How It Started

by T. S. Joyce

  “Okay, kid,” he murmured. “You win.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Thirteen new orders today.

  Leanna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Usually, she got that many online orders in an entire week, but last night people must’ve really been shopping for business cards. Every order was for business cards but one, which was for hand-drawn baby shower invites.

  Okay! This was awesome! Someone must’ve advertised her website somewhere and gotten a lot of attention for her business.

  She checked her inventory on card-stock paper and yep, she had enough for all of the orders. Plenty of ink, too.

  Hell. Yes!

  The business cards were all the same size, and each customer had chosen one of the templates she’d already designed, so she could just switch the artwork out between orders, and absolutely have these done in a couple of hours. And then she would have time to design the baby shower invites. That was the one she was looking forward to. She’d been itching to get her hands on a project that would allow her to use her new eagle feather pens.

  Amos! She texted. I got thirteen new orders overnight!! Your dick must be magical and brings me good luck. Dinner on me this Friday? I’m pretty much rich now. Bring Trev. Smiley face emoji. Send.

  Hell yeah, we rich baybay! I just got paid today, too. I can afford juice boxes for the kid now. If you take us out Friday, me and Trev are definitely paying you back after the wedding on Saturday. Remember the rules.

  Wear something scandalous? Send.

  Good girl. Can I FaceTime you?

  The answer is always yes. You’ve already seen me in a face mask, had your face between my legs, and watched me brush my teeth. We are past the asking stage. Send.

  Her phone rang, and she squealed to expel her built-up excitement before she answered it. “Helloooo, sexydong,” she answered.

  “Ha!” Amos bellowed, then cleared his throat and looked at something past the camera as his face went all serious. Why was he wearing a button up shirt? He was supposed to be working today.

  “Leanna,” he said, turning the camera toward a familiar silver-haired woman behind a desk in an office Leanna had been in several times when she was picking up the kids she used to nanny from school early for dentist and doctors’ appointments. “This is Mrs. Lael and she works at the elementary school. Mrs. Lael, this is Leanna, my…well…she’s my Leanna.”

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry I answered the phone like that, Brenda,” she apologized as her cheeks sparked with fire.

  Brenda Lael pursed her lips. “It’s fine, Ms. Mitchell. I was just explaining to Mr…”

  “Famous Amos,” Amos told her.

  Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh.

  Mrs. Lael pursed her lips and looked like she was praying silently for patience. “Mr. Famous Amos. I was explaining to him what is required to register a child at our school. He has provided me with proof of residence, and we were able to track down the doctor he used to see and they are faxing over shot records now. The child needs his birth certificate and social security number as well if we are to put him into a class.”

  The camera jerked to Trev, who was sitting in an oversized office chair, frozen in place with wide eyes, and then panned to Amos. “Look,” he said low, “this morning me and the kid woke up all motivated to get our lives in order. I made us both oatmeal, made him take a shower, and explained to him the importance of washing his balls. I pushed back work this morning because I’m pretty sure kids are supposed to be in school, and we went by the bookstore. I got a book called Parenting for Dummies, and it definitely said stuff about the importance of structure, whatever the hell that is, and education, and now I’m supposed to have all this paperwork for him and I don’t know how to do any of this, and neither does Trev.” Panic was written into every facet of Amos’s face, and honestly? It was pretty cute that he’d gotten a book to teach him how to parent.

  “Okay. Everything is okay. Can you let me talk to Mrs. Lael?”

  “Yes. Yes, I would like that,” Amos said stiffly.

  Mrs. Lael took the phone, and Leanna told her, “Amos has been thrown into this last second, and is doing his best to play catch-up. He only just found out about Trev last week, and his mother has been less than helpful. We can track down all the paperwork this week and bring it in on Monday, if that’s okay? That’ll give us time to track down Trev’s mother, and expedite a copy of his birth certificate and social security card. If we can’t get it all done by Monday, I can give you a call and update you.”

  Mrs. Lael nodded. “That would be fine. He seems like a very well-behaved boy and I’m sure he will like it here. I can send home the registration packet for you to fill out. And the structure stuff will work itself out,” she reassured Amos. “Especially if Ms. Mitchell is nannying for you. She’s cared for a lot of kids who have gone through our education system here.”

  Nannying—well that didn’t sound right.

  Amos kept her on the phone as he tucked the registration packed under his arm and shook Mrs. Lael’s hand. Goodbyes were given and then Trev was opening the door for Amos.

  “Boy, I don’t need you to open the door for me,” Amos murmured.

  “You said to always open doors for ladies.”

  There was a loaded moment of silence, where Leanna could only hear the sound of Trev’s sneakers squeaking across the school’s tile floors, and then Amos said, “Did you just call me a lady?”

  The boys let off a peal of laughter that drew a giggle from Leanna’s throat, too.

  “Ladies first!” Trev crowed.

  “Little turd,” Amos said to Leanna, but she could see the smile in his dancing eyes as the boy ran up ahead. Probably to get the next door for him.

  “Hey, we are bringing you lunch before heading to the store. We’re out of food in the trailer because Trev apparently eats as much as a grown-ass man. What do you feel like?”

  “Really?” she asked an octave higher than she’d meant to. “Ummmm, I like surprises. In the shape of burritos.”

  “You’re so damn sexy,” he growled out as he walked through another open door to the sound of Trev’s laughter. “Be there in a few.”

  She loved this.

  Leanna hung up and relaxed back into her office chair and grinned up at the ceiling. Her heart was pounding double-time. She loved the comfort she already felt with Amos, loved that he’d come over last night, changed her world in the bedroom, and was now wanting her to be a part of random lunches and school meetings for Trev.

  Wait…

  That must mean he was going to keep the boy. Right? She sat up straight and now her heart was beating like a bass drum. He wouldn’t be looking into schools here if he wasn’t planning on keeping him. And he was going grocery shopping for the boy.

  She’d been so scared for so long to nanny a child that would leave, to connect with a family who would move on, to love again after the end of her engagement. Everyone left—that’s what she’d been taught.

  But now? A feeling of utter hope blossomed in her chest.

  She had Amos. Last night he had proved it. He was in it with her, he wasn’t leaving, he was drawing her in closer, and now she could maybe, maaaaybe keep Trev, too?

  Hope was a thistle—beautiful and tempting to reach for, but it could draw blood.

  It was for the ones who ignored the sting of life experience for the chance to discover something amazing.

  It was for the ones who staved off the cold bitterness of hurt, and stretched their fingers toward warmth, knowing the weather could turn again.

  Hope was for the brave.

  Amos was teaching her to be brave.

  Chapter Fourteen

  This wasn’t what Leanna had thought it would be.

  Out her front window, it looked like the high school parties she’d gone to. Amos had invited her to an intimate, relaxed dinner with a couple of friends, but there had to be twenty people here, all standing around a huge fire pit at the edge of
the trailer park, talking in groups like they’d known each other forever.

  Anxiety swirled in her stomach as she looked at the pasta salad she’d made that would feed six servings. She should’ve made a bathtub worth of it.

  The trailer park was actually very homey. The homes were all single-wide trailers, and in different stages of repair and disrepair, like they’d all been dragged here from different places. Each had a porch on it, and strands of outdoor lights. There was a horseshoe pit off to the side, and what looked like new gravel parking spaces in front of each home. The fire pit had three identical grills nearby. This was a lot of people to feed. If they all had appetites like Amos and Trev, the three grills were absolutely necessary. What if they were all shifters?

  Blue coolers sat off to the side, and a woman was bending over one pulling out an ice-covered soft drink. A few guys from the crowd were staring at Leanna with questioning looks on their faces.

  Amos strode out of the crowd, and her heart caught in her throat. He had an easy smile and a two-fingered wave for her. He wore a black T-shirt that hugged the thick curves of his shoulders, and dark jeans. His eyes glowed gold with the firelight illuminating him from behind.

  Amos’s little shadow, Trev, came trotting behind him, and some of the anxiety in her chest dissolved. Leanna turned off her car and pushed the door open, pasta salad in hand.

  “I made this,” she announced, shoving the bowl at Amos. “It’s not nearly enough.”

  He took it and leaned in, kissed her lips, and swatted her butt. “You didn’t have to make anything, dork. I told you I was going to feed you tonight.”

  He had said that. He’d brought burritos for lunch and told her he wanted her to meet his friends at some Crew dinner they held every week. And that he would be grilling, and all she had to do was bring herself.

  It was the cutest invite ever because he’d told Trev about it at the same time, and watching the boy’s excitement grow also ramped up hers.

  As Amos slipped his hand around hers and led her toward the gathering crowd in front of the bonfire, Trev explained, “Tucker isn’t here. His mom said he has to spend tonight with his dad but she said we can play this weekend.”

  “Tucker is your friend?” Leanna asked him.

  “Yeah. I’m going to go to his same school. Amos said.”

  Oh, her heart.

  She gave a little wave to the woman who was approaching. She had short hair and pink-streaked bangs and a huge smile. “I’m Ren,” she introduced herself as she shook Leanna’s hand.

  “I’m Leanna,” she said, as she was pulled to the next person. Trinity, and then Cora, Tory…Krome, Bron, Brick, and Aux. Divar was sitting on the steps of the farthest trailer, alone, his eyes glowing like a demon’s as he lifted a little wave to her. She did her best to remember names and faces, but there were so many. “Nuke is in town taking his lady on a date night. You’ll meet Trina next time,” a dark-haired woman said from beside her. “Overwhelmed yet?”

  Leanna racked her brain to try and shake her name loose from her memory. This was Cora.

  “More like I don’t want to mess up,” Leanna admitted.

  “Mess up?” Cora asked, linking her arm in hers. She led her toward the blue coolers. “You can’t mess up with these guys. They’re all disasters.”

  She frowned at the mingling crowds behind them. “They seem like they have it together. I mean, I don’t want to say something stupid…I guess I want them to like me, for Amos.”

  “Ooooh,” Cora said through a knowing smile. She popped the top of a cooler, pulled out a couple sodas, and handed one to Leanna. “You like him.”

  “Very much.”

  “It’s scary meeting his Crew. I get that. I’ve been there. You’re doing great though. All of Krome’s friends hated me at first. They actually kidnapped me and brought me here and were super mean. Then we did some crime together and bonded and now everything is great.”

  Leanna laughed and sat down on the lid of the cooler. “So, what you’re saying is I just need to commit a crime with the Crew and all will be good.”

  “I know I’m joking, but when you said it like that, it actually would work with this group. Monsters, all of them.” Cora sat down on the cooler next to her. “This isn’t our normal Crew dinner day, you know. Amos got this one planned last minute, for you.”

  “For me?”

  Cora nodded. “He wanted us all to meet you.” She sipped her newly opened soda and then told her, “I’m pretty sure that means you couldn’t mess this up if you tried.”

  That actually did make her feel much better, and she relaxed into the conversation. Another one of the girls joined them—Trinity—as Amos and Bron fired up the grills.

  They were very nice. Inviting. Understanding. As eager to stay in the conversation as she was, and she even got their numbers. Tory was dragging a big folding table out of one of the trailers, and she and Trinity and Cora went to help.

  Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. She got pulled into helping set up sides and she was included in teasing. Trev asked if she could make him a plate, and then sat right beside her and Amos while they ate, and they laughed into the night.

  And Amos…his gold eyes never strayed far from her. He was happy. She could tell. The butterflies in her stomach came to life every time he made his way to her. Each touch warmed her. Each smile consumed her. He was funny, teasing the guys relentlessly, but in a way that everyone was laughing. He was outgoing and charming and was comfortable with his place here. It was fun to watch him in his element.

  “Stay tonight,” he said at the end of the evening, as Bron and Ren said their goodnights.

  The flickering firelight glowed across his handsome face. It was growing late, and Leanna was bundled up in one of his oversize jackets, her knees drawn to her chest. Trev had eaten seven s’mores and fallen asleep all bundled up in a blanket between their chairs. Amos reached across the gap and wrapped her hand in the warmth of his strong one.

  His Crew was talking and laughing around them still, and in this moment, everything was perfect.

  “You’ll be safe,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of you driving back into town this late.”

  “You liiiike me, you really liiiiike me, you li-hi-hi-hi-hi-hiiiiiiike me,” she sang.

  He reached over and tickled her ribs, and she squirmed and laughed. When she opened her eyes again, his smile was fading. “I do,” he told her with such earnestness, the giggles died in her throat.

  “I like you, too,” she said on a breath.

  “I know,” Amos said. “You let me touch your boobies.”

  She snickered and stood as Amos scooped Trev up in his arms. “We’re turning in,” he told the others.

  “It was so nice to meet you!” she called, and waved.

  The goodbyes were genuine, and Trinity reminded her about a girls’ night next Wednesday, and she felt like a part of something.

  Something big.

  Something important.

  Something with the potential to give her a happiness she’d never imagined was possible.

  When she turned back to Amos, she had a moment. Time slowed. Behind her were his friends—her new friends—chattering and saying their goodbyes, and before her, Amos stood in the glow of the fire, strands of outdoor lights illuminating the night behind him, a sleeping Trev in his arms, and a soft smile she’d only seen on his face when he looked at her.

  This was hers.

  “I want to show you something,” he murmured, offering his hand.

  The second her palm touched his, time resumed. He led her into his trailer, through the living room she recognized from the video calls, and down the hallway to a door at the end. He inhaled deeply before he pushed it open.

  Leanne’s mouth fell open as she stepped carefully inside and scanned the structure made of sticks. The back part of it was stacked high with intertwining sticks all the way up to the ceiling, and there was a low part in the center. It was a work of art.


  “Is this your nest?” she asked.

  Amos shifted his weight and adjusted Trev against his ribs. “It’s where I sleep. I have always had to sleep as the animal, with the exception of two times. The first time was the night Trev came here. I was afraid to leave him. And then last night, after I was with you, the animal let me keep my skin. I slept on the couch. I feel like myself when I’m the man.” He swallowed hard and shrugged up one shoulder. “I guess you and Trev make me want to be myself more.”

  Leanne closed the space between them and threw her arms around his waist, held him as tight as she could, and he did the same. With his free hand, he hugged her fiercely.

  “What I’m saying is yes,” he whispered against her ear. “I do like you.”

  Caw!

  Amos’s attention jerked to the window. She’d heard it too—the call of a crow.

  Caw, caw!

  Amos carried Trev into the living room and set him on the couch. “Stay here,” he told her.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “That’s not one of our crows.”

  Fear snaked up her spine as she followed him to the door. “How can you tell?”

  “I know how everyone sounds.”

  Outside, a few of the Crew remained…

  Tory was standing on her porch next door, but her husband Logan murmured something into her ear and pulled her back inside. Amos didn’t miss it. He glared at the door as it closed, and then returned his attention to the woods.

  Divar stood in front of Amos’s trailer, head cocked as he stared at the dark woods. “Fuckers figured out Nuke isn’t here tonight,” he said in a snarling voice that wasn’t human. “They must’ve been waiting for Krome and Bron to leave.”

  “What do you want?” Amos called.

  She didn’t know who he was talking to, because Leanna couldn’t see a damn thing. The sky was cloudy, robbing the woods of any moonlight.

  The not knowing scared her even more.

  A man sauntered out from between two trees. He was tall and blond, with model-like features and dark eyes.

  “What are you doing here, Archer?” Amos asked, stepping off the porch.