One Night Baby - A Romance Compilation

by Tia Siren

  I let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry. You all kept telling me for so long, and I just couldn’t see it.”

  “It’s okay. We all knew you were struggling.”

  I shook my head. “What a waste of four years.”

  Hannah laughed. “Then we have some lost time to make up for. Now, let’s go out and party!”

  Jake drove my car, promising to be the designated driver for the night. The club scene in Nashville was different than what we were used to. It wasn’t all country music like I had expected. We found our way to a club that played a lot of old school as well as new Southern rock. We were all having a great time. It felt good to unwind and let loose.

  “Bathroom!” Hannah shouted close to my ear.

  I nodded and walked off the dance floor, following close behind her.

  “This is awesome!” she exclaimed once we were in the bathroom and could actually hear each other.

  I smiled. “It is. I think I’m going to like Nashville.”

  She grinned. “Good. I’m going to be visiting you a lot.”

  “I’m going to miss you,” I said, suddenly feeling sad.

  “Don’t. I’m not going to let you miss me. I’m going to be here all the time. It will be just as it was, except I have to drive a little farther. This is for the best. Hell, maybe I’ll move here, and then we can really hang out all the time like we used to.”

  “Used to—when Isaac allowed it, you mean,” I mumbled.

  “Exactly. I’ll probably get to see more of you now that you live forty-five minutes away!” she joked.

  I smiled. I knew she was trying to be upbeat for my sake. I appreciated her efforts.

  “Let’s get in one more dance before Jake drags us out of here,” I said.

  We danced for another thirty minutes before we called it a night. It was close to midnight, which wasn’t exactly late, but Jake was a little bored. We got home and were busting out some after-clubbing snacks and drinks when I heard my phone ringing.

  “Who’s calling you this late? I’m the only one who would and I’m right here,” Hannah said, concern written on her face.

  I checked my phone and saw it was a blocked number. “Private,” I whispered, feeling that familiar knot of fear in my belly.

  “Don’t answer it.”

  I hit the reject button, silencing the call and letting it go to voice mail. We all waited in silence to see if the caller would leave a message. Instead of the voice mail alert, the phone started ringing again.

  “It’s him,” I said, trying to hide the panic in my voice. “How did he get my new number?”

  Hannah shook her head. “I have no idea. I didn’t give it to him. Your parents certainly wouldn’t have.”

  I put the phone down on one of my small end tables. It immediately started ringing again. We waited, and this time, Isaac did leave a voice mail.

  “Put it on speaker,” Hannah ordered.

  I did as she asked. All four of us waited to hear what he would say. While the voice mail system went through its paces, the phone rang again.

  “He’s crazy,” Jake murmured.

  Hannah nodded. “Yes, he is.”

  Isaac’s message cued up. “Scarlett, are you there? What are you doing? You changed your number? Why’d you leave? Answer me, Scarlett. I want to talk to you. We can work this out. I’m going to keep calling until you pick up.”

  My heart was pounding in my chest. “He found me,” I breathed out.

  Hannah jumped up and came to sit beside me on the couch. “No. He got your phone number. He doesn’t know where you are.”

  “He’s going to find me. It’s only a matter of time. Now he’s really going to be mad. I screwed up.”

  “No, you didn’t,” she assured me. “He’s not going to find you. You need to change your number again, and this time we’re not going to let him get it.”

  I shook my head. I felt like I was going to be constantly running. I couldn’t live like that. I had given up everything to move away from him. It wasn’t fair.

  The phone rang again.

  “Block the number,” Jake ordered.

  “It’s a private number.”

  “Download an app that blocks private numbers,” he replied.

  I sighed. “This sucks.”

  I put the phone on silent when the calls kept coming.

  “We need to call and report this to the police.”

  I scoffed. “I’ve reported him to the police. They won’t do anything.”

  Hannah shook her head. “We’re calling and filing a report. Eventually, they’re going to see this guy is a menace.”

  “I feel so dumb. What am I supposed to say? He keeps calling me? That isn’t exactly a threat.”

  I saw my phone light up and knew he was calling again. He wasn’t going to give up.

  Hannah picked up her phone and called the nonemergency number for the police, which went to the 911 operator. I felt like such a ridiculous, silly girl. I paced while Hannah explained the situation to the dispatcher. She filled her in on the backstory.

  “They’re going to send an officer over to take a report,” Hannah said, hanging up the phone.

  “What am I supposed to say?”

  “You tell them exactly what happened,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and that lunatic will call when the cop is here.”

  My phone lit up again, indicating another call was coming in. Isaac wasn’t going to give up. Hannah had done the right thing.

  It was about thirty minutes later that we heard a knock on the door.

  “I’ll answer it,” Jake said. “Just in case.”

  “You don’t think he found me, do you?” I asked in horror.

  “I don’t think so,” Hannah said. “Better to be safe.”

  Jake opened the door, and Hannah’s mouth dropped open.

  “What is it?” I asked, spinning around to see what had her jaw on the floor.

  It was my cranky neighbor—in a police uniform.

  “You’re a cop?” I asked, standing and walking to the door.

  He nodded. “I am.”

  Jake held the door open and gestured for him to come inside.

  I giggled. “That explains why you were such a hard-ass about the moving truck.”

  He didn’t smile. Clearly, he didn’t like my terminology.

  “Dispatch recognized the address and asked me to stop by before I went home. What’s the problem?” he asked in a gruff voice.

  “Her ex is harassing her,” Hannah blurted out.

  “How?”

  “Officer”—I paused to read his name tag—“Campbell, he keeps calling.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Calling? You called 911 because your ex-boyfriend is calling you?”

  I shook my head. “No. You don’t understand. He’s, uh, well, kind of crazy. I moved here to get away from him, and he somehow got my new phone number.”

  Hannah stood up and went to stand in front of Officer Campbell. “You don’t get it. The guy is abusive. Very violent and certainly crazy. She’s running away from him, and he got her number. This is bad. This is most definitely worthy of a call to the police.”

  The cop relaxed a bit. “Do you have his phone number?” he asked me.

  “Yes, but he’s blocking the number when he calls.”

  I quickly grabbed my phone and showed him the call log of missed calls before I pulled up my voice mail and let him listen to the numerous messages Isaac had left.

  He took a deep breath. “I know these situations are hard. Unfortunately, as far as the law is concerned, he isn’t breaking the law.”

  Hannah cursed under breath. “Bullshit. He’s going to kill her!”

  “I understand you’re upset. I get it. I don’t like these situations either. Unfortunately, the law is behind the times. Give me his number. I’ll give him a call and let him know he’s harassing you. If he continues the harassment, we can issue a ticket. Other than that, there isn’t a lot I can do until h
e actually makes a threat. Then, you would be advised to file a restraining order. That I can enforce,” he explained.

  “I’ll change my number,” I said.

  He nodded. “That’s a good start.”

  “That’s it?” Hannah asked. “That’s all you’re going to do?”

  He shrugged. “I’m sorry. Truly, I am.”

  “It’s okay, Hannah. We’ve been through this before.” I turned to face him. “Thank you, Officer Campbell.”

  “Call me Cameron,” he said. “We are neighbors after all.”

  “Thank you for coming by, Cameron.”

  He got Isaac’s number for the report and left.

  “Well, I guess it’s somewhat comforting I live next door to a cop,” I said, locking the door.

  “Not that it’s going to do any good,” Hannah grumbled.

  “It’s fine. I’ll get a new number on Monday. I’m beat and going to bed,” I told my houseguests.

  I went to bed a little less anxious than I had been when my phone was ringing nonstop. It was a little comforting to know there was a cop right next door. He may not have been able to do much from a legal standpoint, but at least if Isaac did find me, I could run to him for help.

  Chapter Four

  Cameron

  The morning came a little too soon for my tastes, but that was the way it was with kids. At least, that was what I had been told. I stumbled into the kitchen to get Ella a bowl of cereal and me some coffee. She was her usual perky self.

  “What do you want to do today?” I asked her.

  On my days off, I made sure I spent all my time with her doing fun things. It was hard being a single parent with a rotating schedule. I always felt like I was failing at the parenting thing. I worked a typical forty hours a week, but since Ella had started kindergarten, I felt like I rarely saw her.

  “I want to go to the park,” she said with perfect clarity.

  I smiled. “The park it is. We have to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for dinner tonight. So, we can clean up around here, head to the park, and then to dinner.”

  She sighed. “Grandma already cleaned up the house.”

  I nodded. “Yes, she did, but I have to wash some clothes.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know how to do that.”

  “And you don’t have to learn. Not yet anyway. I’ll do it.”

  That seemed to satisfy her. I knew it wasn’t exactly fun to do housework, but I hated my mother doing it. She wasn’t my maid. I was still struggling to find the balance between work, kid, and fun. I would get it. Plenty of single parents did. I was probably a little slower than most.

  I took my coffee to the laundry room and got the first load started before heading for the shower. Ella was in the living room watching cartoons, which meant I had about half an hour before she got bored. As I stripped for the shower, I thought about my last call last night. I wasn’t sure who was who in that foursome, but I had a feeling my new neighbor had gotten a new boyfriend and now the ex was jealous. Hell, maybe she left the ex for the new guy. Someone was paying a lot of money for that house next door. None of them looked like the kind of people that had high-paying jobs. I guessed, judging by their attire, they had been out partying. I had smelled the alcohol on all of them.

  I shook my head and hoped the neighbors didn’t become a nuisance. If it looked like there was going to be a revolving door of young people shacking up and coming and going all hours of the night, I would put a stop to it.

  “Daddy, I’m ready to go!” Ella hollered at my bedroom door as I was getting dressed.

  “Okay. I’m almost ready,” I said, checking my watch. It was only ten, which meant we would have some time to kill before dinner.

  I opened the door to find her waiting for me in the hallway.

  “You took a long time.” She was pouting.

  “Sorry. My body is a lot bigger than yours. It takes me longer in the shower,” I reasoned.

  She shook her head. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, let me throw the clothes in the dryer and we’ll go.”

  She impatiently followed me around the house while I picked up, started another load of laundry, and tidied up the kitchen. In all, it took me ten minutes, but by the way she was sighing, a person would have thought I had taken hours.

  “Let’s go,” I said, heading for the door.

  She bounced out. When I turned to check the lock on the door, I noticed my neighbors in the driveway. The girl—Scarlett, if I remembered her name right—was hugging the other three, who then all climbed into a car and left. She waved as the car disappeared down the street. When she noticed me watching, she gave a small wave before heading back inside.

  Interesting. She was living there alone?

  Ella and I headed to the park before visiting a children’s museum that had recently opened. It was close to four by the time we got to my parents’ house.

  “Hi, guys!” my mother greeted as we walked inside the house.

  “Where’s Grandpa?” Ella asked.

  My mom smiled. “He’s out in the shop. You can go find him.”

  “Can I help you with anything?” I asked.

  She laughed. “No, dear. Relax. You look like you could use a nap.”

  I shrugged. “I’m fine.”

  She shook her head and gave me that familiar worried-mom look. She had been doing her best to pick up the slack since Becca had died. I had a nanny who watched Ella sometimes, like last night, but my mother insisted on watching her as often as possible.

  “How was work?” she asked.

  I followed her into the kitchen and sat on a barstool. She poured me a glass of orange juice, which I desperately needed. I was dragging ass and needed the pick-me-up.

  “Good. Easy.”

  She laughed. “That’s what I like to hear.”

  “I did get a call to my new neighbor’s house,” I told her.

  “Really? That doesn’t sound good.”

  I shrugged. “She’s young and got a little freaked out that her ex was calling her. I think it had more to do with the new boyfriend being there and that they had been drinking.”

  My mother didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know. I don’t have to tell you how dangerous those domestic violence situations can be. Be careful. I don’t want you or Ella getting caught in the crossfire of some love triangle.”

  “I don’t think it’s anything all that serious. I listened to a couple of the messages. The guy will get over it.”

  She nodded. “You keep your eyes and ears open.”

  My dad and Ella came in through the back patio. He was a retired detective who had served close to thirty years on the force. We had a decent relationship, but neither of us was the touchy-feely type.

  “Son,” he said, nodding his head.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes. Everyone wash up. Ella, you can help me set the table.”

  We sat down to my mother’s famous meatloaf dinner. Ella chatted about school and the new friends she’d made. I was an only child, which made Ella the only grandchild. My parents doted on her but insisted they would never spoil her. That was laughable. My little girl had them both wrapped around her finger. They knew it, and I suspected Ella did as well. So far, she had never used that to her advantage.

  “We should get going,” I said after we had helped Mom clean up the kitchen. “I need to finish the laundry and get Ella in the bath.”

  After saying our good-byes and arranging the schedule for the week, we left.

  “Let’s grab the mail,” I said to Ella.

  The day was finally catching up with her. She wasn’t quite as energetic as she had been. I hoped that meant an early bedtime with no fuss.

  The mailboxes were a few houses down from mine. With Ella’s hand grasped firmly in mine, we headed down the sidewalk. I hadn’t checked the mail in days, but it wasn’t like I was expecting a check from a long-lost relative.

 
“Stay put,” I ordered Ella as I opened the box.

  “Hi,” I heard Ella say and turned to see who she was talking to.

  It was the pretty neighbor.

  “Hi,” she said, looking at Ella, then me.

  “I’m Ella. This is my dad. He’s a police officer,” she announced.

  “Hi, Ella,” Scarlett said with a smile. “How old are you?”

  Ella held up her hand. “Five.”

  Scarlett smiled. “Wow, you’re a big girl. I met your dad, twice now,” she said, looking at me with a smile. “I’m Scarlett. I moved into the house next to yours a couple days ago. It’s good to meet you, Ella.”

  I studied our new neighbor a little closer in the fading evening light. I had pegged her to be in her early twenties, but she had a way about her that suggested she was a little older than she looked. Her green eyes were stunning. Her light brown hair was falling around her shoulders in thick, choppy waves. She was very petite—I guessed she was maybe five two or five three. The top of her head could have fit under my chin, I mused. Her small stature made her look young and vulnerable. I had this primal instinct to protect her that went beyond my vow to protect and serve.

  She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. She had caught me staring. I didn’t care.

  “Did you forget to check your mail yesterday too?” she asked, her green eyes staring into mine.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  I didn’t tell her I hadn’t checked it in days. Ella was still staring at the new neighbor as if she were a member of the royal family.

  “You look like you got some sun today,” Scarlett said to Ella.

  Ella smiled, and I saw the moment she decided she liked the neighbor. Her dark brown eyes lit up, and she practically bloomed right before our eyes. She got her social butterfly tendencies from her mother. The hair, the eyes, and the olive skin were all her mom too.

  “We went to the park,” Ella said proudly.

  “Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun. I love your hair, Ella. So pretty!”

  Ella smiled. “Daddy says I look just like my mommy. I don’t know. I don’t remember her. She died when I was a baby. We just have pictures.”

  I felt the little gut punch I always experienced when Ella told someone her life story. It was hard to hear the words, and I hated that she had to say them at all. A little girl needed her mother.