by Cee Bowerman
“I just felt lightheaded and then the room started spinning,” I told her honestly.
“Could you be pregnant?” Nicole asked softly.
“Oh!” I laughed a little too hard at her words before I could control myself. “No, that isn’t the case at all.”
“Has this happened before?”
“Oh, no. I just got some shocking news and then I passed out. I think that’s really all it was.”
“Shocking news at a convenience store?”
“How do you know Rowdy?” I asked her, changing the subject.
“He and his daughter volunteer at the animal shelter I own and they live next door to me. They’re my most reliable volunteers and good friends.”
“Well, that’s nice,” I mumbled, impressed that he and his daughter volunteered.
“Good guy, that one.” Nicole was busy putting things away, clearing up the supplies she used on me.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing at all.” Nicole smiled at me. “I’m not a doctor anymore, so I can’t really charge you for care.”
“Can I donate to your animal shelter?”
“That you can, but it’s not required. I help out where I can with both the Knights and the Kings. They’re good people.”
“That’s good to know.” I said, distracted thinking of where I would go from here. My car was parked at the convenience store and that wasn’t a neighborhood I was comfortable in after dark. I could ask someone to take me to the apartments, but I didn’t want to leave my car there overnight. As worn out as it was, it was my only means of transportation and I couldn’t afford to replace it.
Unless I figured out how to turn in that lottery ticket. If I did that, I could buy a newer car and let Kari have my old one to pass along to someone else. I could also afford an airtight change of identity to make sure that my ex could never find me again.
But in order to do that, I’d have to give the lottery commission my current identification and payments would come to me in that name in the future. It was a puzzle and I couldn’t work it out in my head just yet.
Nicole opened the door to the exam room and both Lexi and her friend Leia came inside.
“You got stitches!” Leia exclaimed as she stared at my forehead. “I’ve never had stitches before. Did they hurt?”
“They numb it before they start to sew it up, so all you feel is the tug on your skin when the needle goes through,” Lexi told her friend. “It’s not as bad as you’d think.”
I grimaced, sad that our day had turned into a reason for her to remember our time with her step-father. Lexi and I both had extensive surgeries and stitches after the last time he found us. Lexi was old enough to remember every minute of those three days of terror with him.
“Where is your dad, honey?” I asked Leia.
“He went to get your car,” Leia told me. “Should be back any minute now.”
“How is he going to get my car?”
“Um, we ride around in a tow truck. That’s his job,” Leia laughed. “I guess for once it comes in handy.”
“Oh,” I nodded. “That is handy.”
“He said he was going to drop it at the apartment for us and come back to take us to dinner,” Lexi told me with a grin.
“That way you two can get to know each other better.” Leia grinned right along with Lexi and I sensed a plot forming.
“We’ll sit at a different table and you can pretend that we’re not even there.” Lexi informed me slyly. “Just pay us no mind at all.”
“What should we talk about?” I asked the two, pretending I had no clue what they were up to with their plotting. I glanced over at Nicole and saw her hiding a smile of her own.
“Well, he likes music and movies. He plays guitar and sings really well. He’s a good dancer, too. He taught me how to waltz and two-step at the lake last summer. Umm… ,” Leia raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes wide at Lexi, as if asking for backup. “He smells good and he showers every morning, no matter what. Sometimes he even showers at night after work if things were crazy.”
“He’s got really nice hair,” Lexi blurted. “And freckles. You love my freckles and his are just as cute as mine.”
Nicole snickered and covered it with a cough behind her hand and mumbled, “Excuse me.”
“Don’t you think my dad is handsome, Miss Nicole?” Leia asked.
I watched Nicole clear her smile before she moved her hand away from her face.
“I think he’s a very handsome man, Leia. And very polite. He has a good job and he’s always here when he says he will be, so he’s also dependable,” Nicole said as she walked toward me. As she moved past me, she whispered in my ear, “And have you seen his ass in those jeans? Lord.”
I couldn’t control my laugh and the girls stared at me in confusion.
“I’ve noticed that myself once or twice,” I told Nicole with a chuckle. “And yeah, very nice.”
Someone tapped on the door and then it swung open. Rowdy was standing there with both my keys and his in his hands. He smiled a crooked grin and told us, “Ladies, if you’re finished here, your chariot awaits.”
I thought my daughter was going to have a problem walking to the truck, the stars in her eyes were so bright. Leia had a knowing grin as she looked from Lexi to her father. I heard Nicole chuckle again before she walked over to give Rowdy a hug.
“Thank you for your help, Nicole,” Rowdy told her as he pulled back from her embrace. “Kari and Cindy told me to let you know that they’re over at Shannon and Grunt’s house now and they’re not going to wait on you before they open the wine.”
“In that case, I better hurry,” Nicole laughed as she rushed out the door. “Those lushes won’t leave me a drop!”
After Nicole passed him, Rowdy leaned one shoulder on the door frame and crossed his feet at the ankles. “I told the girls that I’d take y’all to dinner. I hope that’s okay with you.”
“Thank you,” I told Rowdy as I slid off the exam table. “For everything - not just your dinner offer.”
Rowdy smiled at me as I got closer to him, “What would you like for dinner?”
“I’m not sure.” I chuckled uncomfortably. “We haven’t been out much since we moved here.”
“Ever been to Gabby Gator’s?” Rowdy asked as Leia squealed with excitement.
“No.” I said, curious now.
“Pizza buffet and a great salad bar. But the best part is the arcade attached to the place. The kids can go play and we can talk about what happened at the store.”
I nodded my head, unsure exactly what I had said in my moments of weakness. I hoped I hadn’t mentioned Jackson to him or that Lexi hadn’t said something about him. The fewer people who knew about my ex, the better as far as I was concerned. They asked less questions if you didn’t start off giving them details, in my experience.
Leia was talking a mile a minute telling Lexi about this restaurant Rowdy was taking us to and I was glad to see that my daughter had made such a good friend. I had to remind myself to keep things platonic with Rowdy so I didn’t accidentally cause problems with that friendship.
“I talked to Kari on the phone just a little bit ago. She told me I can trust you,” I said quietly when I stopped in front of him. “I believe her.”
“You can.” Rowdy nodded as he stood up and away from the door frame. “But for now, let’s just get some food. We can talk about it over ice cream while the girls play, then I just might challenge you to some skee ball.”
“Oh, a challenge?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try and go easy on you, but my competitive nature might take over.”
“Winner gets the spider ring?”
“And the pencil eraser!” Rowdy laughed.
“Oh, it’s on now, buddy!” I taunted as I walked past him to head through the lobby and out the front door, the girls still chattering behind us.
“Leia,” Rowdy interrupted them as we walked. “Use my phone and call over and s
ee if Holly wants to join us.”
Leia and Lexi both erupted into squeals and I saw Rowdy flinch at the high-pitched noise. He unlocked my door and helped me in before he did the same for the girls. I watched as he walked around the hood of the truck and wondered just what I was getting into.
Nothing. It was just a chance for my daughter to hang out with friends and for me to have a conversation with a new friend of my own.
And maybe if I said that 50 times I’d start to believe it.
The ride across town to pick up Holly was filled with chatter from the backseat. They were discussing what games they wanted to play and what kind of pizzas they were going to try. I was content to let them fill the silence and apparently so was Rowdy.
When we pulled up in the driveway of a strange house, Leia and Lexi both jumped out as soon as the truck came to a stop. Rowdy and I laughed at their excitement and followed at a much slower pace.
The front door flew open and all three girls started squealing as they jumped up and down.
“Why do girls do that?” Rowdy asked me as we both watched the excitement.
“Which part?”
“Well, that ear shattering scream for one. And then this ‘I haven’t seen you in ages’ greeting they’ve got going on, when really they were all three together not even two freaking hours ago!”
I just shrugged my shoulders because even as a female myself, I had no answers for him.
The girls piled into the house and I heard a man’s deep voice order, “Drop it down to a manageable level.”
Rowdy and I laughed as I followed him into the house. I was surprised to see a very fit, very large, black man standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living area.
“You want some muzzles or something, man?” he asked Rowdy as they shook hands. “You’re taking three of them and no one has a gun to your head. You must be nuts.”
I had seen a man with Holly before and I was almost positive he was her father, so I wasn’t sure who this guy was.
“Sierra, this is Marcus Hamilton, Holly’s other dad. I think you’ve met Reagan at practice, right?” I smiled and stuck my hand out to shake Mr. Hamilton’s realizing that Rowdy just answered my questions without me having to voice them. “Marcus, will you be around when we bring Holly home after dinner? I have some things to talk to Sierra about at dinner and we might need some advice from you.”
“I’ll be here,” Marcus assured him and glanced over at the girls. “The boys are at my brothers house for the night, so Reagan and I are going to sit here and enjoy the peace and quiet for a while.”
“Want me to keep Holly for the night, give you two some time alone?”
“Nah. She sleeps better at home, but she’d probably like to have the girls over for a sleepover sometime.”
“We’ll make some plans for that. Right now, I need to feed the women and show Sierra here how skee ball is played by a pro.”
“He keeps throwing that out, but he has no idea what he’s walking into,” I told both men with a haughty look. “I’m going to win the spider ring and the pencil eraser.”
“Big talk, man. Big talk. She seems confident.” Marcus laughed. “But I call winner. I’ll mop the floor with either of ya.”
“Girls!” Rowdy raised his voice just a bit so he could be heard over the girls’ chatter. “Bus is leaving. Pile out!”
“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Hamilton.”
“Call me Marcus. Why don’t you and your daughter join all of us here for dinner tomorrow night?”
“I, um, I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Not at all!”
“Believe me, you want to eat whatever Reagan decides to cook. I’ll come get y’all on my way over here.” Rowdy assured me.
“Okay.” I smiled at the men, taking a leap of faith that they could be trusted. “We’d love to come, but let me bring something at least.”
“I’ll have Reagan give you an assignment when you guys bring Holly home.” Marcus's smile was blinding white against his dark skin. “He loves to boss people around.”
Rowdy and I laughed as we walked out the door and down the sidewalk to his truck. The girls were already inside the cab and when Rowdy opened my door for me we were greeted with giggles and hushed whispers. I glanced into the backseat and saw that my daughter was smiling from ear to ear and I realized that I didn’t care what they were plotting as long as she stayed as happy as she was right now.
I was smiling, too. It was a foreign feeling for me, but I was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
3.
SIERRA
“Your daughter is a riot!” I told Rowdy as he and I watched the girls rush off toward the entrance to the arcade section of the restaurant.
“She’s a little too smart for her own good sometimes.”
“My girl, she’s older than her age. You know what I mean?”
“I already figured out that the two of you have been through some shit.”
“You could say that,” I laughed darkly. “Some shit. That’s true.”
“Is that why I am holding a little piece of paper that could change your lives in a big way and you’re too scared to turn it in?”
“Yeah.”
“When you were out and I was going to take you to the hospital, your daughter told me that’s how ‘he’ found you last time. She was terrified.”
My heart hurt for what my daughter felt and I was so sorry that I couldn’t take care of it for her.
“Your ex? Her dad?”
“Yeah. Stepdad, actually.”
“I figured with you living at Kari’s place it was something like that.”
“He’s found us twice. We were able to get away the first time, but the second time he got to us, he had us for three days before I could escape with Lexi.”
“Cops can’t help, huh?”
“Yeah, I mean as much as they’re able. They’ve done all the right paperwork and he was arrested for the last thing, but his parents bailed him out again and he skipped on it to find us. So, he’s got a court date waiting for him and the bail jumping makes it worse, but they won’t keep him forever.”
“All sorts of things can happen to someone in prison,” Rowdy said vaguely as he looked around. He started to say something else and then stopped. He did the same thing twice more and I could tell he was trying to find a way to tell me something, he just couldn’t figure out how to say it.
“Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I was just putting myself in your place - well, as much as I could, and I thought of what I would do to protect my daughter.”
“And?”
“With the right amount of money and the right contacts, you could make sure that your ex doesn’t survive prison.”
I blinked a few times, shocked at the notion.
“Forget I said anything, I just…”
“That is the most brilliant idea I have ever heard,” I whispered. “But I haven’t figured out how to get the money and stay safe until he gets arrested. He’s evil, Rowdy. You just don’t even know.”
“I’m just saying this because I’m going through it myself, but if something happens to you, what will happen to Lexi? Will she go to the state or do you have relatives that would take her?”
“Kari and I have talked about it and right now, I have her and her brother Jace listed as Lexi’s guardians if something happens to me. I have family out there and they would try to get Lexi, but I have to make sure that whoever gets her if I die will fight them tooth and nail. Make sure that they can fight them. Back home, both my family and his are powerful and their money reaches even further than their influence does. I don’t want her near that or near any of them. Ever.”
“I want to know more about this family of yours someday, but right now we need to figure out your issue of this ticket thing. I looked at it and you’ve got nine days before it’s null and void.”
“They expire?”
“Yep. Why didn’t you have it c
hecked after the drawing?”
“I got that ticket as a tip at work the other night. I thought it was kind of funny - the lady said she didn’t know if it was a winner, but she had already found her happiness so she wanted this ticket to help me find mine.”
“Whoa.” Rowdy’s brow furrowed. “What if she wants the ticket back after she finds out it was a winner? That much green can buy a lot of shit and to some people that’s how you find happiness.”
“She seemed eager to give it away, like she was passing on good luck or something, but that was before she knew it was worth millions.”
“I wonder who it was.”
“You were there, right? The lady with the cane who found the woman in the restroom having a baby on opening night.”
“Really?” Rowdy laughed for a second. “That’s Tavin Conner’s sister-in-law. I know them.”
“Would she sue me to get it back?”
“I don’t think so, but money makes regular folk stupid, so I couldn’t guarantee it. We need to figure out the legal stuff before we try and figure out the what ifs.”
“You said ‘we’.” I studied his face for a second and then asked, “You’re going to help me?”
“Well, yeah. It’s not often I get to play the white knight and carry the beautiful woman to safety like I did this afternoon. I kind of liked it. I’ll stay close to you - maybe you’ll faint again and I can swoop you up before you hit your head this time.”
I laughed at him and he actually blushed a little while he joined me. I didn’t know what it was about Rowdy, but I felt like I could relax around him and even share my secrets. I hadn’t found anyone I was this comfortable with in my life; I’d been on my guard around everyone since I could remember. When Lexi was born, that wall I’d built around myself got even higher because I knew she needed me to protect her like no one had done for me.
“I’m not sure what it is about you, but you make me feel safe.”
“Because you are. You and Lexi both.” Rowdy’s expression got very intense and he leaned toward me and said, “I would never hurt a woman or a kid. Ever. And I won’t let anyone else do it either. That’s just not the man I am.”
