Deserved
Page 21
Lacey Talbot
Tommy was still concentrating his efforts on Carly, quite rightly. She was his precious daughter, the one he’d only just welcomed and accepted as his own and she had to be his priority. I was just glad she was okay and it was all over. Oli comforted me for what felt like forever. Never had I been so bold. I’d completely surprised myself. When I managed to wipe the tears from my eyes for long enough to look around me, I felt blessed to see Tommy and Carly in an embrace of pure love.
Jonas was crouched in front of me with a crazy grin on his face. “You been taking lessons from Lottie?” He chuckled. “You’re crazy and I love it. Not sure I’ll be asking you to chop wood any time soon but you were a perfect Momma Bear in there. Nice work, kid.”
“And now I know things are officially fucked up. When you get praise from that guy, you know you’ve reached warped level extreme. Come on. Let me get you home.”
I stood up with Oli’s help and as I was about to turn away, Carly pushed out of Tommy’s arms and came running at me. When her arms gripped my waist and her head landed on my shoulder, I knew everything had been worth it. When this girl was in danger and scared, I stuck with her and did what any mother should. I protected her at all costs.
“Thank you Lacey,” she whispered, and feeling the most special of connections with this beautiful girl, I swung my arms around her and hugged her hard.
“You deserved to be rescued. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”
Smiling at me in response, she turned round and ran back to her dad, who just stood there, looking at me and doing nothing.
Nothing.
He didn’t come over and check I was okay.
He didn’t come to me and thank me for following his daughter and risking life and limb to get her out of there.
Tommy. Did. Nothing.
Apart from stare at me with a blank expression on his face.
“Come on. I’ll drive you back in your car. The walk to it will help get the blood flowing normally. I won’t live down being seen in a tart’s car, but for you, Lacey, I’ll do it.” Oli smiled and put his arm around my shoulder before turning me away from Tommy and Carly.
While we were walking back, I listened as he rang Lottie and told her that I was safe, Carly was safe and he was bringing me home. I could feel her relief just like I would have done if she was sat next to me.
During the drive home, we were both quiet, reflecting on the drama we’d got ourselves involved in. Lottie was waiting for us as we pulled up in front of the house. I let her hug me until she was convinced I was okay. I knew it was what we both needed. Life’s journey and fate had put me in their lives and vice versa, and for that I’d always be thankful. Finally, I noticed what a hot mess I was. My clothes and bare skin were dusty and dirty from crawling around the base of the trailer. My hands were scuffed and muddy and my hair was another story. Most of it had fallen out of my top bun, giving the phrase ‘messy bun’ a whole new meaning. My grubby face was smeared with the tears I’d cried once it was all over and I looked like I’d been rescued from a dark cave somewhere.
I let Lottie lead me to the bathroom and draw me a tub full of bubbly hot water. “Why do you think he didn’t talk to me after” I asked her, unable to hold it in any longer. I was so confused and hurt because I didn’t understand it.
“Tommy?” I nodded in answer and she continued. “It’s been a tough day for him. His first priority is and always will be Carly. That’s what being a parent is like. Don’t think about it now. It’s over and you did a stupidly brave thing.” She smiled and after waiting for me to undress, she gathered up my mucky clothes and left.
In an odd twist of fate, I realized that I hadn’t bled today. My body had finally dealt with the trauma of losing the baby and it was on the same day I made sure someone else got theirs back. I couldn’t be sad about that. It was the perfect balance of nature.
I closed my eyes again, breathed in the lavender scented bubbles and relaxed back, finally welcoming sleep.
* * *
A knock on the door woke me from my slumber.
“Lacey, you’ve got visitors,” Lottie said through a gap in the door, and I mumbled a kind of grunt in return. Slowly moving to release the stiffness in my limbs made the now much cooler water slop around and give me the encouragement I needed to get out. Toweling myself off, I grabbed a bath robe and descended the stairs to find Tommy and Carly in the main living room. Lottie was smiling and Oli looked like a cloud had stolen his sunlight and he was looking at a permanent dark night.
* * *
Tommy Sevens
Getting Carly home had to be my priority. I had no idea how much the ordeal had shaken her and my brain flitted from ‘she’s strong so she’ll be fine’ one minute, to ‘shit, she’s going to need full on counseling’ the next.
I knew I should have talked to Lacey, just said something, anything, but I couldn’t. Rooting myself to the ground and focusing on Carly seemed like the most sensible option. I’d just watched the woman I cared for fall to the ground in shock after rescuing my daughter and I was so afraid of making any of that worse.
I’d caused all of this. My stupid fucking mother and the whore I’d once been involved with had set these plans in motion years ago, and like Carly, we’d both been unwitting players in their game. I’d dragged Lacey into this and she could have been harmed.
I could have lost them both.
I’d already lost years of my daughter’s life.
I’d already pushed Lacey away and lost out on the chance of a relationship.
I’d lost a baby I hadn’t even known we’d created and because of the actions of some selfish people who didn’t deserve to still be alive, I’d nearly lost out on the chance to make things right.
There was no way my brain could figure out the best way to cope with all those possibilities, definitely not fast enough to say the right things to Lacey at the trailer park. I didn’t think of it as avoiding her. I thought of it as waiting until I knew all the right things to say and do to make her see the real me.
So I let Oli lead her away, praying that when I got Carly sorted she’d understand why I couldn’t talk to her right there and then.
Jonas drove us home and I sat in the back holding Carly, because despite her protests, I really didn’t believe she was okay. I’d asked her what had happened and found my anger bubbling as she talked me through the events.
Sonny had given Carly the message that Lacey was taking her home from school, but she’d been delayed talking to the principal. It was a beautiful day and she knew that Lacey would have the roof down on Tula, so she’d wandered out to the parking lot to wait there for her. She could see the gates from where Lacey was parked and she was going to shout, to let her know where she was.
It was there that Gloria had appeared, got out of the car and told her I’d been hurt. Gloria had spun some story that I’d been in an accident and as she was his next of kin, the hospital had called her. And like any other twelve-year-old kid who loved their dad, she jumped in without thinking anything further. When they kept on driving and didn’t answer any questions about my condition or what had happened, she’d known that something wasn’t right. The next thing Carly knew was that she was back in the trailer she’d thought she’d never have to see again. Gloria was shouting at her mom and she knew when she heard her make a call asking someone for money that she’d been duped and was in trouble.
Carly had no other plan than to bide her time and try to escape. She’d learned to survive for years and knew the lay of the land. Her plan was simple—sit tight and run for freedom when she had the opportunity.
Hearing her version of events made the festering hatred I had for those bitches grow even more and I wasn’t the only one. I could feel Jonas’s mood and he was less than impressed with what had gone down.
“I’m so sorry, Dad. I was stupid. I shouldn’t have believed them,” she said.
“It’s not on you, honey. You thought
I was hurt.”
“Lacey was awesome. You should have seen her with that axe.”
Lacey was already an important person in Carly’s life. The axe wielding crazy woman act had just elevated her to God-like status in my daughter’s eyes and although I was pleased she’d followed Carly to help, I still couldn’t help the fear I’d felt knowing that both the women I loved were involved.
When we got back home, Jonas came in with us. He said he wanted to talk to Carly and make sure she understood what happened.
“You saw me make a phone call. I need you to know that although I called a member of the biker club, I didn’t call the president.” Carly looked back at him confused. “I called a contact I have who will decide what the right path is for the bikers. So for now, your mother and grandmother are safe. But you understand why I needed to scare them?”
“I do. You wanted to make sure they never return.”
“Exactly, so don’t worry about them. They’ll be putting a safe distance between themselves and Hawkstown, and the money I handed them will give them a good start.”
Jonas and I were barely acquaintances, but he’d come through for me. I wasn’t stupid; I knew it was more for Carly than me.
“About that money.”
“Yeah, you owe me a couple of grand.”
“You said five.”
Jonas smiled at me. “You must have misheard me.”
A couple of grand was no problem to find and worth it to have those life sucking bitches out of our lives.
“I’ll let you enjoy the rest of your evening,” he told Carly, smiling and then looking at me. “Although, I can’t help but think someone is missing.”
After I’d shaken his hand and seen him through the door, I knew that we’d come to some kind of mutual understanding about how we’d interact in the future, and I was pleased knowing that I wouldn’t be expecting digs or backbiting about Dolly if we happened to be together. I knew he understand where my head was at and that was completely soaked up in Lacey.
I didn’t get chance to close the door after him. Carly appeared, holding my car keys and demanding we go to see Lacey.
The only problem was, I didn’t know if I was ready.
I didn’t have some great speech prepared and I’d had no time to think up any epic gestures, but looking at Carly made me realize that I didn’t need those things. I just needed the truth.
Lacey Talbot
Carly was on me the minute I hit the living room. The smile on her face was not that of a girl who had just been kidnapped and had to be rescued.
“I couldn’t wait to come and see you. Well… we couldn’t.”
“Carly…” Tommy warned her, and she looked like a kid who was about to burst with a secret.
“How about we give these two some space to talk,” Lottie suggested and walked over to take Carly out of my arms before leaving the room. Oli, however, did not move. He was glaring at Tommy like he was ready to kill him. Tommy was about to say something to him but Lottie got there first, shouting, “Now, Oli,” from the kitchen. Her tone of voice brokered no argument.
“I meant what I said,” he threatened and glared at Tommy as he made his way to me. “You want me to throw him out, just shout.”
I didn’t answer. I was getting more confused by the minute, but I knew this was serious when Tommy finally got up from the chair and walked over to me.
“Can we talk?” Without waiting for an answer, he took my hand and led me back to the sofa where’d he just been sitting.
“I’m sorry I didn’t stop them getting to her at the school,” I began.
“Are you shitting me? You’re one crazy ass axe-wielding woman. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified when I realized where you were, but you did that for Carly.”
I was embarrassed. I wasn’t a hero. “I just did what was necessary.”
“No, you did what any mother would do.”
Tommy was still holding my hand. I had no idea where he was going with this, but when he started to rub his thumb along my wrist, it began to feel less like a thank you and more like something else. Watching his thumb was mesmerizing and soothing, but when I looked up at his face, I saw something I didn’t expect—devotion. He was making me nervous and I was scared I was reading everything wrong.
“I miss you so much, Lacey. I know the time we shared wasn’t exactly relationship building,” he whispered. “But I can’t honestly think of another time in my life when I felt so calm yet so fired up all at once. I know how we started things was a little back to front but there’s something about you that makes me want a you and me. I need there to be a you and me.”
I searched his face for any sign that this was just a whim, but what I found were the same eyes that had held my attention the last time we’d had sex. The time when I was convinced it was more than sex and we were making love. I’d felt silly then, but now I felt empowered.
“But the age difference, Carly and well… Oli and Lottie?”
“Age is just a number, baby. Carly will kill me if I don’t pull this off and I’ve spoken with Oli and Lottie. Oli will probably maim me if I so much as call you a bad name and Lottie is probably the only thing stopping him from doing that right now anyway.”
“It hurt so much before, when you didn’t want me, and we haven’t even spoken about the baby. You still blame me for that.” If this was going to be even an outside possibility, I needed to be honest with him. The thought of opening myself up to him again was terrifying.
“I hurt so much, too,” he admitted. “I thought I was doing all that setting you free bullshit, but in truth, it was only a matter of time before I went all caveman and dragged your ass back into my life.”
“And the baby?”
“I’ll never forgive myself for the things I said to hurt you. I’m not laying any excuses, but I’d already missed out on raising one child and the thought that you might have kept me out of the loop of another one was messing with my head.”
“That and a bottle of JD,” I mumbled.
Tommy chuckled. “I will bust my hump everyday to try to make you forgot that. Not the baby, though, we’ll never forget what we could have had and we’ll use it to build ourselves a future. I don’t know where this will go and whether we’ll ever be in that place again, but until then, I know of a little girl who idolizes you. She could do with a real mother and let’s face it, you’ve been that since the day you showed up to help.”
I was smiling through teary eyes. My accidental pregnancy would have been a blessing for me. To love and raise my own family was my ultimate life dream. Carly, though, she was something else and I never saw her and Tommy as separate. She was just the icing on the cake that was Tommy.
“I don’t know what to say to all this,” I began.
“I do,” shouted Carly from the kitchen. “Pizza at ours, also known as family date night.”
I burst out laughing at her intervention. She’d be listening to the whole thing.
“See, baby, it’s not just me. My girl wants you in our lives and I’m just as scared of her as I am of Oli, so don’t leave me hanging,” Tommy said.
“Not scared enough!” Oli grumbled, and I heard a sharp slap, followed by, “Ow! Okay, okay, I’ll butt out,” which made me laugh harder.
“I want to see that every day, your beautiful smile and… you know,” he mumbled.
I’d waited long enough to get my guy. Sometimes you just had to let fate choose who you were meant to love. I leaned forward, looked into his eyes and whispered, “Kiss me Tommy.”
There was no need to ask a second time. He was on me in a split second and the kiss was laced with relief and joy.
“Ewww, I don’t need to see that.” Carly grimaced, pretending to sound disgusted.
“They better not be making out on my couch,” Oli warned, and knowing how hard this was for him and that there were a limited number of ways Lottie had to tame the beast, I decided to clean things up and respect the guy who had taken on
the role of my father.
“Let me get some clothes on and I’ll drive over,” I told him.
“No, we’ll wait and pack a bag,” he said loudly, his face waiting for the reaction he knew was coming from the kitchen.
“Stop it.”
“Can’t, baby, too much fun,” he said, laughing, and in less than ten minutes, I walked out of my front door holding Tommy’s hand and listening to Carly babbling on about absolutely nothing of importance.
All three of us had led similar lives, and it had forged a bond between us and in a different way, brought us together to start a life that we truly deserved.
Together.
And it was perfect.
Tommy sevens
I was so nervous I could have pissed my pants on the spot. There were a number of things going on in my life at that exact moment that could have contributed to my condition.
My daughter was graduating high school, and if that wasn’t enough of a reason, she was doing it as Valedictorian. I, Tommy Sevens, owner of the local cab company, general wise ass and school idiot had a daughter who was the absolute cream of the crop.
Carly Sevens… I loved saying her name. Even after these short years, I still ran the words around in my head. I was so fucking proud of her. She should have been on a billboard. Her early years had been haphazard at best and that was being kind. Thank God she had a love for books and self-learning. I’m not saying I would have been any less proud of her if she hadn’t graduated but life is tough and doing it behind the curve while chasing an education was hard and a challenge she totally beat. I always said I never wanted a child of mine to struggle and if there was one thing I could thank her whore of a mother for, it was leaving her with me. I hadn’t helped her with her speech. I was just too nervous, and truth be told, I’d only just held it together when she tried her cap and gown on for a fitting.