by L. L. Akers
She’d thought Ember was different. Twenty-one years old, just a few years younger than her own little sister, and still holding a small part of her innocence, regardless of the fact that she’d been working the streets since she was seventeen. She had just needed a break—a clean break from it all. And she grabbed on to Olivia’s offer as though it were a life vest. She wanted help. She wanted to start over.
Olivia shook her head.
Maybe Ember had made the mistake of trying to reach back and talk to her ‘manager.’ These girls foolishly thought their bosses were feeling the same way they themselves were affected… lonely, homesick for a little piece of their old life; hoping to be friends. Wanting to share the good news of their clean life with someone they knew... So they’d reach out and try to start a normal conversation and bam, they were sucked back in.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
When Olivia had come home from work the night before and found Ozzie alone, locked in the bathroom, and her apartment a mess, she knew. There was no doubt in her mind, and it was confirmed when Ember hadn’t shown back up hours later. She was once again caught in his clutches. Finally, a whispered call had come in after midnight, from the hospital.
Ember’s words were murmured, low enough so he couldn’t hear her as he slept in the chair beside her bed, “Olivia. Don’t look for me. I’m in the hospital and he’s here.”
Olivia had tried to talk sense into her but only got a few words in before Ember had interrupted, “It’s okay. He said he loves me and I don’t have to work anymore.”
Then Ember whispered, even lower, “I can’t go back to your house, Olivia. He knows where you live now. You could get hurt. Just forget about me. Be safe.”
Olivia wouldn’t forget about her. She wouldn’t give up, no matter what. And she wasn’t worried about herself. She’d learned in her past marriage that men who abused women were usually cowards outside their own homes.
She also knew they were genius at playing their Beauty and the Beast game. Especially for a young girl like Ember. She truly was a beauty. A natural red-head with flawless ivory skin and deep green eyes. She could have been a model with her looks. She still could be.
It sickened Olivia that Ember was once again in the clutches of an evil man who would use her beauty to pad his own pockets. And Ember was falling for it—again. She was probably with him right this minute, in his home, with his beast once again constrained so he could pamper and take care of her. He would have repeated his sickening, fake apologies dozens of times by now, and convinced her he’d realized she was too good—too beautiful—for the streets; that she would be just his girl.
Ember would be so confused, and frozen with fear and indecision and the desire to believe him once again. He would tenderly nurse her back to health, ignoring the fact the damage was indeed wrought with his own hands. And he would keep her warm and safe long enough for the bruises to heal from her beautiful porcelain skin before throwing her back out to the streets to work, with a threat of how much worse it would be next time she tried to escape.
And I’ll find her again, Olivia thought as her jaw tightened in anger. Her wrath for what was being done to Ember, and hundreds of thousands of girls exactly like her, warmed her skin. She could feel her blood pressure rising.
She shook off the thoughts and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She could worry about Ember later. Today she had to focus on her little sister. It was a big day for Emma, and Olivia didn’t want to ruin any little bit of it.
Chapter Seven
Olivia stretched another uniform shirt across the ironing board. She didn’t mind taking a turn with Gabby if it helped Emma get caught up and calmed down.
The girls were clustered in Gabby’s spare bedroom, with Gabby stretched out across the bed, listening to Emma go over the wedding plans—again.
The guys were huddled around the TV, and Rickey was playing with Ozzie in the back yard. Olivia had been relieved to find Ozzie absolutely loved children—or at least Rickey. A boy, a dog and a tennis ball, and they’d be happy to play for hours.
The food was ready. They were only waiting for Dusty’s brother now. Gabby had planned a small lunch meet and greet before everyone was crowded together at the beach house.
Olivia smirked as she and Gabby sneakily exchanged glances. They’d been through the plans a hundred times already, but they’d listen again if it helped Emma gather her nerves by saying them aloud.
“So Gabby, I just want to make sure you understand… just because Olivia is walking down the aisle with Dusty’s brother, Grayson, it doesn’t mean she’s my Matron of Honor. You’re both the same… no labels for us. But if Dusty wants his brother to be his Best Man, I have to honor that.” Emma looked at Gabby with raised eyebrows.
“S’kay. I knew you wanted Olivia to be your Maid of Honor all along,” Gabby answered. She poked out her bottom lip.
“Gabby! I thought you understood this… are you really upset?” she asked, looking from Gabby to Olivia and back to Gabby again.
The twins burst into laughter.
“Emma, she’s just teasing you. It doesn’t matter to us who walks first. Gabby can walk with Grayson if she wants… but I doubt Jake would like that too much.”
Emma blew out a breath. “Not funny. Seriously, I can’t wait for this to—”
A loud rumble interrupted Emma, and Olivia looked out the window.
Olivia’s eyes popped wide open. “Oh. My. Gosh.”
The engine loudly roared for a moment before falling silent. “What is that?”
Olivia didn’t answer as she continued to stare out the window. Emma and Gabby jumped off the bed and raced to the window to see what had Olivia speechless.
Thirty feet away, parked directly in front of the big window, sat a man on a motorcycle. The dust from the gravel was still settling around him, falling through the air.
Broad shoulders filled out the soft blue T-shirt shirt he wore. He took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his short hair—once blond, but now faded to a silvery-blond, matching a mustache and a goatee which framed full lips.
He stood up, straddling the bike, and the girls’ mouths dropped open. His tight faded-blue jeans had a large rip in one knee, drawing their eyes down to give them a peek of his skin, and black biker boots that roughed out his ruggedly handsome looks.
“Umm… yeah. Dusty’s brother is hot,” Gabby said.
“Ya think?” Emma asked sarcastically. She turned to look at Olivia, with raised eyebrows.
Olivia could feel her heart beat faster as she leaned further toward the window, unable to take her eyes off of him. How could they not know Dusty had a brother that looked like a cross between Richard Gere circa 1999 and a young Harrison Ford?
Even through the window, she could almost swear she could feel sexual waves rolling off of him. This was definitely too beautiful a man for her. He’d only break her heart.
She shook her head to break the spell he had cast on her, and noticed Emma staring at her.
“Oh no! Don't even look at me. I don’t need a boyfriend. I have a man in my life already,” Olivia said, while shaking her head.
Emma rolled her eyes as Gabby sighed. “Yeah, but this is a real man. Not a virtual one,” Gabby muttered.
They all watched as Grayson looked over his shoulder and said something.
“He looks like he's talking to someone,” Gabby whispered.
A tall, slight figure dismounted from behind him, pulling off her helmet to reveal long bouncy red curls. She shook her head and raked her fingers through her hair, as she cocked her hip and answered him, barely having to look up to his tall height. Her painted-on faded jeans tucked into boots showed off long, lean legs. A tight black T-shirt did little to hide her lack of curves at odds with her long slender arms.
“Wow. She's hot, too.” Gabby mumbled.
Jake walked into the room, making enough noise to normally get their attention, but no one seemed to hear him. �
�What're y'all staring at?”
The girls heard that. They quickly spun around, shoulder to shoulder, blocking his view, but he gently pushed his way through, taking a peek out the window himself.
“We were only checking out his girlfriend,” Gabby explained innocently.
Jake laughed. “That's not his girlfriend.”
“Oh my gosh! You're kidding, right?” Olivia looked at Jake with disgust. “That's his wife?! She looks young enough to be his daughter!”
Jake turned around, pursing his lips and shaking his head in mock disappointment at all three women, suddenly standing with their hands on their hips in judgment of the man outside.
“That's because it is his daughter.”
He chuckled as their faces quickly flushed in embarrassment. He walked back to the door, the limp from his accident over a year ago looking slightly more pronounced than usual. He paused and grabbed the door-frame, looking back over his shoulder at the girls.
“Y'all just got gobsmacked,” he said from over his shoulder.
Emma rushed out behind him, not wanting to be caught staring at Dusty’s brother from the window. She hurried to the door to let them in, throwing a stern look at Dusty, who was in mid-sentence with his soon-to-be-father-in law. Emma’s father and did a double-take when he caught her angry glance.
Dusty looked panicked at Emma’s look. “What? What did I do?”
She stomped toward the front door and loudly whispered over her shoulder, “It's not what you did. It's what you didn't do! You didn't tell me about your brother!”
“What about him?”
Emma’s face took on an oh-shit look.
Olivia giggled as she realized Emma couldn’t very well tell Dusty his brother was smoking hot. She could see the cogs turning in Emma’s mind, as she tried to dig herself out of the hole she’d dug. She laughed at the two of them, both on eggshells the week of their wedding, and glanced back at Gabby who stood leaning against the bedroom door, watching the show, also looking amused.
No help there, Olivia thought, and shook her head. Someone had to have mercy on their little sister. She stepped up.
“You didn’t mention he had a daughter,” Olivia said, and smiled. “It just caught Emma by surprise, that’s all.”
Emma’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Olivia, and quickly caught on. She gave her a small smile of thanks before looking back to Dusty.
“Yes, I did, Emma. I told you a long time ago that Grayson has a little girl… don’t you remember?” Dusty insisted.
“Yes, you did, babe. But that was a little misleading. The little girl grew up, Uncle Dusty!” Emma said, and then turned back to the door and pulled it open at the exact moment Grayson knocked, bringing her face to face with his fist in the air.
She stepped back, startled, but recovered quickly.
“Hi! I'm Emma… Dusty’s fiancé. It's so nice to finally meet you… and your daughter!”
Chapter Eight
Grayson’s presence filled the room. And to Olivia, who stood in the kitchen alone—keeping her hands busy at the bar where they had arranged the food—the air felt electrified.
Dusty made introductions.
“Everybody, this is my big brother, Grayson, and his not-so-little girl, Graysie.”
Everybody threw up a hand in a wave or gave a brief nod and a smile. Graysie stood just behind her dad, with her face pointed at the floor. She shuffled her feet nervously, pulled a phone from her back pocket and her thumbs furiously pecked.
Dusty looked proudly at Emma, pulling her tight against him. “This is my fiancé. My little pearl. Emma.”
Emma’s face reddened as she stretched out her arm to Grayson. Belatedly realizing she’d already shaken his hand as he came in the door, she instead stepped forward and gave him a hug. He stiffly patted her back with one arm as she struggled to stand on her tiptoes. Her face was still barely reaching his shoulder. He was taller than Dusty, by a few inches. He towered over Emma.
Dusty pointed at Gabby and Jake, cuddled together in one chair. In all the chaos around the girls running out of the bedroom and answering the door, Jake had scooped his arm around Gabby and pulled her into the chair with him moments before. “That’s Emma’s sister, Gabby, and Gabby’s husband, Jake.”
“Nice to meet you, Grayson,” Jake said and stretched out his own arm. “Mind stepping over here? I might not get this woman this close again today, so I’m trying to keep her here.” Gabby shook her head at him with a smile.
Grayson gave a quiet laugh and stepped forward, shaking Jake’s hand. He nodded his head respectfully to Gabby.
Dusty pointed to the girls’ father. “That’s the head-honcho fat-cat-daddy of these lovely ladies. You can call him Pop. That’s what me and Jake call him.”
Olivia peeked around the corner, curious to see Dad’s reaction. When it came to the men in their lives, Dad usually made a snap judgement call immediately upon introduction. If he liked someone, they got the handshake. If he didn’t, they got the nod. It wasn’t often his judgement was wrong either; must be father’s intuition.
Dad smiled and stood up. He met Grayson halfway with his hand out. “Nice to meet you, son. You have a fine little brother. I’m proud to welcome him to the family, and welcome you and your daughter to town. I hope you’ll like living here.”
Like living here? They’re moving? Here? Emma hadn’t told Olivia that.
Dad stepped around Grayson and reached his hand out for the girl, Graysie. “Hey, girl. What do ya say you give an old man a hug and a howdy?” His blue eyes twinkled.
Olivia could just imagine the teasing this one would endure, the same as she and her sisters had growing up with him. Dad had been waiting a long time for a granddaughter. All he had now was Rickey, who, while he held his grandfather’s heart in his little hand, already knew his bluffs and silly jokes.
Graysie stepped out from behind Grayson and gave a quick, awkward hug. She then stepped back to hide again in her father’s shadow, with her fingers in constant motion.
Olivia wondered if she was actually even texting anyone, or if it was a front. Or maybe she was playing a game.
Dad turned to look at Dusty. “And don’t think I didn’t catch that you called me fat, either. Your day is coming too, you just wait.” Dad rubbed his hand across his portly belly and sat back down.
Dusty laughed. “Naw, Pop… that’s not what I was—”
He was interrupted by the loud slamming of the back door grabbing everyone’s attention.
Like a rocket, Rickey blasted in carrying a bird’s nest in one hand and a Nerf gun in the other. Knobby knees smeared in dirt and tree sap hung out from his too-short shorts, probably left over from last season. His shirt was a mess and his face had a new skinned-up patch on one cheek. Guilt painted his face and his eyes were big. He stole a glance at his mama before running straight to Dusty, not even noticing the new people in the room.
“Hey, Dust, look at this bird nest that fell out of a tree! Can I keep it? I didn’t do it,” he exclaimed.
Dusty bent down on one knee and looked at the nest, careful not to touch it. “Hmm. That’s kind of odd that birds’ nests are falling out of trees out there. Jake, what kind of lousy bird-builders you got working around your back yard?”
Jake smothered a laugh and answered, “Looks like not very good ones. I guess we’ll have to fire them and hire all-new birds. It’s almost time for the mama-birds to have some babies. They’re gonna need that nest.”
Rickey’s eyes grew wide as he looked at his Uncle Jake, who returned his look with a serious expression. “I didn’t see no mama bird flying around, Uncle Jake. Maybe no one lives in it.”
Dusty reached out and patted Rickey’s arm. “Look, buddy. You weren’t at home in your bed last night because you wanted to stay here at Aunt Gabby’s with Grandpa. But you’re coming back tonight, right? What if your mama got rid of your bed and it wasn’t there when you came back?”
Rickey’s head dropped, and
his shoulders slumped. He wanted to keep the nest, but likely he’d shot it down with a Nerf bullet. Olivia felt her lip stick out. So sad to see Rickey getting disciplined, but she admired Dusty for the gentle way he was handling it.
Dusty was ever patient with the boy, and it was obvious to her that they had already developed a father/son type relationship.
Dusty stood up and rubbed Rickey’s mop of hair. “I’m glad you came in anyway. You need to meet your Uncle Grayson. He’s my big brother.
“And Grayson, this is Rickey. He’s about to be my bonus-son.”
Grayson had watched his little brother handle Rickey and finally, a genuine smile reached his eyes. Olivia, still peeking from around the corner, noticed they shared the same color; gray. But Grayson’s were a deep gray; a sea-gray. Looking past the smile, Olivia could see sadness in his eyes. They looked haunted.
Rickey turned and came face to face with Grayson’s waist. He leaned way, way back and his eyes travelled up to his face. “Wow. You are big!” he said.
The room erupted in laughter.
Grayson gave the boy a smile. “Hi, Rickey.”
“And this is your cousin, Graysie,” Dusty said and put his arm around his niece, pulling her a little closer to him. Graysie didn’t move easily and stood stiffly at his side.
Rickey’s attention switched to her. She pulled her long curls away from her face and smiled down at him. He dropped his eyes and stood still, not saying a word.
Awww…Olivia thought. Poor little guy. He’s embarrassed in front of such a pretty girl.
Grayson put his hand on Rickey’s shoulder. “You and Graysie can get to know each other later. Let’s go outside. I’ll help you put that nest back, buddy.”
“Thank you, sir.” Rickey laid the Nerf gun on the coffee table, his eyes once again looking for his mother and then quickly looking away. “I guess that would be best. Maybe the mama bird will still use it.” He opened the door and held it for Grayson, once again looking back and way up, as though checking out his face again.
