by K. C. Crowne
“When you stomped out here,” I said, keeping my voice calm, “you said, ‘Do you know what I thought? Who I thought you were?’ What did you mean by that?”
She sighed and averted her gaze. She crossed her arms in front of her and shook her head stubbornly. “It’s none of your business, Mason.”
“Like hell it ain’t,” I scoffed. “You’re carrying my child, Danielle. Your business - especially when it comes to your safety - is my business now.”
She looked at me as if she saw me for the first time. Her eyes wide, her mouth open as if she wanted to object to me, but no sound came out.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that,” I said. “I’m tired of this, Danielle. You keep pushing me out of your life, which I understand is your right. But we’re going to have a baby together. I’m part of your life now, whether you like it or not.”
She sighed and nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry. It’s just a long story,” she said softly.
“I have all night.”
She rubbed at her bare arms as if chilly, even though the air was a balmy seventy degrees. She glanced around as if expecting someone to be watching us.
“Can we take this inside, please? I don’t like being so exposed.”
“Of course,” I said, taking note of her wording.
She felt exposed outside, out in the open? Who was she worried about seeing her? Someone was scaring her, that much was certain. I wondered if perhaps it was that shady ass loan shark. Wouldn’t put it past him. The very idea of that man threatening Danielle caused the rage inside me to boil over. I felt protective of her and willing to fight anyone who caused her any distress.
We walked to her house in silence. She kept searching the darkness around us, her eyes wide as she nearly jumped out of her skin at every shadow. As soon as we walked inside, she turned and locked the doors. Not just the regular lock either, but also the deadbolt. She glanced out the window before turning back to me.
“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, looking at me with a defeated air.
“Well, first of all, why don’t you tell me why Jim King stopped by your place?” I asked.
“Can I get you a coffee? Some tea?”
“Danielle, please stop avoiding the question.”
She sighed and closed her eyes as she blurted out the words. “I took out a loan with him to pay off what I owed the bank for the last few months. I plan to pay him back as soon as I get the insurance money.” She opened her eyes again and waited for my response. “Go on, tell me how stupid I am,” she muttered, pushing past me as she made a beeline for the sofa. “Because I’ve already heard it.”
I took a seat next to her in the chair. “Who called you stupid, Danielle?”
“Greg, of course,” she said, nibbling on her fingernail. “And yeah, it was a dumb move, I see it now. But what choice did I have? It was either that or lose the property and be homeless. If I end up on the streets, my ex will take me to court and get full custody and I can’t lose my daughter.”
“Jim King is a loan shark, a brutal one at that,” I stated matter-of-factly. Danielle looked at me with pain in her eyes, as if she expected me to scold her. “But I can’t blame you for doing what you had to do to protect your daughter and your business. That’s admirable and just proves you’re a good mother.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You mean that?”
“I do. I’m not going to lie, though - it does concern me that you’re involved with Jim. What was the purpose of his visit tonight?”
“He came by to tell me I already missed my first payment. I didn’t realize there was a payment due within 24 hours of the loan, and my interest rate just doubled.”
“I’m no lawyer, but I don’t think that’s legal.”
“That’s what I said, but my options are fairly limited. I just want to pay him off and get back to normal for my daughter. She’s been through enough already. Not to mention, Jim is also friends with my ex, and I worry they may be working together.”
“Working together?” I cocked my brow.
“Greg’s been trying to get custody of Skyler any way he can. He technically owns this place. I’m paying both him and the bank off, and then the place will transfer into my name. It was the only way to keep my business afloat after the divorce, but now he keeps holding it over my head.” She paused, sighed. “I worry that Jim is going to try to find any way possible to take this place, and then Greg can swoop in and take my daughter. Call me paranoid if you want to, but you haven’t seen the lengths Greg is willing to go to.”
“Don’t worry, Danielle. I don’t think you’re paranoid, and I won’t let that happen.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “You won’t?”
“No, I won’t. I’m here to help you,” I said sternly.
She let out a dry laugh and leaned back on her sofa. “If I had a dollar for every time a man said he’d help me, only to screw me over later, I would have enough to pay off all my debt and move my daughter and me to a private island somewhere, far away from all this bullshit.”
“I mean it, Danielle,” I said.
She eyed me warily. “And what’s it going to cost me?”
“Nothing,” I said. “And I mean that. You’re the mother of my child. You don’t owe me shit for helping out.”
“Yeah, that’s what Greg used to say, too,” she said softly. She let out a sigh and stared off in the distance.
“I’m not Greg,” I reminded her sternly. “So let me help you. I’ll be paying child support anyway, so why don’t you let me help you with money now too.”
“No, oh God no,” she refused, shaking her head adamantly. “No, I won’t take any money from you unless it’s a court-ordered agreement. Because I don’t want to end up owing you anything.”
“You won’t owe me.”
“You say that now…”
I wasn’t going to be able to convince her to trust me. She’d been burned too many times, and I would have to show her - not tell her - that I expected nothing in return for helping her. I needed to start small.
“Fine, if you won’t accept my money, will you at least let me help you deal with the insurance agency? I can make some calls, see what’s holding things up, maybe light a fire under their asses.”
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“It’s just some phone calls, Danielle,” I said.
“I’ve called them already. What can you do that I can’t?”
“I don’t know, but I can be a stubborn prick if I put my mind to it.”
“You can say that again.” She chuckled, and it was nice to hear a genuine laugh out of her, especially after everything she’d told me. “Fine, feel free to call them and see what you can find out. I doubt you’ll get anywhere, but who knows?”
“Thank you.”
“For what? You’re helping me, remember?”
“No, I meant thank you for trusting me,” I said softly, staring at my hands. “I know it’s hard for you to let people in, so I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well, it’s only a few phone calls,” she muttered.
“But it’s something. I don’t like feeling so damn helpless when someone I care about is struggling.” I wanted to fix the problem, now. And I knew that if she would just let me give her some money, these problems would go away.
When I looked up at her, I caught her staring at me, a small smile on her face.
“What?” I asked, pawing at my beard. “Do I have something on my face?”
“No, it’s just, I like you, Mason. I like you a lot, in fact,” she said. “And it scares me to admit that.”
“Well, I like you too,” I said. “And believe it or not, it scares me too.”
“Why is that?”
She had confided in me, told me about her past and her current problems. The least I could do was return the favor. But as I opened my mouth, it felt like my vocal cords got tangled up. I muttered, “I don’t date much, that’s all.”
�
�And why not? A good-looking man like you probably has his pick of the woman around here.”
I shrugged, feeling like I forgot how to speak.
“An ex?” she guessed. “Did you get burned too?”
I flinched at her choice of words, imagining Katie’s charred skin. The images flashed through my head as my heart raced. I didn’t even realize it, but I’d stood up and was stumbling around the room, lost and confused.
“Mason, Mason,” Danielle said, jumping up and coming to my side. “What’s wrong?”
She put her hand on my arm, and I turned toward her. I saw her, really saw her. Her angelic face. The light splattering of freckles on her cheeks. Those big, blue eyes surrounded by dark lashes. God, she was beautiful. And she pushed all the dark thoughts away from my mind.
“It’s nothing,” I lied, my heart rate returning to normal as she stroked my back. “Just some bad memories, that’s all.”
“You can talk to me about it, you know.”
“I know. No offense, Danielle, but I can’t bring myself to talk about it with most people.”
She remained quiet at first, and I half expected her to argue with me. When I’d tried to date a couple years after losing Katie, I found most women didn’t care much for secret pasts. They wanted to know about my past, and if I said I didn’t want to talk about it, they assumed I was hiding something. I went on only a few first dates that never turned into second dates before giving up on dating altogether.
But Danielle spoke soothingly. “I understand, Mason. It’s okay. You can talk to me when you’re ready - if you’re ready. Just know that I’m here for you.”
I stared into her deep blue eyes and felt like I was drowning. Her lips were so pink and plump, and I knew from experience just how soft they were. I wanted to kiss her so damned badly, but I stopped myself.
“I should probably get going,” I said, even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay the night again. I wanted to feel her body pressed against mine as I slept. Sex wasn’t even on my mind in that moment; I just wanted to touch her.
To kiss her.
To be next to her.
But I needed to respect her wishes.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” she said softly.
“Unless you want me to stay?”
She chuckled and looked away, but I could tell she was thinking about it. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Skyler has already seen enough, and I’m worried what she might tell Greg.” She bit her lip, and I knew there was more to her story than she was telling me.
I wasn’t about to ask after she’d respected me enough not to probe about my past, but Danielle surprised me. She continued speaking.
“Greg doesn’t like it when I see other men, and he has often amped up his threats to take Skyler away from me if I even look at someone flirtatiously. I have no idea how he’s going to react to the pregnancy - it won’t be pretty - but I need to try and break the news to him before Skyler does and mitigate the situation as best as possible. If there’s no man in the picture, I think Greg would handle it better than if I was seeing someone.”
“That’s really not fair to you, Danielle.”
“I know, and maybe one day I cannot worry about Greg, but for the time being, I need to protect myself and my daughter, and this is the best way I know how. Please respect my wishes, Mason.”
As hard as it was for me to agree to this, I nodded. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you and Skyler safe,” I said. “Even if that means I have to keep my distance from you. But please know, I will be involved with my child’s life.”
“I know, and I wouldn’t take that away from you. It’s probably better if we didn’t date or anything.”
The words felt like a kick in the nuts, but she was right. And not just because of Greg. I wasn’t exactly boyfriend material myself; I was too damaged for all that.
“Alright, I’ll get going then,” I said, moving slowly toward the door.
I hated leaving her, even though I knew I had to. She walked with me to the front porch, as if part of her didn’t really want me to leave either.
“I’ll call around and see what I can do,” I said.
I had to do more than just call the insurance company. Because she was right. What could I say that she probably hasn’t already? No, I had to do something else.
I had respected her wishes up until that point, and I would continue to do so. But I had an obligation to my unborn child to make sure he or she didn’t end up homeless. Not just that, I couldn’t imagine what would happen if Danielle lost her job.
I waved goodbye to her as I walked toward my truck.
I thought about the baseball bat, and how she broke down in my arms. She’d been so scared. That loan shark had done a number on her, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. It would only get worse. She might be willing to pay him off when she got the insurance money, but by then, the interest rate would make it triple the original loan amount. She needed that money to fix up her place and to take care of herself and Skyler.
No, that loan needed to be nipped in the bud.
I got in the truck and started the engine. My blood was boiling all over again as I pictured Danielle’s tear-stained cheeks and heard her sobs.
No one makes her cry and gets away with it, I thought to myself.
It wasn’t long before I found myself outside of a massive home that could almost be described as an estate. A Victorian-style mansion with a wrap-around porch and at least two stories. A horse barn around back. Jim King had made his millions of people like Danielle - people desperate and in need.
My stomach turned at the thought. He was a leech, a predator, and someone really should teach the man a lesson one day.
I stared at the house, going over my plan carefully.
Danielle
“Mommy?” a soft voice murmured as I walked down the hallway toward my bedroom.
I sighed as I stopped in front of Skyler’s doorway. I listened to see if she was merely talking in her sleep. But she repeated herself. “Mommy? Is that you?”
I poked my head inside. “Yes, sweetie. Please go back to sleep.”
“Is Mason here?” she asked, yawning.
“Not anymore. He just stopped by for a minute,” I said softly, opening the door a bit wider so I could step inside. It was clear she wasn’t falling back asleep right away. I might need to read her another story.
Zeus lifted his head as I entered, but once he saw it was me, he went right back to sleep, his head resting on Skyler’s side.
“I like Mason. He’s nice,” she said.
I sat on the edge of her bed and stroked her hair. “Yeah, he is nice, Sky.”
My heart ached at her words. I knew she already had ideas about us, and those ideas were bad. They were dangerous.
“Honey, please don’t talk to your daddy about Mason. I need to be the one to tell him about the baby and everything.”
Skyler adjusted in bed, moving to her back, to Zeus’s dismay. She stared up at me with wider eyes now. “Is Mason the daddy?”
I knew my little girl didn’t know the depth of her question. She knew that babies usually had mommies and daddies, at least in her limited experience. She had a mom and a dad, and all her friends had moms and dads. Not all of them were together; some were split up like us. She didn’t know all the details about how babies were made and how someone became a mommy or a daddy, or what it might mean in the grand scheme of things.
“Yes, honey, he is,” I said slowly. “But just like your mommy and daddy aren’t together, Mason and I aren’t going to be together either.”
I thought she might have questions about this, but to my surprise, she seemed to shrug it off. Likely because to her, that’s all she’d ever known. I’d left Greg when she was too young to remember.
“Am I having a brother or a sister?” she asked me, changing the subject to something more interesting to her. She grinned at me, and it was the cutest thing.
“W
e don’t know yet,” I said. “It’s too early. We should find out in a couple months, however.”
“I want to know now.” She pouted.
“I know, but does it really matter if it’s a boy or a girl? We’ll love him or her either way.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she said. “But I would like a sister and a brother.”
I laughed. “Well honey, I think you’re only getting one or the other this time. I’m sorry.”
“Why can’t I have both?”
“Maybe one day,” I said wistfully. I’d always wanted at least three kids, if not four. I was an only child and had wished for brothers and sisters all my life, especially after my parents died. I never wanted my children to feel alone, as I had, and siblings meant family.
“Yay!” she said, obviously taking my maybe as a yes.
“Honey, I can’t promise that I’ll have more babies, but we’ll just have to see what the future holds, okay?”
“Okay.” She was quiet for a few moments, and I thought she might be asleep, but then she asked, “If it’s a girl, can we name her Daisy?”
“Daisy?” I asked with a chuckle. “Why Daisy?”
“I like that name a lot,” she said. Her eyes lit up as if she had a brilliant idea. “Ooh or maybe Dora, like Dora the Explorer.”
“We’ll have to see, honey,” I said.
“Please, Mommy, let me name the baby. Pretty please?”
“We can pick a name together. Mason might have some thoughts on the name too.”
She frowned. “Daddies don’t name babies.”
“Oh? Where did you hear that?” I chuckled.
“Daddy said he wanted you to name me after Grandma, but you wouldn’t do it.”
“Would you want to be named Henrietta instead?”
“No, I like my name,” she said.
I didn’t want to tell her the real reason I was opposed to Henrietta. It was nothing about the name being bad - I was fond of older names, in fact. Greg’s mother had been an absolute monster from the day I met her. I shuddered just thinking about how she’d turned her nose up at me and would rarely speak to me at family gatherings. She knew I came from a lower-class family and despised me for it, preferring her precious son marry some Stanford or Yale graduate instead of little old me. And when she’d found out I was pregnant, that was another story. She’d had the gall to ask if Greg was sure the baby was even his and insinuated multiple times that he should get a DNA test.
