One Call Away

by Emily Goodwin

  The cramps continued throughout the night, worsening today. Chase kept me from asking Dr. Google what’s wrong, and instead I’m calling the doctor today. I never rescheduled the appointment I missed when Chase was in the hospital. It would have been too late then anyway. I was already pregnant at that point.

  I call the doc on my lunch break and am able to get an appointment Monday morning. Since I don’t know when I conceived—holy shit that’s weird to think about—they can do an ultrasound that day as well. It hasn’t been a full twenty-four hours since we found out I was pregnant, but it already seems like so much has changed.

  I finish dusting and go back to the register, sitting behind the counter. Chase has been texting me throughout the morning, making sure I’m okay, and vice versa. I can use his recovery as a good excuse to lounge around and do nothing, giving us more time to come to terms with everything. Though I will have to think of something good to say when my family notices I’m not drinking any wine.

  Mrs. Williams leaves for the day around eleven, and I’m alone in the store until tonight. Customers trickle in and out, and I entertain myself with texting Chase, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, and reading. Around one, Chase comes in with lunch.

  “Orange chicken and fried rice,” I say before I even open the bag. “You drove two hours to get me food.” My eyes gloss over proving that this obnoxious display of emotions is due to hormones.

  “I did,” Chase says and kisses me. “I came home and heated it up so it’d be warm. Hopefully it’s still good.”

  I open my to-go container and take a bite. “It’s the best.”

  “Are you crying over Chinese food?”

  “Yes! Don’t judge me.”

  Chase laughs and comes around the counter. His hands land on my hips and he gives me another kiss. “Does this make you horny enough to have sex tonight?”

  I laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, I want to. Trust me, I do. But it’s too soon to risk hurting you.”

  “What about this?” His arms slip to my back and he kisses me, deep and passionate. My knees weaken and if it weren’t for Chase holding me up, I’d be on the floor right now. The bell rings and we break apart.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Lisa says, making a gagging noise. “I came in to buy porn to read, not see.”

  “I should charge you extra,” I say back with a smile. “And you don’t read.”

  “Not very often.” She gives Chase a wave. “I’d ask how you’re doing, but I see you’re getting along just fine.”

  He chuckles. “I’m getting there. Sierra’s been taking good care of me.”

  “Ew. You two make me sick.”

  “Should I be sorry?” I ask, making a face.

  Lisa waves her hand in the air. “Nah. I’ll just hate you in secret.”

  I laugh. “How’s work?” I ask.

  “Meh, the same. Francine came in today.” She dramatically rolls her eyes. “Which is why I came in here on my lunch break. I cannot fucking stand her and need to gossip.”

  Chase takes his arms from around my waist. “I’ll leave you two to talk. I’m gonna go see my nephews.” He kisses me again.

  “You’re supposed to go home and rest.”

  “I’m bored resting. And I feel fine.”

  “You won’t feel fine if you pop a stitch.”

  “The stitches are halfway dissolved by now.”

  I shudder. “That’s kind of gross to think about.”

  “Don’t think about it,” Chase says with a laugh. He kisses me again. “I love you,” he says quietly.

  “Love you, too.”

  He leaves and Lisa waits until he’s out the door and down the street to talk. “So, you two are acting like a normal couple?”

  “We are a normal couple.”

  She looks away, eating the words she wants to say, then looks back with a smile. “Right.”

  “I talked to him,” I blurt. “I asked him why he has so much money and why he was arrested.”

  “And?”

  “He repossessed items for the super-rich. They paid him cash and he got arrested more than once because he looked guilty until things were explained. And people sometimes got violent with him, hence the assault charges. But everything was dropped once the dust settled and it was clear what he was doing. He said he worked a lot for banks.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “I do.” Not believing him isn’t an option. Chase wouldn’t lie. The first night we met, he talked about taking that boat. Why would he lie then when we had nothing between us? “It makes sense, Lisa. That’s how he met Jax too, and why his record is similar to Chase’s. They’re basically bounty hunters, which is actually really hot to say out loud.”

  “It’s not like he’s saving the world or anything,” Lisa quips.

  My brow furrows. “I know. And he’s done with all that. He’s happy here, with me.” With us.

  “Assuming it’s all true, then I’m sorry. He’s not a bad guy.”

  “He’s not. And he’s going to be around for, well, forever. So please go back to liking him.”

  “Fine. So you wanna hear the latest Francine drama?”

  “Always.”

  28

  Chase

  I gently cradle my nephew to my chest, looking down at his tiny little face. He blinks up at me, opening his mouth as he lets out a soft coo. He yawns and his eyelids get heavy. I rock him back and forth, and he falls asleep.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tell my brother. “This baby thing is easy.”

  Josh gives me a dead stare. “He was exhausted from crying nonstop before you got here.”

  Amusement plays on my face and I sit on the couch, moving as slow as possible to not wake the baby. I’m holding Noah, who’s the bigger of the babies. Josh has Aaron and is trying to get him to take a bottle. I lean back, letting Noah rest against me. My mind is on Sierra and the little life inside of her.

  We sure as shit didn’t mean for it to happen. We were careless, getting caught up in the moment pretty much every time we fucked, and now we’re paying the price. Though right now, I don’t feel as panicked as I did before. Sierra will be a good mom, hands down. And me…I at least know what not to do thanks to my own dad.

  “This is kinda nice,” I admit, looking down at the sleeping baby.

  “Is it making you want one?” Josh jokes.

  “Someday,” I answer, feeling the urge to blurt out that Sierra is pregnant.

  “Wait until they wake up. You’ll think twice.”

  “I will admit I want one at a time, though.”

  “Going from one to three is quite the adjustment. When Dakota was a newborn, we were able to take turns. You’re still tired as fuck, but it’s one-on-one. Having two…it’s hard. But worth it. So fucking worth it.”

  Josh pulls the bottle from Aaron’s mouth and sets it on the couch next to him. He turns on the TV, volume so low you can hardly hear it.

  “How are you?” he asks. “You look a lot better.”

  “I feel better. I’m sore,” I admit. “And kinda rundown. But I’m alive. Thanks to Sierra.”

  “She seemed pretty upset when she called to tell me you were sick.”

  I nod. “I guess things looked bad for a while. It’s weird having someone care like that.”

  “So I take it you’re staying in Summer Hill?”

  “I am,” I say casually. I’m never fucking leaving this place unless Sierra and our child come with me. Wherever she is—wherever they are—is where I’m meant to be. It’s home. “I never thought I’d end up here.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  “You and Sierra are the only ones who think that.”

  Josh raises an eyebrow. “Her family likes you though, right?”

  “Hah,” I say with a snort of laughter, causing Noah to stir. I shush him back to sleep. “I’ll just say they’re not my biggest fans. I have no trust fund or background in farming. I’m their
last pick for Sierra.”

  Josh shakes his head. “I don’t get people like that. You two are happy together, right? Isn’t that enough?”

  “You’d think so.”

  “Take care of yourself, man,” I say to Jax and hand him his bag. Heat from the sun melts down on us, and mosquitos swarm around my face. I swat them away, squinting in the bright light. “Don’t get killed.”

  “Rule number one,” Jax says with a toothy grin. “Same goes for you. It seems pretty dangerous here.” He raises his eyebrows and looks out at the water. “There aren’t crocodiles in there, are there?”

  “Alligators,” I correct. “You’re going to fucking Florida. You should know that shit. And no. Sierra said it’s too cold for them up here, thankfully. Those fuckers freak me out.”

  “You and me both.”

  The taxi bumps along the country road, pulling into The Mill House parking lot. Jax claps me on the back, giving a curt nod before getting into the cab. His plan is to go visit his mistress in Miami for a few days before heading up north again. Mason, another bounty hunter, has been keeping an eye out for the Haynes brothers, who are after Jax’s head. He hasn’t seen them lately, making Jax think they gave up and moved on to something else, but I think they’re pissed enough to not let this go anytime soon.

  A few months ago, the bank repossessed their matching pair of foreign sports cars and Jax tracked them down to collect on the cash. Since there were two cars, I drove one while he drove the other, taking them back to the dealership. The brothers, who owned a nightclub, weren’t happy. The matching cars, however douchy, were their pride and joy, and made them look legit when they pulled up to their club.

  Having their cars taken back by the bank was an ego blow, plus proved that their club wasn’t doing as well as they claimed. Too stupid to understand that by not paying, they lost their cars, they blamed Jax, and think he still has the cars just sitting in a garage somewhere.

  Once Jefferson gets back from Europe, he’ll get the proper paperwork along with a restraining order against the brothers. It’s the simplest way to get assholes off our case. Matt Jefferson is a lawyer turned state judge who resides in Indianapolis. Jax and I helped him out when his teenage daughter decided to have a party on their family boat, resulting in her twenty-three-year-old boyfriend ‘borrowing’ the boat, two jet skis, and a brand new Chevy Silverado to pull it with. He doesn’t understand what we do but appreciates it. The law can only go so far, and I wish we had more politicians like him…or maybe not.

  Once Jax is gone, I go into the apartment and grumble at the mess. Even when we were working the same jobs, I could never live with Jax. He’s too much of a fucking pig. Not long into cleaning, I start to feel shitty. The skin around my incision is tight and itchy, and I’m overall tired. I lay down in my bed, and with the river in the background, I pass out, not waking again until Sierra calls me on her way home from work.

  “Lisa wants to get drinks tonight,” she says, panic-stricken. “I can’t drink or sit in a smoky bar.”

  “Tell her to come here,” I suggest. “Sit in the restaurant side where there’s no smoking. I’ll make you something with no alcohol and she’ll never know.”

  “That’s a good idea. But you can’t work yet.”

  “I can help out for a bit while you two are here at least.”

  “You sound like you just woke up,” she says, and I hear her start her car. “Are you feeling okay? The doctor said to be on the lookout for signs of the infection coming back.”

  “I was asleep. Jax left and I had to clean up his fucking mess. I laid down and fell asleep.”

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “Nah, it’s fine. When are you going out?”

  “Seven. We’ll go to The Mill House. Stay there and get some sleep. I’ll bring you dinner at six. And Chase?”

  “Yeah?”

  “That picture you sent me of you holding baby Noah…I know we said we’d take a few days to really talk about it but I already know. I knew as soon as I saw that second pink line, actually.”

  “What do you know?” I ask, needing to hear her say it out loud.

  “That I, without a doubt, want to keep this baby.”

  I’m grinning ear to fucking ear. “Me too.”

  “These would normally be served in a copper mug,” I tell Sierra and Lisa. “This bar is not equipped for hipster drinks, apparently.”

  Sierra laughs. “I’m not surprised.”

  “It’s strong, you’ll probably only want one,” I say, making sure Lisa hears. The less Sierra drinks, the better. It’ll lessen the chance of her getting caught sans alcohol. “I’ll come back and see if you need a refill though.”

  “I like that you’re fucking the bartender.” Lisa takes a big drink. “We get to drink for free.”

  Sierra shakes her head. “Don’t work too long. I mean it. You’re supposed to take two to three weeks off.”

  It’s Friday night, and we’re busy. “I’ll stay behind the bar. I won’t move around too much then.”

  Sierra stares at me flatly. “I’ve seen the bar. And you behind it. You’re on your feet the whole time.” She takes another drink then makes a face, hand going to her stomach.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I have cramps again.”

  “I hate that,” Lisa groans. “You’re so lucky you have a penis,” she tells me.

  I nod, hiding the concern on my face. Sierra’s been having cramps on and off for a week now. She thought it was her oncoming period before, but now that we know she’s pregnant, it’s freaking me out. Cramps can’t be a good thing. I tried to keep her from Googling her symptoms because nothing good comes from that, though according to the internet, slight cramps like she’s been feeling aren’t anything to worry about.

  Sierra’s friends Katie and Bella come to The Mill House not long after, and are trying to get Sierra and Lisa to sit at the bar and then dance. Not consuming alcohol is easy enough, but avoiding the smokers at the bar isn’t possible. Sierra meets my eye across the room, smiling and putting her hand over her stomach. I smile back as I bring drinks to another group of young women.

  Cory is getting a better handle on running solo but is still struggling. I’m glad Jax was able to come down here this past week and lend a hand. I take a tray of drinks to Sierra’s table, hoping I can keep her friends happy with being away from the main part of the bar for a while longer.

  Katie and Bella are drunk already, and ohh and ahh when I give Sierra a kiss. I slide into the booth next to Sierra for a minute, wanting to get my fix of her and needing to get off my feet for a minute.

  “You still should go lay down,” Sierra tells me, resting her hand on my thigh. “Before you overdo it.”

  “I’m fine,” I assure her. “I need to get back to my routine in order to feel better.”

  “I’m not going to get you to listen, am I?”

  “Nope.”

  She rolls her eyes and squeezes my thigh.

  “You guys are like the cutest couple ever,” Katie slurs. She drunkenly points at Sierra. “You’re like the prettiest, and he’s seriously hot. Physically, you look good together. And mentally, you look happy.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Bella giggles. “You can’t see someone’s mental…mentalness.”

  “But she looks happy.”

  Bella considers her words. “Yeah. She does. You do look happy, Sierra.”

  Her friends start to gush again, and I almost don’t hear what’s going on behind us. Almost.

  “Where’s the big guy?” someone demands.

  “I…I don’t know,” Cory stammers. I turn, not in the mood for a fucking bar fight. But what I see isn’t some drunk getting agitated. It’s the Haynes brothers. Both of them, surrounding Corey, fists clenched, looking pissed off as fuck.

  “Shit,” I mutter and get up.

  “He was here yesterday,” one of the brothers says. They’re not twins, but they’re both bi
g, ugly brutes. “We saw him.”

  “He…he left. I don’t know where he went.” Corey’s eyes dart to me. Fuck.

  The bigger of the two whips around. I only saw them once before this, but I never forget a face. Beady blue eyes, spiked blonde hair, too-tight polo shirt with the collar up, and enough cologne to choke a horse…classic asshole apparel.

  “I know you,” he says, narrowing his eyes. “You fucking stole my car!”

  I roll my eyes. “I didn’t steal your car. I wouldn’t want it anyway. I’m a Ford guy.”

  “Jay!” Big Haynes calls to his brother. “Look who I fucking found.”

  Jay’s there in seconds, glowering at me. “Where are the fucking cars?”

  I shrug. “Probably in the garage of someone who could actually afford them.”

  At that, Big Haynes takes a swing. I catch his fist and twist his arm behind his back. Country music blares from the speakers above us, but a hush falls over those around me. They step back, anticipating a fight.

  “Easy now.” I twist his arm hard, knowing it hurts. “You’re not starting shit in my bar,” I hiss. “Get your brother and get the fuck out before I kick both your asses and take whatever piece of shit you drove here.”

  “Give us the fucking cars.”

  “I don’t have them,” I say through gritted teeth and shove him into the bar top. “You lost them when you stopped making payments. The dealership took them back, dumbass. If you want the legalities of it, take it up with the judge who signed off on it. Now get the fuck out of here.”

  “Fine,” Big Haynes grunts. I let go of his arm and step back, ready for him to come at me again. He gives his brother a look, and he nods. They storm out of the bar, tension hanging in the air.

  Corey looks at me, unblinking. “You’re kind of my hero,” he half jokes. “Those guys were looking for Jax…who are they?”