"If Zane was worried about that he wouldn't let me come," Ava said. She sighed heavily at Sophie's disbelieving look. "Okay, maybe I have to console him a bit sometimes to come over, but I do remind him of the firearm I carry with me. I would have no qualms to shoot the man if he tried to hurt you."
"Why don't you let Austin pay for the security system he talked to you about? That could solve the problem," Ava said tentatively.
"He gives me enough already. I just need to finish a few more orders and I should have enough money to install one on my own. It's important I do things on my own. I never have, Ava. Please understand. I think Austin does...and then sometimes I think he doesn't."
"Okay, thought I'd try. I know better to push you. That New Yorker in you scares me. You know us New Yorkers," Ava said with a grin.
Sophie grinned back, appreciative of her understanding.
"Knock, knock. I'm home," Deja said, opening and closing the door with too much enthusiasm.
"Hey, what are you doing home already? I thought your shift didn't end until four. It's not even lunchtime yet," Ava asked, surprised.
"Oh, you know, boss man gave me the rest of the day off. Slow day. So is life," Deja said, smiling brightly.
She was about to climb the stairs when Sophie said, "What's the matter, Deja? What happened? You always ask for extra hours. You are way too chipper for being told to go home on a slow day. Am I right, Ava?"
"Oh, yeah, you're right. What's up, Deja? We're all friends here," Ava said.
Deja turned around slowly, giving Ava a wary eye. "Are we friends? I know you're friendly with me because of Sophie and... you know, her recent situation. You've been forced to be around me a lot more than you probably like."
"That's all very true. You've since paid Austin off, only taking a little over three weeks, which is impressive. Although, we both know that's because you work hard and haven't started saving money until you paid him off. That says a lot, Deja. Plus, you've had Sophie's back from the get-go concerning Kevin. That's a true friend," Ava said with a smile. "So I repeat, what's up?"
Deja sighed heavily. "I got fired."
"What! How did that happen?" Sophie exclaimed, standing up from her chair.
"Deja?" Ava prompted gently.
"My boss can get a little touchy feely sometimes. He's never tried it on me, but I've seen him grab some of the girls' asses. Little slap here, little grab there. He decided to test me today and grabbed my ass. I kindly slapped him in the face for it. He responded by firing me," Deja muttered, slightly embarrassed.
Ava stood up, her face covered with anger. "That fat, rat, bastard. I'll have him arrested right now."
She walked to her purse that sat on the table near the wall in the living room where her phone lay hidden in the bottom.
"What?" Deja asked, surprised.
Ava made it to the table and started to rummage through her purse. "You didn't really think I would think you did something wrong, did you?" Ava stared at Deja for a moment. "You did. Geez, Deja. No. It's called self-defense. That man sexually assaulted you. He touched you in an unwanted manner. That is not okay."
"I broke into Austin's home," Deja said, shocked.
"Yeah, and proven you've owned up to your mistake. Did you ask this man to touch you on the ass and squeeze?" Ava asked.
"No." Deja shook her head vehemently.
"Then it's a crime. Not to mention he fired you for defending yourself." Ava dug in her purse some more, finally finding her phone. She started scrolling through her contacts when a hand covered the phone.
"I'm over my shock of your support. I do appreciate it and can't tell you how much that means to me," Deja said as Ava looked at her. "But I'm kinda like Sophie and just want to let it go. It wasn't the greatest place to work at and I can easily find another job somewhere else. As long as Sophie lets me stay here still."
"Of course, Deja. Don't even worry about that. But Ava's right, it's not okay. I'm a wimp for not going after Kevin. I can admit that. Plus, I just can't step back into the city. I found a safe place and I have no desire to ever return to that city. If he comes here...and...and does something, then that's a different story," Sophie said, barely getting the last words out of her mouth.
"You're not a wimp, Sophie. Stop uttering such silly words," Ava said firmly, giving her a look that gave no room for argument. She whipped her head back to Deja. "Sophie's not a wimp and neither are you. That hard glare I see in your eyes half the time, tells me that. That woman who admits her wrongdoing and owns up to her mistakes tells me that. You said it yourself, you've seen him do it to the other women there. That is not okay. He'll just keep doing it. Don't worry about slapping him. He deserved it and so much more. One person comes forward and the trickle effect starts. I guarantee more will, too. Let me make the phone call."
Deja barely hesitated, her strength coming back. "Fine. Make the call. That fat, rat, bastard has it coming."
Ava smiled wide. "Now we're talking."
Sophie chuckled as Ava put the phone to her ear.
It didn't take long for Ava to call the department to send an officer to Sophie's house for an official report from Deja. Soon after getting all the information, the officer made his way to the diner arresting Deja's boss without issue. It didn't take too long, after a short visit at the diner from Ava of course, for a few more waitresses to file charges alongside Deja. The owner immediately fired her boss, the day manager, after five women total came forward. The owner even called Deja personally to offer her job back, but she politely declined. She really wanted no reminder of that place anymore.
Five hours. That's all the amount of time Ava needed to take care of the problem. As Deja lounged on the couch looking through the classifieds for another job, she couldn't believe how swiftly and efficiently Ava had taken care of it all.
She knew it wasn't a good thing, but seriously, she broke into the best house she could have. What a gold mine. Instead of living on the streets, scrounging for food, money, and shelter, she now had shelter, food, and new friendships she never thought possible. She couldn't be more grateful for Sophie's kindness. She kind of wished Kevin would waltz through the door so she could whack him a few times in the head with her tire iron and show Sophie how appreciative she really was.
"Long thoughts going on over there. You okay, Deja?" Emmett asked, walking into the living room.
Deja looked up and smiled gingerly. "You know...things. It's just been a long day. We're good, Emmett. You didn't have to come over. Unless you were sniffing for pie. She can't make a pie everyday for you guys. You know that, right? Unless you're gonna start supplying the ingredients you might want to lay off."
"Can't hurt a guy for trying. I sort of have a weakness for Sophie," Emmett said. His eyes got wide after he realized how that may have sounded. "Not that kind. I would never try to take her away from Austin. That isn't what I meant."
Deja gave him a sly smirk. "Just what do you mean, E-man?"
"I just worry about this Kevin guy, alright. Sophie's a sweet woman and I worry. She deserves happiness—with Austin. I swear that's all I meant. Plus, I want pie," Emmett added for good measure.
Deja rolled her eyes and looked back at the classifieds. "Start supplying the damn ingredients. I've got my tire iron, no worries, E-man. She's safe with me."
"Right, I know." Emmett stood there for a moment, then started to turn around and walk out when he whipped back around. "I need a secretary."
Deja dropped the papers and looked over at him. "Huh?"
"You need a job. I need a secretary. My business is growing and I just don't have the time to do it all myself. My office—if you wanna call it that—it's a mess. I can't file worth a crap and I'm horrible at expenses. Sometimes, it's rare, but it happens, I forget where I write down a new client. I need a secretary. I won't grab your ass without permission," Emmett said, a light hint of red emerging on his cheeks at his last statement.
"Meaning you want to grab my ass with permissi
on," Deja countered.
"Of course not. I mean, you're beautiful. Very beautiful, in fact. I just—I'm gonna stop talking. If you want a job, you got one," Emmett said, swallowing hard.
"Can I think on it? I've never had a secretarial job, E-man. I might screw it up," Deja replied.
"Yeah, sure. Can't do any worse than I am. You'll have your hands full, though. It'll be a mess and a headache organizing it all."
"How are you even surviving?"
"With my wits...and my lawn mower," Emmett said with a grin.
Deja laughed. "Good one, E-man. Let me sleep on it."
"You do that. I'm gonna head out. Austin should be home soon and I promised my brother I would swing by his place tonight and check out a lawn issue, as he put it." Emmett rolled his eyes, making Deja think it was a brother-thing. "Have a good night, Deja. I'm just gonna say a quick goodbye to Sophie."
"Night, E-man. And thanks."
Emmett smiled, nodded, and walked out.
***
He walked back to the kitchen wondering why he acted like such an idiot. Put him in front of a beautiful woman and he became just that—an idiot. She'd never accept his job offer after that.
"Hey, Soph. Gonna head out."
Sophie turned her head towards him as she stirred a pot on the stove. "Okay, Emmett. Thanks for stopping by."
"I noticed some wood lying on the porch when I got here. You need me to put that somewhere before I go?" Emmett asked.
"Oh, that. No, it's fine. Austin said he'd bring it to the basement for me, but I insisted I would do it and I will. I just got busy doing other things today and then the thing with Deja's boss, I just forgot. I don't know how there's so much wood lying around the farm like that. He's gotta be running out soon giving me so much," Sophie said with a small laugh.
"He bought that the other day, I was with him...when he grabbed it from the barn where it was lying around," Emmett said, trying to cover up his mistake.
Sophie stopped stirring the pot on the stove and turned fully towards Emmett. "Austin lied to me?"
"I would call it more of a light fabrication of the truth," Emmett said tentatively. "I'm pretty sure that's the wood from the farm and that comment before I was thinking of some other wood we bought for something else."
"You ever want to step foot in this house again and have any sort of pie you will not make any light fabrications of the truth to my face, Emmett McCord," Sophie said with firmness.
"He loves you, Sophie. He just wants to take care of you. He's just trying to help," Emmett said, trying to fix his mistake and failing miserably.
"Get out, Emmett. I can't speak to you right now. Leave, please," Sophie said, her voice starting to waver. "Leave."
"I'm sorry, Sophie. Don't be mad at him, be mad at me," Emmett said, giving a small smile. When she made no move to speak or show any signs of lessening her anger, he turned around and walked out.
He made it to the foyer where Deja stood by the couch. She had a hard glare in her eyes and her tire iron in her hand. "What did you do?"
Emmett shook his head. "I didn't do anything. I slipped up with my words. She's not really mad at me as she is at Austin. Please, help him when he gets home. Everything he does is because he loves her."
"It doesn't matter. I'll always be on Sophie's side. He made a mistake, he's gonna fix it himself. That's the way it works. Sophie asked you to leave, Emmett. I'm not gonna ask since she already did," Deja said, the hard glare never leaving her eyes.
"Damn it. I'm leaving," Emmett said, pulling the door open with agitation.
He stepped forward and almost tripped, colliding with someone. He cringed. "Austin, you're home, buddy."
"Yeah, thank goodness. Not a good day at the farm." Austin gave Emmett a funny look as he walked around him and stepped inside. Deja stood in the living room holding her tire iron and the anger still in her eyes. "Am I missing something here? Is Sophie okay?"
Austin started to walk away when Emmett grabbed his arm. "Yeah, let's have a quick chat first."
Austin shook Emmett's hand off. "Make it real damn quick. I'm seriously not having a good day. What the hell is going on?"
"I screwed up, Austin. I'm sorry."
"English, please, Emmett. What did you do?" Austin asked confused. Suddenly squinting, an angry frown formed and clenched his fists as he advanced at Emmett. "You didn't make a play at Sophie, did you? Because I will kick your ass, cousin or not."
Emmett put his hands up and backed up. "Never, no, no, I would never touch Sophie like that. I sort of slipped up, though. She knows the wood on the porch wasn't just lying around the farm."
Austin's angry frown turned into a panicked frown. "Oh, shit, Emmett."
Chapter 13
"Sophie, please, let's talk about this," Austin pleaded, as Sophie continued to grab his clothes from the closet.
"Talk. Now you want to talk. Now you want to tell me the truth. I point blanked asked you, like I always do, if that wood was lying around the farm. You lied. You said it was. But you bought it!" Sophie grabbed his last shirt and threw it on the rest of the pile.
"Is it such a big deal I bought it?"
"The big deal is you lied, Austin. From the beginning, trust was important. A little lie like that speaks volumes."
"But a little lie, I would never do a big lie. Never. I'm just trying to help you. Please don't make me leave. Please."
"I don't want your help," she shouted.
Austin backed up, her anger surprising him more than anything. If Emmett wasn't family, he would make him feel the pain like he never felt before. Just as quickly as the thought entered, it swiftly exited. Absolutely no one's fault but his own. He should've told Sophie from the beginning what came from the farm and what didn't. He knew she wouldn't take it if he did, though. He was just trying to help. Why couldn't she just accept his help?
"Please, Sophie. I'm sorry. I love you. Don't make me leave. What if—"
"What if what? Kevin comes. I have Deja. You haven't been to your own home in a long time anyway. I'll be fine. I think we need to take a breather. I need a breather. Tell me, how much have you been buying for me? Was it just the wood?"
Austin wanted to look away and lie, but he couldn't. "No. It was never anything expensive and...shit, Sophie. Please. Pretty please. I'm begging you. Don't make me leave. Let's talk about this rationally."
"I'm done talking, Austin. I need you to leave. Your pretty pleases aren't going to work this time. You can take Axel with you."
"You're punishing him, too. He's just a baby. He didn't do anything," Austin said, waving a hand at Axel, who he swore knew what was going on. His face looked like it became sadder just by hearing Sophie voice what she did.
"I don't want to see you. I can't have Axel here. He's ultimately your dog, not mine. I need space right now. You lied, Austin. Maybe in your mind, it's little, but in my mind, it's huge. I'm asking you as nice as possible to take your clothes and go home."
Austin thought about saying more, but he saw her face. She wasn't about to budge. He also saw the tears wanting to fall. He hated that it was him making her feel this way. Maybe the best thing would be a little breather. As soon as she realized how much she loved him and missed him, she would forgive him. She had to. He didn't know what he'd do without her. His heart was breaking into pieces and it was all his fault.
He bent down and picked up his clothes. He didn't say a word until he got to her bedroom door. "I'm sorry, Sophie. I've never done anything to intentionally hurt you. I would never intentionally hurt you. Never. Everything I do is because I love you. Please don't forget that."
Austin hung his head down in sorrow when she made no effort to look at him or say a word. "Come on, Axel. We gotta go home, buddy."
Axel jumped up on Sophie's leg, licking her hand, but she made no move to pat him or give him a scratch behind the ear like he enjoyed. Axel gave a small whimper and followed Austin out of the room with sadness.
***
&nb
sp; Sophie heard voices downstairs, knowing Deja was talking to Austin, but she didn't want to know what about. She just wanted to cry herself to sleep. She hurriedly walked to her door, closed and locked it, and let the tears come down. She turned around, eyeing the lone shirt lying on the floor. She instantly thought he left it on purpose. It's something he would do. She refused to pick it up.
She started to whip her clothes off in a frenzy, angry at it all, grabbing new pajamas from the top dresser drawer. She started to pull her nightgown over her head when she whipped it across the room and snatched his shirt from the floor. With shaky hands, she put it on and climbed into bed.
She curled onto his side of the bed and let the tears truly come down. He just didn't understand why she was so upset. Everyone in her life always let her down with trust. In the end, when she really thought about it, she couldn't even trust her own mother. This little lie left a burning hole in her heart. She didn't know if she'd ever recover.
She hated him. She hated what he did. She hated that he left this shirt. She hated that she put it on and felt closer to him. She hated she missed him, that he should be lying next to her. She hated the fact she would always love him no matter what.
***
Sophie stood behind her mother, shoulders dipped in, the tears just in the back of her eyes. "Why'd you lie, Momma?"
Her mother locked the front door, turned around slowly, and put on the bravest smile Sophie had ever seen. "It wasn't a lie, Sophie. I fell. I just told the officers what happened. It was an accident."
"He hit you. You only fell because he hit you," Sophie insisted, her little fists balling up.
"He didn't mean to hit me. He loves us. It was an accident. Do you hear me, Sophie? It was just an accident," her mother said, reaching for Sophie.
Trust In Love (A McCord Family Novel Book 2) Page 21
