It was an intimate moment sitting on Knox’s lap in his cozy little house with the lights dimmed and the air heavy with arousal. I wanted nothing more than to strip him down and touch him the way that I used to. I couldn’t do that, though. I couldn’t just fall into bed with him. Although I didn’t want to I knew it was probably time to go.
“You should take me home,” I said quietly.
He sighed and nodded, but just as we were standing up and bringing our plates to the sink there was a knock at the door.
Chapter 9
“Do you have a curfew or something?” Knox asked and looked at me over his shoulder.
I shook my head, just as confused as he was. My brothers were protective but even I knew they wouldn’t show up to bring me home.
He walked to the front door and peeked through the peephole before a laugh erupted from him and he looked back at me. “Oh, you’re gonna love this.”
He opened the door and a woman with light brown hair with streaks of gray in it stood on the other side, a dark denim jacket hugging her slim frame. She wore a bright, familiar smile and hazel eyes that matched her son’s.
“Amy!” I shouted and rushed at her.
She dropped her purse and opened her arms, catching me and wrapping me in a warm embrace. Her hands stroked over my hair and up and down my back, a maternal affection evident. “Oh, my girl! My favorite girl.”
I buried my face in her shoulder, unable to stop myself from tearing up. “I missed you so much,” I said, my voice shaking, not ready to let her go.
“Aw, honey,” she responded and squeezed me tighter, holding a hand against the back of my head. “I missed you, too. So much.”
I felt another hand on my back and knew that Knox was behind me. Reaching behind me, I wiggled my fingers and he laced his through mine, leaning down to kiss his mom’s cheek while she still hugged me.
“Can you believe our girl’s home?” she asked him.
“Pretty amazing, right?”
I sniffled harder, completely mortified that I was so emotional. But it had been so long since I’d seen Amy, so long since I’d had the motherly embrace and affection of a woman who treated me like her own, that I couldn’t help but tear up. I had dropped off the face of the planet for five years and they welcomed me back with open arms. No anger. No resentment. No questions of why I didn’t call. There was so much love that I was overwhelmed with it.
I pulled back and wiped my eyes, shaking my head. “I’m sorry. I-”
“Hush,” Amy responded and touched my cheek lightly. “Look at you. So grown up, so beautiful. I’m so proud of you.”
Knox ushered us away from the front door so that he could close it and she immediately started ordering him around, telling him to turn up the lights and get her a glass of wine. She pulled me down onto the couch with her and demanded that I tell her all about New York. She gave me the third degree, asking about my job, boyfriends and, inevitably, the stalker.
I shot a glance at Knox, silently scolding him for telling her about what happened. He sheepishly looked away.
After explaining what I went through and how the police weren’t really doing much to help Amy gave me an exasperated look. “Nothing? They’re doing nothing? You give me this detective’s number and let me have a little chat with him.”
I laughed, more than appreciating her fierce, mother hen instincts. “Actually…” I started before taking a deep breath. “I’m doing okay. I think being home has been good for me.”
Amy reached over and covered her hand with mine. She looked up at Knox, who was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, and then back at me. “I think so, too. My son isn’t such a moody bastard when you’re around.”
I laughed and Knox groaned, hanging his head. “Mom, don’t do that. You’re just as bad as Simone.”
Her eyes lit up, “Oh! Simone! She’s such a gem, isn’t she? You know, I’ve always loved that girl. She’s always been such a good friend…” and then she was off, rattling on about all the good friends Knox and I had growing up and the ones we still had now.
I looked over at Knox and found him watching me, a small smile tugging at his mouth as Amy rambled on and on, completely oblivious to the fact that her son and I were making heart eyes at each other.
You’re cute, he mouthed at me and let one eye drop into a slow, sexy wink.
You’re not, I mouthed back and he bit back a laugh before shaking his head.
I want you, he mouthed a few moments later while Amy rummaged through her purse for some photos of the house. She’d begun to remodel and wanted to show off the new paint job in the living room.
I shook my head, my cheeks flaming. He absolutely could not say- or mouth- things like that to me while we were in the same room as his mother.
Soon enough, I was getting exhausted and so was she. Knox was getting ready to walk her out when she waved her hand in his face and then hooked a slim arm through mine. “Absolutely not. My daughter will walk me out and you’ll stay here and wash those dishes.”
I bit my lip and held back a laugh while she scolded her twenty seven year old son on the importance of clean dishes. I walked her out, our arms hooked as we made our way down the driveway to her car. It was such a throwback, spending time with Amy Fitzgerald, laughing and joking the way we used to when I was a kid. She’d taken me under her wing as soon as Knox and I got together, bringing me to get my prom dress and looking over my report cards and helping me study for finals. Whenever I envisioned the “perfect” mother it was her face that came to mind.
“Amy,” I said as we stood on the sidewalk. “I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here for any of-”
“Stop it,” she said immediately. “You had to go live your life, Abby. No one holds that against you. Not me and especially not my son.”
“I know. I just wish I’d been here when John… when he… when he-”
“When John died,” she said firmly, without blinking. She sighed and shook her head before she spoke again. “John gave me the best thirty four years of my life. He gave me a beautiful son, unforgettable memories. A beautiful life,” her eyes got misty and my heart constricted. “But dying is a part of life, my dear. You can’t predict it and you can’t stop it. You just have to enjoy the time you have on this earth and you try to make it count for something.”
Amy always knew the right thing to say, but this wasn’t just the right thing to say. It was the truth. We would never know when our time was up. Hell, I thought mine was up when I was alone and broken in my apartment. All we could do was try to live our lives to the fullest and love fiercely. Unconditionally.
“John was my person,” she said as she opened her car door and threw her purse in. Turning around, she reached out and squeezed my hand. “Everyone has a person, honey,” she looked over my shoulder and I turned too, seeing Knox standing in the doorway. “Everyone.”
Knox, being the gentleman that he was, walked me to the door with our fingers laced. He pressed kisses to my cheek and temple, his feet dragging as though he was reluctant to let me go which, believe me, did wonders to my already swooning inner teenage girl.
“When do I get to see you again?” he asked at the door.
I smiled and turned to him. “When do you want to see me again?”
“Tomorrow,” he said immediately and we both laughed.
I shook my head and leaned up, pressing myself against him. His hair was disheveled and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. I, being the ever classy woman, was ready to let him fuck me up against the door.
“If you want me to leave then you’re gonna have to stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want your hair wrapped around my fist and my cock in your mouth,” Knox responded matter of factly.
I gasped and he swooped down, kissing me hard and fast. All too soon he was backing up and heading back towards his truck, but not before winking and cockily saying, “Don’t think about
me too much.”
I will.
Chapter 10
“Why did we agree to go to mom and dad’s for dinner?” Logan asked from the backseat for the umpteenth time.
I picked at a piece of invisible lint on the jacket I had in my lap. “Because they gave us life and the least we can do is go visit them for a meal.”
Sure, maybe it made me a bad daughter, but I wasn’t too keen on having dinner with our folks either. Not because I didn’t love my parents, but because Ashford family dinners didn’t usually end well and either Robbie or Logan would walk out and my mother would drink too much and cry. It all just had a tendency to get ugly and, where things were starting to look up for me, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to be brought down by my dysfunctional family.
“It’ll be fine,” Robbie said from behind the wheel, always the optimist.
Logan groaned and plopped back against the leather seat, grumbling something along the lines of, “Bullshit… middle child hatred… fuck… sober… fuck.”
“Speaking of sober,” Robbie leaned over and opened the dash, grabbing a small bottle of eye drops and tossing them in the backseat. “Your eyes are red. Fix that.”
I laughed as we drove towards my parents’ house, in a gated community they’d moved to after us kids moved out on our own. It was filled with cul de sacs and taken care of by personal landscapers, the whole enchilada. As we pulled up the long driveway tensions grew and I huffed out a breath. I’d spent most of the morning and afternoon thinking about my date with Knox and feeling like a damn teenager all over again. I refrained from texting him hoping he’d text me first. But so far nothing, nada. Zero.
The brick mansion loomed above us as we got out. I smoothed my hands down my sundress and walked towards the house just as my dad opened the large wooden door with a tumbler of scotch in his hand.
The similarities between Robert Ashford Senior and Junior were almost eerie. Same build, same brown hair, although my dad’s was now a dark gray, and the same blue eyes. That was a trait I shared with them while Logan had dark brown, almost black eyes like our mother. Personality-wise Robbie and our dad were polar opposites, which was evident now as they stared at each other.
“Princess,” my dad grinned and opened his arms, enveloping me in a tight hug that cracked my back.
“Hi, daddy,” I said into his chest, inhaling his scent of aftershave and tobacco.
I heard my mother’s heels clack against the floor of the foyer. While my dad moved to greet the boys, I smiled and hugged my mom, noticing the color in her cheeks as an indicator that she already started in on a bottle of wine. Probably red.
“My daughter!” she exclaimed and offered a quick embrace before pulling back and cupping my face in her hands. “Honey, I must say I’m not a fan of this dress. It makes your hips look rather large, no?”
Logan barked out a laugh and quickly covered it up with a cough, struggling to keep his composure.
This family dinner was going to be one for the books, I could feel it.
The sprawling mahogany table was filled with plates of fruit, cheese, raw vegetables and a big roast chicken that my mother definitely didn’t make. The woman couldn’t cook to save her life. Seriously, one time she “cooked” chicken and it was still raw in the middle. Lo almost got salmonella.
While everyone got settled conversations got started I whipped out my phone and shot off a quick text under the table.
My mom just told me my hips are big. Have I gotten tremendously fat or something?
My phone vibrated against my leg a second later.
You’re beautiful. Sexiest curves I’ve ever seen.
I smiled and went to respond again but Knox beat me to it. Multiple times.
I love being able to grab your hips and squeeze.
God, and your ass. The way it feels when you’re pressed up against me.
Remember the first time I slapped it? How embarrassed you were that you liked it so much…
“Abbigail, are you alright? You’re flushed,” my mother said. My eyes shot up from my phone to see that everyone was staring at me, Logan with a perplexed look and Robbie with his eyebrows raised.
I was caught.
After reassuring everyone that I was fine and just hungry my mom told me not to eat too much because it would go straight to my hips and my father drained what had to be his third glass of scotch.
Ignoring Genevieve Ashford’s insults, I grabbed a decent amount of chicken, some greens and poured myself a very large glass of wine. Screw calorie counting and big hips, I’m goddamn hungry.
Dinner went really well.
Until it didn’t.
After everyone was sated my dad turned his focus to my brothers, which immediately made me uneasy. Logan was still stoned and Robbie’s relationship with our father was strained, to say the least. Growing up, the three of us were always butting heads with our parents, but it seemed that my oldest brother took the brunt of it.
“Robert, have you given any more thought to my offer?”
Things are about to get ugly. Dad’s getting ready to lay in on Robbie. There’s a good chance I may show up at the gym later.
Doing paperwork all night. Feel free to stop by whenever and keep me company.
Robbie took a sip of his wine and grimaced before answering. “Dad, I have a job. I appreciate the offer but I’ve said no and I’m sticking to it.”
My dad frowned and the expression on his face mirrored my brother’s. “There’s good money in construction, Robert. I’m not saying that you can’t keep your little furniture making hobby-”
“It’s not a hobby, it’s my livelihood, my career.”
“Wood shop is not a career. It’s a class you take in high school and one that you obviously took too seriously.”
Logan looked at me from across the table and clenched his jaw, his shaggy blonde hair falling into his eyes. We need to go, he mouthed at me and I nodded before wiping my mouth with a napkin.
“Um, maybe we should-”
I was quickly interrupted by my mother waving her hand in the air. “Abbigail, let the men talk.”
Logan raised his eyebrows and gave a hollow laugh. “I forgot that the women in this family weren’t allowed to speak.”
My mom pursed her lips and glanced at Logan, taking a sip of her wine. “Ah, he speaks. Here I was thinking you were too inebriated to talk.”
“Mom!”
“Abby, don’t raise your voice to your mother.”
“I’m not inebriated, mother. Although, I truly wish I was right now.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, earning smiles from both brothers.
“Robert, I’m just saying give it a shot. You can make good money is a business like that! At nearly thirty years old you shouldn’t be living in squalor.”
“I didn’t realize living in a house on the beach was considered living in squalor. I mean, considering we grew up in a house. On the beach.”
That was when everyone began talking over one another. My brother and my dad were yelling at each other and my mom was accusing Lo of having a serious drug problem. I poured another large glass of wine and whipped my phone out.
Definitely coming over.
That bad, huh?
Mom thinks Logan’s a junkie and my dad called Robbie poor.
Hope you’re drinking.
Not nearly enough to be able to tolerate this…
“You have no respect for me.”
“You’ve never respected me, dad.”
“Logan, I won’t tolerate having drugs in my house!”
“I know, that’s why I left the meth in the car.”
“I need more wine.”
“Get me another scotch!”
Having had enough, I pushed my chair back and stood, clapping my hands together a few times. “Okay, time to go.”
The boys stood without question and my dad put up a hand to stop us. My mother was too drunk to stand so she watched us from her seat.
“
Now, hold on,” my father started.
“No, dad. We’re leaving. We come visit and we all get berated. It’s such a goddamn joke-”
“Abbigail!”
“Be quiet, mom! Shit!” I turned back to my dad. “Everyone needs to cool down. I didn’t stop fighting one battle in New York to come home and fight another one.”
His fist met my eye and pain rocked through my skull as I landed on the floor of my apartment. I cried out, terrified and in excruciating pain as he wrapped a meaty hand around my ankle and dragged me forward.
I tried to scream but then he was on top of me, clamping one hand over my mouth and pressing my head so hard into the ground I thought my head was going to explode from the pressure. I tasted blood and realized my own tooth was cutting into my lip.
“I brought you flowers!” he shouted in my face, the mask he wore preventing me from seeing him. Fear flew through me and I couldn’t help but think I’m gonna die like this. All I could see were the faces of my family. Simone. Knox. The life that I’d never live and the babies I’d never conceive.
“I brought you gifts!” He grabbed me by my shirt and hauled me up while I thrashed against him and beat my fists against his chest. I could taste blood as he shook me violently and then threw me over the couch where my ribs slammed into the corner of the coffee table. I was groaning and trying to crawl when he came around the side of the couch, something sharp and metallic gleaming in his hand.
“Let’s see how pretty you look after I’m through with you.”
My own scream woke me up and there was sweat dripping down my back and neck. My surroundings weren’t recognizable as I looked around.
Keep Me Safe: A Small Town Suspenseful Love Story (Port James Book 1) Page 7
