Not Alone

by Amber Nation

  Corbin’s face was turning crimson, as I realized the air was being forced out of him. Grady was quickly losing control and my feet were rooted to the floor. I was so shocked by the whole ordeal that I couldn’t move and I couldn’t speak.

  Grady continued to growl at Corbin, but his voice was so low and sinister, I couldn’t understand what was coming out of his mouth. Tessa appeared and pulled me into a hug while Brock and Mikey rushed to pull the men apart. Finally, Tim and Mark, the Security guys hired to help out on Friday and Saturday nights, came over to escort Corbin off of the property. Everything wrapped up in a blur and I expelled the breath I was apparently holding.

  Grady turned in my direction and his eyes were murderous. Then he blinked and they appeared to soften towards me. He took a calming breath as he approached me, “Emmalynne…” He started to say something then apparently thought better of it while he swiped his thumb across my jaw in an intimate gesture.

  “I’m fine,” I lie.

  Honestly, I was anything but fine. My buzz had been quickly diminished as soon as Corbin grabbed my arms. I was definitely in need of more reinforcements, especially in the form of alcohol, than I needed to sleep for about a week. Corbin verbally and physically assaulted me. Was I supposed to be ok?

  “He has been thrown out and banned from the bar,” Tim, the muscular security guy, stated. His arm muscles bulged out of his shirt. He was so muscular it was almost frightening. I certainly never wanted to cross him.

  “I think we need to be looking for a new bass player. He’s lucky I didn’t find him, stupid fuck,” Brock breathed. “I knew we shouldn’t have hired him; there was just something fucking creepy about him, but he is one hell of a bassist, so I overlooked it. I’m so sorry this happened Emmy.”

  Well, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought he earned a creepy status, and now, rightfully so.

  Chapter Nine

  Grady

  I could have killed that stupid fucker. It was pure fucking luck that I looked down the hallway for Emmalynne at that exact moment.

  Once I took in the scene before me, I lost it. My control flew right out the window. My vision clouded and red splotches appeared before my eyes, so I jumped over the counter to the bar and charged after that rat bastard.

  No man should put his hands on a woman in an act of violence.

  Ever.

  Period.

  I saw my dad do it to my mom many a time, until I grew up, lost control, and kicked his ass. I haven’t seen, or heard, from him since. My mother now lived in Michigan, happily married to Peter, husband number two. She deserved the best, and I mentally made a note to call and try to talk her into coming down for a visit.

  But no one puts their hands on my woman. Emmalynne may not know it yet but she was mine. The possessive and protective feeling was very new to me. I’d never had a possessive instinct towards a woman, much less one that I hardly knew.

  The Sheriff was called and I had not yet met him personally, but he seemed to know just about everyone in the bar. Brown County was on the smaller side, especially compared to many of the places I had been to throughout New York. I thought I would really enjoy living in a town where everyone knew everyone.

  Sheriff Mitchell agreed to take Emmalynne’s statement tomorrow, or rather later today since it was well past midnight, since she ended up drinking even more after her ordeal.

  Tessa kept shoving shots her direction and she just kept throwing them back. Finally, I had to intervene and cut her off, and the little spitfire wasn’t the least bit happy.

  “I promise I’m not that drunk. Besides, I just got attacked so I think a little or a lotta alcohol isn’t a problem in this situation.” She was, of course, talking very animatedly with her hands, waving them around. “See I can stand-.” She tried standing up from the bench at the bar. She failed. Leaning over the edge of the bar I saw her just sitting there on the floor without a care in the world. She was definitely drunk. “I’m just going to stay down here!” she murmured with a hiccup.

  Since it was nearing closing time, I let Toby, Brock, and Tessa know that I was taking Emmalynne home personally. With the tone I used, they didn’t put up a fight, which was for the best because in the end, I would’ve won.

  I made Tessa write down Emmalynne’s address and informed Uncle Mac that he was on his own.

  Getting Emmalynne into my truck proved to be no easy task. I scooped her up off the floor while Toby held the front door to the bar open for us. She instantly wrapped her arms around my neck and nestled her head onto my shoulder, and it just felt right. I got her settled into the cab of my truck and reached around her to buckle her seatbelt. I felt her tense and heard her sharp inhalation of breath. She was nervous around me, that I could tell when she bolted earlier, after asking me about the roses.

  Come to find out it was Corbin who had sent them. I overheard her tell Sheriff Mitchell, before he left, that he had asked her out last Friday and she turned him down. I didn’t know what was running through his mind earlier this evening but I was making it my business to keep Emmalynne safe.

  Following the directions that Tessa wrote for me, I heard Emmalynne let out a big sigh. “Emmalynne, you ok over there?”

  “No, Grady I’m not ok. I haven’t had sex in years. Did you hear me? YEARS! My husband was killed over five years ago and before that we hadn’t had sex in almost sixteen months. And now when a man is attracted to me, he turns out to be some psycho. Granted, I didn’t want to go out with him anyways, it just…blows,” she said in a serious tone, almost sounding melancholy. Not knowing what to make of this, I opted to keep my silence, which was a good thing because, she went on. “I’ve had men ask me out since Bryce’s death but not once have I wanted to say yes, that is until you.” She slapped her hand over her mouth, evidently not meaning to share that tidbit of information. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her head against the cool window.

  To know that I was the first person since her husband to break through that outer shell of, hers made me feel fucking fantastic. Now to concentrate on the deeper layers.

  Pulling up into her driveway, I noticed her house was a nice modern bungalow, decked out in flowers of every color with a porch swing. It was something I would have pictured Emmalynne living in.

  I got out of the cab and walked around opening the passenger door. I had to hold back a laugh as Emmalynne had half of her purse dumped out on her lap, looking for what I suspected was her damn house keys. Women and their purses, I will never understand.

  “Ah ha,” she squealed excitedly. “I found them!” She had lost all sense of decorum and was back to giddy.

  “Why do you carry so much junk with you? It just seems kind of pointless.”

  She snapped her head up to me, looking almost offended. “Pointless? You never know when you may need something and I almost always have it,” she muttered as she shoved all of her shit back into her Mary Poppins bag.

  I tried helping her down from my truck but she wasn’t having it. “I can get down all on my own,” she announced as she successfully hopped down with her left leg slightly buckling. She seemed to favor that leg, overcompensating with her right. I ended up going against her wishes and taking her arm, leading her towards her front door.

  “Give me your keys, sweetheart,” I said while holding my free hand out to her. She placed them into my hand and I unlocked her door, stepping inside with her. She turned on the light and slid her shoes from her feet while setting down her purse on the edge of her couch.

  She turned around, fiddling with the bottom edge of her shirt. She looked up at me with her bottom lip tucked between her teeth, her eyes wary. She was nervous again, but seeing her nibble on her lip made me want to take her, here and now. “Thank you for bringing me home, Grady. And for coming to my rescue, I appreciate it.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” I had to get out of there and fast.

  “Oh yeah, right, for our date.” She ste
pped towards me and closed her eyes, her tongue darting out to lick her lips then puckering them. She wanted to kiss me. That made my pants grow even tighter and I wanted nothing more than to explore every inch of that amazing mouth. Those lips were all pouty and sexy, but she wasn’t totally coherent. And as much as I wanted to, and lord did I want to, I wasn’t going to take advantage of her like that. So I leaned into her and kissed her forehead, the smell of her shampoo hitting me like a brick, Vanilla and Mint. I exhaled as I took a step back and, she immediately opened her eyes, her expression pained.

  “I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” she murmured as she turned to walk away. Then she let out a scream. “OUCH, SON OF A BITCH!” She started hobbling around on one leg while holding the other in her hands. I ran to her and helped her sit on the couch.

  “What? What happened?” I asked.

  “Lego,” was all she said, like I was automatically supposed to know what the hell that meant. She saw my inquisitive look and my raised brow. “I stepped on one of Tucker’s Legos. Ugh, I wouldn’t wish that on my own worst enemy. Well, let me rephrase that, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone besides Corbin. Ugh, it hurts,” she moaned through clenched teeth, and started repeating “ow, ow.”

  “I don’t know how many times I’ve told that boy to pick up his Legos after he is finished playing with them, but I guess it went in one ear and out the other. And he made me cuss.”

  It was actually pretty cute seeing her all flustered over stepping on a Lego. Who knew if it was actually as bad as she is making it out to be, but I was in no hurry to find out if that held true.

  Kiss failure long forgotten, Emmalynne laid down on the couch, legs stretched out. “I’m feeling dizzy,” she grimaced.

  “Well, it could be from all of those shots of Tequila Tessa kept feeding you, they don’t call it ‘To kill ya’ for nothing” I said with a chuckle.

  “Shut it smartass…I’m sorry that was rude. Wow, I am all kinds of rude when I’m drunk, and I’m cussing like a flipping sailor. That’s unusual for me,” she explained while placing her hand to her head.

  Moving towards the kitchen I said, “I’ll find some Tylenol and water for you, be right back.”

  Taking in her immaculate kitchen, I noticed everything looked to be in place and she had two industrial sized ovens. She seemed to really be passionate about her baking. Her kitchen was painted in a soft orange. It suited the warmth of Emmalynne. Rooting around in her cabinets, I found a glass and filled it with water from her sink. I went down the hallway, to what I thought would have been the bathroom, but instead found Tucker’s room. He was really into superheroes. And he didn’t seem to be lacking for toys. Emmalynne seemed like a good mother, and I couldn’t wait to get to know her better tomorrow.

  I finally located the bathroom and the Tylenol. Taking three out of the bottle, I turned off the light and headed back into the living room. The sight before me caused my breath to hitch. Emmalynne had fallen asleep, hands tucked in under her cheek, she was absolutely beautiful almost, angelic.

  Sometimes when you met someone you just knew that they were the one. I would bet all the riches in the world that she was my one.

  I grabbed the blanket she had spread out on the back of her recliner and laid it over her resting body. Sweeping my hand over her hair, I planted a light kiss on her forehead. “Sleep well, sweet Emmalynne.”

  I made sure her house was locked up, turned off the light and settled into her recliner for what was going to be a long night of watching Emmalynne sleep, but I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

  Chapter Ten

  Emmalynne

  Goodness gracious, I thought to myself, did I leave the blinds open in my room? Slowly opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings. I was in my living room, on my couch. How did I get here? Then it all came rushing back to me: playing at Finnegan’s last night, Corbin attacking me, me getting drunk, me talking about sex to Grady, me trying to kiss Grady.

  OH MY GOD!!

  Kill. Me. Now.

  Sitting up, apparently way too fast, I put my hand to my head. “Whoa, holy headache batman,” I moaned aloud.

  Stretching out, I tried to stand up but found it more difficult than usual. My left leg was throbbing profusely. Trying to think back, I couldn’t recall doing anything to hurt it. I walked into the kitchen to switch on my coffee maker. Making coffee and getting Tylenol were definitely at the top of my list of things to do at the moment. After that I’d be calling Toby and Tessa for reinforcements.

  On my counter I noticed a glass of water, three Tylenol, and a note:

  Emmalynne,

  Take these when you get up. Your van is in the driveway. I had Uncle Mac bring it by early this morning. I have things to do around the bar since I’ll be off tonight. Be ready at 5 and I’ll pick you up here. We will go visit Sheriff Mitchell before our date tonight.

  -Grady

  He slept at my house last night? I was surprised we were still on for tonight, since he totally blew off my kiss. Geez what a joke I am. He probably was just keeping it to be nice.

  Finding my purse on the floor by the couch, I dug through it to try and find my cell phone. After I called Bryce’s parents to see how Tucker was doing I called Tessa.

  “Hey girlie,” she said just a little too chipper.

  “Um, how in the world are you among the living?” I asked. “You drank more than me last night and I was more than a little drunk.”

  “Girl, I work in a bar, in case you’ve forgotten. I know how to hold my liquor,” she replied. “So spill. How did things go with Grady once y’all left?”

  “Well, at least I didn’t puke. That’s about the only positive to last night. But apparently I still have a date tonight, and I haven’t gone on a date since my junior year of high school, and I don’t know what to do or wear or…”

  Tessa cut me off. “I’ll call Toby and we’ll be there in an hour.” Then she abruptly hung up leaving me with dead air.

  Since it was only eleven, I decided to eat some toast before I took a shower. Once I finished eating, I took my time standing underneath the hot steamy spray, hopefully to ease some of the tension from last night.

  Why would Corbin attack me? Sure I turned him down, but it wasn’t like I was a bitch to him, that’s just not me. Obviously he has some issues and is in dire need of help. I didn’t even know if he was arrested, how was that for observation? Daughter of the ex-Sheriff and I didn’t even know if the man who attacked me had been arrested. Well, if not than I was definitely going to press charges.

  I didn’t even want to think about Grady right now. I knew the only solutions I would come up with to explain why he dodged my kiss would be negative, so I’d just sort that out with Toby and Tessa.

  Getting out the shower, I wrapped my towel around my body and moved towards the mirror. While swiping my hand over the mirror, trying to clear off some of the condensation caused by my steamy shower, I noticed a mark on my arm. Looking fully in the mirror, I saw marks on each of my upper arms, marks in the shape of fingers. Fingers that dug into my skin. Fingers that belonged to Corbin. I hated him even more in that moment.

  After getting dressed in a pair of plain jeans and a t-shirt that said I like big books and I cannot lie, I headed into the kitchen to bake. Baking was my stress reliever. Some people exercised, I baked. While gathering ingredients to make an apple pie, my phone rang, and looking at the screen, I saw that it was my dad.

  “Hi, Daddy,” I answered “How are you?”

  “What’s this I hear about you getting roughed up at Finnegan’s last night?”

  The thing about living in a small town, not even to mention being the daughter of the Ex-Sheriff, everyone knew everyone else’s business. You couldn’t pick up a pregnancy test at the corner drugstore without the whole town knowing within the hour. That was just how it was in Brown County. Normally I loved it, but in this situation it was debatable.

  “Yes, daddy. The base player for the band attacked me. I th
ink he was upset with me since I turned him down for a date last week. I didn’t do anything to provoke it. I’ll be heading to the station early this evening to press charges and to give Sheriff Mitchell my statement,” I informed him.

  “Emmalynne, did you at least try and fight him off?”

  Coming to the realization that I didn’t, I knew that answer wouldn’t bode well with my father. He had made it his mission in life to teach me several different self-defense moves, and I was even an excellent shot.

  “Well, your silence says it all. Emmy, I’m glad to hear you are alright, but you should’ve punched the motherfucker, or at least kneed him in the balls. If anything would’ve happened to you…” I heard the hitch in his voice.

  “I’m okay, daddy,” I tried reassuring him. “It didn’t even occur to me that my fight or flight instinct hadn’t kicked in. I was just so terrified.”

  “I know, baby doll. But just the thought of it kills me. We lost your mom when you were so young and then I almost lost you five years ago. I just don’t know what I would do. You and Tucker are all I have left.” His soft, breathy tone brought tears to my eyes.

  Trying to fight them from falling I continued reassuringly, “I know daddy. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” Wanting to lighten the mood I went on to say, “I have a date tonight!” Trying to sound upbeat, not knowing whether this date was still a good thing since I had made a major fool of myself.

  “I heard. It’s with Mac Finnegan’s nephew, right? Heard he’s a pretty good boy. Army Veteran.”

  Oh wow. I didn’t even know that. That just goes to show how little I knew about Grady Finnegan, and there I went and tried to kiss him. Stupid. Stupid.

  “Well, daddy I’m getting ready to bake an apple pie and I need to call and check on the store before Toby and Tessa come over. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Bye daddy.”