“Grandmama,” I said in between bouts of laughter. “Let’s go home.”
She huffed out a breath. “Fine, but if anybody asks, I beat you black and blue.”
Still laughing, I nodded.
“Alright,” she said, shifting the cart into drive. “Hold on to your underwear cause we’re rolling.”
Without another word, she shoved the pedal to the metal and whipped the cart around.
Then, we drove home.
Twelve
Ty
It was Saturday, half past seven.
Standing at the back door of the shelter, I tapped on the thick metal three times and stepped back, putting myself in clear view of the camera.
“Why can’t we just go in the front door?” Chase, who stood beside me, asked. Brows furrowed, he looked from one end of the building to the next. “Doesn’t even look like anybody ever comes back here.”
“It’s a battered women’s shelter,” I mumbled, running my hands down my face. As much time as he spent with Ashley, I had no clue how he didn’t know more about the ins and outs of the shelter. “Most of the women and kids who take refuge here have been abused by men. The last thing they need is for two males they’ve never seen before to strut through the front door.”
“Shit, I didn’t even think of that.”
I shrugged. “Most people wouldn’t.”
“How can someone do that?”
I looked in his direction. “Do what?”
“Hurt a woman.” He clenched his jaw tight. “Much less a kid.” Knowing exactly where this conversation was headed, my spine stiffened.
“Chase—”
“Why did he do it, Ty?” he said, fisting his hands at his sides. “Why the fuck did our father—”
The words spiraling out of his mouth were abruptly cut off when the door suddenly swung open, and Ashley appeared. The anger lining his face disappeared when she smiled at him.
Relief washed through me.
The last thing I wanted to do was talk about the twisted fuck who called himself our father.
“Hey, sweetness,” Chase said, holding out his arms. “Do I get a hug or what?”
I held my breath, waiting to see what Ashley would do. As someone who struggled with letting others touch her, I wasn’t sure how she’d react.
Despite how close her and Chase were, I’d only seen him touch her a few times. Those few moments were when he’d slung his arm over her shoulder, or pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
It was because of that memory that I smiled like a damn fool when she threw herself into his arms a second later, slamming her body into his with no hesitation.
Outside of a handful of conversations, I hadn’t spent much time getting to know Ashley, but since Chase and Heidi both loved her, that was enough for me.
As far as I was concerned, she was a good kid.
Christ knows Chase had certainly changed for the better since they started hanging out.
“Hey, Ty,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around Chase’s torso. “Heidi is inside waiting for you.”
“Where?”
“She was in the storeroom downstairs last I saw.”
I nodded and pointed from her to Chase. “You two coming?”
Chase tightened the arm he had twined around her lower back. “Give us a few minutes, then we’ll be right behind you.”
Resting my hand on the door that Ashley had propped open before diving for Chase, I shook my head. “Stay out of view of the cameras. If Evan sees y’all hugged up, he’ll radio Shelby. We all know what will happen then.”
Ashley grimaced and tried to pull out of Chase’s hold.
He didn’t allow it.
“She’ll get over it.” His voice was harder than moments before, his tone more clipped. “Ashley’s twenty, not twelve.”
She also has a past, I thought.
I shrugged and stepped inside. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I pointed at Ashley. “When her mama whoops your ass, don’t yell at me for help.”
Chase smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of Shelby Moretti, big brother.”
“I sure as shit am.” It was the honest to God truth. “And if you had a lick of common sense, you would be too. You don’t ever mess with a Mama Bear, especially one whose husband is a homicide detective that knows how to get rid of a body without getting caught.”
I didn’t wait for him to reply.
Ready to see Heidi, I walked inside.
* * *
The storeroom was chaos.
A dozen kids, all of whom belonged to the women who worked at the shelter were scattered around the large room, their excited voices and high-pitched laughter echoing off the walls.
“Hey, Ty!” Clara’s six-year-old daughter, Bella shouted after being the first to spot me. “I didn’t know you were gonna be here too.” She twisted in place, making the glittery skirt she wore twirl around her legs. “Did you come to visit Heidi? Cause I heard Mama tell Aunt Hope that you really liked our Heidi Bug.”
Unable to help it, I smiled.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Bella kept talking, not giving me the chance to speak. “Does that mean you’re going to kiss her?” Her brows furrowed; a look of concentration crossed her face. “But if you kiss her, then you have to marry her.” Head tilted to the side, she stared up at me, her pretty brown eyes shining bright. “So are you gonna marry her? If so, can I be a flower girl? Cause I love—”
“Alright, sweet girl,” Clara said, running her fingers through Bella’s dark chocolate curls. Holding her youngest daughter, Olivia in her arms, she pointed toward the corner. “How about you stop interrogating poor Ty and go play with your brothers?”
Bella shrugged. “K.”
She turned and skipped across the room to the place where her older brothers, Liam and Declan, were playing a card game with Shelby’s son, Lucca.
“Move over, Dec,” she said, bumping into her brother’s side. “I wanna play too.”
Declan said nothing as he scooted over, making room.
I chuckled and looked around the packed room. “Where’s Heidi?”
Hendrix, who was standing beside Maddie at a table to my left, jerked his head up. “It’s about time you got here, dickhead.”
“Hendrix Cole,” Hope quietly scolded from beside me where she stood. When she’d walked up, pushing a stroller that carried her two twin sons, Colby and Wyatt, I didn’t have a clue. She was so damn little she didn’t make much noise when she moved. “Watch your language for goodness’ sake,” she fussed. “The room is full of kids.”
“Sorry, Itty Bitty. I’ll do better.”
“No, he won’t,” Maddie quipped. “Thanks to him”—she elbowed her husband in the side, making him grunt—“my sweet Maci’s favorite new word is the f-bomb.”
Hendrix cringed. “I said it one time.”
“Right. I believe that about as much as I believe Grandmama is going to quit drinking moonshine.” Maddie patted her and Hendrix’s three-month-old son, Maddox on the back as she swayed him from side to side.
A month older than Lily Ann, Maddox was damn near perfect. He hardly ever cried and loved being held. I grabbed him every chance I got, but that wasn’t often thanks to the mother hens always clucking around.
“I swear, Handsome,” Maddie said to Hendrix. “It’s a good thing you’re cute. Else, I may have locked you in a closet by now.”
Hendrix started to stay something, but I’d had enough. I liked everyone in that room, even him, but I wasn’t there to see them.
I wanted my woman.
It had been four days since I last saw her, and I was about to come out of my damn skin. “Where’s Heidi?” I asked, looking from Hope to Maddie. “Anybody seen her?”
“She just went upstairs to prep a couple of beds,” Carissa answered after walking into the room with Kyle hot on her heels. Neither had Lily Ann in their arms, so I guessed Ms. Dottie was watching her for the evening. “She was down here,
but we have a few new intakes coming in, so she’s getting stuff ready.”
“Where?”
“West Hall, last room on the right.”
I started to turn, but then stopped. “Is it alright if I go up there? I don’t want to scare any of the residents.”
Maddie smiled, approval clear on her face. “It’s fine. We don’t have anyone housed on that hall yet so no one will see you. Just stick to that hall though.”
Unclipping a black two-way radio from her shorts, she nodded toward the door behind me. “Go ahead. I’ll let security know you’re moving through the halls so Evan doesn’t tase you.”
Hope’s hazel eyes widened. “Yeah, we don’t want that.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Chuckling, I turned to leave.
Then, I walked out of the door.
Thirteen
Ty
“You do it like this…”
I stood in the hall outside of the room where Heidi was, watching as she showed Hendrix and Maddie’s two daughters—Melody who was three and Maci who was two—how to put a pillowcase on a pillow.
Ryker, Evan and Hope’s two-year-old son sat on the floor a few feet behind Maci, rolling a toy Humvee back and forth across the vinyl.
All three kids were as cute as hell.
I need a couple of those, I thought, looking from one kid to the next, and then to Heidi. But only with her.
The smile on my woman’s face as she knelt on the floor, patiently showing the girls what to do while stealing peeks at Ryker, made my chest tighten.
I’d thought about having kids before, had even imagined having them with Heidi, but until that moment, I’d never felt the burning desire to act on it.
But seeing her with them…
It did funny shit to my heart.
“Like dis, Hi-e?” Melody asked, tucking the pillow beneath her chin.
“Yes, baby,” Heidi replied, holding the pillow on the sides. “Just like that.” She looked over at Maci, adoration twinkling in her eyes. “Maci, you ready with the case?”
Maci’s reply came in the form of a high-pitched squeal as she rushed forward, flapping the white pillowcase all over the place.
I bit back laughter.
“Okay,” Heidi said, positioning Maci in front of her. “Bend down and slip the case over the bottom of the pillow.” Maci kept squealing, and Heidi kept smiling as they worked together to fit the pillow into the case and then slide it into place.
When they were finished, all three girls—one big and two small—clapped and squealed. Ryker looked up from his place next to the wall and quirked a brow, clearly unimpressed with the entire situation.
The kid looked just like Evan.
Even his facial expressions were the same.
“Look, Hi-e!” Melody yelled, getting my attention. “It’s Ty!”
Heidi swiveled her head in my direction.
Our eyes locked.
Smiling from ear-to-ear, I stepped into the room and held out my arms, just like Chase had done upon seeing Ashley. “Hey, Angel,” I said, copying him. “Do I get a hug or what?”
Heidi stood and tilted her head to the side.
I held my breath as I waited to see what she’d do.
“No.”
My heart dropped to my stomach as she sauntered forward, an unreadable expression on her gorgeous face.
“But,” she said, reaching me. “I’ll give you something else.”
Every muscle in my body tensed when she curled her dainty fingers around my shoulders and stood on her tiptoes. Dazed from her unexpected touch, I didn’t expect the gentle kiss that she pressed to the corner of my mouth; nor did I expect the sly smile that spread across her face as she took a step back.
“It’s about time you got here, Casanova. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”
Slipping a finger under her chin, I tilted her head back. “If I tell you I’ll be somewhere, then I’ll be there. I’ve never lied to you before, and I don’t plan on starting anytime soon.”
My tongue peeked out from the corner of my mouth, tasting the berry-covered gloss that now coated part of my lips.
“I know you haven’t, and I know that you won’t.” Her smile, the same one that punched me straight in the chest every time I caught a glimpse of it, grew. “You may be a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”
“Yeah? And what kind of things am I?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Ask me that question later.”
She winked and then turned, walking back over to the girls.
Melody stared up at me, a shy smile on her face. “I hug you, Ty,” she said. “Melly Belly can hug you.”
I knelt on the floor and crooked my finger, beckoning both girls forward. “Come here.”
Melody and Maci both screamed as they charged forward and jumped into my waiting arms. Holding them tight, I squeezed them against me, soaking up every bit of love and affection they offered.
Neither was related to me by blood, but I loved the hell out of those girls. Despite the darkness that had once lingered between their parents and me, we’d gotten past it.
It was a good thing too.
For more reasons than one.
Chase swore that he never wanted children, so I didn’t know if I’d ever have a niece or nephew, but between Hendrix and Kyle’s kids, I had something awfully close.
“Knock, knock.”
Still holding the girls, I looked over my shoulder to see Cap standing in the doorway, one of his broad shoulders leaning against the frame.
“I heard y’all had two of my girls up here, so I came to get them.”
“Ty put Melly Belly down!” Melody screamed in my ear. “Pop Pop’s here!”
I became chopped liver as the girls ripped themselves from my hold and bolted toward Cap.
He smiled as he bent down and scooped them up in his arms. “There’s my big girls,” he said, kissing Melody on the head, and then Maci. “Have y’all been good for Ty and Heidi?”
Melody nodded. “I fixed da pillow, Pop Pop. Me and May May fixed da pillow.”
My chest tightened again.
Hard as I tried, I couldn’t pull my eyes from either girl. Given my past and the poison that lived inside me, I probably wasn’t fit to be a father.
But I still wanted to be.
A helluva lot.
“Y’all ready to head downstairs?” Cap asked, his eyes moving from Heidi to me. “Grandmama and Ms. Dottie just showed up with the rest of the kids, plus cookies. They’re staying behind on babysitting duty while we hit the streets.”
“Who’s staying here?” I asked, trying to figure out which of the women would need their backs watched.
If Maddie and Carissa were going out, Hendrix and Kyle would be right on their asses, and when it came to Ashley, she had Chase to watch out for her. He’d die before he let anyone get within five feet of her.
But I wasn’t sure about everyone else.
Brantley, Clara’s husband, was out of town, and Anthony, Shelby’s husband, was at work. If they needed someone to keep them safe, I’d do it even though Heidi was my main priority.
“Hope’s staying because she doesn’t want to leave the twins for long since they’re so young, and Charlotte because someone has to stay with the residents. Evan will be here too since they’re short on security.” Cap shook his head, his jaw ticking. “Tried to get Ashley to stay here, but she listens about as well as Hendrix.”
I chuckled.
Hendrix and Shelby were both stubborn as hell, but from what I’d seen, Ashley was right there with them, along with Shelby’s youngest daughter, Gracelyn. Gracie was just a toddler, but she had a rebellious streak in her a country mile wide.
She reminded me of Chase at that age.
“Alright, y’all,” Heidi’s said, using her voice and surprising the hell out of me. Cap was one of the people she rarely spoke in front of since they weren’t close. “We better get down there before one of the
ladies comes looking for us.”
She smiled down at Ryker and held out her hand. “Come on, Ry. Let’s go get some of Grandmama’s cookies.”
Holding his Humvee tight, Ryker stood and slipped his hand in hers. “Tink?”
Heidi squatted down and looked him in the eyes. “You mean Lily Ann?”
Ryker nodded. “See my Tink.”
She looked up at me, a knowing smile on her face. “Did you hear that Ty? Ryker wants to see his Lily Ann.”
I smiled.
Turning her attention back to him, Heidi ran a finger down the side of his face. “Since Ms. Dottie is here now, Tinkerbell is too. Once we get downstairs, I’ll help you hold her. Would you like that?”
He nodded again. “I hold my Tink.”
Heidi looked up at me. A grin played on her lips. “You coming?”
“Right behind you, Angel.”
Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she nodded. Then, she guided Ryker to the door that Cap, Melody, and Maci had disappeared through moments before.
I followed right behind her.
Fourteen
Heidi
An hour had passed.
In that time, Ty, Chase, Ashley and I had handed out over three dozen care packages to the homeless residents that frequented the area surrounding the shelter.
We’d also managed to get lost.
How it happened, I can’t tell you.
One minute we were walking down Sycamore Street, then we got turned around, and suddenly we were lost.
“Y’all, I hate to say this,” Chase said, his hand clutching Ashley’s. “But it takes a special kind of stupid to get lost in the town you grew up in… on foot, I might add.”
Despite the mess we found ourselves in, I laughed, rubbing my palms down my face. “How did this happen?”
“I’ll tell you how it happened.” Chase pointed a lone finger at Ty. “Your idiot boyfriend had us take a shortcut down a dark alley. That’s how. He’s lucky we didn’t get robbed and then shanked.”
Every Wrong You Right: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 6) Page 10
