by T. K. Leigh
“NOOOOOO!” Greg yelled, making himself known and raising his own weapon, shooting both of them several times, his newborn daughter’s cries sounding from the nursery. Once he was certain they were dead, he ran to his Angelina, cradling her.
“Please, Angie,” he begged, frantically trying to stop the bleeding as she lay dying in his arms.
“Greg…” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
“I’m here, baby. Please stay with me. You’re going to be fine. Just listen to my voice.”
“Promise me something,” she breathed, her eyes wet with tears.
“Anything, Angie.”
“Protect our daughter. Save her from all of this.”
“Don’t talk like that. You’re going to make it.”
He felt her cold hand grab on to his.
“Greg, just promise me.”
He fought back his tears. “I’ll always look after our Jolene. I swear to you.” He kept his eyes trained on Angelina’s as she drew her last breath, her body going limp in his arms.
Sobs rolled through him, thinking that he didn’t know how he could possibly go on and raise a child without her. A loud moan sounded and he flung his eyes toward the source.
“Shit! Mark!” He released his hold on Angelina and ran to his partner’s aid, hoping that he could at least save one person.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“That’s a fucking stupid question. No. I’m not okay. The bastards shot me!”
“Jesus. I’m calling for help right now.”
He ran to the phone and dialed 911. Within minutes, the house was swarming with paramedics, police officers, and crime scene technicians.
As he watched everyone take statements and collect evidence, the intruders’ words kept replaying in his head. They knew who he was. His daughter would never be safe if they stayed there. And he had promised his Angelina he would keep her safe.
At that point, he knew he had to do everything in his power to protect his daughter. The first step was leaving Chicago and going as far away as he could.
CHAPTER FOUR
UNINVITED
CAMERON BOWEN WOKE UP before his alarm on a typical early summer Florida morning. The sun was barely peeking out over the horizon as he got out of bed to go catch a few waves. It was the same routine every day. Get up. Surf. Go to the office and try to help his patients overcome their problems. He felt like the biggest hypocrite in the world. How could he possibly help people with their relationships when he was still consumed with the one girl he could never have? It had been nearly two years since he had last seen her and it still broke his heart to think about everything they had been through. He didn’t think he would ever find love again…not like that.
He sat on the edge of his bed, wishing that, just one morning, he could wake up and not think about her. He ran his hands through his sandy hair, sighing deeply, wanting to just get on with his day. One more day in his miserable and lonely existence.
As he was slipping into his wetsuit, a loud knock sounded. There was only one person who would be banging on his door before six in the morning.
Making his way down the stairs, he pulled back the front door, staring at the six-foot frame of his friend, a hurried appearance about him.
“Benny. What’s wrong?” His voice was full of concern.
“Hey,” he responded cheerily. “I tried calling and you weren’t picking up.” He pushed past the front door and into Cam’s house, making his way to the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water. “Don’t worry. Nothing’s wrong.”
“Well, then, what is it?” Cam asked, following him. “If it’s nothing serious, could this not wait ten minutes until you saw me at the beach?”
Benny nervously paced back and forth, trying to find the right words without setting him off. When he had gotten home last night and told his girlfriend about the girl that he rented Cam’s cottage to, she said he needed to tell him about it. Benny knew she was right, particularly because she had a striking resemblance to her and he wasn’t sure how Cam would react. The littlest reminder seemed to set him off.
“You see, here’s the thing,” he said, stopping abruptly in front of Cam. “I kind of met this girl last night…”
“What the fuck?! Did you cheat on Elsie?!” he roared, interrupting him.
“What?! No! God, no! I would never do that to Elsie. I love that girl. Plus, she would cut off my dick if I even thought about doing that.” Benny laughed. He loved his girlfriend, but she was definitely not one to be messed with and he knew it.
Cam breathed a sigh of relief before his expression turned serious once more. “So if you’re not cheating on Elsie, then why are you telling me about a girl you met last night?”
He had a feeling that he was trying to set him up with yet another girl. That had been happening more and more lately in an attempt to get him to finally move on. Nothing had worked. No one compared to the girl that got away, even though she was never his in the first place. He had dated numerous girls, but he felt no fireworks when they smiled at him. He felt nothing. He felt empty. He felt barren.
“Well, technically, she called to inquire about renting your beach house. I kind of put it up for rent, considering it’s just been sitting empty.” He cringed in anticipation of his response.
“You what?!” Cam fumed. “Are you out of your fucking mind?! I don’t mind if people we know stay there, but don’t you think you could have run this past me, Benny?!”
“Calm down, Cam. You don’t ever step foot in that house so why the hell shouldn’t someone else enjoy it? I was a little hesitant at first and then I ran into her at Joe’s Coffee. I saw the cab drop her off there. And that got me thinking. Why did the cab drop her there instead of the address of the house that I gave her? The girl’s running from something. And, well, the old you would have wanted to help her out, just like you did with…”
“No!” His face flamed red with anger. “Don’t even try to lay that on me, Benny. I helped her because I loved her! I don’t even know this girl that you let stay in my house!”
“Well,” Benny interrupted, keeping his voice calm. “You can get to know her. There’s something about her. Maybe she’ll be good for you.”
“I’m done having this conversation with you.” Cam pushed past him, heading toward the front door. “Stop trying to think you can get me to forget about Olivia by throwing one girl after another at me. I’m not interested. No one will ever be her, so please stop wasting your time.”
Benny lowered his head in defeat. “No one will ever be her because you refuse to even talk to anyone else. You mope around all day. Take your own advice for once, Cam. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and find your fucking compassion!”
Cam stilled. “I just… It still hurts too much. I’m just not ready to put myself back out there yet. I need a little more time.” He stared at his friend, wondering how much longer it was going to take for him to not feel the constant ache anymore. Wondering if he’ll ever close his eyes and not see her big, brown eyes. Wondering if he’d ever be able to love again.
Taking a deep breath, a look of resignation crossed his face. “I’m sorry, Benny. I’ll try to stop being a prick. You all deserve better.”
“You deserve better, too. Don’t forget that. Now, what about the girl? Do you mind if she stays at your house for a bit? She paid for a month, so she’s going to have to stay that long. I can’t kick her out because my friend’s being an insufferable ass.”
Cam turned back around to face him, suddenly curious about the girl who was living in his ocean-front property. Something about the way Benny seemed to want to go above and beyond to help her spoke to him on another level.
“What’s her name?”
Benny shrugged. “She won’t tell me. Said she might tell me tomorrow so now that’s what I call her. Tomorrow.”
“You really want to help this girl out, don’t you?”
“I do. I don’t know what it is, but I just have a bad feeling about w
hat could happen to her if she doesn’t at least have one person looking out for her.”
Cam processed everything that Benny had said and knew he was right. If this had happened years ago, he would have been the one wanting to help out the poor girl. That was what he did. He helped people to make up for not being there for his sister, Marley…the one person he should have been there for when she had to endure those years of abuse, her cries for help still haunting his dreams.
“Fine.” Cam exhaled loudly. “She can stay for a little while, but if she turns out to be an ex-con, I will never let you live this down, jackass.”
Benny’s eyes lit up. “Got it.” He ran past Cam, out the front door. “See you at the beach!”
Cam nodded, intrigued to learn more about the girl that Benny seemed to want to help so badly.
~~~~~~~~~~
THE SUN WOKE JOLENE as it rose over the horizon and a subtle glow began to light the master bedroom. A tranquil breeze blew the linen curtains, and the sound of seagulls filtered through. She stretched in the comfortable king-sized bed, basking in the soft down against her skin. The previous night had been the most restful night’s sleep she had gotten in a long time, the sound of the waves the perfect lullaby with which to fall asleep.
She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just a little after six in the morning. Not wanting to waste a second of her freedom, she got out of bed and made her way downstairs. It looked like it was shaping up to be a gorgeous day and she didn’t want to miss watching the sun rise over the Atlantic.
She walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee, thankful that the beach house was stocked with the basic essentials in life, the most important of those being coffee. With her beverage in her hand, she made her way out to the front deck, sitting down in a lounge chair to watch the sun continue to crest over the horizon. The ocean breeze gently blew her hair in front her face and she stilled for a moment, forgetting that her hair was no longer blonde. Taking a deep breath, she smiled, her moment of panic gone as she watched her wavy brown hair blow in front of her face. She couldn’t help but laugh. It felt liberating to see her natural hair wave back and forth with no one to tell her to make sure her roots weren’t showing…or that they wanted her hair long, blonde, and straight. She knew that over the next several weeks, maybe even months, she would have many moments like that…moments when she relished her freedom, no matter how fleeting it was.
“What’s so funny?!” she heard a voice call out.
Jolene gradually stopped laughing, the smile still glued on her face. “Nothing,” she replied, brushing back her hair and securing it in a messy bun with a hair tie. “Just having my morning coffee. Want some, Benny?” she asked her new acquaintance.
“No. I’m good. Thanks for the offer, Tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “Are you always going to call me that?”
“Yup. Until you tell me your name.” He climbed the steps, leaning against the deck railing.
“Why do you care what my name is?”
He shrugged. “I prefer to know my friends’ real names.”
She took a sip from her mug before returning her eyes to him. “So is that what we are? Friends?”
“I’d like to think so.”
“Okay. Friends then. But I’m still not going to tell you my real name. You’re better off that way,” she explained, her expression turning grave as she tore her eyes from him so he couldn’t see the fear in them.
“What makes you think that?” he asked. “What happened…?”
“What the fuck, Benny?!” a voice roared.
Benny and Jolene snapped their heads in unison to the source of the voice. Benny shook his head when he saw the expression on Cam’s face as he strode from his Wrangler toward the beach house.
“You’re shitting me, right?!” he yelled, his nostrils flaring as his chest heaved.
Jolene turned to Benny. “Who is that?” she asked quietly, hoping that the tall, lean man standing at the foot of the stairs wasn’t who she thought it was.
“Just my emotionally unstable friend.” He rolled his eyes before trying to give her a soothing smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll go talk to him.”
Benny scurried off the deck, staring into his friend’s wild eyes. “Relax, Cam,” he said calmly.
“I will not fucking relax, Benny,” Cam hissed, leaning into him, his entire body tense. “First, you tell me that you rented out my house to a complete fucking stranger without my knowledge. I was marginally okay with that. But you seem to have left out one rather important detail!”
His chin quivered and he glanced at the girl standing on the deck with her arms crossed, her expression soft and full of doubt as she stared at the crashing waves. God, that amazing face. The gorgeous wavy brown hair that she had pulled back in a messy bun, just like she always did. And her lips. Those full, luscious lips that were nearly identical to the lips that he missed kissing. It was as if someone was playing a cruel trick on him.
“Would you have let her stay here if I had told you?” Benny asked softly.
Cam returned his eyes to him, momentarily surprised at his friend’s candor. His expression softening, he took a deep breath. He simply couldn’t bear to be around anything or anyone that reminded him of her. That was the main reason he hadn’t been able to work up the courage to go in the house yet.
“Benny, please…”
“You need to get on with your life, Cam. This prick you’ve turned into over the past few years is getting old. We want our old friend back. The old Cam who would want to help out this girl. Who would gladly let her stay in the house that he wasn’t using. I don’t know what her story is, but I have a bad feeling that something awful could happen to her if there’s no one to look out for her. I’m going to be that person, but I need your help. Please.”
Cam ran his hand through his wayward hair. “Benny, I just don’t know if I can bring myself to look into those eyes…”
“Well, you should, you ass. They’re not even brown. Her eyes are blue. If you looked closer, you would have seen that. But you had to fly off the goddamn handle before even giving the poor girl a chance, just like you do with every other girl I try to get you to talk to. Half of them don’t even look a thing like Olivia, but you won’t give anyone the time of day. You’re better than this, Cam. You’re a good person with a huge heart who loves helping people. Stop trying to protect your heart by acting like you don’t have one. Don’t let one bad experience with a girl make you lose sight of who you are.”
Cam closed his eyes, contemplating Benny’s words. They certainly rang true. Every time anyone attempted to introduce him to someone they knew, he always saw her in their appearance. But this time, there was such a strong similarity. The resemblance was making his heart break all over again.
Then he recalled the scared expression on her face, as if he held her fate in his hands. He had seen that frightened look before in so many of his female patients. He saw it on Marley’s face for years as she tried to hide behind her mask. The look that was cold and stoic, but one that Cam knew was a front to prevent anyone from seeing her true emotions. Remorse for his initial reaction overwhelmed him.
Meeting Benny’s eyes, he conceded. “Fine. She can stay at the house. But I just can’t…”
Benny and Cam jumped at the sound of the front door of the beach house opening and slamming shut, startling them both.
Benny’s expression grew wide when he saw Jolene descend the steps onto the sandy road, clutching her bag against her tall, slender frame. “Whoa!” he called out, running up to her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I know when I’m not welcome,” Jolene explained, her voice shaky, trying with everything she had to show no emotion. “I don’t want to be a burden and it appears that’s what I am. I’ll find somewhere else to stay while I figure out what to do.”
She walked past Benny and continued heading south along the shore, not having any idea of where she was going.
“No! Hold up! You don’t have to go!” he shouted after her. He caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to stop.
She froze at the contact of his hand on her body. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” Her breathing increased and her entire body began to tremble.
“I’m sorry.” Benny quickly withdrew from her. “I just want to help you. Don’t go. I talked to him. He’s okay with you staying.”
Jolene shook her head before turning around to face him. “No. I’ll be fine on my own. Your friend doesn’t like me for some strange reason. If you ask me, he’s a bit of an asshole so I have no idea how someone as nice as you could even be friends with that prick.”
“He wasn’t always an ass. He used to be a great guy.”
“I highly doubt that.” Her tone was full of anger. “Don’t worry about me,” she said, lowering her voice. “I’ll be okay on my own. I’ve gotten along fine before, and I’ll be just fine again.”
She continued down the street, stopping short before nearly bumping into a hard body. She stilled, inhaling quickly as she stared at the well-defined chest she could faintly make out through his wetsuit. Raising her head, she looked into the intense silver-blue eyes of the owner of the house she had slept in last night. Although his gaze appeared cold on the outside, she could almost sense a warmth hidden layers beneath the hard exterior. Over the years, she had learned how to read people. She could tell from his expression and the way he carried himself that he had been hurt…just like she had.
“You can stay,” Cam said quietly.
“I don’t want to intrude.” She lowered her head to avoid his brilliant, yet confusing, eyes. “I’ll go find a cheap motel somewhere.”
“Don’t be stubborn. Just stay in my beach house. You can’t stay in a crappy motel. It’s not safe. If you don’t stay here, the house will just sit empty. Maybe having someone living there will bring some life back to the place,” he said softly, his heart racing when she raised her head.
