Blinding Trust

by Jennifer Foor

  She started to cry. “You don’t know that, Colt. Our son is going to be so caught up in this guy. You know how he gets.”

  I wiped the tear making its way down her cheek. “It’s for one night. Then he will be out of our lives and probably never call again.”

  She nodded and leaned her head on my shoulder. “I hope you’re right.”

  “It’s just a visit. How much harm can he do in one night?”

  She turned around and looked right at me. “I’m scared. Noah is such an influential soul. I don’t want him tainted by this guy. I know it’s wrong to judge people, but this guy is just horrible. He lives his life different than we do. I just can’t fathom our son wanting to grow up and be like that. I know you think it’s going to be okay. I’m just worried about him.”

  I stood up and started massaging her shoulders. I got that it was different for her. She always kept Noah close because he wasn’t her blood. I don’t get why she always feared losing him when the kid loved her so much. “Stop overreacting, Savanna. Everything will be fine. Let’s just appease this guy and let him see Noah. No harm done.”

  She stood up and hugged me. “I hope you’re right.”

  I rubbed the small of her back. “We’ve dealt with much worse, darlin’.”

  I left Savanna in the kitchen and headed out to find Noah. He was feeding the horses when I found him in the barn. “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, Buddy. You need any help?”

  He put the bucket that he was holding down and wiped off his hands. “Nope. Sam’s helping me just fine.”

  I laughed when I looked down at my old dog. She was turning twelve and for a lab that was old. Most days she laid around on her bed until the kids got home. She’d run after them for a few hours and then sleep for the rest of the night. The only help she was offering Noah was companionship. He did love that dog though.

  “Do you think my new uncle rides horses? Does he have kids?”

  “Noah, to be honest with you, I don’t know much about your uncle. I haven’t seen him since he was your age. When he comes over tonight, it will be like I’m just meetin’ him too. How about we wait and ask him all of those questions?”

  I put my arm around my son and we walked back to the house. I could only hope that no matter how exciting Zeke seemed, Noah would see him for what he really was.

  Chapter 5

  Savanna

  I had to take a Xanax thirty minutes before Zeke and his wife showed up. Noah kept asking when they were arriving about every five minutes, making me on edge. At one point he came in the kitchen and whispered to me if he could download just one of the guys songs. I was reluctant to tell him no, but only because I didn’t want there to be any animosity between him and I before his uncle showed up.

  When I heard the car pulling up out front, I had already opened a bottle of wine and filled a glass for myself.

  The more I continued to try to be positive, the more I feared the worst possible outcome.

  Voices filled the living room and I knew they had arrived. I washed my hands and took a deep breath before heading out to greet them. Unlike his normal self, Noah was hiding behind his father as the couple entered. The dog was going crazy, so Noah took her by the collar and locked her in the office. It was weird, because Sam loved people. However, she did not like them.

  I smiled when I caught eyes with his wife. Unlike her husband, she was able to make herself look more presentable without seeming emo. Her blonde hair had streaks of black through it, but it wasn’t anything that Miranda hadn’t done to her own hair. She had her nose pierced and a tattoo on her wrist, but wearing long sleeves had hidden all of the rest of her skin. I reached my hand out to her. “I’m Savanna.”

  “Hi, I’m Piper. Thanks for having us over. Zeke has been talking about this for a while now.”

  I put on a fake smile, trying to ignore the lump in my throat. “Noah is very excited,”

  He had come back into the room as I said it. I put my hands on his shoulders and waited for Zeke to talk.

  He reached his hand out for Noah. “What’s up, little man?”

  “You’re my uncle?”

  Zeke laughed. “Yeah, I am. Your mother was my sister.”

  It was another punch in the face for me. I know it was selfish. I had no right to claim him as my own, but I did it anyway.

  “I don’t remember her.” He didn’t seem sad; just making the statement out loud.

  Zeke looked at me and then back to Noah. I guess he was trying to be respectful and I did appreciate it. “I can tell you stories about your mother, if you’d like. She was real special to me.”

  Piper seemed like she felt out of place. She kept looking around at the walls and pictures in the house. I walked over to where she stood. “So, I’m trying to get this recipe right with all these organic foods. Do you think maybe you could help me in the kitchen for a minute? I will just die if it tastes like dirt.”

  She smiled and followed me into the kitchen. “I like your house. It’s so cozy. None of our houses look anything like this.”

  I wasn’t sure how to take that. Was she saying that our house was crap, or was she missing living a normal life. “So, what do they look like?”

  Her eyes got real big. “Don’t you watch Cribs on MTV?”

  “No. I haven’t watched that channel since I was in college. Once I met Colt, I just lost interest. It’s not exactly the kind of thing to watch with little kids around.”

  I handed her a spoon and let her taste one of the items I had made. She blew on it before putting it near her lips. “Wow. You did great. Zeke will love this.”

  “That is a relief. Do you like it?”

  She looked toward the doorway and then back to me. “What you made tastes good. Zeke is all about eating this way. If it were up to me, I’d have a hamburger and fries.”

  We both laughed together.

  “It must be crazy being married to someone famous. Do you mind me asking how you met?”

  She shook her head. “You know, I really thought you’d have checked us out online or something. Don’t you read magazines?”

  I felt embarrassed for buying those tabloids, so I didn’t bother sharing the things that I had learned about them. “I read Better Homes and Gardens.”

  “It’s probably a good thing. Some of those papers just like to cause drama. Half of the things you read in those articles aren’t true. In fact, I’m pretty sure that they cause most of Hollywood’s divorces.”

  I started thinking outside of the box, realizing how hard it must be. “So where are you originally from?”

  We sat down at the kitchen table. It was better than me having to go back into the other room with the guys.

  “I was born in Berlin and then my parents moved to America when I was two. My father started a small bakery and he and my mom still run it together in Richmond, Virginia.”

  “Have you been back to Berlin?”

  She tapped her fingers on the table. “Not until I married Zeke. We were the last of my family to come to the states, so we never had a reason to go back. My parents moved here for a better life.”

  “How did they feel when you married a rockstar?” I just had to know how her parents felt about her marrying someone so rough looking.

  She shrugged. “They stopped talking to me. Picture the most old fashioned parents in the world and multiply that times ten. Then you will have my parents. It wasn’t just the tattoos, or the piercings. I think they could have lived with that. It was the fact that he was married when I met him. My mother is very serious about her beliefs and extramarital affairs aren’t acceptable. I kept it a secret from them until I landed on the cover of one of those supermarket tabloids. My parents only spoke to me one time since they saw that picture and it was to tell me that I was no longer a part of their family.”

  I felt so sad for her. I could see the pain in her eyes. “That’s horrible. I’d do anything for my kids, no matter what.”

  “It’s fine. I’
m used to it. Besides, I was the one who decided to live this life. The night I met Zeke, I wasn’t even supposed to be where I was. I lied to my parents so that I could sneak out to a concert with my girlfriends. I had no idea I was going to meet him.”

  I remembered reading about her meeting him in rehab. It was hard to wonder if she was telling the truth, or the tabloid. I held up my hands. “I’m not judging you, but were you like a groupie?”

  She laughed. “No way! Groupies are little sluts who just want to sleep with the band. I wasn’t promiscuous at all. In fact, I wasn’t very experienced. When I met Zeke, I was standing in the corner of the room, avoiding the drinking and drugs that were all around me. He took me up to the roof and we spent the rest of the night just talking.”

  “So, you got together then?”

  She smiled and shook her head. “No. I didn’t see Zeke again until a year later. I didn’t exactly hang around with the good crowd, so it was no surprise that one of my friends had to go into rehab after drunk driving and killing someone. Part of their sentence was to spend eight weeks in rehab. On one of the visitation days, I saw Zeke sitting outside smoking. Of course, I didn’t think he would recognize me. He’d been drinking the night we met and he was around so many women that I never thought I’d made an impression. My hair was a different color and I even dressed differently.” She laughed out loud. “He called me by name when he saw me. I was floored. That’s actually the day that our picture was taken and my parents disowned me.”

  “Without a place to go, Zeke moved me into one of his houses. The paparazzi went wild, taking photos whenever we were together. I knew he wasn’t a saint. He’d cheated on his wife a million times, but I didn’t sleep with him until he had filed for a separation. You probably think I’m terrible.”

  The thing was, I actually didn’t. For some reason, I really liked her. Of course, I wouldn’t have chosen her life, but she seemed like a nice girl. You can’t help who you fall in love with, or when it happens. “Don’t feel bad. When Colt and I got together, I had kind of promised myself to his cousin. We’d known each other for years, but something happened between us and we just couldn’t stop it. I’ve been with him ever since.”

  “He’s very handsome. I can see how he’d be hard to resist.” She looked like she was embarrassed for saying it.

  “He was. My ex was also very good looking and he was in a coma. Now you probably think I am the horrible one.”

  She put her hand over her mouth, like she was in shock.

  After a few seconds, she finally dropped her hand back down on the table. “Did it cause problems in the family?”

  “Only for a little while. We’re all best friends now. He’s very happy with his own family.” I wasn’t even going to explain that Ty had married Colt’s cousin Miranda. That was just too hard for people to interpret.

  We talked for a little longer about our parents and then she helped me set the dining room table. The guys were still in the living room and I was completely fine keeping Piper occupied. Besides, it gave me a chance to get to know her more. I had to admit, she was sweet and seemed to be more normal than I ever could have expected.

  When it was finally time to eat, I heated up Noah some chicken tenders, so that he wouldn’t have to eat the concoction that we all had to. I saw his lip curl when he saw me open up the pot. It didn’t smell bad, but I was sure it didn’t taste good.

  Watching my husband trying to swallow the mystery food was so hard to do without laughing. He tried his best to keep an even face, but as each spoonful hit his mouth, I could tell he wanted to spit it out. The texture and taste were nothing like we’d even eaten before.

  “This tastes great, Savanna. Thanks for going to the trouble. Next time I can have my chef make it for us, so that you don’t have to spend the whole day in the kitchen. I know it’s time consuming, but it’s so good for the body.”

  He didn’t look anything like a guy that took care of his body. “It was no trouble. I’m glad you like it.”

  “You have a chef at your house?” Noah seemed amazed.

  “I do. He goes where we go,” Zeke explained.

  “Wow! How much money do you have?”

  “NOAH!” We both yelled at the same time.

  Zeke put his fork down. “It’s okay. He’s just curious.” He gave all of his attention to Noah. “Every time the radio plays one of my songs, I make money. When I perform in concerts, I make money.”

  “You make money when you sleep?”

  Zeke laughed. “Yeah, I do. It’s pretty rad huh?”

  “You’re like, the richest man in the world.”

  We all laughed at that one.

  “No, I’m not. I’ve worked hard to make it where I am, though. It’s not as easy as you think; just ask my wife.” Zeke nudged Piper.

  “Whatever. You get to buy whatever you want. You have a limousine. All we have is tractors and trucks. You’re so cool!” I think Colt felt like he got kicked between the legs. He cleared his throat and excused himself from the dinner table, using the excuse that he had to use the men’s room. I knew that if I went after him, it would only cause them to be alarmed, so I chose to ignore my husband, when I knew he needed me. I felt horrible about it, too.

  Noah continued to ask Zeke a million questions. Most of the things he asked were just absurd, but the guy kept answering him. When they finally settled back into the living room, and started talking about Krista, Colt took me out on the porch swing.

  He put his arm around me as we rocked back and forth. “You alright, darlin’?”

  I shrugged. “I’m hanging in there. How are you?”

  “I’m tryin’ to be fair. They’re family and it’s important that they know about each other. Zeke seems alright. He ain’t all strung out like I thought he would be. He seems to have his problem under control. What about his wife? Does she seem alright?”

  I leaned my head against my strong husband’s shoulder. “She’s nice, actually. I don’t know how the two of them fell in love, but she seems like she has her head on straight. She told me a whole different story than I read in that tabloid.”

  He started laughing at me. “I think maybe we both overreacted about all of this, Savanna. Aside from his weird ass food that he eats, the guy seems fine. Maybe we shouldn’t even be worried about him being in Noah’s life. It ain’t like he’s got him listening to devil worshippin’ music and wanting to tattoo his body.”

  I pushed him. “My God! I hope not. He’s just a kid.”

  He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “I’m just playin’ with you. It’s all goin’ to be just fine. Once they leave town, everything will go back to the way it was. You’re always goin’ to be that boy’s mom.”

  After all of the worrying, I was feeling like it was possible. I leaned my lips up to Colt’s and kissed him before standing up and heading for the front door.

  Noah met us at the door. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me. “Mom, come on. You have to help me pack.”

  I looked back at Colt, feeling confused. “Pack for what?”

  “Uncle Zeke said I could go stay at his house. Can you believe it? I’m goin’ to see a real rock stars house.”

  Everything wasn’t going to be okay. In fact, it was far from being okay.

  Chapter 6

  Colt

  It took Savanna a while to get Noah settled down enough to go up and get a shower. The last thing he wanted to do was say goodbye to his new, famous uncle. When we knew he was upstairs, I led Zeke and Piper into the kitchen to talk.

  Savanna wasn’t doing well. She always lost it when it came to our kids. She sat there just staring off until I started speaking. “I think we need to talk about some things, Zeke. I think we might not be on the same page here.”

  “Sure, man. What’s up?”

  I opened up my hands that were sitting on the table. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for my son to go stay with you.”

  He cr
ossed his arms. “Why is that? You’ve known me for years. I didn’t tell him he could come with me tonight, but I think I deserve to have a relationship with my nephew.”

  “I knew you when you were a child. Times have changed. Savanna and me are goin’ to have to talk about this first. Noah ain’t never been somewhere far away from us. He just met you and it’s obvious that you live a different kind of lifestyle.”

  He got up from the table and started pacing around my kitchen. “I get it. You think I am going to corrupt your kid. You know, Colt, I may look different than you, but I’m still that same guy you knew before.”

  Savanna couldn’t take it anymore. “As much as I want to believe that you both are good people, I have to keep my guard up when it comes to my child. I think before Noah can go to stay with you, he should get to know you here, where we know he is safe.”

  “Safe? Lady, I don’t know what magazine or news channel you get your information from, but I’m not some child molester or serial killer. I’m his blood. It’s way more than you share with him.”

  I banged my fist on the table. “Enough! This shit is not happenin’. You will not come into my house and degrade my wife in front of me. That woman has been the only mother that kid has had since he was dropped off at our doorstep. She loves him as much as if she had him herself. You need to leave, before I remind you how we handle things around these parts and I can promise you that you’re not goin’ to like it.”

  “Colt, don’t threaten me for stating the facts man. I have every right to know that kid.”

  “Where have you been for the past ten and a half years of his life? I know I haven’t seen you for almost seven. You knew where we lived. You could have sent cards. Hell, my number is still the same. You never gave a shit about him.” I wasn’t going to tolerate him any longer. This guy had come into my house and been disrespectful. He needed to get the hell off of my property.

  “Things have been tough for me. I had a lot of problems and I didn’t want to taint our relationship with them.”

  Who did he think he was? “We never had a relationship, Zeke. You were a child when you lived here. I helped your sister take care of you, for a short time. I owed you nothing and my opinion doesn’t even matter. This is about my son. Your sister didn’t even bother to tell me about him. Do you have any idea what that was like for me, for my wife? No, you don’t! You couldn’t, because you were out getting drugged up. I reckon that’s how you had to deal with her loss, but that ain’t how I do things. She should have told me about him. I would have taken care of them.”