by J. H. Croix
"I will be." I wasn't an idiot. I knew how many people were after my dad and this money. They couldn’t know that what they were chasing after hadn’t been rightfully his either. He’d emptied the trust accounts for all of us. I would never have even thought about accessing the money just for me. But this wasn't for me.
For Marie and Austin, I was ready to risk it. Whatever it was.
"There are people who have been threatening me, as you know. If they so much as get a whiff that you know where that cash is, they will threaten you too. God knows what else they might do." Worry darkened his eyes and his lips were pressed into a thin line, his fingers laced together as he rested his elbows on the table.
"I get it. I'll do whatever I can to protect myself, but I need the money anyway." In the early morning hours, after I'd made a decision to come talk to Dad about this, I'd also made another decision. Every time I thought about Marie and Austin there and knowing that Wesley had already blown off the protection order more than once, the urge to make sure she wasn’t facing this alone overrode everything else.
“I don’t only need money for legal fees, but I'm also going to go to Savannah to stay with Marie until the custody situation is resolved. I'll drive to and from Cypress Creek for work in the meantime, but I can't stay away any longer."
Chapter Ten
Marie
"It's another beautiful day outside, buddy," I said, packing away the last of our breakfast dishes. Austin was sitting at our kitchen counter, fiddling with an old hand vacuum he was taking apart and putting back together again.
He wasn't really paying attention to me, all his focus on the broken appliance in front of him. It'd been another rough week for him. When my friend Belle called a few nights ago, she’d put Tommy on the phone to say hi to Austin. Sweet as it was for them to chat, it had only made Austin miss Cypress Creek more.
Tommy was his best friend. I missed Belle too, so I knew how Austin was feeling. But I was determined he wouldn't spend his weekend moping and feeling sad.
"It's Saturday," I prompted, trying again. "How about we go to the park?"
Finally lifting his eyes, I saw a glimmer of excitement there. "The one with the green slide?"
"That's the one." I laughed, bending to retrieve some plastic containers so I could pack a lunch while Austin got ready.
The park was packed when we got there, smelling of freshly cut grass and barbecue from a few families grilling hamburgers and hot dogs along one side of the lawn. Austin let me smother him with sunscreen, but then bounded away to the play equipment. I sat down on the small picnic blanket I brought along and pulled out my phone, opening and rereading the text I'd gotten from Jeremy earlier.
Jeremy: Miss you, but I'll make it next weekend.
I kept reading it as if something would change. The ache of missing Jeremy was running under the surface every day, yet somehow it was worse just now. Perhaps because Austin loved having him come to the park with us, perhaps because of what it represented to me. In the end, I just missed him. He’d explained he couldn't come for the weekend because of a deadline on a job where they'd been delayed due to late delivery on supplies.
Even though I completely understood, my heart still ached. When I’d been considering what to do today, the memory of Jeremy’s words about not letting Wesley keep us inside was what had prompted me to scrounge up the courage to come to the park today. Without him here, I might not have been quite as bold, but Austin needed to have fun and, dammit, I wasn’t going to let Wesley rule our lives anymore.
"Would you like to come join us?" a female voice asked from a blanket nearby mine. Glancing over, I caught the eyes of the woman who had spoken, a smile forming instantly in response to her warm gaze. She was petite with raven hair hanging in a braid down her back and wide eyes the color of chocolate. Several other women were clustered nearby, all looking friendly and open.
Needing a distraction from missing Jeremy, I accepted with a nod and scooted in their direction with my blanket. "Thank you. I'm Marie."
"Angela," the woman who'd spoken first said, offering me a soda from the cooler. She introduced the other women as Georgina, Beth, and Rose. "It's nice to meet you."
The other mothers were kind, and we chatted while sipping my soda. Their kids were on the play equipment with Austin and seemed to be having a blast, if the squeals and laughter drifting in our direction were any indication.
The friends tried to include me, but I still felt out of place. It was clear that they knew each other well. They talked like old friends, very comfortable with one another. Some of their husbands were cooking burgers, while the others were starting a game of baseball.
They were carefree, making the best of the good weather and the park on a Saturday. Meanwhile, my skin was starting to itch as anxiety over Wesley set in. I'd been feeling brave when we came here this morning, wanting to do something for Austin and get out of the house for a while myself. Yet, the longer we stayed in the open public park, the more exposed I felt.
No matter how hard I tried to talk myself out of it, I worried he would show up. Theoretically, the restraining order should stop him, but he'd ignored it in the past and I had no doubt he would ignore it again.
Eventually, when the other families headed off to a barbecue for lunch, I rounded up Austin for lunch. After we finished our sandwiches, we packed up to leave. Even Austin was ready to go, wiped out from his morning running around.
"Okay, Mommy, we can come back next weekend,” he said, helping me roll up the picnic blanket and collecting what little trash we had in a bag. "Do you think Jeremy will come with us next week?"
I didn't want to make promises on Jeremy's behalf, so I ruffled Austin's hair and shrugged. "We'll see. He's working, so I'm not sure if he'll be able to come visit us."
"I hope he can."
Hope didn’t seem strong enough of a word to capture how much I wanted to see Jeremy again.
After Austin and I returned back to our apartment, I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned the engine off. It seemed ridiculous, but I felt a sense of achievement that we'd managed to go out for the day without Wesley interfering.
My positive feelings came to a screeching halt when a nauseatingly familiar blond head popped up when I parked. He'd been waiting for us, sitting out of sight on the stairs that led up to our apartment.
Bile pushed up from my stomach at the sight of Wesley, his dark eyes narrowed while he waited for us to cross the street, hands on his hips as if he was irritated with me.
Sparks of fear shot up my spine, and dread coiled in my belly.
He was standing right in front of our stairs, blocking the entrance to our apartment and leaving us no way to avoid him. He trained his dark gaze on Austin who tightened his hold on my hand and tried to shrink into my side.
"How's it going with my son?" he asked, failing to notice Austin's flinch at the unnecessary reminder of their relationship.
I couldn’t have said why, but I’d always hated how he rarely called Austin by name. Austin didn't say anything, burrowing closer to me until Wesley sneered. "What? You've gone and poisoned my own son against me now?"
"I haven't done a thing," I defended myself. Austin's feelings about Wesley were entirely because of the man himself. "What do you want? You're not supposed to be here."
Holding up his hands, he backed away with a smug smile. "Because of that little restraining order of yours? Look, I'm not close to you. I happen to live in this neighborhood now too. Can't help it if I run into you on a walk around my own house."
My back stiffened. It was news to me that he was living around here now. Couldn't say it was surprising news though. "You haven't answered my question. What do you want?"
Wesley's eyes flicked to Austin, a cold smile that I assumed was meant to be reassuring on his lips. "Why don't you run along upstairs and let your mom and I talk for a minute?"
Austin wavered, his eyes darting at the staircase to our apartment and back to mine. I rubbed my
thumb over his knuckles, smiling. "Let me walk you up and let you in."
"You will come back and talk to me." Though Wesley didn’t say anything overtly threatening in front of Austin, his meaning was clear from the glint in his eyes and tone of his voice.
"I’ll do what I want," I told him, knowing I would be back down to speak to him after seeing Austin upstairs, even if only to make sure he didn't linger all day and make Austin anxious.
"Wait here, bud," I said to Austin once I had gotten him upstairs. My nerves were taut, tension radiating through my body. If I breathed in too deeply, I would burst out crying.
I briefly considered calling the police, but I didn't want to make a scene. I'd also learned that unless I had physical evidence of him violating the restraining order, calling the police was little more than a waste of time anyway.
Wesley already had his excuse in place, and would merely say that he'd only been out for a walk. I even considered taking my phone with me and recording what he said, but I didn't know the laws about that. I shuddered to think what Wesley would do if he ever found out I'd recorded him anyway.
Drawing shaky breaths in and out, I made sure Austin was okay before walking back out to Wesley. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I stopped a good couple of inches away from him.
"I saw that man here last weekend, Marie. I'm not stupid and I'm not fucking blind. You need to stop seeing him,” he sneered, his eyes wild, anger flashing in them.
"Or what?" I asked, surprising myself at how nonchalant I sounded when on the inside I was quaking.
Wesley's eyes flew open in surprise at my attitude. His voice got dangerously low and his posture turned to steel. "Or else."
Catching his gaze, hatred and anger stared back at me. The darkness contained in his eyes was so intense, I experienced it as a visceral blow. I barely managed to keep from bolting away from him. He turned abruptly without saying another word, never once looking back as he walked down the street.
Once I got back upstairs with the door safely double locked behind me, I leaned against it, trying to slow my breathing. Pushing away from the door after a moment, I felt hot and cold all over, the fear chilling me through even though it was hot and humid outside. Walking into the kitchenette area, I rinsed my hands, which were damp with cold sweat in the sink and dried them.
My hands were shaking so badly I had trouble filling a glass of water. Austin entered the kitchen quietly behind me, wrapping his arms around my legs. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart," I replied, not wanting him to turn back into the stressed, worried, protective boy he'd been before we'd moved to Cypress Creek. He was only just getting some semblance of his childhood back, and I was determined not to allow Wesley to take that away from him.
Austin was five, but he wasn't stupid. His eyes canted up to mine, searching my face. I sensed he knew I wasn’t fine, but he didn’t say anything else. No doubt, he was also shaken by Wesley’s unannounced visit and typical threatening manner. I gave him a reassuring smile and reached for his hand. "Why don't you show me what you were working on this morning?"
"Okay," he agreed, leading me to the half assembled hand vacuum. Austin stuck close by my side for the rest of the day and fell asleep with his head in my lap as I was reading to him later that night.
Carefully moving his head to his pillow, I put the book away and tucked the covers over him before tiptoeing out of his room. Alone for the first time since the encounter with Wesley, anxiety coiled tightly in my chest.
My phone was lying on the kitchen counter where I'd left it earlier. I reflexively started to pull up Jeremy's number to call him, but I stopped myself. I needed to be able to handle this. Pouring myself a glass of wine instead, I settled on the couch to hopefully lose myself in mindless television.
Much as I wanted to talk to Jeremy, I didn't want to worry him. He had enough on his plate as it was. I hadn't been joking when I told him that I wasn't a damsel in distress. Wesley was gone now. I wasn't going to let him ruin Jeremy’s day too.
Chapter Eleven
Jeremy
"These deadlines are going to be the death of me," I muttered to no one, my office completely empty except for me. I'd been busting my tail to meet a deadline. I was running on about two to three hours sleep a night, but we'd finally gotten the project done.
Not a second too soon either. Almost a week had gone by since my visit to my dad, and I still hadn't had time to follow up on accessing the funds.
With one major project behind me, I needed to follow up and get that money. I didn’t want Marie's attorney to send another bill without being able to pay it. Plus, I had plans to put in motion. I didn’t care how much it cost in time or money, I was moving to Savannah until the court case was done. I’d deal with the commute between here and Savannah until it was all over. I planned on being there by nightfall. Even though it was only 10am, I'd been at the office for six hours already and was just about ready to leave.
There was, however, one more stop I had to make before I could call today done as far as work here. The renovations on Sarah's salon were nearly done. I wanted to check in with her to make sure she was happy before my team left for the day.
Finishing a last bit of paperwork, I exhaled a satisfied sigh and sent off the final invoice, whistling under my breath. With everything at the office done, I headed over to the salon. I was happy to find Sarah bragging about her new space to some of her clients while my crew cleaned up.
"This is looking great, guys," I said, impressed with the progress they'd made.
When we started this job, the back room was small, dark and dingy, used mostly for storage and largely unusable for much else. Without breaking the bank, we'd given Sarah a light, airy space with big windows that looked out onto a side street. We’d installed new flooring and added built in concealed storage behind sliding mirrors. Sarah had picked a dusky pink color for the walls and had already started decorating the space.
Sarah turned to me with a wide smile and tears shining in her eyes. I’d never quite known how to deal with Sarah’s emotion. She lived and breathed the mantra of wearing her heart on her sleeve. "Isn't it just wonderful? You and your boys have made all my dreams for this place come true. Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"You hear that, guys?" I asked the construction team, grabbing their attention away from the final sweeping and clearing out of our equipment. They flashed a few return grins, but kept on working.
"More than good," Sarah insisted, going over to each man to shake their sweaty hands. Most of the guys knew and loved Sarah like I did.
"How is that darling Marie of ours doing?" Sarah asked, veering back to my side after her congratulatory rounds were done.
"She's good. I'm actually planning on driving through to Savannah later this afternoon and staying there for the time being. I'll commute back here to work until all this stuff with her ex is sorted out."
Sarah blinked a few times, then clapped her hands together. Getting all giddy and swooning, she giggled and teased me. "Moving all the way to the big city for your girl, hey? Someone's got it bad."
"Not sure what you're talking about," I said gruffly, not used to this kind of interaction. I honestly had no idea how to handle it. Sarah, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it.
"It's like the Cypress equivalent of running to the airport to stop the plane from taking off. So romantic." She sighed, pressing both of her hands to heart.
"And that's my cue to leave," I said, grinning once I'd turned around. I was glad she thought I was being romantic. I wasn’t sure how Marie would perceive my temporary move, but Sarah’s reaction set my mind at ease.
After saying goodbye to her and promising to check in again soon, as well as to send Marie all of her love and a thousand kisses that I certainly wouldn't mind giving her, my next order of business was grabbing lunch with Sonny. On the way over, I left a message for Marie that I’d be in Savannah tonight. I wanted to surprise her with my plans t
o stay in Savannah, but figured the last thing she needed was an unexpected visitor. She’d had enough of that with Wesley.
We met at a Mexican place near the police station that Sonny loved. My brother was already there when I arrived, nursing a soda and tucking into a complimentary plate of nachos.
"Big Brother,” he said with a chuckle as I approached him. Dusting his hands on his pants, he gave me a quick one armed hug before sitting down again. "I helped myself to our welcome snack."
Eyeing the small pile of nachos left, I pushed them over to him as I settled into a chair across from him. "Have at it. You ordered our food?"
Sonny nodded. He had very little time for lunch since his shift was about to start. Eager to get on the road, I'd called him before I left the salon so he could place our order. "So what’s so urgent that we had to meet today?"
"I'm moving to Savannah," I said, pausing to thank the waitress when she delivered my soda.
Sonny choked on the nacho he was swallowing, grabbing for his drink and taking a long sip before focusing his wide eyes on mine. He cleared his throat a few times before finally managing to choke out. "You're doing what?"
We'd all grown up here in town and except for brief stints for college and those few moments in time when I’d thought the NFL was in my future, none of us had left Cypress Creek. None of us ever wanted to, as far as I knew.
“Relax,” I told Sonny before he burst a vessel. “I’m coming back once the custody thing for Marie is done.”
“Ah.” He coughed, slamming his fist into his chest and taking another long drink of his soda. “You’re going until you can bring your girl home?”
“Exactly.” I wasn’t sure whether to tell him about accessing the missing family money. Although I didn’t doubt he might wonder since he knew I was covering Marie’s legal fees.
