by ML Nystrom
Principal Bradshaw clapped his hands in sheer delight. “See what you started, Miss Miser? Disrupting student activities. Encouraging them to misbehave. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
Really? I’m so done with this! One look at the gloating troll’s face change my mind. “You’re actually happy about traumatizing these kids. You know what, post away, Aaron. It’s gonna be real funny when dipshit here finds out he’s out of a job.”
“The only one out of a job is you, Miss Miser. Let’s hope you’re out of jail before you give birth.”
The click of the handcuffs brought reality crashing down. Shit, I was going to jail tonight, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Even worse, Bevvie, Connor, and the kids had left for Disney World early this morning. The drive took about eight hours, which meant they should be pulling into Mickey’s place about the same time I arrived at the police station.
My students looked to me in horror. “Does everyone have rides home, either waiting or driving yourselves?” Several nodded. “Good. Please make sure you get home safe, try to have a good holiday tomorrow, and don’t forget to study for the meet next week.”
“You’ll be in school Monday morning, right, Miss Miser?”
“You bet I will.”
The officer jerked my arm forward, and I almost stumbled. “What the hell is your problem?”
He sneered in my direction. “Fucking sluts, that’s what. You got the right to remain silent, so why don’t you shut the hell up?”
He finished spitting my Miranda rights at me as he directed me to the police car, lights flashing red and blue. My clumsiness in getting in the car irritated him further, but the first officer had his act together and even fastened the seat belt for me.
I took the dickwad’s advice and stayed quiet throughout the drive to the station. All the episodes of Law and Order I’d watched hadn’t prepared me for what I faced. I thought I’d get put in a room for questioning. Instead, they took my personal information, mug shot, and fingerprints. I kept it together when they took my purse, jewelry, and phone. When I had to strip out of my clothes completely and put on the beige-colored prison garb, I lost it.
“Dammit, I’m pregnant. Don’t you have special circumstances for this?”
The female officer ignored me. Humiliated, hungry, and forced to be naked under the watching eyes of two strange policewomen. It was too much. Tears of frustration flowed down my cheeks and I held my breath in an attempt to stem the flow. “This isn’t happening. When do I get my phone call? When can I see a lawyer?”
“Be lucky to see one o’ them ’fore the weekend. Er-body’s out for the holiday. Getchoo a phone tomorrow. Lucille brung some punkin pie in the break room, and I’m gettin’ me a piece ’fore it’s all gone.”
They led me to a small single cell that smelled of Lysol and puke. I had to step inside and hear the crash of the bars as they slammed the door shut. The only other person there lay passed out on the cot in the cell across from me. I had a similar cot, a metal sink, and an open toilet. Fuck, this was real.
I’m sitting in a jail cell, and no one knows I’m here. I knew the charges were completely bogus, and one little DNA swab would prove it, but still, facing tonight and perhaps more nights in here just might break me. I sat on the edge of the thin mattress and let my sobs out. Once I got to call someone, who would that be? Bevvie and Connor weren’t around for several days. My parents wouldn’t bother coming, probably preferring to stay away from any scandalous mess. Magnus would show up just to take pictures and revel in my disgrace. The only other person I could call was Owen. I knew he would come get me even it if meant dragging a date with him, but until the officers bothered to bring me a phone, I was alone.
No support. No help. No one around to care. I’d been alone most of my life, but this absolute sense of abandonment shook me to my core. The yawning black pit of depression opened in front of me, and I stood at the precipice. The last time I’d felt this alone was years ago when—
Junior flipped and did his four-limb stretch, reminding me of his presence. The distraction of his movements helped bring me back to myself. I stepped back from the void and wrapped my arms around my belly.
“I got you, melon-head. I got you.” My whisper came out jagged, but I think my little alien understood. I rocked back and forth on the edge of the cot and cradled my unborn child. “We’ll get through this. I know what’s right and wrong, and so do you. Timing sucks, but that’s all it is. Just time. Best thing about time is it’s always moving forward. People say time heals everything. I’m not so sure, but I know enough time makes everything more bearable, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
I didn’t know how long I sat in that cell rocking my child until an officer came to release me. Several hours at least. She clanked open the cell and stepped back to let me out. “Free t’ go.”
Does a law officer application come with a personality test? I got up and followed the woman to the changing room where I got to change clothes again. They handed me back all my stuff and led me to the front of the station.
It turned out I didn’t have to call anyone. Owen stood at the desk with his twin, Garrett, and another man who looked vaguely familiar. I didn’t think I had anything left in me, but water filled my eyes again. More forms to sign plus some half-hearted apologies, and I was free.
The stranger spoke first. “I’m so sorry for this, Miss Miser. Believe me, my son is going to regret the mess he started. It’s my fault for indulging him so many years and letting him get away with so much. I thought parents were supposed to hand their kids life on a silver platter. I was wrong and still paying for that mistake.”
It didn’t take me long to find out what happened. Apparently, Ashton had posted on his Facebook page a list of his favorite TILF (Teachers I’d Like to Fuck). My name sat at the top. This happened years ago, and I had no idea about it, as I made a point of not associating with my students on Facebook or any other social media platform. Somehow, one of the school parents found the old post and decided that meant my child was the result of an affair between Ashton and me. They reported it to Principal Bradshaw, and instead of verifying the outdated information, that troll had me arrested by some of his cronies in the local police. They didn’t bother to verify anything, just come to the school on that asshole’s word. When Aaron posted the video of that horrid event, it did go through the student body like the flu. Abby showed it to Bevvie, and a few phone calls later, Owen showed up at the police station with Garrett and Ashton’s father. All charges were dropped, as Ashton’s dad explained the impossibility of his son having an affair with me. Ashton had lived five hours away at a military boarding school before he graduated this past May and now lived even further away at another higher education military academy in Virginia. He hadn’t been in this city for months.
“You want to press charges against Principal Bradshaw, ma’am?” The first arresting officer had his pen poised over yet another form. He seemed to be sympathetic and ready to make amends for the shit he put me through earlier or maybe he only wanted to make sure I didn’t press charges on him. The younger hotheaded guy wasn’t around.
Fatigue hit me. Extreme fatigue and my brain shut down. “Absolutely, but I can’t right now. Maybe tomorrow or Friday?”
“Sure, ma’am. You just ask for Officer Dillon, and I’ll get you sorted.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Only then did I turn and faced the two MacAteer brothers. Garrett hugged me lightly. “You okay, darlin’?”
“Been better. Good to see you, G-man.”
Owen stood rock solid when I moved in front of him. “O-man?” God, I hated the whine in my voice. When the fuck did I get to be this little timid mouse of a woman? I’m a fucking lioness. I’m a mighty warrior princess. I’m a lean, mean, goddamn fighting…
The moment he put his arms around me, my knees buckled. I clutched the lapels of his jacket in two hands and held on for dear life. I imagined I stank from the sour jai
l cell, and any makeup I might have left was probably smeared across my face in a spectacular fashion. I didn’t care. His scent. His strength. His heat. It surrounded me, and I soaked it up like a greedy dry sponge.
He didn’t speak a word as he bent his knees slightly and scooped me up. My weight didn’t slow him down as he strode straight out of the station into the cold air, and he didn’t stop until he placed me in the cab of his truck. Owen heaved himself in the driver side while Garrett got in, effectively sandwiching me between two hard protective bodies.
“Hungry?” Owen’s barked question broke the silence.
“Yes, I should eat something.”
He pulled into Cook-Out on the right side of the double drive-thru so Garrett would order for us. The thought of a greasy burger made me a little queasy, but that was the quickest option.
Owen stayed silent.
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
He grunted.
“Um… thanks for the food, too.”
He nodded.
“Are you taking me home? I really want to take a shower.”
He nodded again.
Garrett broke into the conversation. “What he means is, you’re coming home with us. Beverly will have our hides if we leave you by yourself. Plenty of room at her place with them gone for the weekend. Lots of time to just chill and figure out what to do next.”
I tried to come up with a smartass answer or quip, but nothing came to mind. “I had no idea you were coming down for the holiday. Everything good in your world?”
Garrett gave a short laugh and looked out the front window at the strip of road illuminated by the headlights. “It will be.”
I let that cryptic answer go as we pulled into Bev’s driveway and into the backyard. Rain started to fall as we exited the truck. Not the pretty soft rain at the end of a romantic evening. Wet sheets of it came down in a hard, punishing rush that soaked us in freezing cold water before we got to the front porch. I remembered the forecast had said the whole weekend would be full of scattered thunderstorms and heavy rain. Fuck. The perfect ending to a super shitty day.
Muttface met us at the door with his excited barking. Garrett kept the food bags dry under his jacket and put them on the kitchen counter. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what a gully washer, eh? I’m gonna go change real quick so you can have your shower time in the guest room.” His feet made clomping noises as he went upstairs, leaving me and Owen alone for a minute.
“Be back.” Owen’s muffled words came to me as he headed out the back door to his camper. Muttface followed him.
I guess that’s that. Not sure what else to do, I pulled off two paper towels from the hanging roll and blotted my face. I expected if I went into the powder room, I’d scare myself. I was sure my face was blotchy and swollen from so much crying. Puffy eyes, red nose, leaking sinuses… yup, tonight sucked big-time, but at least my ass sat in my BFF’s kitchen instead of in a jail cell. My eyes started up again at that thought.
Goddammit, Mel, stop this shit! Get your act together!
Owen came back in, still dripping water from his face and clothes, carrying a white garbage bag. “Sweats and T-shirt. Maybe big. Least dry.”
I had some spare clothes in the guest room closet, but Owen didn’t know that. The kind gesture made me want to wear whatever he brought me, even if it meant putting on a burlap sack.
Garrett came back down, rubbing a towel briskly over his longish ginger hair. “Ah, much better now. Food, then shower?”
As uncomfortable as my clammy cold clothes felt, hot food sounded better. The burgers and fries disappeared with little conversation between Owen and me. Garrett kept up the flow of words.
“Da’s over his head again. Booked a renovation at a pub up in Pennsylvania and didn’t check his manpower. Patrick and Angus are working the site, but they need more hands and they’ve already gone over budget. Patrick said the next two jobs have already cancelled, and there’s a third that is on the fence. We’ve been saying for years now, Da needs to retire. I think something else is going on with him. He can still build with the best of them, but he can’t remember shit anymore. Last week, he got mad as hell at the job site because he couldn’t find Connor. It’s been almost three years since Connor worked a site with us. Little things like that keep happening. Makes me worry about him.”
Owen ate silently, only making a few timely acknowledgement noises.
I excused myself as soon as I could. “Well, MacAteer people, it’s been a helluva day, and I’m ready to end it.”
Garrett gathered the trash and dumped it while the dog whined. “You take the guest room, Mel. I’ll crash in one of the other rooms tonight.” He grinned. “Which kid will freak out the most when they find out Uncle G slept in their bed?”
“Abby for sure, G-man. Thanks for rescuing me tonight.”
“No problem.”
Once I got upstairs, I stripped and showered. The hot water sluiced over my head and face, washing off the day. I imagined it taking all the bad shit and gurgling down the drain. You got this. You got this, I repeated over and over in my head. I hoped I did.
Owen’s T-shirt came down low over my hips, but I left off the sweatpants. I had dry panties, and that’s all I needed. I left the bedroom door open and could hear the muffled voices of Garrett and Owen as they talked. They were fraternal twins. Their looks were similar, but enough differences presented that they could be identified. Garrett’s body was slightly smaller than Owen’s. Not quite as broad and bulky. They shared the same green eyes and ginger hair, however Garrett wore his long and kept it tied back at the nape of his neck. Owen kept his beard and mustache trimmed, while Garrett preferred to be clean shaven.
My mind drifted as my head hit the pillow. You got this. You got this. You got this.
Chapter Twenty-One
Homecoming. What a beautiful, magical night! I bet this is what Eliza Doolittle felt like in My Fair Lady, or maybe Cinderella when the prince came to take her away from her nasty stepfamily. Pretty dress, perfect hair and makeup, lots of attention from everyone during the dance; all I needed was a tiara, and my status as a princess would be complete.
My parents weren’t at home, and Bee-Dee had gone to see her sister in Black Mountain. I had the whole house to myself, therefore, when the after-party at Colin’s house got shut down by his parents, I invited everyone to mine. My classmates had raided the liquor cabinet already, and someone had set up a boom box. Music pounded through the walls, red cups littered every surface, and the furniture had been moved around to make room for more dancing. I didn’t care. I might worry about cleaning up tomorrow, but tonight, I got to be the princess.
I pirouetted in the hallway of my house, still floating on cloud nine. Vincent got me a really pretty wrist corsage, and his eyes stayed on me the entire night. He said over and over again how pretty I was and how much he liked being with me. He held my hand, put his arm around me every opportunity he found. We danced the fast dances, and I moved my hips in wide circles with lots of hair flips and chest thrusts. When we did the slow ones, he pulled me in so close I could feel his hard body moving against mine. I liked it! I got all jittery and flushed. Turned on. A giggle escaped my lips.
“What’s so funny?” Cassie had a marshmallow vodka cooler in her hand. I snatched it and took a drink of the overly sweet concoction. Ugh! How could anyone stand the stuff? I’d had some of my mother’s wine already, and my head spun pleasantly.
“Nothing. I’m just having fun!” I tipped my head back and turned in a circle to enhance my first buzz. I loved my party!
“Well, look who’s here. Nice dress.”
I stopped spinning at the loud, unexpected voice. Robert tipped back the glass of whatever liquor he was drinking and took a healthy swallow. By the way he was swaying, this wasn’t his first. He, Archie, and Magnus attended the same college now. Even though this was their first year and technically they were still underage teenagers, just being at a university instead of high scho
ol made them seem like mature men and not boys.
“Lookin’ real good there, Mel.” His gaze went pointedly to my displayed breasts.
The night suddenly didn’t seem as wonderful.
I’d bought a special water-filled padded bra to lift them up and out of the white bandage dress I got for homecoming. They were so high, one big breath would make my nipples pop out. The way Robert stared at my chest made me want to cover myself. “What are you doing here?”
“Fall break.” Archie made an appearance in the hallway with Magnus right behind him.
My brother took one look at me, and his lip curled in disgust. “You better hope Mom and Dad don’t find out about this party of yours. In fact, you need to get these people outta here now. When the fuck are you gonna grow up?”
Indignation rose up in me. “It’s homecoming, and we had the dance tonight. I have just as much right to invite my friends here as you do.”
“You don’t have friends. You have sycophants.”
“Who didja go with?” Robert’s words slurred as he took another drink.
“Vincent Ziglar.”
Robert laughed and snorted “Ah, did Ziggie-boy get him some?”
Heat flushed through my body at the implication. I wasn’t stupid and knew exactly what he was talking about. “None of your business.”
“Ah, come on, Mel, fess up. No way with that gorgeous body and those tits are you still a virgin.”
Any buzz I had from the wine disappeared, leaving a headache behind. “Still nun-ya, Bobby.”
Robert’s lip curled. I knew he hated to be called Bobby as much as Magnus hated to be called Mags. “Well then, I guess you’re not as mature as I thought. Still a little girl playing dress up, eh, Mel? No drinking. No fucking. Just a little high school Barbie princess.”
Indignation rose in me. “I’m plenty mature.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I am too!” Shit, I sounded like a whiny little girl stamping her foot. Pull it back, Mel.
