Authors: Lynda LeeAnne
Nothing could have been better than
that.
“Gayle and Dad are fine, but I miss them.
I’ll call them when we get to your house to let them know what’s
going on,” I answered. I knew Gayle was going to freak out when I
told her I was staying with Tony. Gayle and Dad had met him, they
flew in just to meet him and it was well worth the trip because
they adored him. I knew Tony liked them too.
My parents were upset with me for the whole
picture incident, but they also understood. They also never blamed
Tony for leaving me.
But I didn’t want to think about that
anymore. I was tired of remembering the past. All I could do now
was pray that he’d forgive me soon or at least not make my life
miserable.
“Will you tell me how you got hurt?” I asked
to change the subject.
He glanced at me.
“Can we talk about this at the house? I’m
not sure my ribs can take running after you again.”
“I’m sorry about that. I won’t jump out of
the truck,” I promised.
He switched hands on the steering wheel and
rested an elbow near the window.
“There’s not much to tell. I saw the picture
of you and it pissed me off.”
I waited, but when he didn’t elaborate, I
prodded, “And?”
He shrugged. “He got in one good punch to my
ribs, but he’s probably still laid out on the floor of Big Times
Bar. It took two security guards to throw me out.” He glanced at me
then and one side of his mouth was tipped up at the end in a
smirk.
I didn’t smile back.
“I don’t like this,” I said, and in all
honesty, I was a little scared. Tony’s smirk instantly
vanished.
“You’ll be safe with me. Someone will always
be around. I won’t leave you alone and I won’t let anything happen
to you,” he declared. I felt the weight lift a little, but not
much.
“I trust you,” I whispered.
He glanced at me again, this time letting
his eyes linger on my face. He reached over, grabbed my hand and
gave it a squeeze before he rumbled, “Good.”
I knew, at that precise moment, I was in
trouble; trouble dressed in a flannel, white t-shirt and jeans,
with black hair, caramel eyes, caramel skin and a bossy attitude…
an attitude that maked my own pale in comparison.
The rest of the drive was in silence, but it
had finally changed to comfortable silence. After Tony’s quick
squeeze of my hand earlier, the atmosphere in the truck lightened.
When we turned off the highway, onto an old country dirt road, I
realized Tony hadn’t lied about the entry to his property. It was a
rough one, but I also realized that it wasn’t too rough for my
little car.
He tricked me!
I decided to bite my tongue.
As we drove closer to the house I could see
off in the distance, Tony pointed out his window.
”The stable is over there. I also own a
small duplex on the other end of the property. Larry, my stable
manager lives in one with his wife, and two of the stable boys
share the other one.”
Butterflies filled my stomach and smiled.
This was going to be an experience… whether good or bad, it was
definitely going to be one of a kind.
The stable was huge and nothing like I’d
imagined. I was excited. I couldn’t see details, but the light in
front of the large building was bright and it illuminated a huge
rustic star that hung over the entryway.
I couldn’t wait to check it out. Tomorrow
couldn’t get here fast enough.
“We’re here,” he said as we pulled up to the
house, and again, I was completely blown away. It was a beautiful,
single-story, red brick ranch house with a set of four steps that
led up to a large front porch--.
“Son of a bitch,” Tony hissed at my side and
the truck came to a complete stop. I faced him. He looked worried
as he glanced in the rear view mirror.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, but quickly got my
answer when lights from another vehicle were reflected in the front
window. I twisted my neck around and watched as a truck pulled up
right behind us.
“Is that one of Z’s boys?” I asked, because
I wanted to make sure trouble hadn’t started already.
“Z’s boys?” he repeated questioningly.
“What? It sounded better than Zacharias. And
why does he go by Zek instead of Zach anyway? Kind of stupid if you
ask me.”
He stared at me for a long time before he
sighed and turned away from me.
“No, this has nothing to do with him. Just
be nice,” he muttered, opened his door and got out.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I opened my door, jumped down, looked toward
the other vehicle and watched as a woman climbed out. I couldn’t
see her very well, but she was every bit a woman. There was no
missing the long blonde hair, light skin and small figure. She
looked right at me, and I suddenly, I wasn’t so excited
anymore.
Tony walked up to her and they hugged. My
heart thumped double time in my chest. They parted slowly, but
remained within touching distance as they exchanged words for about
thirty seconds.
I’d counted.
Tony turned, walked back to me and I
couldn’t make heads or tails of his expression; his face was void
of any emotion.
“I’ll take you inside and show you around,”
he said, just before he reached over and into the bed of his truck
and pulled out two of my bags. I looked back to the woman who
hadn’t left. She sat back inside her truck, left the door wide open
and waited.
“Come on,” Tony said to catch my attention.
I looked at him again. If I wasn’t mistaken he looked annoyed, but
I honestly didn’t feel like analyzing the reason at this point.
“You’re hurt. I can carry those,” I offered
softly, as I tried extremely hard to hide the sadness in my
voice.
He shook his head. “I got it. I’ll come back
for the other two when I get you situated inside.”
I glanced back at the woman one more time,
exhaled and turned back to Tony who still watched me. I walked past
him, up the steps and I heard him followed.
A part of me wanted to look around and study
the house, but I couldn’t concentrate. Tony showed me the living
room, the dining room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the two extra
bedrooms and his bedroom, until he finally opened a door to the
bedroom he declared was mine. It was nice, simple.
A large, queen sized bed with a white
coverlet and matching pillow cases was situated against the far
wall. A small nightstand sat to the right of it. A chest of drawers
was located directly underneath a double window that was outlined
by sage green curtains. A tall, six-drawer dresser adorned the wall
directly across from the window, but that was basically it. There
were no decorations. It felt empty… cold.
Tony walked further into the room, dropped
my bags beside the bed and faced me.
I wanted to go to him, I wanted him to hug
me, I wanted him to tell me everything was going to be okay, but I
knew that was foolish thinking. And if I had any question as to who
the woman outside was to Tony, that was instantly cleared up.
“I’m dating her… or I was,” Tony
muttered.
I didn’t know how to feel about his
admission because he sounded so irritated that it threw me off a
little. He had no reason to be irritated with me.
“It’s none of my business, Tony. You’re
single. We’ve been over a long time. You were with many women
before me and I know for a fact that you were with even more after
me. I’m a big girl. You don’t have to explain anything.” I managed
not to cry, but I forgot to hide the unhappiness in my voice.
Tony rubbed the back of his neck and he
looked very frustrated, almost impatient.
“I need to talk to her,” he stated, clearly
not wanting to leave his girlfriend waiting, so I shrugged my
shoulders indifferently.
“Go. She’s waiting for you. If you would
just bring in the rest of my bags, I’ll unpack and go to bed. It’s
been a long week for me anyway and I could really use some sleep,”
I said quietly.
“I know you’re lying,” he rumbled low.
I turned to stone.
“I’m not lying.” I was, but I’d never tell
him that. “I’m not going to play the same games we used to play,
Tony. I’m serious. To be completely honest with you, I lived in
misery for the past two years because I never got the chance to
explain things to you, but I finally got that chance. And whether
you believe what I had to say or not, it was the truth. I can live
with you not believing me, not trusting me… even hating me, as long
as I know in my heart that I told you the truth,” I finished and
knew damn well that everything I’d just said was complete bullshit.
I was dying inside. I was dying for him to still love me, because I
still loved him.
Tony’s expression was unconvinced, but I met
his stare with confidence. Without breaking eye contact, he stepped
toward me, right in front of me and cupped my cheek. I wanted to
cover his hand with mine, but I stopped myself.
“I’m thinkin’ I want the Trish back from an
hour ago. The one that fights back. The one that jumped outta my
truck because I pissed her off. The one whose cute little nose
flares when she’s trying hard not to lose it. I don’t like the new
Trish standing in front of me.”
“She’s gone,” I whispered. My heart was in
an unimaginable amount of pain, but I managed to keep it together
and slip out of his hold.
Tony looked stunned, then he looked angry,
and I watched a muscle tick in his jaw, but I kept going.
Our relationship had been over for a long
time and I’d known that. I’d known about the women before me; all
of them. I’d heard about his playboy status after me, but after I
watched him touch another woman with my own eyes, listened to him
tell me point blank that he was dating someone else… I knew now
that what I’d wished for, for so long, was never even a
possibility.
“Just go,” I rasped, walked past him, knelt
on the floor next to my bags and didn’t look back. I unzipped the
first duffle bag and pulled out clothes. I didn’t even realize how
long I’d been holding my breath until I heard the door click shut
behind him and I exhaled.
Tony returned minutes later with the last of
my bags and dropped them next to me on the floor. He stood there,
waited for me to look at him, but I refused. I heard him leave and
seconds after that, the front door slammed shut.
An hour had passed, and as much as I wanted
to peek out the front window to see if Tony and his hooker were
still out there, I decided it would be in my best interest to let
things go. I changed into my gray, oversized sleep shirt that had
the words “Bite Me” printed across my chest and walked to the
restroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and put away my
toiletries.
And go through the drawers. There was
nothing feminine in any of them… or cabinets, Nor anything pink. I
figured those things would be in his personal bathroom if he had
one.
By the time I made it back to my room, Tony
still hadn’t come inside. I went to bed and tossed and turned until
I finally fell asleep.
She screamed! I covered my ears and hummed
like Daddy taught me. Momma and Daddy were fighting again. She
hated him. She hated me. This time it was bad and I jumped.
Something shattered… glass.
She threw things. I heard daddy yell. I
heard him shout “Divorce!” and she screamed, “You’ll never get
her!”
I trembled.
Silence.
I rocked back and forth on my bed as I
waited. My stomach jumped to my throat when the door opened.
Daddy walked in and I knew he was leaving
without me. His face said it. He always did. She wouldn’t let him
take me.
I felt my heart breaking.
“
Daddy,” I cried in a tiny voice that
cracked as hot tears ran down my cheeks. I saw the sadness in his
eyes when he bent down next to the bed and opened his arms
wide.
“
Come here, baby,” he choked out and I
threw myself at him.
“
Daddy, don’t leave me. Please don’t
leave me here with her.” I begged and cried against his suit jacket
as I hugged him as tight I could. I never wanted to let go. I loved
momma, but she didn’t want me.
“
Baby girl, I’m not leaving you,” Daddy
promised.
“
Please take me with you now,” I
cried.
“
Patricia Grace Kincaid! Start packing
your shit! I’m taking you to Jessica’s house so your dad and I can
talk without you nosing around in our business,” Momma yelled at me
from the door.
“
Carolyn, I’m warning for the last time…
do not take your problems out on her. We might be going through a
divorce, but you can’t keep me from seeing my daughter,” Daddy
hissed and Momma immediately backed off.
“
I just want a chance to talk to you,
Sam. I don’t want to argue with you, I want to make things right
between us again. It’ll take me five minutes to take her to
Jessica’s and five minutes to get back. Please.”
Daddy turned to me. He was angry. She always
made him angry.
“
Honey, I can’t take you with me now. I
came to see you before I went to work and I’ll come pick you up as
soon as I get off, okay?” He smoothed down my hair, kissed my
forehead and left me.
“
Please don’t make me go,” I cried as
Momma pulled up to Jessica’s apartment. I hated it. I hated Momma
for making me go.
“
Get out,” she shouted. I jerked
back.
Tears burned my nose.
“
God! Stop acting like a fucking baby and
get out of the damn car!” She shouted again.
“
Jessica’s husband is a bad man. Please
don’t make me go in there. I promise--” I didn’t finish my sentence
because she got out of the driver’s side, came around the front,
opened my door and yanked me out. She slammed the door shut and
hurried back inside.