Brides on the Run (Books 1-4): Small-Town Romance Series

by Jami Albright

A small smile pushed at the corners of her lips. “Charlie’s mischievous best friend gave her the stripper’s number. Of course, good, wholesome, Charlie had no idea.” Big blue eyes went round as saucers, and her delicate hand went to her chest. “You didn’t watch my show?”

  Her mock indignation made him chuckle. “Not if I could help it. No offense.”

  “None taken. I don’t blame you. Sometimes it was hard for me to watch. Despite my best efforts, the writing never really improved.”

  No, he hadn’t watched her show, but not for the reasons that she thought. It had nothing to do with the quality of the writing or acting, and everything to do with the beauty currently picking at her nail polish in the chair next to him. Even frazzled and scared, she still glowed. No wonder she’d been the darling of the Carousel Network. He smoothed his thumb over his phone screen. “Do you miss it?”

  “Not one little bit.” Her sober eyes confirmed the truth.

  “Really? There sure seem to be a lot of perks with that lifestyle.” He wouldn’t have wanted them, but he could see how appealing they would be.

  She uncurled her feet from the chair and shrugged. “For every perk, there’s an equal or worse drawback.”

  “Like what?” Talking to her had regulated his jacked-up heart rate, and he just wanted to hear her voice.

  The sigh she released clearly said that she was only talking to keep his mind occupied. “There’s no privacy at all.”

  “I can see that, given the paparazzi we had swarming around town.”

  “It’s more than that though. There wasn’t one moment of the day that was just mine. There were always people around…until there weren’t. I’ve had my manager and publicist hold a meeting with me from the other side of the bathroom door while I had a stomach virus. There are no secrets. Someone knows where you are at all times, they know what size you are and if you ate a doughnut or not. There’s someone to keep track of what’s happening to you medically. Your social life is up for public consumption. Nothing is yours, not even your most private moments.”

  “I had no—”

  “And don’t get me started on the fans. Don’t get me wrong, most of them were great and the best part of the job, but some were just plain scary.”

  It was like once the damn broke, she couldn’t stop talking.

  “I had a mom trying to get me to sign an autograph while I was in a bathroom stall. She waved the paper and the pen under the wall. When I asked her to give me a minute, she went into the next stall and stood on the toilet so she could look over the top. And you can’t be rude and tell them to fuck off because the media is always one step behind you. So you smile and sign the autograph.”

  “Shit.”

  “That was nothing compared to the man who showed up on my front porch with a stack of DVDs he wanted signed. He was at my house. Thankfully, after the bathroom incident, the studio assigned me full-time security or I have no idea what the guy might’ve done.” She grabbed a hair tie from her pocket and pulled her hair back. “I know I sound like an ungrateful jerk. Poor little famous girl…”

  His blood pressure had started to rise again when she talked about some asshole showing up at her door. The things she described sounded horrible. “I don’t think you’re a jerk at all. It doesn’t sound like a life I’d want, and certainly not one a kid should have. What about your mom or your manager, the people who were supposed to protect you from all of that? What did they do?”

  She laughed, but the bitterness of it could’ve cut glass. “It’s not about protection, Hank. It’s about creating a commodity. Something they can sell to the public. Nobody wants the real you. They want who they create. You aren’t real, nothing is real, including the fame.” She covered her face with her hands. “Ugh. You don’t want to hear about my sad Hollywood story.”

  “Sure I do.” He squeezed her knee. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  “It wasn’t all bad. I liked that I had enough clout to do some good. I helped raise a lot of money for the Juvenile Diabetes Association with my hairdresser whose niece had the disease, and sometimes I got to visit kids in the hospital. I enjoyed those things.” She picked up a tattered magazine and flipped through it. “It’s just that that stuff didn’t outweigh the other.” The tabloid slapped the table when she dropped it.

  He didn’t know why she was opening up to him this way, but he didn’t want her to stop. “Yeah, but I bet the money’s nice.”

  “What money?”

  “Oh, shit. I forgot, sorry.”

  “It’s fine. But no, the money wasn’t nice. I never really got to enjoy it, and I lost my mother over it.” She threw her head back and made a frustrated sound. “I swear to you, Hank, Pod will not have a mother that sells him or her out to the highest bidder.”

  “Is that how you feel?”

  Her beautiful blue eyes landed on his face, and she was as serious as he’d ever seen her. “Yes.”

  He took her hand. She might rip it off, but he needed to offer her comfort the way she’d offered him comfort. “I’m so sorry, Charlie. Wait…Pod?”

  The pink tint on her cheeks made her even more beautiful. “It’s what I’ve been calling the baby. ’Cause it was no bigger than a pea pod when it was little.”

  He wished he’d been there with her in the beginning. Anger tried to flicker to life, but he squashed it down. He hadn’t been there because of his own ignorant self, and nothing else. “I like it. Pod it is.”

  “Well, just until we find out if it’s a boy or a girl. Then we’ll have to come up with a name.” Her hand covered the place his child grew. The enormity of the happiness and responsibility nearly floored him. How was it possible to love a person you’d never met? But that was the way of it. His heart belonged to the child growing inside the womb of the woman that owned him.

  His phone rang, and Derek’s name popped up onto the screen. “This is Hank.”

  “Hank, what the hell is going on? I have multiple messages from Hailey to call, but when I did, she didn’t answer.”

  “Lottie’s been in an accident.”

  “Is she alright?”

  Hank tunneled his fingers through his hair. “No.”

  “No? What does that mean?”

  At least his brother seemed to be concerned. “She fell and hit her head. It knocked her out, she regained consciousness, thank God, but right now she…”

  “She what?”

  “She can’t see, Derek.”

  There was dead silence on the phone.

  “Derek?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. What do the doctors say?”

  He transferred the phone to his other hand. “They just did a CT scan, and they’ll let us know if she has any bleeding or if there’s just swelling that is pressing on the optic nerve. According to Roxy, there’s a good chance that the blindness could only be temporary.”

  “Fuck.” Derek breathed out.

  “I know—”

  “What shit timing. I’m in Aruba with Ariel. This call is costing me a fortune.”

  Hank held the phone away from his ear. Surely he’d misunderstood his brother. “So this is an inconvenience?”

  “Hell, yeah, it’s inconvenient. I mean, we just got here.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Hank tried to keep his voice down, but it was a struggle. “I tell you that your daughter is blind because of a head injury and all you can worry about is how it screws with your schedule. You’re unbelievable.”

  “Fuck you!” Derek made no effort to keep the volume under control. “You have no idea what I’m dealing with.”

  “Oh, yeah, your life is hard. How can you not care about your daughter?”

  “I care, asshole. I just can’t be there. Do you know how hard that is for me?”

  The guy on the other end of the phone couldn’t possibly be related to him. He noticed several people glancing their way, so he lowered his head and spoke through gritted teeth. “You really are a piece of work. You’ve taken thi
s terrible thing that’s happened to your daughter and made it about you. I can’t deal with you anymore, and Hailey doesn’t need your shit either. If you want any more information, then talk to Mom.”

  “Fine. I don’t want to talk to you self-righteous people anyway.”

  Hank hung up. He couldn’t take one more minute of Derek’s bullshit. Maybe it was wrong for him to judge Derek, but he didn’t care. What kind of father would abandon his kid when they were so vulnerable?

  Would he be the same kind of father? Dread gripped him by the balls. He’d never be able to live with himself if he ended up like the other men in his family. He would not.

  “Hank?”

  Shit, he’d forgotten about Charlie. She’d witnessed the whole fiasco with his brother. “Yeah?”

  “Is there anything I can do?” She kept her hands to herself, probably because he seemed on the edge of exploding.

  He had to make her understand that he wasn’t going to be like the other men in his family when it came to their child. He grabbed her hand and looked directly into her eyes. “Charlie, I swear that I will never be like my brothers or my father when it comes to this child. I swear it.”

  She drew back with a confused frown. “Hank, I never… If you think that’s why I didn’t tell you, then you’re wrong.”

  His head was shaking before she finished her sentence. “I know why you didn’t tell me. I don’t like it, but I understand.”

  Her eyes were on their joined hands, and she nodded. “Okay. I don’t know what Derek said, but I can tell you that you’ve never been like him in any way. With all the uncertainty of this baby and our situation, you have to know that the only peace I’ve had is that you would be this Pod’s father because I knew you’d never let it down.”

  Relief spread through him like ice over a raging fire. The ring of truth relaxed his muscles, and he squeezed her hand. She believed he would be good for this baby. It was a start. Now he just had to convince the baby’s mama that he’d be good for her too.

  Chapter 44

  Hank drove through the empty streets of Zachsville at one in the morning. The only people out were his deputies or errant teenagers. Hailey had sent him, Charlie, and Roxanne home after Lottie regained her vision, and the doctors came back and said there was no bleeding, thank God. She did have a concussion, though, so they wanted to keep her overnight for observation.

  He hadn’t bothered calling his brother. A text was all that asshole got from him. His clipped reply indicated he felt the same way about Hank. Whatever. He was tired of trying to redeem his idiot brothers. He had his own redemption to worry about.

  Charlie hadn’t said two words since they left the hospital. The minute that Roxanne had told them about Lottie, and they’d gotten to see her, the woman next to him retreated behind the guarded wall she’d erected between them.

  He couldn’t take one more minute of silence. “What a night, huh?”

  “Yeah.” She gave him a watered-down version of her famous smile.

  “Scary to think how something as simple as two kids running could turn into that.”

  She rubbed her tired eyes. “Yes.”

  “What happened, Charlie?”

  “What are you talking about?” The words were said to the passenger side window.

  This was bullshit. “You’re a million miles away, but in the hospital, it was like it used to be. I want to know what changed.”

  A big huffing breath left her small body. “Hank, we were in the middle of a crisis. You were in pain, and so was I. I was only being a decent human being by offering comfort. Don’t read any more into it than that.”

  The woman knew exactly how to filet him, but it was obvious that she’d dug her heels in on this, and for right now he wasn’t going to change her mind. Time for a different tactic. “Fine. When’s your next doctor’s appointment?”

  “Next week, why?”

  He flipped on his blinker. “Because I want to go with you. I want to make sure my baby is healthy. Text me the date and time, and I’ll be sure to be available.”

  That got her attention. She was passive no more. “There’s no need for that, Hank. I’m perfectly capable of getting myself to the doctor and absorbing the information I need.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t say you weren’t. I just want to go with you.” He glanced at her. “You owe me.”

  Oh, she didn’t like that, if the fire in her glare and the color creeping into her cheeks were any indication.

  He only cocked a brow. She could argue all she wanted, but she knew he was right.

  “Fine.” She yanked out her phone and started to text, then stopped. “I don’t have your number.”

  “Well, that’s embarrassing, isn’t it? Here we have a baby together and we haven’t exchanged phone numbers.” He rattled off his number, and then his phone buzzed in his pocket, indicating a text. “Thank you.”

  They pulled into Wardell’s driveway, and he parked the car.

  “There’s no need for you to walk me to the door, Hank.” She gathered her purse from the floor. “It’s late, and I’m sure you need to get home.”

  Something in her demeanor told him not to argue with her. “Alright.” She opened the door, but just before she exited, he stopped her. “Don’t forget your gift.” He handed her the decorative bag with the antique door knob and key in it.

  She took it with two fingers like it was diseased. The tight-lipped grin she gave him cut him as deep as her statement earlier. The hopefulness he’d experienced in the hospital at her sweetness sifted through his fingers. He was losing her, and he had no idea how to get her back.

  Chapter 45

  With a notepad and pencil, Charlie wandered the building where The Emporium would be located. She and Scarlett were making notes before she talked to the contractor. The space was so perfect that the only things she’d have to add were some built-in shelves.

  Scarlett moved around the store opening the blinds. “What are you doing Sunday afternoon, Charlie?” Light streamed in and illuminated the dust floating and dancing on the air.

  Charlie measured a space next to the counter. “Nothing, why?”

  “We’re having a party for Jack and Luanne to celebrate their marriage.” She must’ve made a face because Scarlett hurried to say, “Just a few couples and some friends will be there. It’ll be fun. Please say you’ll come.”

  This was part of being in a community and having friends. Remember those? “I’d love to come. What can I bring?”

  “Only yourself. We’re throwing this party on a rock star budget. Of course, you’re probably used to that.”

  She shrugged noncommittally. Her partying life in Hollywood had been pretty much nonexistent due to the death grip her management team and Carousel always had on her. “I think a sink would be good right here, don’t you?”

  “A sink?” Scarlett asked.

  “Yes, I’d love to have a place where people can try some of the exfoliating soaps.” She gnawed her lower lip. “Do you think it’ll be very expensive to add the plumbing?”

  Scarlett shrugged. “I don’t know. You should get Marty the plumber over here to give you a bid. I would think if it was situated close to the bathroom, then it shouldn’t be too bad.”

  “Good idea. What’s Marty’s last name?”

  Her friend opened her mouth then closed it. “You know, I have no idea. Everyone’s just called him Marty the plumber for as long as I’ve known him.”

  Charlie laughed. “You’ve got to love a small town.” She scribbled Marty’s name on her pad. “Okay, Marty the plumber it is.”

  “Speaking of small towns, someone said they saw you and Hank at the hospital the other night.”

  Oh, for the love…

  She wouldn’t meet Scarlett’s curious stare. “Yes, Lottie had an accident.”

  “I heard. How is she?” Then sincerity in Scarlett’s voice made her less irritated about the Hank thing.

  “She’s got a pretty bad headache, a
nd she can’t go to school for a week, but she should be fine.”

  Scarlett smoothed her maternity shirt over her baby bump. “That’s a relief. Honey and I are taking dinner to Hailey tomorrow night.”

  Charlie rubbed her lower back. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

  “Now, let’s talk about you and Hank.” Scarlett flashed her an innocent smile.

  Charlie walked behind the counter just to put some distance between her and the question. “Not much to tell. We aren’t a couple.” She looked up from her list sheepishly. “But he is Pod’s father.”

  “Shut up!” Scarlett squealed.

  A snort escaped Charlie’s throat. “It’s true.”

  “How? I know Hank, and there’s no way he’d cheat on Karen.”

  Charlie knew that too and had forgiven him for the bad timing. “They were on a break.” She made quotes with her fingers.

  “So it happened before they got back together?”

  She gave up any pretense of working on her list. “Yes. Just before. Like the night before.”

  Scarlett’s hand went to her mouth. “Oh, no.”

  “Yep.” The mechanical pencil in her hand became very interesting. She twisted the end back and forth. “I saw a text from Karen the next morning stating she was in the lobby waiting for him.”

  “That must’ve been such a shock, Charlie. I have no idea what I would’ve done. Then you found out you were pregnant…”

  Charlie glanced up to see Scarlett just staring at her. “What?”

  The redheaded beauty shook her head. “You’re just so brave.”

  She laughed. “What? You’ve got it all wrong, Scarlett. I’m scared all the time. Can I live this life? Can I raise a child? How will I support myself? I’m panicked almost every minute of every day.”

  “You sure don’t show it. From where I’m sitting you’re handling your life just right.” Scarlett sweet smile lit up the room. “So, what about Hank?”

  The knotted muscles in her neck bunched tighter at the question. “Hank will be a great dad.”

  Her new friend’s hands went to her hips. You could tell she was used to not taking any crap. That probably came from living with a rock star. “Let me be more specific. What about you and Hank?”