Authors: Megan Noelle
Jazmin had to stop as sobs shook her body until she finally erupted. It looked to be the first time she had broken down since everything happened.
“I didn’t know where else to go. No one else would have taken me in!”
“You shouldn’t have come here and got me involved,” I said, with not as much conviction as I originally intended.
Jazmin was absolutely right - no one else she knew would put up with her. Lord only knows how many friends she had left anyway. I hated that she was here, but I hated it more because now I felt involved. This woman was pathetic and I wanted her to disappear, but there was that softer side of me that couldn’t just kick her out. At one time I had loved her, even if it hadn’t really been love, but I just couldn’t throw her out now. I needed to find a way to fix this before either Jazmin or Bobby found out about my family.
Jazmin’s voice broke through my thoughts. “I know I shouldn’t have, but I knew you wouldn’t just let him kill me.”
I had no clue how to respond and, before I even had a chance, Jazmin was on her feet and suddenly wrapped around me. Her head buried into my chest with her hands clutching my shirt for dear life.
I was trapped.
*~*~*~*~*
Danielle
My day with Karly had been relaxing and therapeutic, almost like a day at the spa. Okay, that’s a total lie. It would have been nice if my boyfriend, also known as the father of my child, hadn’t left in a rush. Not only that, but, I mean, come on—couldn’t he at least feed me a decent lie?! Oh no, apparently it was much more fun making your pregnant girlfriend worry!
Karly caught on very quickly that something wasn’t right. She arrived with two brown bags filled with Chinese food, insisting that the babies needed a sample of everything on the menu, and I wasn’t going to argue with her. It wasn’t until we sat down in the living room, eating out of the cartons of food, that she realized it was just the two of us.
With a mouthful of food she waved around her chopstick, motioning around the room, “Where’s Corey?”
My body tensed up and my heart plummeted into my stomach; I suddenly didn’t feel as hungry. I opened my mouth with every intention to tell her that he had business at the bar that he had to take care of, but I couldn’t.
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling the rush of tears at my confession. Thankfully, I held them back. I really wasn’t in the mood for a dramatic, woe-is-me cry session.
Karly’s head whipped my way so fast with fire in her eyes. I half wondered if I didn’t confess my deeper fear that he was off with another woman.
“What do you mean?” She questioned the way a mother did when she caught you doing something you weren’t supposed to.
“He left suddenly and was very vague about where he was going.”
A million follow-up questions buzzed past Karly’s face, but she bit her tongue. It was clearly more for my sake than hers, since it was basically killing her to leave it at that.
“Oh,” she forced out.
“Yup.”
There were a few minutes of tense silence, as an inner battle raged inside her - half of her wanting to ask and the other half wanting to be respectful.
Lucky for me, the good side won out.
“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. I mean, come on. Corey has loved you for so long. He’d never do anything to hurt you, so I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” I didn’t miss the forced repetition or her need to point out that Corey loved me. As if that solved everything. I knew first hand that just because you loved someone, that didn’t mean all of your problems went away.
I loved Corey and I had no doubt that he loved me, too but, unfortunately, that didn’t silence any other questions I had. A few different witty quirks were on the tip of my tongue to lighten the mood and move onto the next subject, but I just couldn’t get them out. In fact, nothing came out. So, instead, we watched crazy brides on a rampage, stuffing our faces with as much food as we could handle.
It didn’t take long before the uncomfortable silence faded away and everything was forgotten. We spent the rest of the evening actually enjoying ourselves - painting our nails, flipping through gossip magazines, and there was a whole lot of baby talk. I filled her in on everything that happened at the ultrasound, showed her pictures of our baby, and I told her Corey requested we not know the baby’s gender.
Everything seemed great, but as a storm began to roll in overhead, so did the nerves in my belly. It was already nine at night and not once since Corey left did I get a call, text—nothing. Karly distracted my attention as best she could, but it didn’t help that she was ready for bed at a very early hour. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem for me, but tonight was different. There was thunder and lightning, both of which caused hazards on the road. What if Corey was driving? Or, maybe he was in his bar and the power went off and he was trapped under something heavy with his phone just out of reach.
I let out a sigh. It was hopeless. Sleep was not going to come easy for me tonight. After a little convincing, I promised I would not be mad if Karly went to sleep before I did. It was when she was in the
bathroom, brushing her teeth, that a knock at my front door nearly made me hit the ceiling. With a quick glance at my phone I saw that I still didn’t have any new messages, but maybe Corey’s phone died and now he was here!
I darted from my chair and whipped the door open before looking through to see who it was. To my dismay, it wasn’t Corey, but at least I hadn’t just opened the door to a mass murderer. Alex stood on the other side with the hood up on his sweatshirt and a smile on his face.
There were various questions I had for him, but I picked the easiest to start. “What are you doing here?”
Alex pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. “I got a call from Corey not long ago saying he was being held up with some business at another bar. He wanted me to come by and check on you since there’s a storm and everything.”
“You talked to Corey?” I heard the pathetic tone in my voice, but I couldn’t stop it.
“I did. He said that his phone’s been off and he’d be shutting it off again, but he didn’t want you to be alone.”
“Oh,” I mumbled.
Alex chuckled and jokingly knocked on the door again. “Can I come in, or are you gonna make me sit out here all night?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry. Of course you can come in.”
“Thanks, sweet cheeks.”
We weren’t more than a few steps into the room when Karly came out and looked just as shocked to see Alex as I had been.
“Where’s Corey?” she asked.
“Sheesh, you girls know how to make a guy feel welcome, don’t you?”
“Sorry, we were just more expecting to see him instead of you,” Karly clarified.
Alex nodded with understanding as he slipped off his shoes. “No prob. Corey called and said he was being held up with work at another one of his bars up north. He didn’t want to leave Dani alone, so he asked if I could stop in and make sure she was alright.”
Just when I was starting to feel some ease with Alex’s presence and knowing that Corey was alright, my fear came back. Karly stuck her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes into a deathly glare.
“Did he happen to say which bar?” Her voice lashed out as all of my nerves came back.
Alex raised an eyebrow at her sudden attitude change, but shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”
So slightly that I almost wondered if I had imagined it, her head shook in a disapproving manner. “Well, I’m off to bed. Thanks for checking in on us, Alex. Sweet dreams.”
Karly walked off without another word and closed the door to the guest room behind her. Alex flopped down onto the couch and looked at me for some interpretation for what had just happened.
I held up a finger and followed after Karly. She sat in the middle of the bed as her fingers flew across the keypad on her phone sending a text.
“What’s going on, Karly?” I demanded.
She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, Dani, okay? But I’ll find out.”
I was getting really sick of this cryptic family and their secrets.
“Karly, you can’t just expect me to take that answer and not question anymore about it!” Her eyes left the screen of her phone and met with mine.
“Please.” Her apologetic tone softened my growing irritation. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but I don’t know anything. I promise you - the second I do, you’ll find out.”
I reluctantly agreed and left the room to go rejoin Alex. He was watching some sitcom that I didn’t care about, but that was good enough for me. Being around Karly was making me angry, because even though she said she knew nothing, that clearly wasn’t true. I was the one who knew nothing, but it left me with enough of a question in my mind that I didn’t want to sit alone either.
Alex and I watched a few episodes of whatever show was on TV. Every time he laughed, I joined in, even if I didn’t catch the joke. It was nice to stew in my own thoughts without someone hounding me about what I was thinking. But, finally, I broke the silence.
“Everything’s going to be okay, right?” I wasn’t sure if the question was necessarily intended for Alex or if I just felt the universe needed to hear it.
That very thought roamed around my mind countless times over the past several months and I felt I was long overdue for an answer. Alex reached his hand over and placed it on my knee in a comforting gesture. Our eyes met and he nodded his head.
“Everything is going to be okay,” he confirmed.
Even if he didn’t know that for sure, or if he was lying - I didn’t care. It was an answer and right now, it was exactly what I needed to hear.
*~*~*~*~*
Corey
It was almost two o’clock in the morning by the time I finally made it back to the city limits of Serenity Cove. Jazmin begged and pleaded with me to stay, but there was no way in hell I was going to do that. Running out on Dani without much of an excuse and then no call or text was bad enough. I knew I’d have some explaining to do, but I wasn’t ready for it yet. So the less time unaccounted for, the better. Besides, I still didn’t trust Jazmin for a second.
I had no doubt in my mind that she was in deep shit and, for once in her life, she really needed someone to help her. That didn’t mean I trusted her. If I was going to help her, she needed to play by my rules. I wasn’t going to let Jaz come in and screw up my life now that I finally had exactly what I wanted.
It was going to be okay. Dani would be mad but, by sending Alex, it showed that I was safe and thinking about her. Tomorrow I would let her yell and scream at me, just as long as it ended up with me holding her again. I had a thought of going to her house, but I wanted to wash away the stench from tonight. Every time I dealt with things in my past, I just felt dirty and I didn’t need to pass that feeling along to Dani.
I pulled into the parking lot, turned off the engine and went upstairs. It wasn’t until I opened my door that I saw a soft glow of light from the living room. When I looked in, I saw my oldest sister, Abby, sitting with one leg crossed over the other. She was pissed and it was uncanny how much she looked like our mother when she wore that expression on her face.
Abby held up her phone so I could read whatever was on the screen. Even from a distance I saw it was a text from Karly and it read: Corey’s up to something and it’s not good. My face grew hot, my palms began to sweat, and I stared back at her stern expression and the cold look in her eyes.
“We need to talk,” was all she said.
Corey
“Christ, Abby! You look like a damn hit man waiting in the dark for me to come home.” Although I was serious, I was also hoping for a bit of a laugh or something to lighten the mood. Not even the corner of her mouth twitched up into a hint of a smile. Nothing good was going to come from the shit storm suddenly awaiting me.
“You’d be better off if I was, Corey.” Shit, that was the truth. At least against a hit man I’d have a fighting chance.
There were very few things in life that scared me, but seeing Abby stare me down with that knowing glare in her eyes definitely topped the list.
“Before you freak out …” she didn’t even let me continue. Her hand rose up to silence me the same way she did when I was a kid and I stopped talking.
Abby uncrossed her legs and stood directly in front of me, arms crossed over her chest. She fixed me with a deadly stare. Abby was one of the best lawyers in the state and I always knew she was a hard worker and passionate about her job. Even though she was petite and looked harmless, Abby could command a court room with her gestures alone. This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen her this way, but it still freaked me out.
“Don’t start with me, Corey. I know you are going to give me excuses or whatever, but I don’t want to hear it. Dani may not know what all is going on, but I do.”
“It’s not what you think.”
She didn’t falter as she continued her interrogation. “I don’t give a shit what it is because I know that you are getting in the middle of things that you swore you’d leave alone.”
My fingers pinched the bridge of my nose as I thought of just how exhausting this whole situation was. I wish I could fight off Abby with a genuine excuse but I knew I couldn’t.
“It’s complicated.”
“Actually, Core, it’s not! Do you remember everything that you went through? Do you remember everything she put you through?” Abby pointed at an empty space, but the look of sheer hatred in her eyes told me she knew who I had just come from seeing.
“Of course I remember!”
“So why in the hell would you put yourself through that again? Except remember, this time, it is not just you—you are going to be a father. You are in a serious relationship with the woman you claim is the one for you. Yet you are risking absolutely everything!”
She didn’t have to tell me that since my guilt that was eating me alive. It wasn’t just Jazmin I was dealing with, but everything that came with that world. It was a dangerous place to be and now Dani was right in the middle of it.
“I know all that, Abby! I’m not doing anything to screw up the life I have now.”
She threw her arms up in the air. “Then what do you call all of this!? Did Dani know where you were? Does she know about Jaz or that she is a toxic waste that once destroyed your life? Because I have a feeling she doesn’t.”
“No. Okay!” I yelled back. “She doesn’t, but I want it to remain that way. Jaz got into some bad shit and, yes, she is staying at my other bar, but I’m not back doing that shit with her. Besides, you know better than anyone that if I didn’t go to her and she needed something—she would come find me. That would bring her in town putting my family at an even bigger risk.”
Abby sighed and rubbed her hands over her face.
“I know about her persistence, Core, but you need to let someone else deal with her. Do you remember finally taking hold of your life? You were a wreck for years and absolutely not the brother I’ve known my whole life. You got clean—she didn’t. Then she continued to screw things up for you, trying her damndest to bring you back into the hell hole you escaped. Do you remember all that?” Abby pressed and I nodded.
“Yes, Abby, I remember!”
“What about when the cops arrested her because they caught her while she was in the middle of a drug bust? You made me fight for her to not go to prison and only get treatment instead. I didn’t want to do it, Corey. I wanted to fight to get her the maximum sentence possible and I would have won. It was only because you felt compassion for this person who deserved none, that I did it.” Abby stopped and shook her head, letting herself take a deep calming breath. “Do you want to know why I finally agreed to do it?”
On one hand, I did and on the other, I didn’t. What Abby did for Jaz - I always knew it took a lot of work on her end but I never let myself think about it. It felt awful to think of all the stress I caused her during the most selfish stage of my life. I wanted to understand, but I was afraid that once I did, there would never be a way to make it up to her. But with that sad look in her eyes, I couldn’t say no.
“Yes, I want to know.”
“Because you promised not to talk to her again. Because you promised me I wouldn’t lose my brother again.” Tears sprung to her eyes and, in an instant, her chest was heaving up and down. I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms as she instantly she buried her face into my shirt. I kissed the top of her head and felt my own tears beginning to surface.
“You’re not going to lose me again, Abby.”
“Good, because you have no idea how difficult it was before. You’re the back bone of this family, Core, and if you leave we’ll all fall apart.”
Very slowly, I rocked her back and forth. It didn’t matter that we were both adults because Abby would always be my sister. There was nothing in the world that would make me stop caring for and loving any of them. I hated seeing them upset, even more so when it was because of me. So I knew that I needed to make a change. Jaz wasn’t going to come back in and mess anything up for me and she certainly wasn’t going to harm the people I loved the most.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
*~*~*~*~*
Despite the very early morning hour, Abby was convinced she was going to drive home. I very quickly informed her that would not be happening and instead I made the couch into a bed and let her take my room. She complained and fought me for a bit, but it wasn’t long after her head hit the pillow that she was completely passed out. It made me feel good to know that I was still able to help my sisters, but nothing felt better than knowing how much they wanted to help me. Since our sorry excuse for a father left us, I thought I was supposed to just be the tough guy. At times, I forgot that my sisters wanted to protect me, too.
While I was tossing and turning on the couch, there was only one girl on my mind. I’d be damned if I spent one more minute away from her. After writing out a quick note for Abby, telling her I left, I hopped in my car and drove to the only place I wanted to be. It didn’t matter if it was almost four in the morning and that Dani was probably going to kill me—I couldn’t resist. I made a pit stop at a 24 hour mini mart and picked up a bouquet of roses that were wrapped and ready to go.
I knocked on Dani’s front door with the realization that I still needed to get a spare key. When I saw Karly’s car in the driveway I laughed. Showing up this early in the morning was bound to piss her off. Then I’d be two for three when it came to making my sisters’ mad. I’d have to give Lainey a call later and do something to irritate her so she wouldn’t be left out.
The door finally opened and Alex stood there, half-awake, with a smile growing on his face.
“Are those for me?”
“Smart ass,” I said with a laugh. “I got this now, thanks for stopping by.”
He nodded his head and smacked my shoulder. “No prob, man. Your girl will be happy to see you.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
With that, I left Alex to make my way to Dani’s bedroom. Lately, she had been sleeping harder than usual; I had no doubt it was because of the pregnancy. I only hoped that tonight I was able to wake her up. Holding her was one thing, but I needed to talk to her - to have those tired blue eyes flutter open and look at me. I envisioned her soft pink lips very slowly spreading into a heart stopping smile. I couldn’t wait any longer. I burst through her door and was immediately relieved to see she was wide awake. With her back against the pillows, she had a pile of baby magazines scattered around the bed. She casually flipped through the one positioned against her upright legs as if it wasn’t four o’clock in the morning.
“Hi, Baby,” I smiled and, it wasn’t until she looked my way, that I realized I wasn’t going to get the sweet greeting I had hoped.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
I felt my heart give a tight squeeze as I stared back her way. “Do you not want me here?”
Dani shook her head and I felt my stomach sink. Had I already lost everything between us? “I do. But Corey, it is four in the morning. Why bother coming over here now?” she snapped at me.
Proceeding with caution, I closed the distance between us. “Because I had to see you, Danielle. I have missed you so much since I left.”
The fire in her blue eyes began to simmer down, but I knew I wasn’t completely in the clear yet.
“Where were you, Corey?” Her body heaved in a sigh as she stared at me with the most heartbreaking look. Dani couldn’t even be mad at me like she wanted to and now, seeing this look, I wished should would. Fury, I could take, but this was something totally different. Her face showed how absolutely sick with worry she was; my secrets were tearing her apart on the inside, just as much as it was me.
There had to be something to say here that would make everything better. I couldn’t give her all the information though, it just wasn’t possible. Instead, I’d try to give her as much of the truth as I thought was safe. As it just so happened, the information that wasn’t safe for her was what I had to hold back. I could already feel that topic growing a wedge between us and it was killing me.
“I was up
…”
“Up north, I know.” She cut me off and rolled her eyes, her attention back to flipping through the pages of her magazine. Not that I believed she was actually reading any of it. I watched her eyes heatedly scan the printed words as I lowered myself on to the edge of the bed.
“You know, I’m sick of this Corey!” she finally said, slamming her magazine down to glare at me.
I gulped. What was the deal with these women in my life having the ability to scare the shit out of me with a single look?
“I know you are lying to me!”
“But I was up north,” I interjected, hoping to simmer the raging inferno that engulfed us.
“Yes, Corey, I get it, but there is more to the story. You are hiding something from me that everyone else seems to know!” She threw her hands up in frustration. I opened my mouth but then she looked at me and I lost my train of thought.
The broken and intense look she gave made my heart clench. As much hell as this woman has put me through, she’s had it in her life as well. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t hurt her—all Dani knew was suffering. A long time ago, I promised myself and her that I would never be the one to betray her, but, in her eyes, that was what I was doing right now. The worst part was I wasn’t able to clear the air and tell her everything was okay, because the plain truth was I had left her to go help another woman. Not just the night before, but many times over the past few months, I’ve had to go to Jazmin’s side.
But I had to—if I didn’t there was always the risk that she would come here.
“Omissions are lies, Corey. If we’re going to be together, we have to be able to trust one another and, right now, you are walking a thin line in that department.”
I moved closer to her on the bed and took her hands within mine.
“I know, Baby. You need to trust that I am not being unfaithful to you, nor am I doing something I don’t feel is the best for all of us. You just have to trust me. There are some things going on in my life that I thought were laid to rest. I need to take care of this—alone.”
She looked from my face to my hands before letting out a sigh. “I won’t press anymore tonight, but you can’t just leave me in the dark, Corey. I’m your girlfriend and the mother of your child. I want to stand next to you, not behind you.”
I felt my lips curl over my teeth in a wicked smile. “I love hearing you call yourself my girlfriend.”
A soft rosy color crept into her cheeks as she crossed her arms playfully across her chest.
“Isn’t that what I am?”
I repositioned my body so I was resting above her. “That is exactly what you are.”
She giggled against my lips as I leaned down to kiss her. I couldn’t deny how much I loved when she did that. As much as I loved our sensual, slow, tantalizing kisses, nothing compared to the way it felt to have her laugh against me. Maybe it was because the sound of her laugh was like nothing I had ever heard
before. It was melodic, beautiful and, to know that I was the one causing that sound to bubble up, it made everything better.
“Core, you’re gonna mess up the piles I made of stuff for the baby.” This was the first time I looked around at the mass of catalogs lying in a circle around Dani.
“There’s a method to this madness?” I gestured around.
She smiled and pressed her hands against my chest to get me to back up. I didn’t want to leave even an inch of space between us, but I complied.
“Yes, there is. Each pile represents something. This one is for cribs and furniture I like.” She gestured to one pile, and then moved to the next. “This one has beautiful room designs I like and this one has a list of adorable baby names that I thought were possibilities.”