Absolute Valor (Southern Justice #3)

by Cayce Poponea

  “Mr. Dylan wants Mommy to wear her new clothes, but she ain’t so sure about them.” I’d gotten a good look at what was in the bag, and I wasn’t sure why Dylan wanted me to wear it. I planned to park at the end of the drive, so I was able to make a quick exit if it turned out to be a joke.

  “Oh, Grace, Mommy wishes things could have been different. I wish your father would have been willing to let me go when he decided he didn’t want us anymore.” Losing Lucas was a double-edged sword, where it was a relief for him to be gone, I felt guilty my sweet baby would grow up without a dad.

  “But you know what I wish more than that?” I picked her up so we could head to bed. “I wish the sweet words Chase spoke to Mommy were real and not part of the role he played.”

  “Enjoy the pool and have fun.” Lainie encouraged, as I tried to hide my legs. Wearing the clothes Dylan had given me, left me feeling practically naked in the cut off shorts and white tank top. “But whatever you do, don’t look at Chase.” Claire warned, the sparkle of the huge diamond on her hand, matched the mega watt smile she wore.

  Priscilla had practically jumped out of her skin as I came down the walkway, pulling Grace from my arms and covering her with kisses. “When we tell you to take off those shorts, pretend as if they are wet or too tight.” I wouldn’t have to pretend, they were tight as hell. So much so that I was willing to give them to Grace to wear.

  Dean joined us, kissing me on the cheek and stealing Grace from Priscilla. “Audrey, with all of this behind us now, I’d like to help you get the trailer and his truck off your credit.”

  I’d tried to buy a new car last week, but when they ran my credit, the default of two loans kept me from it. The credit manager told me to hire an attorney who could force the credit company to remove the mark on my credit. When I called the only good attorney I knew, he asked me to give him a minute to find out what he could. “We can meet this week and discuss what you found.”

  “Okay, Audrey. I need you to focus on me and slowly remove those shorts.” Dean looked behind me, shaking his head with a wicked smile. “Don’t you ruin this, Daddy.” Since the engagement, Claire had started calling Dylan’s parents Momma and Daddy.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he returned, taking a grape from Grace’s fingers then growling like a bear.

  “Slow and steady.” Lainie instructed as she took her place on the lounge chair. Priscilla had done an amazing job putting this together, as I continued to shimmy the shorts off, I let my eyes roam over all of the guests who had arrived. “Okay, let them drop to the ground, and then slowly pick them up as if you’re gonna fold them.”

  Following her instructions, I had just bent over when I heard the distinct sound of something hard crashing to the ground, followed by a sharp, yet explicit, “Fuck me.” I’d know his voice anywhere. Even with everything going on, hearing him speak did things to me.

  “He’s fine, Audrey. You keep those eyes this way.” Claire said, a hint of amusement in her words. I heard Dylan say something, but I couldn’t make out the words. Laughter followed, so it couldn’t have been anything bad. “Now, slowly remove the tank top and get ready to take Grace for a swim.”

  I did everything as Lainie instructed, even taking extra time applying sunscreen to my legs and shoulders. Priscilla covered Grace with a cute pink hat and sunglasses, which wrapped around her head. She loved to be in the water, splashing and kicking for as long as I would let her. Priscilla climbed in the water, having stolen Grace back from Dean. Once Grace was happy in her floaty, Priscilla turned to me and said, “Audrey, it is my experience there is an art to seduction, one many women never master. God gave you hips, and a heart, more than enough to turn the head of a certain Marine.”

  I hated having so much skin showing and was grateful for the level of the water to help hide my body. Playing with Grace had kept my mind, and eyes, off Chase. The temperature seemed to rise and the sun moved to the center of the sky, making Grace fuss when we pulled her from the water to apply more sunscreen. Priscilla took her around to meet her friends, introducing her as the ‘new grandbaby.’ Grace was showing all the signs of being ready for a nap, but wanted to get back into the water.

  “Hello, I’m not sure if you remember me.’ Startled, I turn in the direction of the man holding a red solo cup. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but I would recognize him just the same.

  “Mr. Siever, correct?” Extending out my hand to shake his, a red solo cup lands in my hand instead.

  “You look like you could use a cold sweet tea—I find most southern women bleed the stuff, it’s the reason they stay so polite.”

  Taking the cup, grateful for the cool refreshment it granted me. “Thank you, I was actually contemplating getting out of here and finding myself something.” I admitted, raising the cup to my mouth. The sweetness hit my tongue, sending the cool sensation my body was so desperately in need of.

  “Well, now you can stay in the water and talk with me. After all, you still owe me a dinner date.” Raising his cup he stepped closer, his proximity raising flags with my comfort zone. “I’d really love to get to know you better, take you somewhere nice.” He looks over his shoulder to where Grace is, “And kid friendly, of course.”

  This was the second time he’d asked me to go out with him, but this time I lacked a reason to decline. Chase had changed his mind when he discovered I had a baby, not that I could blame him. Dating a single mom is quite an undertaking, and not everyone is up for the job. “You know what, Mr. Siever, I think I would enjoy that.”

  His smile increased as he raised his cup and tapped mine. “Well, since you agreed, please call me Jackson.”

  Dean brought Grace back over, placing her back in the floaty as Jackson and I continued to talk and get to know one another.

  “I’m your walking, talking example of roads paved with good intentions.” We had started to push Grace back and forth between us in an attempt to get her worn down and tired enough to take a nap. “Everyone assumed I would head off to California or New York, but all I ever really wanted to do was have a house and a family. What about you, Audrey? What do you want?”

  Pushing Grace toward Jackson, my arms were feeling the burn of the games of get the baby tired. “That’s a good question. One I’ve not had the opportunity to really consider lately.”

  “You know, I hadn’t planned on coming to this. I usually find a way to get out of it.” He admitted, with a quick look behind him, as Priscilla’s voice could be heard calling for Dylan. “But Priscilla can be quite persuasive when she wants to be. I’m glad I didn’t cancel, especially since I got the chance to get to know you.”

  Grace was finally starting to rest her head on the side of the floaty. I was grateful for an excuse to get out of the pool and into dry clothes which covered me. Jackson had been charming and said all the right things, up until he admitted Priscilla had pressured him to come. I wasn’t stupid; the clothes and the hot guy in the pool playing with my baby, were all an elaborate scheme to get Chase to change his mind.

  As I wrapped a towel around my waist and pulled my nearly asleep baby from the water, I caught Chase leaving through the side gate. So much for the attempt, I’d call this mission a crash and burn.

  Almost every woman I passed as I wound my way to the house, had to look at my baby. A basic instinct in most women is to touch a sleeping child. I was tired, and not just physically. I was mentally exhausted at the lengths this family went to in order to get their way. Why couldn’t they live with Chase’s decision to leave us alone? Who would want a man in their lives who was only there out of obligation?

  I needed to get out of here, take a cool shower in the comfort of my own home. Or maybe visit the library after Grace had her nap and look for a new job, far away from the chaos of Charleston.

  Grace was sleeping like the dead, and I envied her the ability. Slipping her tiny body out of her swimsuit, I washed the sunscreen and chlorine off her skin. A quick diaper change for her, and an even quicker cloth
ing change for me and I was ready to go. As I opened the door to the room I’d once spent a night in, Dean stood on the other side, his hand raised to knock.

  “Hey, Audrey.” He looked from me, to my sleeping baby and the larger than life backpack I had slung over my shoulder. It was impossible these days to get out of the house without taking half of it with me. “Oh, are you leaving? I was hoping to have a quick word with you.” Refusing Dean wasn’t something I could even contemplate. He had, after all, handed me the sleeping child in my arms. “It won’t take but a minute, I assure you.”

  “Sure,” I agreed, as I opened the door wider to allow him inside.

  He, however, remained in the hall, his tanned skin looking a touch red from his time in the sun. “Actually, there’s something I want you to see.” Pointing down the hall, he steps in the direction he wants me to follow. It’s the same hall where I found all three brothers smiling proudly for their senior pictures. Miss Molly, who had a copy in her library, said the Morgan’s were some of the most handsome men she had ever photographed.

  Dean opened the door on the left side of the hall, the smell of new wood and paint hitting me as soon as I walked in. There was a large wrought iron bed, with sheer curtains hanging from an oversized crown at the top of the bed in the center of the room. The walls were pink and purple with white eyelet curtains adorning the windows. An overstuffed polar bear stands guard in the corner beside the largest wooden rocking horse I’ve ever seen.

  “Cilla started on this room the morning after she learned about Grace.” He kept walking past the bed and the horse to a closed door along the far wall. When he opens the double doors, the most exquisite nursery comes into view. “She had hopes of sleepovers and afternoons of babysitting.” My heart settles somewhere in my stomach, the letters over the massive crib spell out Grace’s name. “Chase helped her put the crib together as I was working on the information you gave me.” I prayed my face showed no signs of my emotions or any hint of my astonishment, or my opinion of Chase at the moment.

  “Come, let’s put her in her crib and have a little chat.” I did as he asked, approaching the lowered rail of the crib, the mobile above made of pink and white bunnies, Grace’s favorite. The smell of new bedding and baby powder camouflaged the smell of new paint. Grace stirred a little, then snuggled into the pillow softness and stilled.

  Dean had already taken a seat on a nearby sofa, its fabric matching the paint and curtains. Black rimmed reading glasses dangle off his nose and a stack of papers and files were beside him. He looked so relaxed, yet professional, with his khaki shorts and leather loafers. “Have a seat, Audrey. We’ll hear her just fine if she wakes.” I approach with caution, worried slightly about what the paperwork in his hands contained.

  “Audrey, I had a conversation with the manager of the loan company who financed the truck and the trailer. The gentleman I spoke with first didn’t want to talk about the loan or his involvement. When I asked for the manager, the phone mysteriously went dead.” Using his fingers to emphasize the air quotes. “When I phoned a few minutes later, I was able to speak with the manager who wasn’t any more willing to talk, that is until I threatened to have the attorney general’s office call him.”

  Removing his reading glasses, he rested them on the arm of the couch. “I did a little digging and found the number for the home office. Once I explained who I was and what I already knew, they were able to send me a copy of the files and the security footage they use to monitor their employees.” Dean slid still photographs across the sofa. “I ran the faces through NCIC and I think you will recognize them.” Amy Campbell sat cross-legged in a chair beside Lucas. Her usual frizzy hair, perfectly straight, and resembled the way I wore mine every day. Her typical t-shirt and shorts, were replaced with a fuzzy cardigan and long skirt. “The identification she used had your name, and her photo. A list of credit cards and bank accounts, also in your name, were used to obtain the loans.”

  The look he sent me suggested he was waiting for me to say something along the lines of ‘oh my, God’ or ‘I can’t believe it’. Neither were true and wouldn’t leave my lips. Nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, Amy and Lucas did would ever surprise me. “I’ve turned this information over to her parole officer as, according to the state of Georgia, she was released yesterday.”

  Picking up his glasses, he shoved them all the way to his eyes, “I’ve filed the paperwork to have the trailer and truck removed from your credit, the loan company will be picking up the trailer as soon as they can file the paperwork with the city. So, in about thirty days, you should be able to go back to the dealership and purchase the car you wanted.”

  He made it sound so simple, a few phone calls and the world was spinning on it’s axis, as it should be. “I can’t believe it was this easy.” I snickered, having a quick check of Grace. “Um…how much do I owe you?”

  Looking at me over the top of his glasses, he shifted his legs and turned toward me. “Well…” He drawled out the word, however before he could quote me a price, I needed to tell him something, which may delay everything.

  “Dean, I have to tell you, it will take me a little while to save up enough money to pay the kind of money you charge. Between the deposits on the house and paying Chase back the money he spent on the electric, I have all but depleted my savings.”

  Dean’s eyes grew wide, his body shaking with silent laughter, and then covering his mouth so as not to wake the baby. “You paid him back?” He chuckled some more. “My son took money from you and didn’t argue?” His face red from holding his emotions back.

  “No, I have access to his credit cards and bank accounts since I’m the one who pays the bills for the shop. I called the power company, found out which card he used, and sent a cashier’s check to the account.”

  “Audrey, I apologize for laughing at the situation.” Placing his arms along the back of the couch, he crosses his legs at the ankle. “I know my boys, I had a hand in how they view the world. There are things you should know about my son, but more importantly, about the night you got Grace back.”

  My mouth instantly went dry and my heart rate increased, while a mental list of possibilities raced through my mind. Dean leaned forward, placing his hand on my thigh. “Calm down, Audrey, it’s not what you think.” His attempt at reassurance does little to calm my nerves. “I think you need to know what happened when they got to Clifford’s house.”

  Leaning back into the sofa, I waited to hear if my suspicions correlated with the actual events of that night. I’d watched and listened to the conversations taking place in the shop. Most of the time, I worked as quietly as I could. With Dylan as boisterous as he is, listening wasn’t hard.

  “According to Chase, Lucas said a few words about you he didn’t appreciate.” This didn’t surprise me, Lucas hadn’t had a kind word to say about me in over a year. “But according to Austin, Lucas said something which affected Chase, something he won’t admit is bothering him.” Dean looked over at the crib, a forlorn look on his face. “Lucas reminded him that Grace will always be his daughter.”

  Grace jumped from the guffaw, which erupted from my chest, but didn’t wake. “Oh, that is rich! He refused to be in the delivery room or sign the birth certificate, and he never, not once, held her. He wouldn’t know how to be a father if it came with an assistant.”

  Dean held in a laugh of his own, shaking his head as he continued. “Dylan said Chase spit in Lucas’s face after the bullets stopped flying, telling Lucas it was for you. Now, Audrey, I am blessed to have three sons who know they can come to me at any given moment and talk about anything.” Slicing the air with his hand, his chin followed the direction. “Imagine something you want more than anything, and just when you’re about to get it, someone pulls it away.” I didn’t have to imagine, Lucas had made it a reality.

  “Chase has wanted a family since he figured out where babies came from. He wrote a paper in the fifth grade on how he wanted to be a husband when he grew up.” I nodd
ed my head in silent agreement, assuring him I was paying attention. “He never changed his mind. Carson and I saw the look on his face when he told us to take the baby to you, ‘Take her to, Sweetness,’ were his exact words. He wants to protect you and Grace, and now he is fighting a battle with himself.”

  “What battle?” I asked, with a bite to my tone, frustration lacing in my words. “He’s stayed as far away from the two of us as he can. He made it clear he doesn’t care for Grace when he made me put her in daycare. I’m not stupid, Dean. I’m not going to beg him to be with me, or wait around as he figures out what he wants. I know Dylan and Priscilla set this whole thing up to get him to see what he was missing. Well guess what? He saw me talking to another man and left the party. He’s not battling anything, Dean. He knows the danger has passed, the hero he was trained to be is no longer needed.”

  It felt good to finally say what I had kept bottled up inside. Dean listened, never once trying to interrupt or correct me. “You know what, Dean, those sons of yours that you hold so high, the ones who think they’re so goddamn smart. Well, let me tell you something, the next time Dylan puts a guy in the oil pit, he might want to make sure the vents are closed so you can’t hear his screams from the alley. Everyone knows hog boiling happens in November, not in the middle of March when their scent sacks are full for mating. Austin may be a computer genius, but he forgets when he isn’t at his own desk, leaving his thumb drives behind.” My anger, which once raged like an inferno, had fanned down to a meager burning ember. It was time for me to leave—to take my baby, and get out of here.

  “One more thing,” I turned, as I got ready to pick up Grace. “Clifford had buried a propane tank in the backyard a few years ago when he thought about starting a barbecue business. The six propane tanks Chase rigged to go off were a waste of time. He might want to consider getting new boots. He could use the money I put back on his credit card.”