by Paige Warren
“Beau, it’s Gemma. I thought about your offer and, if you’re sure, I’d like to accept.”
“We’re sure, Gemma. Do you have a way to get here? I didn’t see a car in your driveway when I was there earlier.”
“I don’t have one, but I could call someone for a ride.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll swing by and pick you up on my way out of town.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Beau. I’ll see you in the morning. If you want to leave a little earlier, I’ll be ready by eight.”
“Eight is fine, Gemma. I’m anxious to get back home.”
“Good night, Beau.”
She disconnected the call and wondered what she’d do with herself for the rest of the night. She’d been bored out of her mind since leaving Trevor. She hadn’t been able to afford cable and, without her laptop, she couldn’t work on her book or surf porn. She had no problem admitting she had a healthy sex drive and that she used porn to help her exorcise the demons on occasion. The books in her box had been read so many times, the bindings were heavily creased, even falling apart in some cases. Gemma was pretty sure she’d memorized at least half of them.
She wanted a drink so badly, had felt the craving for alcohol ever since she’d left Trevor’s house, but she didn’t have the money to buy anything except cheap beer. She’d bought a six-pack that first night, but it hadn’t lasted past morning. It wasn’t hard for her to admit she had a problem, but she’d never wanted to do anything about it, before now. Alcohol had always been her escape from the nightmare that was her life. The endless parties, the late nights at one bar after another, a circle of friends that wasn’t into anything other than chasing the next high, hopping from one guy’s bed to another’s. Her life hadn’t started out that way. She’d just sort of fallen into it. She’d gotten sucked down fast and hard, and hadn’t been able to claw her way back out of the pit.
All of that was behind her now. She was going to look at Grizzly Pines as her saving grace. If she was going to start over, she was going to do it right. No more alcohol, no more smoking pot at parties… no more parties for that matter. The rest of her family seemed quite content to live a relatively quiet life. Surely, she could do the same thing. Hell, maybe she’d even get a pet once she had her own place. She’d had a dog growing up, but she’d always wanted a cat. Her mom had been allergic so it had been out of the question. There wasn’t even a barn cat at the family ranch. One had shown up once and her dad had immediately taken it to the local shelter to find a new home. She’d prayed every night that it hadn’t been put to sleep.
Before she could take care of a pet, she needed to learn to take better care of herself. If she could make a go of her writing, or find a steady job in Grizzly Pines, rent a decent place, then she’d consider herself rehabilitated and well on her way to being a productive member of society. She had her work cut out for her. Even she could admit that she needed more than a little bit of polish to make her shine. Rough edges? More like tarnished. Heavily tarnished.
She began chewing on a fingernail as she paced her living room. She was on her fifth circuit of the room when the phone rang. The number wasn’t familiar but it was local, so she answered it.
“Hello.”
“No one leaves me, bitch!”
Trevor! She should have known. He’d called several times over the past few weeks, the same conversation every time.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have treated me like shit.”
“You had it good. Anytime you wanted a fix, I provided for you. The fridge was always stocked with your favorite beer and I kept a fully stocked bar. You didn’t even have to work if you didn’t want to. Women would kill to have been in your position.”
“You hit me, Trevor. You beat the living hell out of me until I could barely move! I was black and blue all over. Since when is that taking care of me?”
He snorted. “So I lost my temper every now and then. Maybe if you hadn’t been such a lazy, stupid bitch, it never would have happened. You had one job, Gemma. Keep the damn house clean, and you couldn’t even do that.”
“No one could keep up with your twenty beer cans a day littering the house, dirty dishes left by your chair after every meal, and your clothes being dropped just wherever the hell you felt like taking them off. I was your girlfriend, not your damn slave.”
“You’re going to regret leaving me, Gemma. Don’t think I don’t know where you are. I’ve been watching you. I know all about that roach-infested tin can you’re staying in. We’ll be together again. Soon.”
He hung up and she disconnected the call with a shaky hand. There was no doubt he’d make good on his threat, if he could find her. Good thing she was leaving first thing in the morning! Beau was saving her in more ways than one. She’d never be able to repay him. She just hoped Trevor stayed away until then.
Gemma started pacing again and ended up pacing for so long that the sun was rising before she realized how much time had passed. The odd thing was that she wasn’t the least bit tired. If anything, she was excited to start this next phase of her life. It hadn’t taken her long to throw her scattered clothing into the garbage bag, only leaving out a change of clothes to start her new day, her new life. She took the quickest shower in history, and was just snapping her short-sleeved western shirt when there was a knock on the door. She didn’t think it was eight already, but maybe more time had passed than she’d thought.
Pulling open the door, she smiled at Beau. The rising sun told her he was early, but she was okay with that. There was a ball of energy just buzzing around inside of her, ready to burst free at any moment. If Beau hadn’t come when he had, she probably would have been sitting on the steps waiting for him, her bag and box beside her, feet tapping on the cement steps.
He glanced up at the towel wrapped around her head. “I think you forgot something.”
“You caught me getting out of the shower.”
He shivered. “Thanks, but the last thing I want to think about is you in the shower. Hurry up and brush your hair, or whatever it is you need to do. I’ll start getting your stuff together.”
“Everything is packed except my bathroom stuff. I was just going to throw it in a Wal-Mart sack and be done with it. There’s just a cheap bottle of shampoo and conditioner, a razor, my toothbrush and hairbrush. Anything else can stay.”
“No towels to pack?”
“I only own two and I’m using one. I figure you probably have enough of them already. When I move out, I’ll buy all new stuff. This time, I’ll be better prepared.”
“Where’s your stuff?”
“In the bedroom. Just let me braid my hair and gather the bathroom stuff, and I’ll be ready to go.”
While Beau carried her things out to the car, she fixed her hair and packed the last of her belongings. She wouldn’t miss the trailer in the slightest, and was actually anxious to be rid of the place. Once she walked out the door, she would never look back. It was time to start a new chapter in her life, a better one. Her cousins and their fiancée were giving her a once in a lifetime opportunity and she wasn’t going to squander it.
“Ready?” Beau asked.
She smiled. “Ready.”
He motioned for her to precede him out of the trailer. When the door slammed shut, she felt nothing but relief. She slid into Beau’s SUV and buckled her seatbelt. As they pulled away from her home of the past few weeks, she felt like she’d left the bad Gemma behind, the irresponsible party girl was still inside that metal box, while the new Gemma was ready to go forth and begin her life.
It was going to be a little over four hours until they arrived in Grizzly Pines, six if it weren’t for Beau’s lead foot, and Gemma figured Beau would lecture her at least part of the way. She’d resigned herself to her fate. When the first hour went by in silence, she was surprised. Maybe he was waiting on her to start the conversation? Or perhaps he was just so anxious to get home to Elodie that he wasn’t even thinking about Gemma and her problems.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” she said softly. “You didn’t have to.”
“Couldn’t have you hitchin’ a ride.”
“That isn’t what I meant and you know it. You didn’t have to come rescue me from my folly. You could have left me in that trailer until I came to my senses and either ended up in the gutter or slunk home to my parents with my tail between my legs.”
“I figured the gutter was more likely. Everyone deserves a second chance, Gem. What you do with it is entirely up to you.”
“There’s a project I’ve been working on, but it requires a laptop. Trevor destroyed mine. Do you have one I could borrow, just until I get a job and save up to get one of my own?” she asked, making sure he knew she wasn’t asking for a handout, just a hand up.
“You can borrow mine anytime you need it. Care to tell me about this project?”
She shook her head. “I’m not ready yet. When the time is right, I’ll tell everyone what’s going on, but I don’t want to jinx myself.”
“If you don’t want to discuss that, how about we talk about your taste in men? Do I need to watch over you, like a baby chick, while you’re at the house? Make sure you don’t pick another loser?”
“I’m done with the bad boy type. Obviously, it wasn’t getting me anywhere, except the hospital. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if Mom and Dad hadn’t taken out insurance for me. They wanted to make sure I was covered though, and it was the one thing I didn’t argue about.”
“You’ve always floated from one guy to the next. What was different this time?”
Gemma’s hands fidgeted in her lap. There were some things she just couldn’t tell her cousin, not if she wanted him to stay out of jail. Not to mention, he’d tell her brothers, and that would spell disaster for sure. She had little doubt that, if her family found out what Trevor had done to her, he would be a dead man. While it would be no great loss for the world, to be short one man like Trevor, she didn’t want her cousins and brothers to pay with their lives, and they were the type of men who would turn themselves in to the law. Stubborn idiots.
“He started out nice enough,” she began. “Then there were little things, like forgetting to pick up his laundry. It would send him into a rage when I’d complain. He’d just yell and stomp around, but about a month after we were together, after I’d moved in, he started hitting me. It was just a slap across the face, not hard enough to bruise or anything, and he always apologized afterward.”
“Jesus, Gem. You shouldn’t have put up with that.”
“It escalated after that. He’d start drinking the moment he got off work and, by eight or nine at night, he was so drunk he could barely stand. He functioned well enough to beat on me though, with a closed fist. At first, he kept the marks hidden, so no one would know what was going on. Toward the end though, he didn’t much care if someone knew. I had a busted lip, black eye, and more bruises than I could count on the night I left. I was surprised he hadn’t broken my arm when he’d grabbed me. The bruises faded over the next week or two, or otherwise, I’d still look like a circus clown.
“When he went to bed that night, I gathered that sack of clothes and my books and sneaked out of the house. My laptop was on his side of the bed and I was terrified of waking him. The rustling of the garbage bag had been bad enough. I wasn’t about to tempt fate. I figured I’d go back the next day and gather more things while he was at work. Except, he didn’t go to work. He dumped all my things out front and set them on fire.”
Beau cursed. “You could have been killed if you’d stayed with him. I’m glad you got out while you could, even if you did lose all your belongings. At least you didn’t lose your life.”
“That’s what I kept telling myself.”
He looked her way. “Are you sure that’s everything? I feel like you’re holding something back from me.”
“I’m just not ready to share everything yet, Beau. Give me some time.”
“Fine. We’ll do it your way—for now.”
Silence descended once more, and Gemma went back to watching the scenery pass outside her window. She didn’t know how much further it was to Grizzly Pines, but she was anxious to get there. It had been quite a while since she’d seen her cousins, and she was looking forward to meeting Elodie. The woman had to be a saint to put up with her three cousins. She hoped they could become friends.
Chapter Two
Cody Brower looked at the sign over the door before entering the small shop. He’d done a lot of thinking and had decided he wanted Elodie with him always, everywhere he went. While he’d be wearing a wedding band soon enough, he wanted something more, something he couldn’t take off or lose. A bell jingled overhead, as the door closed behind him, and a man looked up from the front desk.
He supposed the man was typical of someone in his profession. Heavily tattooed, pierced, and carrying that bad boy air that women usually adored. This was definitely a man who didn’t lack for female companionship. He’d have to make sure Gemma stayed clear of him when she got to town. This guy was just the sort she’d fall for, and then she’d be in a mess all over again. Not that this guy beat on his women just because he looked a little rough, but he was definitely the love ’em and leave ’em type. Cody should know. He’d been the same way before meeting Elodie.
“May I help you?” the guy asked.
“I wasn’t sure if I needed an appointment or if you could just work me into the schedule. I’d like to get a tattoo in honor of my fiancée.”
The man winced. “You know, getting someone’s name tattooed on you is the surest way to end up separated, or divorced if you make it to the marriage vows.”
“That will never happen. Elodie is my world. The woman can have anything she wants, and she knows it. Besides, my brothers would kick my ass if I did anything to hurt her.”
“Brothers…That’s right. You’re the ones in the ménage relationship.”
Cody lifted a brow. “You make it sound like we’re the only ones.”
“Nope, just the only ones being open about it. Mike, Peter, and Emily Myers tend to keep to themselves and, while people know of their relationship, they aren’t in your face with it. The four of you aren’t exactly subtle about it.”
Cody shrugged. “If they can’t handle it, that’s their problem.”
“So what are you thinking about, ink wise?”
Cody approached the counter. “I want something that reminds me of Elodie, maybe with her name somewhere in the design. She’s my angel, but she has a bit of a demon inside of her, too.”
The man rubbed his chin. “I think I have an idea. Give me a day to sketch something out. Can you come back tomorrow around the same time?”
Cody nodded. “I’m sure I can slip away. No one knows I’m doing this. I kind of want it to be a surprise.”
“I’ll put something together for you.”
“Name’s Cody Brower,” Cody said, holding out his hand.
“Synclair Black.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Black. And thanks.”
Cody headed back to his truck, anxious to get home before he was missed. He hadn’t exactly told anyone he was leaving. Gemma was scheduled to arrive any time today and Elodie was having a fit, cleaning the house from top to bottom. Beck and he had scattered, trying to stay out of her way after they’d been fussed at all morning. Since Elodie wasn’t the fussy type, he knew she had to be nervous about meeting Gemma for the first time.
Cody didn’t know a lot about Gemma’s situation, only what he’d gleaned from a few conversations with the cousins, mainly Colt. It seemed she’d been with a real asshole who’d abused her. Somehow she’d managed to escape him, only to end up in a rust bucket of a mobile home, something barely standing. He could understand why she hadn’t gone home to her parents. She hadn’t wanted to admit defeat. In her place, he’d have done the same thing.
In all honesty, he admired her strength and courage. She’d taken it upon herself to escape a
bad situation, no matter how dangerous it was, and had landed on her feet. Granted, she’d landed on shaky ground, but she was upright just the same. Colt said she’d been working part-time at a diner, which Cody knew couldn’t be paying the bills, or if it had been it wouldn’t have lasted for long. It was only a matter of time before she would’ve had to ask for help and, knowing Gemma, she’d have lived on the streets before doing that.
He pulled to a stop in front the ranch house and contemplated going inside. He knew Elodie was alone. No way would his brother Beck brave the little cyclone right now. It didn’t seem fair to make her do everything herself, not when it was his cousin coming to stay. Yes, Gemma would be Elodie’s cousin by marriage in another few months, but they’d never met. If his woman wanted to make a good first impression, there was no reason he couldn’t help.
Making up his mind, he got out of the truck and walked up the porch steps. He didn’t even get the screen door open before Elodie greeted him, looking harried. There was a sheen of sweat on her face, a long strand of hair had come loose from her bun and hung in her eyes, and her shirt looked like she’d been twisting it in her hands the whole time he’d been gone. Someone definitely needed to calm his sweetheart down. She was getting herself all worked up, and for nothing. Gemma wasn’t going to care how clean the house was, especially after the place where she’d been living the past several weeks. Getting Elodie to understand that was another matter though.
“Honey, you’re upsetting yourself over nothing,” he said as he entered the house. “Why don’t you take a breath, soak in the tub for a while, and put on something pretty. Beau and Gemma should be here in a few hours. He said they would leave by nine this morning and it’s a little after noon now. You don’t want to be running around trying to mop the floors when she arrives, do you?”
She had a horrified look on her face as she glanced down at her ratty clothes, which consisted of an old T-shirt she’d swiped from him and a pair of Beau’s sweats she’d cut off at the knees. He turned her around and guided her toward the stairs. Lifting her into his arms, something that always seemed to shock her, he carried her upstairs to the master suite and set her down when he’d entered the bathroom.
