by Anna Scott
"No, I don't think so, maybe later. For now, I think we'll keep it."
Cali Ferguson was a medium height, blonde haired spitfire. Her beautiful violet eyes were perfectly set off by the platinum head of ultra long hair. When at work, she wore it up in beautiful twists, knots or chignons. I bought my first house with her help. Though we had known each other forever, when she was working, she was all business. She had been able to find me the right house, for the right price in the perfect neighborhood.
Friday morning dawned as I pulled the covers back up over my head and grumbled. The night before had been a late one, and I didn't need to be anywhere for hours. I was meeting Cali later, for the first round of showings, but that wasn't until two.
The previous night the girls and I went to visit Hope and little Dylan and then went out for dinner. At the restaurant, we were joined by Chelsea, Gavin's cousin who'd recently moved to the area and Natalie, Trent's sister. The boys were all out at the bar for their weekly man-bonding, so we had plenty of time to get into mischief.
Of course, since I was there, dinner turned into drinks, and drinks turned into giggling phone calls to hot guys for rides home. We stayed local, thankfully, so they'd worked out getting the cars to homes. I was sure that the majority of us girls were thoroughly laid when we finally made it home. There was nothing like getting sweaty with the man you love after a great night of girl talk - mostly raunchy - and a few too many cocktails.
"Hey there, sweetness." Trent's soft eyes met my grumpy ones as I glared up at him when he picked the blankets up to kiss me.
"Go away," I grumbled and tried to turn away from him and curl back into my hiding place.
"Damn, you're in a mood this morning." Trent gripped my hip through the mass covering me and shook me a little. I, of course, grumbled again and burrowed under my pillow. Then I felt four small feet walking up my body, and before I knew it, Snowball found his way in my cave with me.
Trent's hand found its way underneath the covers, skimmed down my side and squeezed my ass before uncovering my neck. Moving my wild hair to the side, he kissed me. Rolling to my back, I peered up at him and fought a smile.
"Take these, sweetness." He directed, dropping two pills into my hand and motioning toward the nightstand where he had set a glass of water.
Sitting up, I did as commanded and watched Snowball burrow further under into the bed.
"I'll meet you at Cali's office at two, okay?"
Nodding my agreement, I watched his lips tip up as he turned and walked out of the room. Alone once more, I finished the water and plopped back down and slept off the excess of alcohol and copious amounts of sex.
At one forty-five I set the damn alarm, locked up the house and walked to my car. Tilting my head to one side, I looked at my little Audi, realizing that my rear tire was flat.
"Fuck," I muttered, stopping on the sidewalk to pull out my phone.
"Hey, sweets, what's up?"
"Can you swing by here and pick me up? My tire's flat." The exasperation was clear in my voice I was sure, but I had just bought new tires a few months ago. I didn't even want to know what was wrong with it now.
"What, yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes. Let Cali know we'll be late - yeah?"
"Yeah."
Clicking off, I called Cali, let her know and of course, she was understanding and gracious. Excitedly, she told me about the first house she planned to show us. She had four houses for us to see, but there was one she thought met all of our criteria. As we wrapped up the call, Trent pulled up and jumped out of the truck. Instead of walking to me, as he usually would, he went straight to my car and inspected the right rear tire.
As I walked toward him, I noticed that he was holding something small between his finger and thumb, looking between that and the tire.
"What is it?" I asked, confused. I was sure I just ran over a screw or something.
"G-can you come over to Amber's house later, like seven?" Trent barked into the phone he just lifted to his ear.
I couldn't hear Gavin's side of the conversation, but Trent's mostly consisted of the words, flat-tire, fuck and damn it. The thing that I didn't understand was why he was so irritated by a flat-tire. Once he hung up, I decided to wade in.
"Trent, I don't need you to change it, I'll call roadside services later."
"It doesn't need to be changed, honey, it just needs air." He explained, without giving any other details, or explaining his mood.
"Okay, well we should probably go, right?" I didn't know why I was uneasy, but Trent's mood was snapping around the front yard.
"Yeah," he clipped, standing to guide me to the truck. He looked over his shoulder a couple of more times and scanned the front yard before we pulled out.
"Are you going to tell me what that was all about?"
"Let's stay focused on finding a house - yeah?"
Um, what? When did he start talking like that? I felt my temper rising. I understood that something was upsetting him... but no, we weren't going to start that shit.
"No, I don't think so. Obviously, something has crawled up your ass, so why don't you tell me what it is."
"God Damn Amber! Can't you just let it go? We can deal with that shit later." He shouted, angrily into the cab of the truck. In shock and total surprise at his uncharacteristic behavior, I jumped in my seat and stared at him.
In an effort to get through the next few hours unscathed, I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me. "Yeah, okay," I told myself that I wasn't being weak and giving in. Trent's outburst was so unusual for him, I had no doubt that there was more to the flat tire than I could see.
"Come through and see the pond in the back," Cali exclaimed as Trent, and I followed her through the spacious farmhouse. It was larger than we needed but did have just about everything we'd asked for, including being set on ten acres.
Trent squeezed my hand as we gazed out over the landscape. A large pond sat nestled among an outcropping of trees. It had a small dock with a rowboat tied to it and was finished off with a pair of beautiful chaise lounges. To the right was a large detached garage, the four large bay doors were tightly shut. The exterior of the garage was painted to match the main house, a light gray with white and black trim over neat wood siding. The house's wrap around deck was painted white, and the overhangs had beautiful black ceiling fans spaced every twenty feet. It was more than I ever imagined. Sadly, the price was more than I expected, too. We hadn't given Cali a price range since we didn't know what all we would want.
I knew that Trent wasn't as worried about the price as I was. I would sell my little house, but it wasn't worth that much. His trust fund, however, was sizeable, and I figured he would try to pay for the whole thing, which I wasn't okay with.
"Can't you see it?" He whispered, leaning down to my ear. He placed a light kiss to my temple as he waited for my reply.
"It's so much," I started but stopped when his mouth found mine.
Cali showed us around the rest of the property. There were stables, a fenced off garden, and a beautiful outdoor kitchen set on a large patio poured just steps down from the deck. The bedrooms were nice and spacious, though not huge. The kitchen was somewhat outdated but clean. The master bedroom was perfection. It had an amazing walk-in closet, and a beautiful bathroom with a deep tub, big enough for four. The French doors opened to a veranda overlooking the back of the property and the pond, giving an even better view from the second story.
It took everything I had to remember the price and not scream out, "We'll take it." Trent and I seriously needed to talk about the money thing. I knew things wouldn't be fifty-fifty for us, but I didn't want to feel like a leech either.
After viewing the other homes Cali had selected for us, all nice, beautiful even, that first one stayed in my mind. Trent had been right, I could see it. The image in my mind was so perfect, I wasn't sure I could do it. I remembered back to the scene in Steel Magnolias when Julia Roberts talks about sitting on the porch being covered in grandch
ildren. That was the image I had too. That had been my mother's dream and because of the horrendous acts of others, her dream had been stripped from her. Could I still give her a piece of it? Could I risk it, could I try and give Trent and me the dream of a family that we shared?
Feeling my anxiety level increase as Cali extolled the virtues of this last house, a bead of cold sweat ran down my spine, and my stomach tightened. Slipping my hand from Trent's, but trying to act casual, I moved toward another sprawling lawn. I needed a little space, to find my control and to center myself once more.
Chapter 10
Trent
Watching Amber walk away from me, a creeping feeling of dread flowed down my spine. I felt her hand grow cold and had noticed a slight tremble just before she pulled away and moved off. Her friend Cali was still droning on, seemingly not noticing Amber's retreat, so I broke in to stop her.
"Give me a minute."
She responded, but I wasn't listening. My gaze was wholly focused on Amber, the love of my life. She was faltering, and I didn't know why. I didn't think I had pushed her too soon, we were committed, and I knew it. She would have an issue with the money, but that wouldn't cause a reaction like this. She would just fight me, get in my face and yell, this was something different.
"Shit," I muttered, wondering if she had already put it together about her car. It had been purposely tampered with, I had no doubt. The problem was, I assumed it was my father, but it could have been any number of other people. With my job and the current animosity, to outright hatred of police in general, someone could have targeted her because of me. Either way, whoever had removed the cap and wedged the valve open, it was my fault. Sure, it was just a flat tire, I knew that. I also understood that it was likely just the beginning.
"Hey," walking up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her middle and pulled her slight body into mine, her back to my front. She was trembling but silent, so I moved us so my back shielded us from Cali's view and turned her in my arms to look down into her red-rimmed and damp blue eyes.
"What's this?" I asked, brushing a tear from her cheek. Leaning down, I kissed the single trail of dampness and held her tight in my arms.
Shaking her head, she didn't answer but burrowed deeper into me. I wanted to shake her, to force her to tell me what the fuck was going on, but I couldn't do that. I wouldn't, no matter how frustrating the entire situation was. I hated seeing her upset. Her tears about broke my heart. Having no idea what had upset her, I waited. I was holding the most precious woman I'd ever met in my arms.
"I'm fine," Amber declared, pushing back from me. Instead of letting her go, I grasped her biceps and looked down at her. It was obvious that she was trying to straighten her back and move past whatever had sent to reeling, but I wasn't going to have it.
"Tell me."
Letting out a deep sigh, her shoulders relaxed, and she looked down at her feet. With a single finger, I guided her chin back until her eyes met mine.
"I'm afraid."
"Of?"
Our voices were quiet, soft with the intimacy of the moment. I hoped that Cali took the hint and gave us the privacy we needed.
"All this," she explained on a sign, stretching out her arm and indicating the house and grounds surrounding us.
"You don't like this house?"
"It's fine, but that isn't what I meant. When we were at the first house, I saw it. I knew what you were trying to say, and I did, I saw it. I could imagine us there, but I'm afraid to try."
I felt my body stiffen, and my blood run cold. I waited for what she was about to say.
"After talking to Mom, I've been thinking about trying again. Tt scares the shit out of me, though. I want it so much, the life we talked about, but I'm afraid of what will happen to me if -"
"Shh, I know." Pulling her back to me, I held her and kissed her soft pink lips and let myself imagine. I was glad that I pushed, that I knew what had her in such a state, but if anyone could overcome that fear, the fear we both shared, it was her.
"I'm afraid too, sweetness. Afraid that if the worst happens, you'll cut me out of your life again. I can't live without you."
We spent a few more minutes holding on to one another, kissing and caressing, before we turned to find Cali.
A few hours later, after a quick dinner at a local Mexican dive, we pulled up in front of Amber's house. It was five minutes past seven and Gavin was already there looking at Amber's tire and scanning the area for clues.
"What is it?" Her soft voice asked from the passenger seat.
"Your tire was deflated intentionally," I explained, keeping my voice devoid of emotion, or the gut clenching fear I held just below the surface all day.
A sharp intake of air from Amber had me turning to face her. Her skin paled as I watched her put the puzzle pieces together.
"You think it's your father's doing?" She wasn't really asking, and I didn't know what to say, so I shrugged.
An hour went by after Amber walked inside the house, as Gavin and I talked, fingerprinted and did a thorough search of the outside of the house for any indication that someone had been there. The thing was, she'd been parked on the far side of the driveway. My truck had been nearest the camera, blocking its view of her car. If someone had parked down a ways and walked up from that side, it may not have spotted the person. We confirmed that nothing had tripped it, aside from a neighbor's dog in the yard and an older lady walking by on the sidewalk.
"You know, the way it's jimmied, it was a slow leak, so it could have been done somewhere else too. She might have driven home on it, and it went the rest of the way flat overnight." Gavin suggested, then replied, "maybe not," as I pointed down to the cap that had been left on the ground.
After we had talked a little more, Gavin left to spend his evening with Dawn, and I went inside to tell Amber everything I didn't know.
Sunday afternoon, I called to check in with my mom, who was getting suspicious with my constant hovering.
"You've called me at least once a day all week. What's going on?"
"Mom, I just want to make sure everything is fine with you."
"Bull crap, Trent, tell me." She demanded. My mother wasn't a fool, and she could read me like a book, so I explained what had happened to Amber's tire and my concern that Daddy-dearest was stepping up his game. My concern was that he'd show his presence again, even though he'd been incognito for a while. I was concerned about Amber's safety. I knew that he would use that emotion against me. He thought that if he created more fear that I would eventually capitulate to his ridiculous demands. He wanted my trust fund - not all of it, but a lot. He also wanted his position reinstated as president of Harper Oil. I had no say over that. My mom was on the board, not me. My concern for mom that he would try to bully her was justified.
"I don't know, honey, that doesn't sound like your father. He wanted power and prestige. I don't see him messing with Amber's car, I think he'd try to approach her, or you to get his message across more effectively."
Shit, I hadn't told her everything, so now was the time. She was pissed right the hell off at me for keeping everything that had already happened from her. I told her about the rose bushes at her house too. She noticed, of course, but hadn't seen him anywhere around.
After disconnecting the call, I needed to talk to Amber. I wanted to see her, even if it was just for a few minutes. I needed to ease my mind that she was safe. Since she was at work, I decided to drive to Indulgence and pay her a visit.
Walking through the front doors of the store, I stopped dead at what I saw. Amber was standing in another man's arms, holding him and smiling wide, just seconds before he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
"I'm so glad you're here, I've missed you like crazy." She giggled and pulled him in for another hug. Rage colored my vision as I looked on in stunned horror. Aside from her family and our friends, I had never seen her in another man's arms, and I didn't like it one little fucking bit.
As the pair pulled apart, a wo
man I hadn't noticed, walked, or rather waddled over and the man pulled her possessively into his side. She was hugely pregnant, and when she beamed up at him, he rubbed her stomach with obvious pride. Letting out a relieved breath, I walked toward the trio.
"Hey, sweetness," I grumbled, somewhat sheepishly, though she would hopefully never know the things that had just crossed my mind. I felt like shit for thinking she could do something like that for even a second. Amber was honest to a fault. There was no way she would even think about messing around. The entire thing was ridiculous - now - that she wasn't in another man's arms.
A light brightened Amber's beautiful face as I made it to her side and she stretched up on tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on my lips.
"Trent, I wasn't expecting you, I'm glad you stopped by, this is my cousin Drew and his beautiful wife, Tiffany." She introduced, indicating the couple watching us with open curiosity.
Jesus, her cousin? I was an ass. Reaching out, I shook each of their hands and after settling my ridiculous heart learned that they lived in Plano and were out here visiting some other friends and decided to stop in to see Amber.
Once Amber's family left, she turned her radiant smile on me again and informed me that I was taking her to lunch. Dawn was off, but Aurora was in the shop, so we headed out, promising to bring her back something.
The following day, Gavin and I worked on trying to find my father. His parole was over, so there wasn't a record of his current residence. He didn't have family in the area, nor friends that I knew about. If he was living close by, he was doing under the radar.
Amber decided that I was over protective with my phone calls and texts every few hours, though I didn't care. She was my world, and I had already let my dad get away with too much shit with the women in my life.
Mom felt the same as Amber did since I called her a lot too. Natalie hung up on me earlier in the day when I called to ask if she noticed anything or had heard from our father. She texted me later and told me that she would let me know if she came across anything, but until then, I needed to settle. That was one thing I couldn't do. There was something coming, I could feel it. I couldn't control it, and I didn't know what else I could do to stop it. I wanted to wrap all three of those women in bubble wrap and keep them with me. In some recess of my deranged mind, I knew that I was behaving irrationally.
