Black Creek Burning (The Black Creek Series, Book 1) (17 page)

Lips moved, teeth grazed. His other hand traveled up her waist. His thumb brushed
along the side of her breast. He drifted over her shoulder on his way up to braid
his fingers through the back of her hair.

A sexy female moan escaped, making sparks ignite on his tongue. Her nails sunk into
his back. Lightly, she bit down on his bottom lip, then opened her green eyes to him.
He broke free for a few short seconds, and they gasped for air.

Bodies twining, they rotated until Brie was up against her kitchen counter with it
rammed into her back. She would worry about the bruises later. His lips trailed painfully
slow across her cheek, under her ear, down her neck, across her collar bone to the
void in her throat and back up again. She was gloriously losing control in the moment
only to have him repeat the path once more. He stopped when she purred his name.

"Say it again," Nathan choked.

She grabbed hold of his shoulders. "Nathan."

A car door shut. Nathan's eyes shot open, and he pulled away.

With determination, she yanked him back to her, turning this time with his back against
the counter. She leaned into him, body to body.

"There's someone in your drive—"

The front door opened. Together, they broke apart and picked up their glasses. Desperately,
they tried to catch their breath.

"Hello!" Liz called out. "You'll never guess what I heard after work today—oh, excuse
me. What am I interrupting? Ha. That sounded inappropriate." She chuckled as she took
off her coat and tossed it over a kitchen chair. Stepping between the two of them
to reach for a glass, she said, "Sorry, Nathan. You're out of luck in that department.
Once my sister makes a decision, no one can break her resolve."

Brie crammed the back of her hand against her mouth in an attempt to keep from choking
on her wine. She straightened just in time when Liz turned to her.

"What is the matter with you?"

"We're having puppies!"

"You and who? The stud retriever?"

"Who? No. With Goldie. With Nathan's dog."

"How do you know they're his?"

"Does everyone think my dog is a slut?" She tilted her head back, laughed and then
filled a glass for her sister.

She finished hers in a third, long, deep drink. "I'll have to buy 'we're expecting'
chocolate bars. Pink and blue." Brie twirled in a circle. "I'm going to go change.
Drink some wine, Liz."

As soon as Brie went upstairs, Liz asked, "How much has she had?"

Nathan held up his hands in defense. "Just the one glass."

"Well, keep her going. She hasn't let loose since... anyway. She's been happier than
I can remember for a while now. I expect that's thanks to you." Liz picked up her
glass, rotating it in her fingers. "You hurt her and I'll hunt you down and kill you
with a shovel," she added with a warm smile.

His brows lowered as he looked to her. "Noted."

* * *

The next day was a Thursday and Brie stopped over to tell Lucy the good news before
heading to work. She brought her a pink-wrapped chocolate bar. They ate scones and
drank coffee in the dawn of the morning.

"They'd just better not dig in my petunias. I work hard in my flowers and don't need
a bunch of yapping puppies digging and pooping in them."

She rolled past the comment. "When will Molly be back? If you talk to her, tell her
I'm taking her out for a celebratory drink. She can bring Roger with her if she'd
like."

"He's long gone. Says she's sworn off men. Again." Lucy sipped her coffee. "I'll tell
her anyway. You run along and make sure that Macey is comfortable. She'll need extra
rest. None of that running her for miles every morning."

"Spring break's next week. I'll have plenty of time to take care of her." Brie jumped
up and kissed Lucy on the cheek. "I'll see you soon. I'm going to tell Amanda before
she's off to her temp job."

"Bring Clifford some of these." Lucy held out a box Brie noticed was already packed
and sealed.

As she walked around the cul-de-sac sidewalk, she thought of how good she felt. She
hadn't had the dream in weeks. The grass was turning green, and she knew that underneath
the dead leaves would be the beginnings of new life. Rose answered when she knocked.
"Morning, Rose. Is your mom up yet?"

"She's in the shower." Rose pleaded with Brie. "Gweat-gwanddad is making me wead books.
I already know how to wead books."

"I bet you are a great reader. Give these to your granddad, will you, and tell—"

"I'm out. I'm out." Amanda made her way down the stairs in a white terry-cloth robe.

"Hmm. Late night?" She smirked.

"So?"

"With the cop?"

Rose opened the baked goods.

"You'd better get those to your great-granddad or Mrs. Melbourne will have our hides."

Looking thoughtful at that idea, Rose turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Things still going on between the two of you?"

"They aren't really
going on
. We didn't end up in bed that night we sort of doubled if that's what you're getting
at. He was paged and had to bail. I decided it was best not to wait around. I've been
holding out on him since. I don't really know why. He may decide to give up on me.
I think I like him. He gets called off all the time. Has to cancel half the time,
but I don't mind. It'll make it easier when I get called abroad."

Brie listened. She couldn't ever remember hearing Amanda speak more than a few sentences
about any man, even Rose's father.

"So, what brings you here to interrupt my morning after a late night of no sex?"

"Macey's going to have puppies. Look, I have chocolate bars wrapped in blue and in
pink. I'm not sure what color to give. Hopefully, I'll need both."

"That retriever come of age?"

"No. I keep forgetting about him. The puppies are Nathan's dog's."

"At least someone's getting some," Amanda said as she led her to the kitchen.

* * *

Chocolate was shared at Bloom and congratulations offered. By the next day, she left
the extras on the workroom table. Susie Phillips had found a greeting card made just
for the owners of expecting pets. They made cards for anything these days; Brie laughed
as she read it while she walked down the hall.

She entered her classroom as the bell rang from lunch and the children started making
their way down the hallways from the playground. Her teacher's aide took afternoon
attendance while she walked around listening to the recess news each child had to
share. Andy played with his markers, balancing them along his supply box.

The class quieted as they'd learned to do when they heard the tone coming from the
announcement speaker. "May I have your attention please?" Sandy spoke through the
intercom. "Teachers and staff, we are moving into a lockdown. Please secure your classrooms
until further notice."

She looked over and walked toward her door as she addressed her aide. "This is the
drill where we pull in any children from the hallways, lock the doors and move our
students away from the windows. You gather them by the coat hooks, and I'll check
the hallways."

As she was trained to do, she locked the door as she stuck her head out to look both
ways for any children that needed to be pulled in from the hall. She noticed Mr. Babb
as he walked around the corner. It took her a fraction of a second to figure out the
call was not a drill and that Mr. Babb was headed for her room. Instinctively, she
stepped out and shut the door behind her, placing herself between it and Aaron's father.

"This won't help you. You know that," Brie said with arms stretched pleadingly outward.

"I want my boy." She could see Mr. Babb as he shook beads of sweat along his forehead.
"Nobody's gonna fucking tell me when I can fucking see my boy."

Repeating what he said was all her brain could think of. "You want your boy. I can
see that. He is your boy. Getting him this way will only make it so you can never
see him again. Please, Mr. Babb." He kept inching toward her. She tried not to back
up. She was too close to her classroom.

"Don't talk down to me, woman." Still walking, he pulled a gun from the back of his
pants.

She nearly vomited.

"I know what you social worker people are like. Think you're better shit than the
rest of us. Think you can fucking tell me how to discipline my own boy." He spoke
using his hands, causing the gun to point erratically in response. "I knew you people
would try to stop me. You made me do this. Made me. Bring. This. Gun." And he stopped,
pointing it steady at her.

She willed herself to keep calm. Lie, she told herself. "I'm not those people, Mr.
Babb. I'm not a social worker. I want to help you. I want to help you see your son,
but I know taking him this way will make it so you'll never get him back." Through
her peripheral vision, Brie could see a police officer round the corner. She made
herself keep eye contact with Aaron's dad.

"Lying bitch! You know they won't let me have him after this. Get out of my way before
I put a bullet between your lying bitch eyes—" The officer jumped him from behind.
Within seconds, he'd wrestled the gun out of his hand and had dug his knee dug into
the back of Babb's back, his arms were stretched unnaturally behind him.

She leaned against the nearest wall, clutching her stomach. Another officer came up
behind her and hauled her down the opposite hall. She couldn't remember what happened
next.

Finding herself sitting in an office chair, she waited for someone to tell her what
to do. Mr. Babb was actually very quiet, his chin buried in his chest as the officers
maneuvered him through the hallway toward the exit.

Sandy stood in the doorway glaring at her. No, grinning at her. "You've done it this
time, Miss Chapman. You get all the union representation you want. You've broken protocol."

She looked crazed, her voice shaking, her eyes red and opened wide.

"Nothing to say? That's okay. I'll say it." Her voice was getting louder.

Heads around them started to turn.

"You broke protocol during a lockdown. Not a drill. An actual lockdown. You left your
class without trained, certified staff. Went out to the hallway instead of staying
in your locked room." She was yelling now, maybe screaming.

Babb and the two officers escorting him had made it to the foyer. One of them turned
and headed toward Sandy with arms up like he was trying to calm a wild horse.

"You. Are. Suspended. Suspended! Until further notice. Pack your bags. You're not
coming back. You think just because you played saint and reported Aaron's abuse—"

Babb exploded. Hands cuffed behind him, he butted heads with the remaining officer
and lunged in Brie's direction.

The officer near Sandy pushed the principal out of harm's way, sending her to the
floor in front of Mrs. Seward's desk. He closelined Babb, caught him before he fell,
and pressed him against the plate glass of the office.

With his faced smashed against the window, Babb stared at her. She sat frozen in the
same chair she had been in all along. "I'll kill you," he mouthed before the officers
joined again to drag him out and into the squad car.

"Get her out of here." A third officer pointed to Sandy who was standing and adjusting
her designer skirt. "We'll interview her in another room."

* * *

Brie sipped water while waiting for her turn. She was in the conference room adjacent
to Sandy's office, listening to her boss berate her for breaking the rules. The press
and cameras were here now. She swore the woman was enjoying this. The police finished
with Sandy, then ordered her home.

The questioning seemed to take hours. They reassured her a number of times that her
class was safe and honestly didn't know what had gone on. She remembered every detail
and went over it again and again. The officers were gentle and patient and repeatedly
explained that the questions were procedure. The interview process hadn't changed
in the last six years, she thought, and this was nothing compared to what she went
through back then. When they were done with her, they asked if she'd like a ride home.

"No. I can drive. Thank you, officers." She took a deep breath, lifted her chin and
asked if it was all right for her to leave.

She didn't think to pack her bag before she left. She didn't remember the drive home.
Without opening the garage door, she pulled up to her house, put her truck in park
and leaned her head against the back of the seat. Turning her eyes to her rearview
mirror she tried to make sense of the day. She wouldn't have done anything differently.
Babb would have gone ballistic if he'd seen her lock him out. It would've been wrong
to put the children through the fear of having an abusive father pounding on the door,
shooting at the door. Now, she'd lost her job.

Pack your bags. You're not coming back.

She could hear Macey whining and made herself get out of her pickup to unlock the
front door. Macey ran past Brie without so much as a greeting and around to the back.
Plopping on her porch, she leaned against one of the white pillars.