“He beat you.”
“No!” Lowering her voice, she hunched in on herself. “It wasn’t like that. Not exactly.”
He waited her out. Was rewarded, if you could call it that.
“I told you that I married him right out of high school. Pete. I’d just turned eighteen, he was already enlisted, and his parents allowed me to live with them. They’re great.”
“Pete not so much?”
She sighed again. “He came back from his first deployment…changed. Lots of drinking, staying out all night. I already had Eli and I didn’t know what to do. Then he was sent back to Afghanistan and I was pregnant with Obie.”
“PTSD?”
“We suppose so, though he’d always been a hot head. We were so young when we married… I probably didn’t think it through.”
“You were lonely with your parents gone. In search of family.” He smiled a little at her surprised glance. “Yeah, when I grew up there were eight other kids at the compound but we know what it’s like to be alone…to feel untethered. Believe me.” Some handled the situation better than others. Cilla was eager to cement them all together, while Reed was pretty comfortable with his very solitary existence.
He’d get back to it, he promised himself. This hindrance that was Cleo and kids to the normally smooth cruise that was his life would resolve itself soon.
“So…what happened today?” he asked.
“It began before this morning.” She hesitated. “We divorced a couple of years ago, soon after he got out of the military. He didn’t contest it…as a matter of fact, he didn’t seem interested in me or the boys at all.”
“I can write volumes about fathers who abandon their kids…oh, as a matter of fact, I do.” Jesse, the hero of his novels, had never known his own.
She glanced up at him. “But you lived with your dad.”
He snorted. “I suppose you could say we grew up with a lot of advantages…but one of them was never fathers who gave a shit about us. They were often on tour, and when they weren’t, they were sleeping the days away and fucking up or fucking throughout the night.”
At her wide eyes, he grimaced and stroked a hand over her hair. “Sorry. You were talking about your divorce…?”
“He didn’t want custody at all, which I was happy about, given his volatility. The boys and I spent a lot of time with his parents, though. Don and June.”
She hesitated. “Then a few months ago, he started coming around to my apartment. Drunk.”
Reed felt another painful spasm in his chest. “When did he hurt you?”
“It’s funny. Probably what did the most damage to me wasn’t anything physical…it was when he seemed so disinterested in losing his wife and sons. It crushed me…and was probably why I let him into my place that first time.”
He felt his blood begin to boil. “That
first
time?”
“It was only once,” she said hurriedly. “Only the one time when he caused those bruises. June took the photos…she insisted. The Andersons have been so good to me.”
They should sure as hell be
, Reed thought grimly,
when their son dared to set his hands on Cleo.
“He didn’t even mean to.”
“Cleo.”
“I know that sounds like I’m excusing him. I don’t think I am.” She combed her hand through her hair and he saw it was trembling slightly.
Fuck
. Unable to resist, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to the brightness. “What did he do?”
“The boys were at a friend’s. Pete came to the door and I let him in before I realized how much he’d had to drink. He said he was looking for something of his, some sports equipment. When he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he got frustrated. I tried to help him and he pushed me out of the way. I knocked into a chair, tripped, and fell down a couple of steps.”
Fell down a couple of steps.
Reed had to focus on breathing evenly. There was nothing he despised more than a bully.
Fell down a couple of steps.
“In those photos, you have bruises on your upper arm.”
“He grabbed me and pulled me upright. He saved me from a longer tumble.”
“Cleo—”
“I know.” She rubbed her hand over her mouth. “I know. That’s when I realized I had to get out of Tulare. Move on and start a life for us somewhere else in case he was getting out of control. But then one night before I’d sorted that out…”
Reed tensed.
“He came over again, yelling. I couldn’t understand what he wanted and I didn’t let him in. But he broke the lock on the door before I could even make a call. The boys were there, the television was on and they were sitting on the couch. As this man—their
father
—came storming in, their expressions…they were terrified.” She dropped her head to her hand. “It broke my heart, my trust, and pretty much all my hope.”
“Oh, darlin’.” He rested his hand on the back of her neck. The skin was so beautiful there. Tender. Vulnerable.
“I hustled them out of the house and we drove to Don and June’s. Pete was gone by the time the police arrived at my place. That night I phoned my divorce attorney and explained what was happening…and she gave me the contact that brought me here.”
He squeezed her nape. “Brave. You’re so brave.”
Her laugh sounded disbelieving. “I’m scared out of my wits, now.” She hauled in a breath. “A couple of weeks ago, Pete went missing. Left his job and his apartment in Tulare.”
“Does he know where you are?”
“I didn’t think so. But today…” She cleared her throat, straightened her spine. “Eli told his teacher he thought he saw his dad outside the school fence during the morning recess.”
Reed instantly turned his attention to the playground, tracking both boys. They were going up the steps to the slide, no stranger in sight. Without taking his eyes off them, he questioned Cleo further. “Would he know where you are?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think he would care—at least not enough to follow us all the way here. But I tried to keep it quiet.” She shrugged. “Don and June know our address but I’m certain they wouldn’t tell him.”
“Doesn’t mean he couldn’t find the odd envelope in the garbage.”
Cleo grimaced. “I send them letters and pictures the boys have drawn every week. Stupid me, I always include the return address.”
“You’re not stupid.”
Though he might be. A plan was hatching in his mind. He shouldn’t do it, he told himself. He was shit at rescues.
As he argued with himself, Obie came running up. “Will you push me now?”
Maybe the activity would reassert his good sense. He glanced at Cleo. “Will you be okay?”
“You don’t have to—”
“Will you be okay?”
“Of course. Always.” She said it with a conviction that was belied by the other things she’d told him, things he wouldn’t be surprised that she now regretted.
I’m scared out of my wits.
It broke my heart, my trust, and pretty much all my hope.
Both boys sat on side-by-side swings. Reed got Obie going, and then he turned to Eli. Clearing his throat, he spoke close to the boy’s ear as he drew him back. “You doing okay? Your mom told me what happened.”
Eli glanced at him over his shoulder, his expression adult, his eyes serious. “We have to take care of her.”
We?
Shit. Reed wasn’t ready for this.
“Me and Obie” Eli continued. “We
will
take care of her.”
Me and Obie. We
will
take care of her
. The words pierced him in a place that he now discovered was dangerously soft. Somehow this kid, his brother, his mother, had found a way to batter that previously impervious organ in the middle of his chest.
He wished for an island, a fortress, a castle on a cliff. That scary Gothic mansion that Alexa had imagined for him. There he could be alone. Untouched by concern.
Cleo wandered over. The boys were moving on their own now, skinny legs pumping. For a second, his nightmare tried to take a living hold of him, but he pushed it away. Faced the woman.
She was so fucking beautiful. He remembered the tight clasp of her body, the wet inner walls, her delicious moans.
He had to distance himself from thoughts of that too and addressed the matter at hand. “Have you any considered what you’re going to do?”
“I suppose I could go back to Tulare—” She shook her head. “I want the boys at this school. I’ve taken them out a couple of days early…Monday starts their two-week October break. Maybe we could go to a hotel or something for a while…until I can think of a way to resolve this.”
I’m scared out of my wits.
It broke my heart, my trust, and pretty much all my hope.
Me and Obie. We
will
take care of her
.
“I have an idea,” Reed said. He reached for her hand and drew her close. She looked up, her big brown eyes full of questions. For a moment he fought the urge, then he leaned down to kiss her brow. “You and the boys, you’ll move to Laurel Canyon. Into the compound.”
Chapter Ten
Cleo passed out the cards from the Crazy Eight deck, ignoring the way both her boys looked out the French doors to the sun-filled afternoon, longing on their faces. “This is going to be fun,” she said in a bright voice. “We haven’t played this game in a while.”
Eli frowned. “We played last night.”
“Oh, that’s right. Well, it will still be fun.”
“It would be funner to run around outside,” Obie said. He kicked the leg of the kitchen table.
Cleo gave him a stern look. “Do not harm the furniture. You remember this isn’t ours, right?”
“I remember,” Obie mumbled.
She stifled her sigh. Her sons had actually been doing well with the sudden change. After pondering Reed’s offer for them to stay in the small cottage at the compound for about ninety seconds, she’d agreed. What else was a mother to do? While it didn’t solve the problem of Pete and what was going through his mind, it gave her some breathing room while she considered her options.
She’d moved in that very afternoon. Mid-week. Today was Sunday and the family was having a get-together at one of the bigger houses. She’d resolved to give them their privacy.
“We could go swimming later,” Eli said. “Remember how warm the pool is?”
The pool was wonderfully warm. Heated year-round, she’d discovered, when the team that kept it clean paused to talk to her. Reed had apparently informed the landscapers of her presence as well, and every worker they’d encountered had been friendly.
“I
love
swimming,” Obie said. “And I’m good at it.”
“You are. And we’re lucky to be living here where the weather’s so nice in October.” Today it had to be more than eighty degrees. “But the people who belong to this compound are having a party this afternoon and we need to keep out from underfoot.”
There was a mutinous light in both boys’ eyes.
“Most of them are people we don’t know,” she continued. “Strangers. Men.”
“So?” Eli asked.
The question, slightly belligerent as it was, eased Cleo. She’d worried that her sons—particularly Eli, who was more savvy than his younger brother—might have developed an aversion to males. But it looked as if their unpredictable father might not have triggered instant distrust.
“Reed will be there,” Obie said. “I like him. He likes us. I bet he’d be glad to see us again.”
Cleo couldn’t agree. While he’d helped them settle in that first day, he’d avoided further contact. They’d exchanged cell numbers, but he’d only used hers to text her about the get-together of the Rock Royalty. Not that he’d used that name for himself and the other grown-up progeny of the Velvet Lemons, but upon running across an old article about them archived on the internet—okay, she’d been snooping—it had stuck in her head.
“We’re not going to bother Reed or anyone else,” she said firmly. “Tomorrow is soon enough to swim again.” When Eli opened his mouth, Cleo spoke before he could. “Please. Let’s just enjoy our time here.”
“We’re not staying forever, are we?” Obie asked. “Because it doesn’t seem like a good place to trick-or-treat. I can’t even see other houses from here.”
He’d been obsessed with Halloween since the beginning of the month. “Let’s not worry about that right now.”
“I don’t want
you
to worry, Mom,” Eli said, his voice quiet.
Startled by the serious tone, Cleo dropped the cards in her hand. “Oh, Eli…” Tears stung the back of her eyes. At eight years old, he shouldn’t be taking on adult concerns. Damn Pete. Or maybe, damn herself for letting her lonely heart pick their father.
But then, without Pete’s DNA half, Eli wouldn’t be Eli, and Obie wouldn’t be Obie.
“You made her cry.” Obie shot an accusing look at his big brother.
“It’s not me,” Eli said, proving again he knew way too much for his age.
“No, it’s not him,” Cleo agreed. “Moms sometimes get sentimental when she realizes her babies are growing older.”
“We’re not babies,” the boys said together.
Cleo had to laugh. “Gather up the cards, will you? I’ll re-deal them as soon as I get you two some juice and cookies.”
The distraction worked. As she bustled about the cheerful kitchen, they did as directed. Just as she put the plates and cups on the table, the doorbell rang.
Both boys looked up, mouths full. She pointed at them. “You two stay right here. I don’t want crumbs throughout the house.”
Then, her stomach tightening, she walked toward the entry. Had Reed come by to visit? She wiped her damp palms on her jeans. Until this moment she didn’t realize how much she wanted to see him.
Liar.
Over and over, she’d been recalling his touch, his words—
Do you need to be filled, Cleo?
—the heavy thrust of his shaft as it pierced her soft, wet tissue.
At the door, she took a moment to compose herself. Then, on a deep breath, she pulled it open. Disappointment was more prick than pain, but still, she felt like a fool.
Pasting a smile on her face, she stepped aside for the newcomers. “Alexa. Bing. Please come in.”
Hand-in-hand, the two stepped inside. The brunette looked even more petite at the side of the lean, rangy man. Stepping out of his hold, she gave Cleo a warm hug. “How are you?”
“Grateful.” She glanced from the woman to her fiancé. “Is it weird that I’m here?”