by Vicki Hinze
Joe was about Mark’s age—thirty or maybe a little older—and in great shape, solid, maybe five-ten. He was a great-looking guy who had that ease of being comfortable in his own skin, but he lacked Mark’s “total package” curb appeal. Even Joe’s lazy charm didn’t fare well in a direct comparison to Mark—tall, tanned, broad shoulders, and black hair that curled ever so slightly on his neck. Simply put, inside and out, Mark Taylor was gorgeous.
Gazing into Joe’s eyes, she didn’t feel that total command and complete confidence Mark exuded. How many times had they talked about everything and nothing and she’d longed for just a touch of his confidence? Just a touch of his certainty he could handle whatever came his way?
“One day, I hope to belong, Lisa. I want a family. A real home. A simple life where I’m wanted and not just needed.”
When he’d finally confided those things to her in one of their many walks on the beach, it resonated with her down to her bones. She wanted exactly those things, yet when he said them, there had been a wistfulness in his tone, as if he knew his wishes were a pipe dream. She’d hated that. And she’d prayed about it every night since, that God would touch Mark’s heart and show him it was okay to want and wish and that pipe dreams could come true.
“You owe me nothing.” With a deftness she’d come to expect from Mark, he shifted the topic. “My old team is in town for a reunion.”
“How fun.”
“We’ve planned it a long time. A little golf and deep-sea fishing. You know, typical guy stuff.”
Now why did Mark sound defensive? Maybe because this wasn’t a reunion so much as a summons for reinforcements, which could mean that Mark expected trouble. Maybe trouble from her nut-case stepfather. Heaven knew she expected it, and Mark had become her mother’s and her self-appointed guardian. Yet she could be making a mountain out of nothing but her own fears. Maybe this was just a reunion. Though the odds of their scheduling it at the same time as her party seemed a bit of a stretch. If Mark expected trouble, surely he would have said so. He’d always been straight talking and up-front.
Lisa, get a grip. His whole life doesn’t revolve around you. Could be about Kelly Walker or something else entirely.
Right. Exactly. Grip gotten.
“How long have you been into self-defense courses?” Joe parked his sunglasses atop his head.
Very nice eyes. Not exactly green or blue but somewhere in between—and full of secrets. “Most of my life.” She could have been more explicit. Since she was seven years, four months, and twenty-one days old—and she hadn’t started classes young enough.
“Lisa’s been teaching since she was seventeen,” Mark added. “She got an early start.”
“That explains it, then.” Joe folded his arms across his chest. “Your skills are impressive. Anytime you need a sparring partner, I’m available.” He winked.
“Mark takes it easy on me.”
“Even so, you’ve got good technique.” He stuck a stick of chewing gum into his mouth. “Sorry. Trying to quit smoking.”
“Chew away.” She encouraged him. “My mother insisted I needed the skills and that I practice them. I should be great, so I’ve still got a ways to go.” She attempted a smile but her heart wasn’t in it. “Unfortunately, the women taking my classes need excellent skills—now.”
“Sorry to hear that.” He stuffed the gum wrapper into the back pocket of his jeans.
“We work in a crisis center. That makes these situations common.” Lisa lightened her tone. “Joe, why don’t you—the whole team—come to my party tonight?”
Joe slid Mark an inquisitive glance, and he responded with a nod she would have missed had she not been watching for it. “That would be great. Thank you, Lisa.”
“Wonderful.” Excitement bubbled in her and overflowed. She tried to tamp it, but she hadn’t had a party since her father died, and she couldn’t help herself.
Mark turned to Joe. “I need a minute.”
“You got it, bro. I’ll check in with the guys.” Joe stepped away.
“He seems nice.”
Mark frowned. “He’s a woman magnet.”
She bit back a smile. “I see that potential.” When Mark’s frown deepened, she added, “Of course, I’m immune. But other women would drop at his feet.”
“Why are you immune?”
She shrugged. “He just doesn’t do it for me. We could be friends, but it’d never go beyond that.”
“Good.” Mark looked like he hadn’t meant to say that aloud. “Stepping over the broken hearts can be a pain, but we’re close.”
“You’re not jealous of him?” No way. Joe didn’t have a thing on Mark.
“No. But try playing a game of volleyball at the beach or even shooting hoops. He’s distracted by women hanging all over him.”
Lisa worked hard not to laugh. Mark was totally sincere, and Joe probably loved the attention. “That would be a pain.”
“Yeah, but what can you do? I trust him.” Mark cleared his throat. “I need to tell you something.”
Lisa inwardly groaned. Not bad news. Please. Not today. She summoned her courage and made herself ask, “What?”
Mark stuffed a hand in his pocket. “Don’t call your mom’s cell.”
Tension flooded her. “What’s happened?”
“Dutch found the phone and crushed it with a sledgehammer. You can bet he tagged the number first and is tracking calls to it.”
Lisa stiffened, barely resisted the urge to grab Mark’s sleeve. “He didn’t hurt her—”
“No, she’s fine. He hasn’t gotten that stupid yet.”
They both knew it was just a matter of time. The closer Lisa had gotten to her license, the tighter Dutch pulled the reins on her mother. Now he was doing any and everything he could to avoid forfeiting control of her. But unless God was napping, Dutch’s days of riding ramrod over them both would soon be over. As of today, Lisa had her license, and her first full-time paycheck was a week away. The minute it hit her hot little hand, she would march up to her childhood home—a place where she had not been welcome since she was sixteen—get her mother, and move them into the beach cottage Lisa was going to rent from Kelly Walker.
Then Dutch Hauk’s reign of terror would finally be over.
“Kelly would let you guys move in early.” Mark glanced toward Joe, who paced a path near the bleachers while talking on his phone.
“She’s offered, but Mom won’t do it. She agreed to stay with Dutch until I was self-sufficient.”
“It’s a week. Not a month. Why did she do that?”
Sometimes a week seemed a lot longer than a month. “Because he asked.” She tilted her head. “When they met, she was in a bad place. Her life was like it had been before she married my father—just awful. Dutch was there when she needed him, so when he asked her to stay until I was self-sufficient, she agreed.”
“Okay, now you’re self-sufficient. A week is splitting hairs.”
“To Dutch, it’s a big deal,” Lisa surmised. “To her, it’s a bigger deal. She lives by the letter of God’s law. She made vows, Mark. It’s taken a long time to get her to even consider leaving Dutch. Everyone who manages to steal a few words with her tries.”
“What does she say?”
“That I’m overprotective.”
“You are. Don’t glare at me. Mel says the same thing all the time. Considering your mom’s circumstance, I don’t see being overprotective as a bad thing.”
“Mom doesn’t either. But about Dutch, the best I’ve managed is for us to agree to disagree.” Lisa lifted her hand. “Divorce is a very big deal to a woman of faith.”
“Of course it is.” Mark paused and then tried again. “An advance on your pay—something—should satisfy this self-sufficient agreement. I’d feel a lot better if she was out of there now.”
“Believe me, I’ve suggested everything. The rest of the world might hedge or fall apart, but Annie Harper lives by her word.”
“But she did agree to come live at th
e beach with you?”
“Finally. Just to live there. She hasn’t agreed that he’ll be out of her life.”
Mark slumped. “She won’t divorce him?”
“Never. You have to understand … after my dad died, my mom learned their money had been swindled away, there was no insurance, and everything was mortgaged to the hilt. She had a heart attack over that. Afterward, she had a weak heart and a daughter to house and feed, and she was terrified of being hungry again. Of me being hungry. Dutch rode into her life like an adoring white knight.”
“And after they married, he turned into a nightmare.”
“Yes.” Lisa held off a sigh. “But she’ll stay married to the nightmare because she gave her word—no, wait.” Lisa stopped cold. “It’s not Dutch; it’s God she’s honoring.” Lisa slapped at her spandex-clad thigh. “How did I miss that? It’s so obvious.”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t think God would want a woman to stay with an abusive man.”
“Me either, but what we think doesn’t matter. The Bible says divorce is outside of God’s will, and she’s trying to be obedient.”
“Obedience doesn’t require taking abuse.”
“No, it doesn’t—in our view.” Guilt streaked through Lisa. She’d failed to protect her mother, failed to make her understand that difference earlier. “I thought she stayed to keep her word to him, but I was wrong. I can’t believe I was so blind.”
“You see now. That’s what matters, and she’s finally agreed to leave him. That’s a good start.”
Lisa nodded.
“You were wrong about something else too.” Mark’s voice softened. “You said once that principles, honor, and integrity are all your mom has left, but it’s not.” He lifted his gaze from the floor. “She has you.”
Lisa clenched her fist at her side. “Yes, and Dutch used me against her.”
Mark’s mouth flattened even more, and a muscle in his clenched jaw ticked. “Did she discuss her situation with Ben?”
“No. I mentioned it, but she wasn’t interested. It’s even more complicated. She was recovering from the heart attack, still mourning and worried sick about everything, and Dutch came in and was so kind to her. He seemed to know just what she needed. He told her not to worry about losing the house. He’d take care of it. She was so relieved she cried. He asked her to marry him, and she said yes.” Lisa recalled it all so vividly. “I think she’d have done anything to keep that house, Mark, including marrying a man she barely knew.”
“Why? It’s just a house.”
“Not to her. It was our home, and she and my father were happy there. She’s had a lot of unhappiness in her life. She’d lost my dad, and I think she was afraid if she lost the house, she would lose her memories of our life with him too. There’d be nothing to prove that that time had been real.”
“Except you.”
“I’m different.” Lisa shrugged. “It’s hard to explain, but I understand why she did what she did and why she feels as she does. But I also agree with you. Dutch is a dangerous man.”
“The incident he pulled at your apartment last year proves it.”
It did. He’d nearly scared Lisa out of her skin, and when she’d asked, the judge hadn’t hesitated to sign the restraining order against him. Lisa shuddered. Nora, Ben’s Scots housekeeper, had agreed to Ben and Lisa’s request and moved into the Towers apartment with Lisa back when she was sixteen so she wouldn’t have to live alone, and she’d just stayed. Thank goodness she hadn’t been home when Dutch showed up. Nora might be up in years and nearly bat-blind, but she acted as if she were neither and went toe-to-toe with anyone whenever the need arose, and sometimes when it didn’t. Against Dutch, Nora would’ve lost. A chill rippled through Lisa. By the grace of God, Nora had been detained at her ophthalmologist’s office that day.
Mark shoved a hand in his pocket. “I’m worried Annie doesn’t really get how dangerous Dutch is.”
“Oh no, she gets it.” Her mother had seen the truth when Lisa was sixteen. That’s why she put Lisa in Ben’s wife’s care. Annie Harper Hauk had loved her daughter enough to forfeit her to keep her safe and out of Dutch’s clutches. “She does what she can, then puts it on the altar.”
“In God’s hands, eh?”
Lisa nodded. “But between you and me, I still think she sleeps with one eye open. At least, I pray every day she does for her own safety.”
“That’s a tough way to live.”
“Yes, it is.” Lisa tugged at a thread on her sleeve. It was tough for both of them. “But what is just is, right?”
“Right.” Mark gave Lisa’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I took her a new phone right before coming here.”
Lisa’s nerves crackled and hissed. “Dutch didn’t see you?”
“Of course not.” Mark smiled. “She’s going to call you at first chance about the party tonight.”
“She’s coming?” Lisa clasped her throat, unable to hide her shock. Dutch had forbidden her mother to have any contact with Lisa. There’s no way he’d allow her to come to the party.
“You didn’t invite her?” Mark’s surprise mirrored Lisa’s.
“No, I didn’t.” She couldn’t hold his gaze. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to—I’d love for her to be there.”
He appeared confused for a second, and then understanding dawned on his expression. “Dutch wouldn’t permit it, Annie wouldn’t go against him, and then she’d feel guilty for letting you down.”
Lisa nodded, fighting a lump in her throat. She hadn’t wanted to put her mother in the position of having to refuse. Heaven knew Annie had enough troubles without Lisa deliberately adding to them.
“I hope she can come,” Mark said.
“It’s okay either way. I’ve learned to expect nothing.” Lisa said what she’d trained herself to say and feel, knowing the pain that came with it shone in her eyes.
“Yeah, me too.” He looked away. “Fewer disappointments that way.”
Disappointments she could handle. She had handled them by the bucketfuls most of her life. This went deeper. “It’s essential to survival without going nuts about it inside.”
“Exactly.”
Their conversation would have sounded strange to anyone else, but they understood in ways she wished neither of them did.
“Mark?” Joe walked up, still chewing, his shoes silent on the wooden floor. “Sorry to interrupt, but the guys are about to lose the reservation, waiting for their guest of honor to arrive.” He looked at Lisa. “It’s Mark’s birthday. He gets to buy us lunch.”
“Some honor, eh?” Mark grunted.
He was happy about it. His mother’s death in childbirth had always cast gloom over any birthday celebration. At least, according to Lisa’s mom—apparently the two of them talked often. Spending your birthday alone didn’t make for much of a celebration.
“Oh, so today is your birthday, is it?”
“Yeah.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Just another day, only these characters use it to soak me for lunch.”
“Nice friends.” His birthday was circled in red on her calendar, and she had a reminder countdown set on her computer for three days in advance. Of course, he didn’t know any of that. Just as he didn’t know he had become increasingly important to her while helping her stay in contact with her mother.
When Dutch had pulled “the incident” in the hallway outside her apartment last year, he threatened to hurt her mother unless Lisa did what he wanted. Mark put a stop to it. He’d gotten there before the police, and Dutch discovered quickly he wanted no part of Mark Taylor. Afterward, Mark helped her file the police report with Detective Jeff Meyers, calm down an outraged Nora who had arrived home, and then helped Lisa get the restraining order.
Dutch went nuts. But he hadn’t hurt her mother, and he hadn’t dared to cross the line with Lisa after that. He went right up to it, annoying her, but so far he hadn’t crossed it. So far.
“Well, you guys have a great time.” Tonight
was a joint celebration. His part of the party was a surprise, and she couldn’t wait to see his face when he realized it. According to her mother, Mark never had a birthday party or a cake. That was about to change—and as long as Lisa drew breath, from here on out, he’d have at least a cake every birthday. Mark was special. He needed to know it, and even more, he needed to feel it.
“Thanks.” Mark watched her gathering her things. “Where are you running off to?”
She wiggled her fingers at him. “Manicure—and I’m cutting it close.”
“Manicure?”
“I’m splurging. My mama says”—she put a heavy southern twang in her voice—“a lady never attends a social gatherin’ without a proper manicure.” She blew on her nails. “Mine shall be Passionate Pink. Fingers and toes.”
Joe smiled. Mark nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll see you and your fingers and toes later at the party.”
“No, here at the center first.”
“Right. Tradition. At the center.”
She gave him a wide smile and batted her lashes. “I’ll be the dazzling lady in blue.”
“With Passionate Pink nails.”
“Fingers and toes.”
“Perfectly manicured, of course.”
“You betcha!” She giggled.
The humor faded from Mark’s eyes, and his expression sobered. “You watch your back today. Dutch knows you can take care of Annie now, and he’ll do anything to keep you away from her. You’re at higher risk now than ever.”
He was worried. Maybe he did care more for her than in the general, woman-in-trouble kind of way. Her mom said he did, but Lisa hadn’t seen signs of it until maybe this moment.
She bit her lower lip. “I don’t understand the man, but I believe in his own sick and twisted way, he loves her.”
“He thinks he owns her. And no one takes what belongs to Dutch Hauk. Understand, Lisa. The restraining order never stopped him from pushing at you or her, and it won’t now. If anything, it’ll be less effective.”
Really worried. Her heart beat harder, faster. “It hasn’t, it won’t, and it will be less effective. He’s desperate now. I understand.”
“Wait.” Joe, who had stood silent, stepped in. “This guy’s under a restraining order and he’s still bothering you?”
