by M K Dwyer
“I have a better idea. Why don’t I just pay off the debt?”
“No.”
“‘No’? Why not?”
“A few reasons. For starters, Mark only borrowed five-grand from me, but the guys that came to my house were looking for eight-grand. I don’t know why the price went up, but I don’t trust that it won’t go up again. Two, it would just give Mark the ability to rack up debt with these guys over and over, and they would keep coming to you for payment. Three, if you gave the money directly to Mark like I did, then he would just pocket it like he did to me. Our only option is to remove ourselves from the situation while Mark sorts this out for himself. I’ve got some… buddies looking into the loan shark and this whole mess. But until we can make a more permanent plan to avoid the fallout of Mark’s poor decisions, I think our priority should be safety. I’ll be frank, Theresa, I don’t like the way Mark treats you or his possessiveness over you. I don’t trust him not to do something stupid. I’d like to get you and your son out of the crossfire while I figure out what to do with my brother.”
She digested his candidness. He had a point, or five, but that didn’t mean she was ready to jump in the guy’s trailer and follow him across the country. “I see your point. I really do, but I have a lot to think about first. Can I let you know?”
“Absolutely.” He got up from the couch. “I need to head back to Vegas and get my ducks in a row before I leave town. Give me your phone. I’ll program my number, so you can call me when you decide.”
She unlocked her phone and handed it over to Blake.
As he typed in his contact info, he said, “Keep me updated. Okay? If Mark comes back, I’d like to know. There.” She heard his phone chime in his pocket. “And now I have your number too.”
She walked him to the door and told him she’d be in touch.
If she’d known then that Mark would show up the next day acting worse than ever, she would have agreed to leave with Blake right then.
Chapter Five
Theresa
The next morning shortly after Joe left for school, she heard her front door open and went to see who let themselves into her house. Her knees grew weak and her stomach rolled when she saw Mark standing there.
“Honey, I’m home.”
In that moment, she made the decision not to tell Mark about the goons that came looking for him or that she’d spoken to his brother. She figured out early with Mark that playing dumb was the only option to surviving his bipolar moods.
“Mark. I’m surprised to see you. I wasn’t sure where you’d gone.” Not a lie, but not I’m so happy to see you either.
“Miss me, baby? I had to take care of some things, but I’m back. I’ve even decided not to renew my lease on my apartment. I’m moving it! Isn’t that great?”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she plastered a fake smile on her face. She hoped she looked more convincing than she felt. She was on the edge of doubling over and losing her breakfast.
“That sounds great, Mark. Can we talk more tonight? I don’t want to be late to work.”
He came closer and pulled her into his arms. She went reluctantly but couldn’t let her reluctance show for fear of setting him off. He placed his hands on each sides of her face and crushed her lips to his. She wanted to cry and scream but stood there in silence until he let her go.
“I really need to get going.”
“Okay. That’s fine because when we’re married, you won’t be working at all.”
She visibly recoiled breaking the hold he had of her, and she couldn’t hide the shock on her face. He misinterpreted it though.
“That’s right, baby. I’m going to make an honest woman out of you, sooner rather than later.”
“Oh. That’s. Something.”
“It sure is, baby! Time to start looking at dresses. Not white because, well, you know, it’s not your first rodeo, but something pretty.”
The stupid shit that came out of his mouth never ceased to amaze her. “Sounds good, Mark. We’ll talk more tonight, okay?” She didn’t wait for a response and practically sprinted out the door, grabbing her purse from the coat rack on the way.
She jumped in her car and took a deep breath, willing her eyes to stay dry until she was out of the driveway. When she was far enough away and felt like she could breathe again, she pressed the hands-free button on her steering wheel to command her phone to call Blake.
“Hello, beautiful. Miss me already?”
‘Beautiful’? That again? “You know. That’s the second time this morning that someone asked me if I missed them.”
“He came back?”
“He came back.”
“You okay?”
“No.” She almost told Blake about Mark’s proposal, if she could call it that, but decided against it. He would ask what she said, and she’d have to tell him that she didn’t outright decline. She wasn’t ready to show him just how badly Mark broke her.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to get him out of my life. One way or another.”
“Need help?”
“Probably.”
“All right. I’m planning to leave in about a week. Are you coming with me?”
“Most likely. I’ll let you know. I’m headed to work now. I need to discuss things with my boss. I don’t need to work, but I like my job. I’d like to know it will be there when I get back. Then I need to come to terms with leaving my son behind. I know he’ll be better off. You weren’t wrong about that, but that won’t make it any easier to leave him.”
“I understand. But Theresa?”
“Yeah?”
“Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. I’ve got some friends that I trust that are helping me figure this out. The important thing is making sure you and Joe are safe while we figure it out and getting out of town for a little while will give me the peace of mind to focus solely on bringing this circus to a close.”
“Thank you, Blake. I’ll consider what you’re saying. Just give me a moment to come to terms with all this.”
“Of course, Theresa. It’s a big decision, and it’s going to require that you trust me. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She giggled, and it was unexpected considering she was on the verge of tears when she’d first called Blake. “I definitely trust you more than Mark.”
“Well that’s good.” His words were simple, but the jovial smile in his voice warmed her heart. She trusted Blake, for sure, but what she didn’t tell him was that she had a third reason for being trepidatious about going with him. She was hopelessly attracted to him and the attraction was growing every time she saw or spoke to him. What would close quarters in faraway place do to her?
“I’ll call you on my lunch break and let you know what I’ve decided.”
They said their good-bye’s and hung up as she pulled into the parking lot at work. She was ninety percent sure she was going to leave with Blake. She felt like a crazy person for even considering it, but Mark had backed her into a corner. Life wasn’t always “fight or flight”. Sometimes it was “flight so you can fight”. She had to keep Joe safe while she and Blake figured out exactly what they were dealing with, and that couldn’t happen if they remained where Mark and his enemies could find them.
∞∞∞
Blake
He glanced at the clock as his phone started to ring. Both hands pointed straight up at noon. The caller ID said it was Theresa calling right on time.
“Hello, beautiful.”
“You have to stop calling me that.”
“Why, beautiful?” He wasn’t sure why he threw that one in except he loved riling her up.
She huffed, and he smiled. “Because we’re going to be in close quarters, and I’m going to need a ‘no flirting’ rule so my ovaries don’t explode.”
His smile grew wider at all the ways he could make her ovaries explode. “Who said I’m flirting? I only speak the trut
h.” He laughed knowing she rolled her eyes at that comment. “Wait. Does that mean you’re coming with me?”
“It does if you can cool it.”
“Cooling it now.” He imagined if he were any younger, he’d be crossing his fingers behind his back. He was totally lying. He had no intention of cooling it with her. He only wanted things to heat up. If his brother weren’t such an asshole, he’d feel bad or even weird about stealing his girl away, but Mark deserved what was coming to him. He would never push what she didn’t want, but he knew their attraction was mutual.
“Good,” Theresa said all business and completely oblivious to Blake’s lustful thoughts about her. “I spoke to my boss who assured me that my job would be here waiting for me when I got back. But really, this place is such a revolving door of people sometimes. I shouldn’t have worried about it.”
“That’s good. So where do you work?”
“If I told you that, I’d have to kill you.” He smiled at the laughter in her voice. He enjoyed being the one to make her laugh.
“‘That would be tremendously ambitious of you.’”
“You did not just quote Sherlock Holmes to me!”
“I didn’t?”
“Oh, shut up. You’re impossible.”
He laughed loud into the phone. Never in a million years would he tire of setting her off. She was like a firecracker stuck in the ground begging him to light her fuse and send her into space.
“So, you like Sherlock Holmes?”
“Like him? I don’t just like him. I’m a Sherlockian to the core. I watch the show. I’ve seen the movies. I’ve read and re-read the books. I spend way too much time on fan sites discussing Holmes. Need I go on?”
He chuckled. He loved hearing how excited she got over it and preened like a peacock that he was the one that she opened that side of herself to. “No. No need to go on. I thought I was a fan, but you definitely have me beat.”
“To be fair, I have a lot of people beat, but it’s not a contest. I was a stay-at-home mom for many years, and I would have gone insane without hobbies. Plus, it was fun to read the kid’s versions of the Sherlock Holmes adventures to Joe when he was younger. I actually miss it now that he’s old enough to read to himself.”
Her voice turned wistful as she spoke of her son. He knew leaving him for any amount of time would be hard for her and wished he could do something to make the separation easier. He’d have to think about what that could be while he got everything else ready for their departure.
“Sounds like amazing memories for both of you. You’re such a great mom. You actually sound like my own mom when I was a kid. She loved to read to us too.”
Theresa was silent. He had to look at the screen on his phone to make sure the call was still connected. “You there, Theresa?”
“Yeah.” She sounded choked up, and his heart broke for her.
“I’m sorry, beautiful. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He winced at the endearment. He didn’t want to push or rile her up in that moment. He just wanted to comfort, and it slipped out. She either wasn’t paying attention though, or let it go, because she didn’t call him on it.
“No. No. I’m fine. Just coming to terms with what I need to do.”
He was silent while she collected herself.
“That reminds me. I reached out to my lawyer and asked him to draw up a something giving my ex temporary sole custody. I’m going to have it delivered to his house after we leave town.”
“That was a great idea. Better for him to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. What kind of arrangement do you have with your ex? Does he take Joe every other weekend or what?”
“Yeah. This upcoming weekend is his weekend.”
“Good. That works perfectly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he’s coming to pick up Joe anyway. He just won’t be bringing him home.”
“Oh.”
“You okay with that, Theresa?”
“Yeah. It just seems so soon. So final.”
“It’s not final, Theresa. I don’t know when we’ll be back, but we will be back.”
“Okay.”
“No. Not ‘okay’. I mean it. I don’t make promises often, but I promise everything will work out. I can’t promise when, but I promise I’ll bring you back to Joe.”
“Yes, sir.” Her voice was mocking, but he knew she was smiling which made him smile.
“That’s more like it.”
“Thanks, Blake.”
“Anytime, beautiful.”
“Hey, now.”
“I know. I know. Just checking something.” Checking to see if he could get away with it again.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing. I’ll let you get back to your lunch while I come up with a plan to skip town under Mark’s nose. I’ll be in touch.”
They said their good-byes for the second time that day. He enjoyed hearing her voice so often. He could only imagine how great it would be having her all to himself in a small trailer parked in a secluded area for an unknown amount of time. Oh, the possibilities.
He pocketed his phone and stood up from the couch in his trailer. When Theresa called, he was in the middle of a deep cleaning of the place. It wasn’t particularly dirty, but it’d been sitting in storage for a year and needed to be aired out and wiped down. He started stocking the cabinets with all the comforts of home like plates, towels, condiments, and spices while thinking about what Theresa would think of his home away from home.
It was nothing compared to the abode she deserved after dealing with his wretch of a brother or even the home she currently owned in Yuma, but it would do for a little while.
For the hundredth time, he wondered why Mark showed up again at Theresa’s. What did he have to gain? Did he know there were men looking for him? He had to know, since he never paid what he owed. Why would he risk going where they could find him? Blake had so many questions, but he wanted Theresa and her son safe while he figured out the answers.
Chapter Six
Theresa
She picked Joe up from school and headed home. During the days that Mark was gone, she’d seen a change in her son. He’d been happier. They’d been happier. She didn’t want to take all that away, but she had to warn him before they got home and reassure him that she was going to fix everything.
“Joe?”
“Yeah, Mom?”
“I need to tell you something, but before you respond I need you to hear me out. Okay?”
“All right.” She glanced over at him and hated the wariness she saw in his eyes.
“Mark showed up this morning so he’s probably going to be at the house when we get home.”
“What? Why?”
“What did I just say, Joe?”
“Sorry.”
“I know it’s been tough, and you were hoping he was gone for good, but I promise if we can just make it to the weekend, everything will be different after that. Do you trust me?”
His silence broke her heart. She knew she’d let him down by not being strong enough to stand up to Mark. She put on such a brave face to the world, but at home, a place that should be her sanctuary to be herself, she had no power. She was going to change that though. Even if she didn’t have the strength to do that for herself, she’d find the strength to do that for her son.
“Yeah, Mom. I trust you.” Her heart warmed a little at his words. He might have said them to make her feel better, but she’d take the bone he threw her.
“Good. I love you, Joe. Ya know?”
“I know.” He was silent for a moment before he said, “I love you too.”
She pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. All day she’d prayed that her morning had been a dream, that Mark didn’t really come back. She had no such luck though, he was even waiting on the doorstep for them either pretending he cared or ready to lay into her for some perceived slight against him.
Before she got out of the car, she kissed Joe o
n the forehead to silently reassure him and sent him inside. She wanted to speak to Mark alone. When she reached the porch, instead of stepping into his arms like he expected her to, she went to the porch swing off to the right and sat down.
She patted the spot next to her. “Will you swing with me, Mark?”
He stuttered for a moment and she could see he wanted to demand to know why she didn’t give him the greeting he expected, but he held back. That intrigued her. She realized for once that she had the upper hand with him, but she both wondered and feared why. What did he want?
“Sure, babe.” She bristled. She hated insincere endearments and “babe” was at the top of the list.
She decided to be bold with Mark, to find the girl she always was but had pushed down the more threatening and physical he became.
“So, what’s going on, Mark? You disappeared for days without a word, and then come back practically proposing marriage. I think I deserve an explanation.” She lifted her chin a little higher with each word to show Mark she wasn’t backing down or going to be intimidated by him anymore.
“You’re right. I left without telling you why, but I wasn’t really gone, baby.” He took her hands, and though her skin crawled, she didn’t pull away. “I just had to take care of some things. But I’m back and I’m not going anywhere ever again.”
She played along wanting Mark to be completely oblivious to her plans to leave him. “How can I be sure that I won’t begin to count on you again only for you to leave me in a lurch again?”
“Oh baby.” She wanted to roll her eyes so bad. “I was gone less than a week. I didn’t realize it affected you so much, but I would never leave my little pot of gold.”
That endearment took her by surprise and the confusion must have showed on her face.
He laughed. “Pot of gold because I feel like a rainbow led me right to you.”
She was still confused. Pot of gold? Mark was weird, but nothing he ever said was random.
Then her blood ran cold.
She had no idea how, but he must’ve found out about the insurance money she’d inherited. She’d been so good at keeping that knowledge from him. She couldn’t imagine how he found out.
