Torn Away (The Torn Series Book 1)

by Vincent Morrone

  Sam placed her hand on his chest. “You’re very good with him.”

  “He wants to be connected to me,” Drew said. “He needs me and needs that connection with Kelli. He knows his mother wanted me in his life, and I believe he wants me, but dammit if the kid isn’t still scared shitless of me every time I walk into a room. I’ve made sure not to surprise him. I haven’t raised my voice, even when I caught him stealing, but he still thinks I’m going to turn on him.”

  Sam caressed his chest. “It’s going to take time. He hasn’t known you for long. The more you’re in his life, the more you do things together, the more he’ll trust you.”

  Drew nodded. “I came home today with some food. I stopped at Maria’s Deli.”

  “Oh, I love their potato salad,” Sam said.

  Drew grinned. “I bought two pounds of it. Plus, some cold cuts. Got home and found Cole sneaking into the kitchen for food. Kid knew something was up and probably spent the day hiding in his room, but he got hungry enough to come out and forage for something to eat. He had an egg in his hand. He was going to stick it in the microwave.” Drew paused and turned to Sam, saw her eyes widen in horror.

  They laughed together. “The microwave! The damn thing would have exploded and made a mess and then he wouldn’t have had to worry about me screaming, Lilly would have had a fit.” Drew shook his head as the laughter died. “I told him we’d make breakfast tomorrow morning for everyone. I’d show him how to make something like scrambled eggs.”

  Sam forced a smile. “That’s good. And you need to be there for him. Show him things like that. It’ll be a good moment for you.” I guess the idea of you spending the night in my bed was too much to ask for.

  Drew grinned at the thought, clearly looking forward to it. “I plan on it. I thought about running into that twenty-four hour store near the house, getting a few things. Cheese, veggies for the omelets. Bacon. We can make a big family breakfast.”

  Sam did her best to keep the resentment out of her voice. She knew how important this was for his relationship with Cole. “Sounds yummy.”

  Drew pulled her closer. “It will be. I may not be able to cook like you and Lilly do, but I know my way around the kitchen. Lilly has one of those small skillets that are perfect for making omelets, so everyone can have what they want. I love sweet red peppers, some onion and tomatoes, and a touch of cheese. Maybe even some mushrooms. I know Ash hates the veggies. She’ll want a ton of cheese, some serious chunks of ham. That’s on top of having bacon on the side. I’m not sure about Lilly, but something tells me she’s one of those feta cheese types with spinach. Nothing I can’t handle if I’ve got the ingredients. What do you like?”

  Sam blinked. “Me?”

  “Yeah,” Drew said. “Whatever you want. Just let me know so I can grab it tomorrow morning at the store. I’ll get some English muffins too, and some oranges for some freshly squeezed juice, make a project out of it. What else should I grab?”

  Sam, who was still blinking, tried to keep up. “Wait, you want me to have breakfast with your family tomorrow?”

  “Of course,” Drew answered as if it was the only logical possibility. “We’ll have to set the alarm to get us up early enough, but I can text someone and let them know to wait. Why?” Drew asked, as if it suddenly occurred to him that maybe she and he weren’t on the same page. “Do you have plans? If so, I’d love it if you could cancel them.”

  “Um…” Sam felt completely shocked. She was quite sure that if she hadn’t been lying down on the bed, she’d probably have fallen. “No, it sounds great.”

  “Yeah,” Drew agreed. “It does.”

  As the elation of the moment thrilled her, a new idea sprung in her mind.

  “Hey,” she said and repositioned so she could look Drew in the face. She wanted to see his eyes. “Are you free the whole day tomorrow? There’s a fair one town over. They’ll have rides and games. Cole would probably love it. Nana and I go every year since I was little. She loves their fried dough. We could spend the day together. Maybe Ashley and Lilly would like to go? I could see if Ollie is free?”

  As she spoke, Drew’s eyes lit up with joy at the thought of spending the day together. He enjoyed the idea of the pair of them taking Cole and her Nana to the fair.

  Dylan never wanted to do anything with her family. The mere suggestion used to annoy him. He’d pouted when she’d left town to go to the fair with Nana, even though he was invited.

  To Drew, the idea was wonderful. She could see it in his eyes.

  “That sounds perfect,” Drew said. “You sure your Nana won’t mind if Cole and I tag along?”

  “Oh, I won’t mind at all.”

  Sam jumped at the sound of her Nana’s voice coming from the bedroom door. She was leaning on the doorframe, her arms crossed and wearing an impish grin, her eyes dancing with glee.

  It took a moment for Sam to fully understand that her grandmother was standing there as both she and Drew were lying entangled in each other’s arms, wearing not a stitch of clothing. It had been years since Nana had seen her naked, not since she was a little girl who’d come out of the bath and run around the living room while her mother chased her with a towel.

  Sam wasn’t sure what was more embarrassing, her own nudity, or Drew’s; who in his current position on his back, was on full and complete display.

  Face burning, Sam screamed and tried to cover both herself and Drew with her hands, something that just wasn’t working very well. Drew on the other hand, laughed out loud.

  “I’d love to share our little outing with both you and Cole,” Rose said as she walked into the room. “Just like I’m thrilled to have had the chance to share my supply with my granddaughter.” She grabbed the box of condoms off the dresser. “Mitchell wasn’t there tonight, but George was. Unfortunately, he’s got a roommate who hates when he brings company home, so I invited him here.” She turned her back and started for the door. “I’ll leave you two alone to finish making plans for tomorrow.”

  Watching Rose head for the door, Sam started to relax, although it would be a while before she wasn’t red.

  “Oh, who am I kidding?” Rose said from the door. She scrimmaged in the box for a moment or two. “I’ll only need one of these.” She pulled out one of the ones labeled as a French Tickler. Then turned to face Sam and Drew again, holding the condom up for display and ignoring the protests of her granddaughter. “He’s a fan of these if I recall, and so am I. You should try one. From the looks of things, Drew’s ready to sample any one you’d like. Probably more than one.” She placed the box down on a dresser near the door and turned to leave. “Ah, to be young again.”

  Chapter 16

  A Day at the Fair

  Cole had been certain his uncle would forget about his promise to teach him how to fix breakfast. It was a small thing, the kind of thing adults forgot because it’s so unimportant, at least to them, but Cole w+anted to learn. He liked the idea of being able to do something for everyone. He hadn’t been able to tell his Aunt Ash and Lilly how he liked being here with them. They didn’t need to take him and his mother in and must have known there was danger, even before his mom was killed.

  No, they couldn’t possibly understand how dangerous it really was.

  The simple thought of it made his stomach churn. So far, everyone told him he could talk to them. His uncle, aunt, Lilly, and Ollie. Even that lady who said his mother had talked to her, but Cole hadn’t talked. He knew what would happen if he did.

  He’d been tempted to tell Ollie. Even considered it for the briefest of moments. He was a cop. He had a gun.

  He thought about telling his uncle. He had been to war. He knew danger.

  Both his uncle and Ollie knew what it was like to fight bad guys. but neither of them knew what it took to defeat a monster.

  However, Cole didn’t want to think of that today. Not once he’d gotten a text from his uncle to be ready when he came home with everything they’d need and to not let anyone have a si
ngle crumb for breakfast. It was before seven and Lilly had to go into the bookstore, but not right away. She was happy to wait. Aunt Ash was still in bed and grumbled like a bear taking a nap when he came in to tell her not to eat anything.

  “I’m in bed,” she’d snapped. “Do you think I have a buffet under here?”

  He wasn’t sure what his uncle was getting, but figured it would just be some eggs and bread for toast, maybe a package of bacon. Instead, he had hauled in three huge bags, filled with eggs, bacon, English Muffins, assorted cheeses and vegetables, butter, jelly, some sort of bag of leafs, and oranges. Ollie’s partner Sam was with him, carrying a box with some stuff in it. Had she met him at the store?

  “What are we doing with the oranges?” Cole said, trying to sneer, but unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. “You’re not gonna put them in the eggs?”

  Drew rolled his eyes. “No. Where do you think orange juice comes from?”

  Cole matched his eye roll. “A carton.”

  Drew sighed as he went into a cabinet and pulled out a small metal thing that had a bowl on the bottom and a grooved top that stuck up. It had a metal top with small holes. Cole’s eyes widened, as he tried to imagine what he was supposed to do with this strange contraption.

  “Watch,” Drew said as he placed a small pitcher next to it, and opened the bag of oranges. They nearly rolled off the table and Cole laughed as he grabbed them. “This will be your first job. Start by rolling each one on the counter and pressing them.” He demonstrated. “When you’re done, I’ll slice ‘em and show you how to make the juice. I’m gonna start the bacon and Sam volunteered to make coffee for the adults.” He looked to Ashley who had dragged herself out of bed. “You’ll love it. French Press.”

  Ashley, who looked rather grumpy even by Cole’s standard, grinned; although the way she smirked at Uncle Drew was weird. She kept sending quick looks towards Sam and wiggling her right eyebrow.

  Cole quickly started to concentrate on the oranges and Uncle Drew and Sam got to work. Before long there was bacon sizzling, the oranges were sliced and Cole was diligently working through the entire batch, while his uncle expertly chopped veggies and placed them into small piles on the cutting board.

  Soon, Cole found himself standing on a small stool as he broke eggs into a white bowl, and mixed them with something called a whisk. At first, Cole tried to stir the eggs, but his uncle patiently showed him how to properly use the whisk. Cole figured he’d be watching, but while his uncle insisted on doing the cutting, he allowed Cole to put the eggs in the small frying pan, add the ingredients and even showed Cole how to fold the omelets and moved them to a plate. Sam delivered them to each person.

  Lilly seemed very impressed, both with the omelet itself, but also with the fact Drew had thought to get her the little strange leaf things and the crumbly cheese. Ashley wanted ham and cheese and lots of it. She also threatened to kick Drew out and make Sam live there so she could continue to make the coffee the way she did. Sam, who laughed, took hers with cheddar cheese, onions and tomatoes.

  Cole insisted on making one for his uncle next. He added each ingredient exactly the way his uncle instructed and handed him what he decided was a very colorful little omelet. With only himself left, he created one just like his uncles. He was hesitant to eat the peppers when he sat down, but after the first few bites, decided he liked them.

  Lilly was the first to leave, thanking Cole once again for breakfast. Ashley spoke about a few things she had to do, all of which sounded boring. After such a wonderful start to the day, Cole hated the idea of having to be dragged around. He was certain his uncle would want to ditch him for Sam for the rest of the day now that he’d fulfilled his promise.

  “You go do whatever,” Drew said to Aunt Ash as he poured himself a second cup of coffee and turned to Cole. “How’s this sound for the day? You and me are going to join Sam and her Nana. They’re going to that fair that’s a couple of towns over. You ever been to one of those?”

  Cole shook his head slowly, not entirely sure what was happening.

  “Great,” Drew said. “Let’s get these dishes done then we can get ready and head on over.”

  Immediately, Cole started to bring dishes over to the sink to be rinsed and loaded in the dishwasher. He worked side by side with Drew who rinsed everything before handing it to Cole to place in the dishwasher.

  Less than twenty minutes later, Cole was by his uncle’s car, bouncing on his heels as he waited to leave.

  “You’re not excited are you?” Ashley said as she came out of the back door.

  Cole shrugged, trying desperately to look cool and not like a stupid little kid, but it took every ounce of self-restraint not to jump up and down. It wasn’t just the fact he was going to the fair, it was the fact his uncle kept his promise this morning and was taking him to the fair.

  Cole was trying to give his uncle a shot. Maybe he wouldn’t hurt him too bad. Maybe, just maybe he’d never hurt him at all. Maybe he would even be decent to him. Teach him how to be strong, show him how to fight so he didn’t have to watch other people get hurt.

  But Cole never believed it was possible, that his Uncle Drew simply wanted to spend the day with him.

  Even now, as Cole waited for his uncle to come bursting through the door on the side of the garage, he couldn’t help but think it was all a cruel joke.

  Ashley stood beside Cole, messed his hair carelessly, and bumped him with her hip. “I promised Lilly I’d run these errands for her, but maybe I’ll stop by later.”

  Cole looked over at his aunt, the feeling of excitement growing even bigger in his eyes. “You and Ollie might come by?”

  Ashley blinked as she tried to understand what Cole meant. “You want Ollie there?”

  Cole sighed. “Don’t you?”

  Ashley gave him a shrug. “Sure, why not. He’d love it. But he might have other plans.”

  Cole frowned. Did she really not get that Ollie liked her?

  “Maybe I’ll see if Lilly wants to check it out after we’re done at the shop,” Ashley said, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. “I can always text your uncle and we can figure out a way to meet up.”

  “Yeah,” Cole said as he stood on his tippy toes to see if he could catch a hint of activity from the apartment over the garage. How long did it take to get ready to go to a fair?

  “Relax,” Ashley said. “He’ll be down soon. He just had to shower and get dressed.”

  “Why?” Cole said, now hopping up to see if he could catch a glimpse of movement in the window. “What was wrong with the clothes he was already wearing?”

  He noticed his aunt hide a smirk under her hand as she pretended to rub her nose. Clearly she found something funny about what he’d asked, but as far as Cole could tell, there was nothing wrong with what Uncle Drew was wearing. It was the same outfit he wore the night before after his workout, when he left just before it started to pour. So he put on the same clothes again? Big deal.

  Before Cole could ponder this further, he saw the light change in the window above the garage. Had it just gotten darker? Did that mean…

  The door opened on the side of the garage and Sam and Drew came out, each smiling as they walked hand in hand towards them. There were a few words exchanged as they approached Cole, something Sam said to Drew that nobody but he could hear. Whatever it was, it made Drew laugh.

  Drew changed into cargo shorts and light grey tank top, while Sam wore a light sundress, with pink flowers on it.

  “You ready?” Drew said. “I’m tired of waiting on you.”

  Cole scowled. “I was waiting on you. What took you so long? What was wrong with what you had on?”

  “I uh…” Drew’s eyes looked towards Sam. “I just grabbed the same clothes I wore last night when I got up. I wanted to get to the store early so people wouldn’t be waiting on their breakfast.”

  “Oh,” Cole said, with a shrug. “Makes sense.”

  Cole noticed his Aunt’s hand
was back by her mouth. And neither Sam, nor Drew were looking at each other or Ashley.

  “Let’s get a move on,” Drew said. “We’ve got to go to Sam’s to pick up her Nana. You met her, right?”

  Cole nodded. “She was alright.”

  “She and I had a lovely conversation last night when she came home early,” Drew said. “I thought she was hilarious.”

  Sam turned beat red as she muttered, “Glad you did.”

  Ashley was making absolutely no attempt to hide the fact that she was laughing now, convincing Cole he was indeed missing something.

  “What’s going on?”

  Drew just steered him to the back seat of the car. “You’re not tall enough to understand. Ask me when you’re up to here.” He placed his hand on top of Cole’s head then brought it up to his chest, only an inch below his neck. “About six years. Maybe less. I’ve got a feeling you’re going to grow like a weed. Now, do you want to stand here and complain or get going?”

  Cole got into the car without another word.

  Drew smiled as he saw his nephew’s face, normally so guarded and reserved, slowly radiate joy. Cole was still wary, ever watchful of all of the strange people in the crowd. Big men always seemed to give him pause, but today at least he wasn’t allowing it to stop him from enjoying himself.

  It took Cole a while for that smile to grow. The first hour at the fair, he’d worn a small grin while shooting water into the clown’s mouth to blow up the balloon, and smirked shyly when he’d played whack a mole, but the moment he looked up and saw the male fair-worker in charge of running the game, (usually a twenty something college guy who looked more bored than threatening) he’d freeze.