by J. E. Parker
She isn’t yours to control.
Her body, her mind, her choice.
Closing the two-foot gap between us, I lifted a lock of her hair and wrapped it around my index finger, loving the way her silky locks felt against my calloused skin.
“As much as I want you in my house and in my bed, two places you’ve always belonged...” Hendrix, ever the drama queen, gagged again. “I won’t ride roughshod over you because I am not the boss of you. Not even if I want to be.”
I winked, and her battle-ready expression softened. “I’ll wait until you’re ready before we take another step, whatever it may be.” The next words I spoke were serious, all traces of playfulness having vanished. “But what I won’t do is leave you unprotected. Not ever again.”
Releasing her hair, I cupped her chin.
“So, if you want to stay back in Charleston for a bit, at whatever place you and Little One live, then that’s fine. But don’t think for a second that I won’t be sleeping on your floor or sofa, where I can keep eyes and ears on both of you at all times.”
A single tear slid down her cheek. “Gracias, Guapo,” she whispered, the single word she’d spoken holding such a big meaning. “For all of it.”
I dipped my face, my lips ready to taste hers. “Always, baby.” She exhaled, and I breathed her in. Eyes sliding closed, I moved closer, mouth less than an inch from hers. “Now don’t move because I’m about to—”
“Come on, Pop, damn!” my boy, being the royal pain in the neck he’d always been, hollered. “Nobody wants to see their parents suck each other’s faces off. Especially me!”
I loved my son, God knows I did, but he had some nerve busting my balls over me kissing Carmen when I’d caught him and Maddie playing tonsil hockey more times than I could ever count.
And don’t even get me started on how many times I’d almost bleached my eyeballs after walking in on him and her buck naked down at the station.
I didn’t know who was worse about fooling around while on shift—Hendrix with Maddie, or Tuck with his wife, Carissa. Shoot, Ty and Heidi, who’d been married the shortest amount of time, may have deserved the crown.
I’d caught all of them desecrating my fire station at least once. It was complete bullshit too. Some things were special and not meant to be defiled. My firetrucks and office desk were two of those things. But had that stopped the nymphos I employed and was related to?
Not one damned bit.
Jerked from my maddening thoughts, I growled as Carmen turned, removing herself from my hold and giving me her back.
“Parents?” Nervous as could be, she shifted her weight between her feet, fidgeting in place. Hooking her thumb, she pointed back at me. “Since I plan on keeping el hombre back there from here until forever now that I’ve got him back, does that mean I get to be your madre?”
Hendrix smirked, fighting to distract her and me both from the tears that pooled in his eyes. “Kind of thought that was the plan.”
Carmen stepped forward, undoubtedly preparing to run and slam her body into his, before hugging him so tight he couldn’t breathe. But she stopped short when the wooden fence gate behind my oblivious son opened painfully slow.
When Little One stepped through the small opening seconds later, my lungs froze. Curly red hair pulled in a loose ponytail on top of her head, her gorgeous green irises, ones that reminded me of Melody’s, darted between Carmen, Hendrix, and I.
When I’d walked into Ashley Jo’s earlier, I’d seen her standing near my granddaughter from the corner of my eye, but with my vision tunneling around Carmen, and my mind in freefall, it hadn’t clicked that she was really there.
But now, I couldn’t pull my gaze from her.
Like Carmen and all the other ladies in our family circle, she was beautiful. Standing a few inches taller than when I’d last seen her and with more meat on her bones, she’d grown into a curvy but fit build.
She looked healthy.
Not to mention happy.
“You know if Mama C becomes your mother, that makes me your little sister, r-right?”
Shoulders tensing at the sound of her timid and stuttered question, my boy dropped his arms from where he’d crossed them seconds before.
Hanging his head forward, he fisted his hands before looking back up, eyes glazed over. Tongue raking over his bottom lip, he turned around, coming face to face with Little One for the first time in seven years.
Silence loomed between them.
“Oh God,” Carmen whispered to herself, fear grasping her in its claws as panic swarmed her, undoubtedly terrified that Hendrix would dismiss her youngest chica. Something I sure as shit knew wouldn’t happen. Her breathing sped up, same as the fluttering of her pulse point.
Unable to stop her chin from trembling as she fought to keep the tears filling her eyes at bay, Little One glanced at the ground next to her feet. Sandals sinking into the soft grass, she froze for a split second, then bent over and picked up a pink basketball I hadn’t noticed until the moment she held it in her shaking hands.
Nervously chewing her bottom lip, she held the ball out for Hendrix to take. “Wanna play?” Entire body quaking, she looked close to crumbling under the uncertainty of the situation. “Promise I’ll go easy on you. I won’t even throw a single elbow to your—”
She squeaked in surprise when he smacked the ball out of her hand and lunged forward, pulling her into his tight embrace. Chin going to the top of her head, he squeezed her against him, his breathing ragged and choppy.
“You already are my little sister,” he murmured, his quiet voice barely audible. “You have been since the night you elbowed and then tripped Tuck before going in for a layup and scoring on his dumbass.”
Between the sobs that had begun, Little One laughed, the sound working to ease the tension lining every inch of Carmen’s stiff-as-a-board frame. “It was his fault,” she stuttered, pulling back to look in Hendrix’s eyes. “He got in my way.”
“And that right there,” he replied with a snort, “is the reason I claimed you as my baby sister from the get-go. Me and you, Shorty, we’re just alike.” Amusement dying the slightest bit, he dropped his arms from her back and bent down a foot, bringing them eye to eye. “Which is why I need you to listen to me really quick.”
Wiping away her tears, she nodded.
“If you ever get in trouble again, I want you to call me. I don’t care how bad it is or who’s involved. You just find the nearest phone, and you dial my number before anyone else’s. Then I’ll come running. Because this disappearing act you and Pixie pulled? That can’t happen again.”
She swallowed and wrung her hands together, guilt nipping at the happiness she exuded. “Please don’t be mad at me. We didn’t—”
He pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her. “I’m pissed, but not at you. Never at you.” That made two of us. “But I’m serious. Next time, you call me. Don’t care what’s going on. I’m your big brother now, and it’s my job to keep you safe no matter what I have to do. Got it?”
She dipped her chin once. “Got it.”
Standing straight, he nodded toward the basketball he’d knocked away. “Now that we got all that shit out of the way, you ready to play—”
He clamped his mouth shut and whirled around, facing the street, when the sound of one car door followed by another being slammed shut met all our ears.
Enthralled in watching him and Little One, along with Carmen’s reaction to their reunion, I hadn’t even heard anyone pull up.
“Ah shit,” he groaned, shoulders tensing. “Now I’m in even more trouble. Seriously, Pop, you may need to protect me because my wife is going to—”
“Hendrix David Cole!” Maddie shouted, rounding the front of her still idling 4Runner, her lips thinned into straight lines. “So help me God, you and I are about to have it out.”
Stomping full steam ahead as an oddly silent Shelby waited stock-still next to the passenger’s side door, her unreadable stare bouncing betw
een Carmen and Little One, Maddie fisted her hands and headed straight for my son, murderous rage flaring in her eyes.
“Don’t kill him, Mad,” I pleaded, a placating hand raised in the air. “He might be a massive thorn in my side ninety percent of the time, but I love him, and if you don’t mind, I’d sort of like to keep him around.”
Stopping mid-step, she swung her irate gaze to me. Finger pointed in my direction, she scowled. “I’ll be dealing with you next.”
I grimaced.
Maddie was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met, and the best daughter-in-law I could’ve ever asked for, but when she got mad, she got mad.
“Sweetheart,” I tried once more, pasting on a forced smile. “Don’t be angry at my boy. He only lied to protect you. And for what it’s worth, I would’ve done the same.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You were pregnant,” I continued, hoping I could make her see reason. “He didn’t want to break your heart, not when you getting all worked up could’ve put Melody’s life in danger.”
The icy facade she wore melted at the mention of her oldest daughter, who was also her shadow. Wherever Maddie went, Melody went.
Same for Maddox.
Maci, though—she was a daddy’s girl through and through. As far as she was concerned, Hendrix had hung the moon, along with every star in the sky.
“What are you, Pop? His lawyer?”
Smiling, I crossed my arms and answered. “Depends. Is my defense working?”
Huffing out a breath, she relaxed her shoulders as her face softened, all traces of anger vanishing. “Yes,” she hissed, a bit annoyed. “I get why y’all lied, but dang it, don’t do it again!”
I placed my palm over my heart. “I won’t. Scout's honor.”
That earned me a dismissive eye roll. “Oh, please. We both know you were never a Boy Scout.”
I couldn’t argue with her there. I got kicked out of Cub Scouts my first year for getting in fights with half my troop. Even before things went bad at home—don’t think about it now—I was a volatile little shit.
“I mean it, though.” Maddie pointed from me to Hendrix, then back to me again. “If either of you two so much as fibs to me or anyone else in the Crazy Chick Club again, I’ll sic Grandmama on you.”
The threat was enough to terrify anyone.
“We won’t lie—”
“Crazy Chick Club? What’s that?” Little One asked, brows furrowed. “And how do I join?”
Unable to stop it, laughter erupted from me. “And here we go... ”
Watery green eyes locked on Little One, Maddie swallowed as Shelby moved across the yard, making a beeline for Carmen, who was busy staring at my oldest daughter, practically coming out of her skin with the uncontrollable need to hug her like she’d done Hendrix.
Stopping three feet away from the woman who had every intention of becoming her mother, Shelby inhaled, her morphing expression one I couldn’t read. “You’re my Ashley’s Carmen.”
My woman nodded. “Si, I am.”
“That means you’re the one who took care of her before I was given the chance. The one who kept her warm by holding her at night and who robbed people to keep her fed when that son of a bitch, El Diablo, refused to buy her food.”
“I—” Carmen started.
“You’re also the one who delivered Addie on the trap house bathroom floor, then went with my girl to give her up.”
My chest tightened. Hearing all the shit Ashley Jo had been through and everything Carmen had done to help her tore me up inside.
“And you’re the one who told her to run to the shelter because you knew we were good people who would help keep her safe.”
Endless tears streamed down Pixie’s cheeks.
Folding her hands around the back of her neck, Shelby looked at the ground and dug the toe of her worn cowgirl boot into the grass, revealing black soil.
If Chase sees her tearing up his brand-new sod, he’ll have a stroke.
“Shelby,” Carmen whispered, reaching out to touch my oldest daughter’s cheek. “Bebé, please don’t cry. Because if you do, then I will continue too as well. And my face is already raw from—”
Surprising the hell out of me and Carmen both, Shelby looked up and threw herself into my woman without warning, nearly knocking her to the ground.
Wrapping her arms around her shoulders and back, she buried her face against her chest and bawled, her short-covered legs almost buckling.
“Thank you,” she wailed, the heartbreak she felt on her daughter’s behalf evident. “For everything. For loving and trying to protect her. But most of all, for sending her to me.”
Palming the back of her head, Carmen sobbed in return, holding her just as tight. “No, Shelby,” she whispered, eyes sliding closed. “Thank you for taking care of her. Without you...”
“Crap,” Maddie said, fanning her face. “Why do I always wear mascara on days like this?”
Little One, who’d snuck up to them without me seeing, tapped Shelby on the shoulder, a lopsided grin contorting her beaming face. “Hi,” she said when a pair of cornflower blue eyes met her emerald green ones. “Uh, I know you don’t know me, but since I’m your new little sister and all, I just wanted to say hey.”
Her words were childlike.
“By the way,” she continued, her pitch growing in intensity with each word. “My name is Jade.” Jade. Her name, her real one, rolled around in my head, embedding itself in my brain cells. “Or Little One. Whichever you want to call me is fine.”
“Shorty,” a choked-up Hendrix croaked. “Her name is Shorty, Blondie, and she’s going to like me more than you. Just putting that out there.”
After giving Carmen one last squeeze, Shelby flipped off her big brother without sparing him so much as a single glance before dropping her arms and stepping back, turning to face Jade.
Taking Jade’s hands in her, she grinned.
“You’re my new little sister?”
Little One nodded. The simple action was so exaggerated it reminded me of a bouncing Maci when she was riding a sugar-high, something she did often, thanks to me.
“Apparently so. I mean, Mama C is in love with your dad and has been for a while, so I’ve got a real funny feeling we’ll be moving in with him soon. Especially since she quit her job today, and now we don’t have anywhere to live and—”
“What?” I barked.
Eyes wide, Jade leaned to the side, looking around Shelby and at me. Cringing, she bit her bottom lip. “Oops. I guess I wasn’t supposed to spill the beans yet.” She shrugged. “But we can stay with you if the motel where we live doesn’t give Mama C her job back, right?”
Her gaze flicked to a pale-faced Carmen. “Someone will still have to drive me back and forth to school since I don’t have a car, but Charleston is only like an hour away and—”
“We’ll figure out the school part,” Maddie interjected, her face red and puffy where she now stood next to Hendrix, her back leaned against his front. “Maybe we can even buy you a car.”
As she spoke, the wheels in my head spun. I didn’t know if Jade even knew how to drive or if she had a driver’s license, but both things were easy to fix.
Then I could find her a vehicle.
At twenty-three, she needed one.
“If not, there are enough people in this family that driving back and forth to Charleston twice a day shouldn’t be a big deal. Wait, I know”—my daughter-in-law snapped her fingers together—“we’ll make a schedule. I just need to run down to Target and get some stickers for my planner and—”
“Oh hell no.” It was Hendrix’s turn to interrupt. “Our bank account can’t handle you going to Target. Every time you step foot inside that place, we end up a couple hundred bucks poorer thanks to scented candles and throw pillows.”
Shelby laughed, Carmen too.
“At least it isn’t Pottery Barn. Now that place can get expensive.” My daughter swung her gaze to me and arched a brow befor
e nudging Carmen’s shoulder, drawing her stare. “Wanna go? We could do some serious damage to the old man’s credit card there.”
When Carmen peered over at me, eyes twinkling with mischief, I shrugged a lone shoulder. “Have at it, beautiful. Redecorate my entire house. I won’t mind, it needs it.”
My Pixie opened her mouth to say something, most likely a smartass comment, but never got the chance because two seconds later, Addie pulled open the front door and rocketed out onto the front porch, then down the steps.
“DeDe!” she screamed at Shelby, gleaming curls bouncing as she ran toward her full bore. “You met my new CeCe!”
Halfway to my oldest daughter, my sweet girl saw me and turned, suddenly heading my way in a move that didn’t surprise me. Addie loved Anthony and Shelby, but when it came to her favorite grandparent, that title belonged to me.
“Pop-Pop!” I caught her mid-air as she jumped, throwing her little body into mine. Tossing her over my shoulder, I held her legs as she hung upside-down behind me, laughing just like she always did. “Don’t drop me!”
“I don’t know,” I teased, letting her slip a single inch. “You’re getting kind of heavy. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold you.”
“Guapo,” Carmen snapped, “you drop my nieta, and I’ll drop you.”
Little hands gripping the back of my shirt, Addie squeaked. “What’s all those funny-sounding words mean?”
My gorgeous spitfire, who’d closed the space between us, paused, her head tilted to the side, grinning from ear to ear. “Well,” she answered, “Guapo means handsome, and nieta means granddaughter. It’s Spanish.”
“Oh!” Pulling Addie from my shoulder, I stood her back on the ground, where she turned to face Carmen. Pushing her hair out of her face, she blew out a breath. “Will you teach me how to talk Spanish? Melly Belly,” she continued, referring to Melody, “has been teaching me Pig Latin, but it’s sooo hard.”
My woman kneeled, bringing her and my second-oldest granddaughter face to face. “Si,” she nodded, bopping Addie on the nose. “I will teach you, but only if you teach me all you learn as well.”
