by Geri Glenn
“They were leaning against my car when I came out. The big one, Trey, told me that Carter had told them I’d spoken to you, and warned me to keep my mouth shut.”
My jaw ticks. “And Carter?”
“He just stood there. He didn’t seem too thrilled about being there, but he didn’t stop it either.”
I’m going to kill him. “Did Trey lay a finger on you?” I barely recognize my voice through my rage.
“He grabbed my arm, but that’s it. I’m okay, really.”
I’ve avoided Trey Parker since the day he killed that family in cold blood. That memory has haunted me every moment since, and still haunts my dreams. Not now, though. Now I’m going to rip his fucking throat out.
“Tripp? I’m fine, okay? I just thought I should tell you about Carter, but I’m okay.”
The rushing of cars passing her at high speeds fills the silence between us as I try to calm my anger, and I realize that I need to get a grip and focus on her until she’s safe. “Babe, where the hell are you? You sound like you’re parked in the middle of the damn freeway.”
Georgia sniffs again. “Kind of. I’m just parked off to the side of the exit ramp.”
Jesus. “How far is your drive?”
“About forty-five minutes.”
“I don’t like you being parked there. It’s not safe. You still crying?” I feel like a useless fool. The woman is on the side of the damn freeway, crying because of something my brother did, and all I can do is sit here on the phone and try my best to talk her through it.
“No,” she says, her voice still a little shaky. “I think I’m okay.”
Taking a deep breath and shove everything else I’m feeling down deep and focus on getting her home the only way I can right now. “All right. When it’s safe, pull back onto the road and start heading for home. You have hands-free?”
“Yes.” Her voice is quiet, but much stronger than it had been a few moments ago.
“Good. I’m gonna talk to you the whole way, okay? You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“Tripp, you…” She sighs. “Okay.”
I don’t say a word as I listen to the sound of her turn signal clicking and the rapidly moving traffic around her. After a few moments, she breaks the silence. “I’m on the road.”
I drop my ass onto the bed and flop onto my back, relieved. “Good. Good.” I search my swirling mind for something to talk about. Anything. Both of us need the distraction right now. But I know nothing about Georgia, other than that she works at the community center, her jeans hug her ass like a second skin, and she may just be the only person on the planet that’s more stubborn than me.
“Forty-five minutes is a long time,” I muse.
Georgia chuckles. “You don’t have to stay on the line with me, Tripp. I’ll be okay.”
“No.” The last thing I want to do is let her go. In a strange twist of events, I find myself not wanting to end this call. I want to know more about Georgia Addington. “I don’t have to, but I want to. I think we could both use the distraction.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
What do I want to talk about? “Why don’t you tell me how a girl from your side of town ends up working in a community center in one of the worst neighborhoods in the United States?”
For almost an hour, we talk. Georgia tells me about her childhood, about her socialite mother, and how she can never seem to do anything right in her eyes. I tell her about my mother and how she abandoned us all without a second thought.
She tells me about being raised by nannies and housekeepers, and I tell her how I fended for myself and my siblings since I was just a kid. Our stories are opposite. Two people growing up in two completely separate worlds. And I have never felt so in-tune with another human being in my life.
Georgia may have grown up rich, but having money doesn’t mean her life has been perfect.
“I’m home,” she finally says, and the airy sound of driving comes to a stop. “Thank you for keeping me company, Tripp. You didn’t have to do that, but I think I needed it.”
I don’t tell her that I needed it too. “I’m glad your safe, Georgia.”
“I guess...I guess I’ll see you around?”
I don’t usually spend much time talking to women on the phone, and this is the first time I’ve ever found myself wanting to keep a conversation going when the woman indicates it’s over. “What time are you finished with work on Monday?”
“Five thirty. Why?”
“I’ll see you Monday at five thirty. Have a good weekend, Georgia.”
“But—”
“Bye.” I disconnect the call before she has a chance to protest, which I know damn well she was about to do. There isn’t a chance in hell I’m letting her walk out of that place alone on Monday evening. If Trey tracked her there once, he’ll do it again.
I can deal with Carter this weekend, but getting Trey Harper off her scent is going to be tricky.
Nine
Georgia
The rent on a decent apartment in this city is astronomical. I’ve never really had to look before, and I probably shouldn’t be looking now either, but I am.
The plan has always been for me to remain here at my parent’s house until the wedding, at which point I would take my meager belongings to Benjamin’s condo, and we would live happily ever after. Yeah, right.
After what happened the other night on the way to the Peterson’s, I know that I have to seriously rethink “the plan.” Besides, was it ever really my plan to begin with? All of Benjamin’s decisions revolve around the political career he hopes to have one day, and he himself decided that waiting until we were married to actually live together would look better on paper. Like anyone actually cared about that stuff anymore.
In fact, now that I think about it, have any of the plans for our future been mine?
When Benjamin had asked me to marry him, it had been at a fancy restaurant, surrounded by his family and mine. He’d gotten down on one knee and showed me the ring I now wear. It had sparkled beneath the artificial lights, and everyone had been so excited.
He’s the only boyfriend I’d ever had, and I’d been swept away in the excitement of it all. But had I ever been swept away in our love? That’s a question I don’t think I can truly answer.
Our lives have been intertwined since we were children. Our parents had teased us of our impending nuptials for as long as I can remember. Marrying Benjamin was just the next step my life was supposed to take, wasn’t it?
But how could I marry him now? He had manhandled me the other night over a minor disagreement. What would happen if it was something big? If we were married… My body shudders at the thought of the consequences that marrying him would bring about.
More and more, Benjamin’s true colors are shining through, and I’m not liking what I see very much. He’s always had a bit of a temper, but this is more than that. This outright aggression isn’t something I’ve ever seen from him before. He never wanted me to take this job to begin with, but I did. For the first time in my life, I’d put my foot down and stood up for myself with him and my parents. It’s apparent that he truly expects me to be what he wants me to be, not who I want to be.
Trey Harper be damned. I know I made the right choice in working there. I know that not only can I teach the kids of that center some valuable life lessons, but they can teach me some as well.
My conversation with Tripp yesterday floats through my memory for the millionth time since we’d ended that call. Despite his behavior on the day we’d met, Tripp was proving to be a gentleman. Maybe not the kind of gentleman my mother would appreciate, but the kind that cares about the well-being of a perfect stranger, doing what little he could to ensure she made it home safely after a terrifying situation.
I’d learned a lot about him on my drive home yesterday. I’d learned that he loves his siblings more than anything else in this world. I’d learned that he is a bit of a smartass, but never at anyone’s ex
pense but his own. I’d also learned that he’s never had a serious relationship because no woman our age would be interested in co-parenting his brothers and sister.
Even still, as much as I had learned, it hadn’t satisfied even a fraction of my curiosity about him. He’d told me plenty about his family, and I felt like I understood Hailey so much better now. Tripp had told me how hard she works to help him keep their family afloat. He spoke of Hailey and Max with an unbridled pride that made me smile. Even for Carter, as angry as he was with him, his love was evident.
But as much talking as we had done, he hadn’t told me very much about himself. I want to know his favorite foods, his favorite color, his hopes and dreams. Things I don’t even really know about Benjamin. I don’t care, though. As I scroll through the rental listings on my phone, I find myself wanting to know everything there is to know about Tripp Fletcher.
TRIPP
Hailey’s curled up on the couch, watching TV when I get home on Sunday afternoon.
“Still no Carter?” I ask, rounding the couch and taking a seat beside her.
“Nope.” With a heavy sigh, I drop my head back and stare up at the ceiling. That gets her attention. “What’s going on with you guys, anyway? Carter never goes away for this long, and you’ve been kinda angry lately.”
I meet her eyes and press my lips together. “I’m sorry, Hails. It’s just…” The last thing I want to do is confess my past to my baby sister too. Besides, it’s not like the agony it took to tell Carter had made much of a difference, anyway. “Carter’s just hanging around with the wrong crew, and he’s making some pretty fucked-up decisions.”
Hailey watches me through eyes that miss nothing. “Is this about Carter scaring Miss Addington on Friday?”
I sit forward. “You know about that?”
Hailey shrugs. “Everybody knows about that. Simone heard him bragging about it at the park the other night, and everyone knows Simone can’t keep anything to herself.”
She’s right. That Simone kid has a big mouth. “Did you know that Carter was hanging around with Trey and the Vipers?”
Hailey looks away, her eyes falling to the coffee table in front of us. “Kind of? I saw him talking to a few of them at school. But he hasn’t been home much lately, and when he is home, he’s been so nasty to me and Max. Just plain old mean.”
What kind of a guardian am I that I haven’t noticed that shit? Carter lives under my roof, and I have completely missed that he’s been changing. “I’m sorry, Hails.” I lean forward and bury my face in my hands. “I’ve been so focused on working anywhere I can to pay the bills that I haven’t been around much for you guys.”
Hailey reaches out a hand and rests it on my arm. “Carter’s a big boy, Tripp. He knows those guys are bad news. His decisions are not your fault.”
I give her a tired smile. “When did you get so smart?”
Her lips part in a grin. “Since always. When did you start apologizing for trying so hard to take care of us?”
God, I love Hailey. “Since my brother joined a gang, and my sister had to start being a parent instead of a kid?”
Hailey’s eyes are as immobile as the rest of her face, likely because she’s not able to come up with any reassurance for that statement. She sits frozen for a few seconds, and then the corners of her mouth resume their usual softness, and her eyes drop to her lap. Finally, she looks up at me, determined to change the subject. “How did you know about Carter and Miss Addington?”
“She called me afterward,” I admit. “She was freaked, but she wanted to make sure I knew so I could deal with Carter myself.”
Hailey nods slowly. “Did they hurt her?”
My sigh is resigned and weary. “No. They just scared the hell out of her.”
“You like her, don’t you?”
I stiffen in my seat and blink at my not-so baby sister. “Jesus, Hails. What the hell?”
Hailey giggles and nudges me with her shoulder. “It’s okay, Tripp. She’s pretty. And I guess she’s nice enough.”
“I don’t like her,” I huff, knowing damn well that doesn’t sound very convincing, even to me. “I just don’t like seeing her caught up in Carter’s shit.”
“Okay.” The edge of her lips fight back a smile. “Whatever you say.”
Snagging the remote from her hand, I lay back on the couch and begin flipping through the channels. “Shut up.”
Hailey giggles quietly, and try as I might, I can’t hold back my own smile.
Ten
Georgia
“No, Benjamin, I won’t reconsider. I have an obligation here.”
Benjamin’s sigh is forceful, even through the phone. I had successfully avoided him all weekend, and I would have completely ignored his phone call too, but he’s been calling nonstop all afternoon.
“You have an obligation to me, your fiancé,” he snaps.
When we had played together as children, Benjamin had always been a perfect gentleman. I can’t remember a single disagreement between the two of us. But lately, it seems like all we do is disagree.
“That job is not your future, Georgia. You’re Harold and Lillian Addington’s daughter for Christ’s sake. You shouldn’t be working in the slums as a glorified daycare worker. You should be at this function with me tomorrow night.”
His words crash into my ears, angry and unchecked, but he’s not the only one that’s angry. “If you think for one minute that being my parents’ child gives me a free pass on life, then you obviously don’t know me as well as I thought you did,” I clip out. “I will not be some trophy wife you can take out when you feel like it, show me off and put me back on the shelf when you’d rather not deal with me. Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
I hear the beginning of his argument, but I don’t stop long enough to let him continue. Benjamin has gotten on my last and final frayed nerve. The way he’s behaving reminds me of speaking to my mother, only with a much deeper voice.
For what has to be the millionth time, I think about our engagement. When he had proposed, I think I had been more flattered than excited, and in a room full of our family and business associates, I had no choice but to say yes. But was marrying a man like Benjamin really what I wanted out of life?
“Miss Addington?” a voice calls from the other side of the room. “Maisy has a bloody nose.”
Dropping my phone back into my purse, I put Benjamin and our argument out of my mind for the time being. The center will be closing soon for the day, and I still have a few activities to get to with the children after I see to Maisy’s bloody nose.
One of the main objectives of the center is to provide these children with a warm, safe environment, and to give them somewhere to go in the evenings besides hanging out on the street where they tend to get themselves into all sorts of trouble.
We provide activities, snacks, and arts and crafts for any child under the age of eighteen that comes in after hours, until ten o’clock in the evening. The idea makes sense, but I’ve been astonished tonight at how many kids actually come here to just hang out with their friends and kill some time.
Maybe Benjamin is right, I think as I press a wadded-up tissue against the little girl’s nose. Maybe I am a glorified daycare worker, but after seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when I’d brought out the ice cream and toppings just a little while ago, I realized I didn’t care one bit. These kids need this center, and to keep it going, they need people like me that are willing to work here for a whole lot of hours and very little pay. Being one of those people is a privilege as far as I’m concerned.
From the other side of the room, I watch as Hailey helps her youngest brother, Max, with a puzzle he’s been working on. I can tell just by the way she handles him that she’s a really good kid. So, what happened to Carter? Where did things go awry with him?
I wonder how things went this weekend between Tripp and his brother. Did they talk? Did Tripp confront him about the other day?
“Pe
nny for your thoughts?” Janet says from behind me.
I turn and meet her shy smile, pleased to see that she’s wearing the cute little pink shirt I’d suggested she buy last week. Janet may be shy, but I was right about one thing: she has a nice little body under all that fabric. She just needs the confidence to stop hiding it.
“Just thinking about the Fletcher’s,” I concede. “I went over there the other night to talk to Tripp about—”
Her gasp of surprise cuts me off. “You went to their house? Why?”
I pause for a moment, considering just how much I should tell her. I hadn’t exactly done what I was supposed to according to protocol, and I’m not sure if I can trust her with the truth quite yet. “I had something to discuss with Tripp, and he hung up on me.”
Her eyes grow wide. “And?”
“And, he listened to me. Finally. But then something happened on Friday, and I haven’t heard a peep about it since. I’m dying to know if he’s gotten things sorted out with Carter.”
Janet frowns. “Carter? But he doesn’t go into your workroom, does he?”
Crap. Janet might just get the full story out of me yet. “No, but I saw something worrisome on Thursday, and things have been a mess ever since.”
She blinks and pushes her glasses farther up her nose. “That doesn’t sound good.”
I think about the way Tripp had talked to me during my entire drive home the other night. For a moment, I’d actually had to calm him down. It was sweet, though. He’d seemed concerned for me.
“It’s not,” I admit. “But Tripp seems confident he can handle it. I haven’t seen Carter since then, though, and I was just wondering what happened after Tripp got a hold of him.”
Janet thinks for a moment. “Carter wasn’t here this afternoon.”
The front door to the center opens, causing a tiny tornado of cold air to swirl down the hall as it closes again. I watch with wide eyes as Tripp approaches, his gaze trained on me. “Is he here?” he asks, looking from me to Janet.
