when I say that he is hurting probably more than you. But if he has an issue of you being around, he’ll need to get over it because you’re our friend too.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to come between friends and teammates, but she appreciated his words. “Thanks, Potter. You don’t understand how much your words mean to me.”
He winked. “I’ve been in your shoes before, so I do understand.” She tilted her head to look at him. “The part of being and feeling alone. I’ll tell you all about it one day, but right now, I have to get these two young ladies home before we come back tonight.”
“Oh, you and Tenley are coming to watch Sienna in the play?”
“Yep, all of us will be here.” She didn’t miss how he emphasized the word all. Of course, Irish would be here. His niece had one of the biggest roles. She was playing the part of a ladybug. “I take it I’ll see you tonight.”
Even though she didn’t have to be, there was no way she was going to miss the play. She smiled. “Yeah, I’ll be around for a little while.”
“I mean it, Bailey. I’ll expect to see you around.”
She smiled. “We’ll see, Potter. No promises.” He frowned at her, but then stepped forward and hugged her. And God, did it feel good to be cared about.
As she watched Potter leave with Sienna and Alejandra, she spotted Mr. Pega, the principal, and he walked in. He was usually one of those people who had a permanent smile on their faces, so seeing a frown and look of concern, she knew something was wrong.
And boy, was she right. With the news that Mr. Pega delivered, her life
had been knocked off its axis, and she was pissed seven ways to Sunday. She was determined to seek and destroy those responsible for ruining her life.
◆◆◆
“Bailey, you don’t have to be here tonight,” Jonathan told her as they stood in her classroom.
She shook her head. “Nope, I have to be. I promised Sienna that I would be here. Mr. Pega was nice enough to let me come tonight.”
“He’s still an asshole. So is the entire school board for that matter,” Jonathan said with an attitude, and Bailey appreciated his backing.
Though Bailey was trying to forget the awkward conversation with Mr. Pega this afternoon, it was hard not to. Considering the conversation ended with her losing her job. As of this afternoon, she had been relieved from her teaching position. The reason, because someone sent some inappropriate pictures of her to some of the members of the school board. Pictures of her in just her panties and bra. Of course, the images were photoshopped because she would never pose in something like that and have pictures taken. Someone was out to destroy her reputation, and she had a good idea of who that someone was. Randy had the resources and connections to do something of that nature. In his mind, he probably figured that if she lost her job, lost her friends, and lost her boyfriend, she would run home with her tail between her legs.
“What are you going to do?” Jonathan asked her.
She looked up at her cousin and shook her head as she packed a few more of her belongings into one of the boxes. “I don’t know. The reality of it hasn’t even sunk in yet. Maybe I’ll do some charity work or something.”
“Shit, Bailey. You don’t even have to work.”
“I know that. But I need to do something. There is no way I’m just going to sit around and be a trust fund baby. Then I’d be acting like my parents.”
“Don’t even compare yourself with those worthless pieces of shit. Why not take a little bit of time for yourself and go on a long trip? Go explore the world.”
