Keith was about to get up to check on her when the sound of laughter made him stop short. He let out a breath and relaxed back into the couch when he heard Sara join in. She was still in the house and wasn't in tears, so that was a good sign. A few minutes later, Sara came through the door behind Angie and started gathering up the rest of the dishes off the table. As soon as she came fully into the room she saw him watching her and gave him a smile.
"Everything okay in there?" he asked. "What was so funny?"
"Yes, everything's fine," Sara answered quickly and ducked her head, but not before he saw the blush on her cheeks.
She hadn't answered his second question, but he didn't press. She was still here and seemed to finally be enjoying herself, and he wasn't about to ruin that.
"We'll bring dessert out in a few minutes after we load up the dishwasher, and then you guys can help wash the pots and pans," Angie called over her shoulder as the girls filed back into the kitchen, their arms loaded with dishes.
"I better go make some room then," his father announced before he headed down the hall towards the bathroom.
"I'm glad Angie wasn't in here to hear Dad say that," Kevin snorted. "She'd have flipped."
"He does have a certain way about him, doesn't he," Keith replied, chuckling. His dad was never going to win any awards for his manners or conversational skills, but he was a good guy deep down.
"So what happened with Sara?" Kevin asked, taking a swig of beer. He kept his eyes on the television, but Keith knew he had his brother's full attention. Kevin just didn't want to make it seem like he was concerned, even though he was.
"We're okay. There was just an issue that needed to be addressed, and I did right before we came over, though now I think I should have waited until tonight."
"That's your call to make, brother. I think it depends on the seriousness of the situation. If it was really important, then I think you deal with it right away." Kevin paused, "But with today being a holiday, I may have waited. Tough call. Though she seems better now."
"Yeah, she does." Keith mulled it over for a second, but decided he'd made the right decision. Even though she'd been miserable for a while, that was part of the point of punishing her, wasn't it? Correcting her behavior and providing an incentive for her to do the right thing going forward. He'd made the rule and it was his job to enforce it. Unfortunately, she just happened to break it the night before a holiday.
"How are things going with you two?" Kevin asked.
"Good. We're taking things slowly and getting to know each other. With Carter involved, neither of us wants to rush in and then have it not work out."
"That's good." Kevin looked like he wanted to say something else, but was hesitating to ask for some reason.
"Just spit out it. I know you want to say something else."
Kevin actually looked sheepish, but finally spoke, "I know I wasn't sure about Sara at first, but I've changed my mind. She makes you happy and is good with Carter, so I hope it works out for you guys."
"Me too, brother. Me too."
Chapter 9
The next month flew by for Sara as her schoolwork grew increasingly more difficult and she and Keith started getting to know each other on a more personal level. Instead of only sticking around for a few minutes after he came home from work, now she stayed for hours. Sometimes she held off on eating dinner so they could have a meal together.
She found that in addition to being ridiculously handsome and a great father, Keith was also funny and kind. He loved his brother and Angie like crazy and spent time with them any chance he could. Sara went with him a few times for dinner and had a ton of fun with the other couple.
Thankfully, they hadn't heard a word from Molly. Sara froze every time her phone rang and prayed it wasn't her cousin. She didn't know what she'd say when Molly did call, and Molly would eventually, but Sara knew she wasn't going to be extending any invitations to her to come by for a visit. Ever again.
Their relationship was progressing smoothly, with only one small hitch. Keith wanted her to move in, even if it was into his spare bedroom. He argued that he'd always intended that the nanny position be a 'live in' one, and it shouldn't matter that they were dating now.
Sara felt differently. Moving in together was too big a step after only dating for eight weeks, and she was afraid that it would be too much, too soon. He might get sick of her, or think she was annoying if she was around all the time. Plus, she wasn't ready to get rid of her grandmother's house, though if Keith knew how bad the neighborhood was at night, he probably would insist. He hated that she drove home so late to an empty house, and often talked her into spending the night when they lost track of time.
He just couldn't understand her refusal even though she'd tried to explain it to him a hundred times. Finally, two days ago, he'd agreed to give them another month before revisiting the issue. It was the holidays and she didn't want to discuss it again until after the first of the year. Of course, now that Keith had backed off she found herself wishing he pushed harder.
Especially given her current situation.
She'd arrived home after some last minute shopping on her evening off. Keith called earlier asking her to come over, but Sara declined, needing to use her free time to finally pick up presents for the two men in her life. Carter was easy, needing only one stop at the toy store to get everything she wanted for him. Keith was more difficult, but she thought she'd done well purchasing a mix of the practical and fun. A big box of socks and underwear and a case of the expensive beer he enjoyed, but rarely bought himself. Some new long sleeved t-shirts, and tickets to a hockey game for him and his brother. Sara hoped she hadn't gone overboard, but, surveying the bags covering the bed in the spare room, she knew she should have stuck to her list. Not that she regretted it. Keith was worth every penny, and now that she'd had a few hours on her own to think, she'd decided she would move in with him after the first of the year.
Unfortunately, she now found herself hiding in her bedroom closet, wishing she hadn't been so stubborn, while two intruders were about to ransack her home. At least she thought there were only two, but there could possibly be more that were actually trying to be quiet. The two she was sure of were stomping around the first floor like a herd of elephants.
They'd woken her out of deep sleep twenty minutes ago when they entered her home through the back door, sounding like they fell over the last step. The noise had her wide-awake in seconds, straining her ears to hear through her closed bedroom door. Luckily they weren't even attempting to be quiet.
"Don't worry, the girl isn't home," a grizzled male voice slurred, obviously intoxicated. "Let's see what she's got for dinner tonight."
Sara let out half a breath when recognition dawned, though that didn't stop her from jumping out of bed and racing to her closet to hide. That was Stinky Sam from down the street. He spent his days gathering enough cans and bottles to get him his nightly fifth of vodka. And apparently he broke into her house at least once a week looking for food.
It had been happening for the last three weeks, always on a Sunday night, which she and Keith generally spent together since he was off. When she stopped home after school on Monday afternoon she'd found dirty footprints on the kitchen floor and food missing from the fridge. Nothing else was disturbed. Sara suspected one of the local bums, and even though it made her nervous, she couldn't bring herself to call the police. Or tell Keith. Each week she promised herself that next time she'd report the break in, but failed every time.
Now he was in her house and she was home, and he'd apparently brought a friend. Why in the world hadn't she told someone? Thinking about the fact someone broke into her home was bad enough, but actually being there while it was happening? That was terrifying!
"I told you she had good food," Sam said. It sounded like he had a mouth full of something and Sara cringed at the thought of the mess he was likely making.
"Yeah, she's got good food," the other man agreed in a cold, sharp v
oice that made the hairs on the back of Sara's neck stand up. That man wasn't your friendly neighborhood bum who she'd known her whole life. He didn't sound like a good-natured drunk.
That was the voice of a dangerous man. One she didn't want in her house, and she certainly didn't want him to know she was there. "What else she got in here?"
His last words, spoken from the living room right below her, propelled Sara right off that fence she'd been sitting on debating whether to call the police. She'd grabbed her cell phone on the short trip from her bed to the closet, but had been struggling with whether to make that call. If it was only Sam, and he ate and left, she probably wouldn't have, but hearing that other man had her dialing 911 in a heartbeat.
She kept half an ear on the argument going on downstairs between Sam and his friend while she relayed her situation to the operator, begging them to hurry. Sam was trying to get the man to eat his sandwich and leave, but the other guy wanted to check out the rest of the house. Hopefully Sam would be able to talk the man out of it with his claims that his weekly meal would be ruined. The friend thought they could make enough money selling Sara's stuff that it would make up for Sam's loss.
The two went at it for a good five minutes, stopping to go back to the kitchen and get something else to eat mid-way. They sounded like two old ladies arguing over where to go for their weekly bingo game, and Sara would have laughed if she wasn't scared out of her mind. Finally, after what felt like forever, she heard sirens in the distance. That wasn't unusual in this neighborhood and neither man paid the noise any attention, until the police were suddenly in the house, making arrests.
Time sped up once the danger was removed and the next hour was a whirlwind of explaining what happened, including the three prior break-ins by Sam, and inspecting her house to see if they'd taken or damaged anything else.
The cops looked at her funny when she admitted she knew Sam was entering her house and stealing food. Well, actually they told her she was nuts. That she'd been foolish and put herself in danger by allowing it to continue. She tried to explain that Sam wouldn't hurt her, she wasn't home any of the other times, and she couldn't bring herself to get him in trouble, but the officer taking her statement just shook his head and mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'death wish.'
When they were finally done taking her statement, and fingerprinting every inch of the kitchen, she locked the door behind their retreating backs, but her measly doorknob lock did nothing to make her feel safe. She felt betrayed by Sam that he'd bring a stranger into her house, even though that was ridiculous. She was nothing, but a free meal for him, and all her kind feelings and loyalty were undeserved and not reciprocated. Who knew how many other people he'd told about her house, and how easy it was to break into? The cops had pointed out that in situations like this, word on the street would spread that her place was an easy mark and that she should probably find somewhere else to stay until she upgraded her locks. She'd scoffed at the idea while they were here, four large men with guns crowding her kitchen.
Now that she was alone, it was a different story. There was no way in hell she'd be able to sleep there tonight. Or probably the next few if she was being completely honest.
There was only one place she knew she could go, and as much as she hated to do it, she picked up her phone and called Keith to see if she could stay with him for a while.
* * * * *
Sara's call at two-thirty in the morning had Keith's blood running cold. He wished he could race over to her house and rescue her, but Sara didn't want him to wake Carter up unnecessarily. What he really wished was that Sara had called him earlier, so he could have called his brother and asked him to come over and then Keith could have been there to help her deal with the police.
He'd never been to her house, which in hindsight was odd, but with Carter here, there'd never really been an opportunity, or need, to go to her home. On the nights they had to themselves, they went out, or over to Kevin and Angie's house, then came back to Keith's to relieve the sitter and go to bed. She'd never asked if they could sleep at her house, and he'd never thought to mention it either.
Now he wondered if it was because she didn't want him to see where she lived. He knew her address and had a vague idea of where the street was located. He also knew it was in a middle class neighborhood on the decline, but he didn't think it was so bad that robberies occurred in the middle of the night when people were home. Normally Keith didn't have any reason to drive through that area, even though it was only about 15 minutes away. That would be rectified first thing tomorrow on his way to work.
It took Sara almost a half an hour to get there, and Keith spent the entire time pacing the living room, peeking out the front window every five minutes to keep watch. She'd said she had to pack a bag so he knew it would take her that long, but every second he didn't have her in his arms was sheer agony. He didn't know if she was hurt or just scared. Sure she'd told him she was fine over the phone, but he could tell that was a lie. All he knew was that someone broke into her house while she was sleeping. Did they threaten her? Touch her? He fought the urge to put his fist through a wall, instead doing another lap across the front of the house.
If only she'd agreed to move in when he asked a month ago. He'd tried not to put too much pressure on her, but right this moment he wished he would have gone over to her house and packed her shit up himself, despite her protests that it was too soon. He'd accepted her excuse that they needed more time as a couple before committing to living together, even though he'd always intended that whomever took the job of caring for Carter would live in his house. The fact they were dating didn't change anything in his mind. She'd have her own room and, really, they spent almost all their free time together anyway. Tonight was a rare exception, and one he regretted.
Finally headlights splashed through the window, bathing the living room in white light for a brief second before plunging Keith back into darkness. He turned on the front light so she didn't slip and fall in the snow on her way in, and opened the door to find her dragging a large suitcase up the front walk with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She looked tired and worn down, and very relieved to see him.
"Hey, baby, you okay?" he asked, taking the suitcase from her hand when she reached the front steps.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Much better now that I'm here with you." She followed him into the house and dropped her backpack with a thud. "There's a bunch of other stuff in the car, but let's get it tomorrow."
"How long are you staying?" Keith asked, then instantly wished he could take it back. He wanted her to stay, not think he was trying to get rid of her.
"A few days, if that's okay?" she asked, looking unsure of herself. "Maybe until after the holidays? I brought all the presents I bought with me."
"You know I want you to stay forever," Keith said, pulling her into his arms. "I want to know everything that happened, but you look exhausted so let's just get to bed. We can talk in the morning. Do you have class or an exam?"
"Neither," she replied, snuggling her head into his neck. "Classes are done and I just have two more exams later in the week. Though I do need to study."
"You'll have lots of time to study when Carter is napping." He helped her take off her heavy winter coat and hung it on a hook by the door, then pulled her down the hall to his bedroom. "We're going to sleep now, and in the morning you're going to tell me everything."
She hesitated a moment before answering, bending over to take off her sneakers so Keith couldn't see her face. Sara wasn't very good at keeping things from him, not that she tried too often, but these were clear signs that there was more to the story that she didn't want to tell.
Or maybe she was uncomfortable sleeping in his bed, but at this point he didn't care. Even down the hall was too far way with the way he felt right now. He needed to know she was close and hold her while they slept.
"Sounds good," she finally replied on a yawn, stripping off her sweatpants, leaving he
r in just an oversized t-shirt. "Thank you, honey. I really appreciate you getting up in the middle of the night and taking me in. I don't know what I would've done without you."
"You don't have to thank me, baby. You know I've wanted you here for a while and I'll do anything for you." He stopped her just as she was about to crawl into bed and turned her to face him. "And I know you're leaving something out, so you better be ready to tell me the truth tomorrow."
Her eyes slid to the side and she took a deep breath before meeting his determined gaze. "I will, Keith, I promise."
"Okay, sweetheart." He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss. "Get into bed and get some rest."
Keith turned out the light and circled the bed to get in on his side, worried about what the morning would bring. Sara hadn't exactly said she was hiding something, but she didn't deny it either. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what she had to say. Not one little bit.
Chapter 10
Sara woke abruptly, shaking from the dream she'd just had, and found herself in bed alone. The alarm clock read ten o'clock, much later than she normally slept, though she didn't feel well rested at all. She'd woken several times, thinking she'd heard something. Each time Keith held her tighter and assured she was safe, that he was there to protect her.
He'd been wonderful; equal parts loving, caring and kind. She couldn't ask for more in a boyfriend. Though now that Sara had to face him and admit that she'd kept the break-ins from him while refusing to move into his house, she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed.
Sara hadn't been spanked since Thanksgiving and she had a feeling this time would be much worse. They'd talked about what they both expected from the relationship, and one of the few things Keith demanded was that she keep herself safe. And that they be honest with each other. She hadn't lied exactly, though she was sure he'd think she was splitting hairs and that keeping something that important from him qualified as dishonesty.
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