Unsteady (The Torqued Trilogy Book 1) (46 page)

I didn’t take her yesterday so I knew this was coming. I let her tell me when she wants to go. I never force her. Sometimes we miss a week.

“Yeah, real quick.” I kneel down to her level trying to calm her frizzy hair. She immediately shakes my hands away and hands a hair tie to Lenny as she walks by into the kitchen. “Do you mind if we make a stop?” As soon as I say it, I realize the awkwardness of taking her to Nevaeh’s grave. That’s probably a bit strange for her, right?

Lenny bends down and ties Nova’s hair up for her. It seems I’ve been replaced in the hair department. Not that I was any good at it anyhow. “I have my own car here, Red. I can drive myself to work.”

“Yeah, you can,” I agree, “but I’d like to follow you. Just in case.”

I know she wants to protest, but doesn’t. “I don’t mind if you want to stop. I can just wait in my car.”

Nova reaches for my hand. “I think Mommy wants to meet her.”

Nova once made me take a stray cat to her grave to see if Mommy would approve. I’m guessing she didn’t because the cat ran away the next day. Nova didn’t seem too upset by it either. She simply shrugged and said, “I don’t think Mommy liked him.”

So what’s gonna happen when we take Lenny?

I hope she doesn’t run away.

THE MORNING IS quiet, a cool breeze from the south picking up. The smell of rain in the distance dances around us as we walk toward Nevaeh’s grave. There’s a heaviness in my gut, weighing me down. Guilt.

I let Nova talk to her alone, like I always do and then she takes off to drag Lenny out of her Bronco.

“I met a girl,” I say into the wind as I kneel beside Nevaeh’s grave. “I don’t know what it means right now, but I can see she really cares for our daughter.” My eyes move to Nova and Lenny in the distance, hand in hand looking for the perfect flower and giving me some time alone. “Maybe that’s all that matters right now.” I draw in a deep breath and look down at her headstone. “I told myself for a long time I couldn’t move on, but then again, is that a life I should be living? I don’t know, but for the first time since we lost you, Nova is wanting to be around a woman other than my mom and Raven. Lenny is the first girl Nova’s liked in a long time. Maybe she’s trying to tell me something here.”

Nova comes running up, Lenny walking a little slower behind her as though she’s unsure of where her place is in this moment.

Looking up at her, seeing the concern in her eyes, I can’t help but know bringing her into our lives is the right thing. Though everything’s happening fast, it’s not a mistake for the three of us to take this next step together.

I understand the life she’s running from and I want to be the one who takes her away from it. I know how situations like this end and I don’t want that to happen to Lenny. Not if I can help it.

She’d said to me last night, “I wish I’d met you first.” I thought about it a lot this morning, and what those words meant to me. At first, I didn’t know how I felt about it because of everything she’s been through. That’s putting a lot of pressure on me to be perfect for her.

AFTER WE LEAVE the cemetery and drop a disgruntled Nova off at daycare, Lenny and I head into the shop. We’re already running late, and I don’t want to think about how much shit I need to get done today. Most importantly, I needed to talk to Tyler about Ben. I need a plan in case he shows up at the shop.

First thing when I walk into the shop, I look around to see where Tyler is. I spot him walking out of the parts room.

“Hey, man, got a minute?”

Tyler stops and looks at me, his brow pinches together as his eyes dart to the office and back to me. “Yeah sure. What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you about the situation with Lenny and her crazy-ass ex.”

He nods, seeming to relax. “What do you know?”

“Is this guy someone we need to really be worried about?”

“Honestly, Red, I don’t know.” Tyler shakes his head, scratching the back of his neck. “Lenny hasn’t told me much about him, but I do know she’s scared of him. Considering her fear, I think that gives us enough reason to worry.”

“Yeah, when the sheriff stopped by last week, he told me Ben was making it clear that he wasn’t giving up until he found her. Even burned down her last employer’s garage when he couldn’t get any answers out of them.”

Tyler looks shocked by this information. “Seriously? Shit. That is totally fucked-up, man. Ben sounds like he’s losing it. What do you think we should do?”

“We need to make sure she’s safe. No leaving her alone. When she’s not here at the shop, she needs to either be upstairs with you or at my place with me.” I level him a grave look. “I mean it, Tyler. Not even a quick trip to the grocery store. There’s no telling what this guy is capable of, and I don’t want us letting our guard down for a second until he’s caught.”

“Absolutely, Red. I agree. She and I already talked about making sure she was with someone at all times after she filed the restraining order.”

I give a quick glance around the shop, my stare landing on Lenny. She’s at my toolbox grabbing something and turns around and heads back to her stall. I watch as she returns to whatever she’s working on.

Tyler must follow what I’m looking at because a grin suddenly appears on his face. “Hey, so I heard you and Nova had some company at the races the other night.”

I turn to look at him wondering where he is going to go with this information. “We did. Lenny stopped by to drop something off when we were getting ready to leave and Nova asked if she could come along.”

“Ah. Nova wanted her to come along.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Well, it was nice of you to let Nova invite a friend.” Rolling my eyes, he continues. “I also heard that Elle was there and got the impression you and Lenny were dating. Heard it a got a little awkward.”

What the hell. Rawley and his big fucking mouth. Since when did he become a gossiping little bitch?

“I can’t help what Elle thinks she sees, and no, there was no awkwardness. Lenny and I are just friends.”

“Just friends?” His brow raises. He’s sees right through my bullshit lie. “It’s obvious you both have feelings for each other. Just be careful man. You’ve both been through a lot and I don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”

I hand him a work order. “I know.”

I do know. I know I’m positive this woman came into my life for a reason. If that means protecting her, then I will. My dad used to tell me it doesn’t matter what’s in front of you. It matters what’s behind you. As in, who’s got your back when you need it.

Lenny’s never had anyone look out for her and that’s changing.

“There you go.” Red smiles and bumps my shoulder with his. “Four new tires.”

“Thanks, but I could have done this myself, you know.” I give him my own smile. The late afternoon sun giving way to gray clouds in the distance illuminating his face and the sense of pride it holds that he was able to do something for me.

I hadn’t realized it, but after the long drive I made here from Oklahoma, I was in desperate need of some tires.

“I do know that, but…” He moves closer and cups my cheek with his hand. He smells like oil and gas, my two favorite scents. “…don’t you think it’s nice to have a man around every once in a while to change your tires?”

I wink, pressing my lips to his palm once… twice. “It
is
nice. So how much do I owe you for this tire replacement?”

His expression darkens with lust, blinking slowly. “Oh, I’m sure I can think of some way for you to repay me.”

Internally, I’m debating inside because though I know I needed tires, it’s still foreign to have him helping this way because he wants to. Do I really deserve all this?

“Why is hard for you to believe I wanted to do something nice for you?”

“Because no one ever has.”

Red’s beginning to be able to read my moods and facial expressions easily and tips his head. “Come with me.” And then he grabs my hand, a jack handle, and takes me behind the shop to the old 1950 Ford Mercury. He then touches the hood with the jack handle. “What kind of car is this?”

“1950 Ford Mercury.”

He grins, winking at me. “First of all, I can’t tell you how fucking sexy it is to me that you know that.” Raising the jack handle up over his head, he brings it down on the hood with a grunt. The rusted metal buckles under the force, the violent bang against the hood is deafening and I flinch, my eyes fluttering as he continues to hit the car. After the hood is dented, the windows smashed out of it and the headlight, he looks at me, panting and drops the jack handle to the ground.

“What kind of car is this?”

At the sound of his voice, I lift my eyes from the car to his. “It’s still a 1950 Ford Mercury.”

“Exactly.” He steps forward, his hands on my hips as he dips his head to catch my eyesight. “Nothing I do to this car will ever change the fact that it’s a 1950 Ford Mercury. It might be a beat-to-shit, rustic pile of junk, but it’s still a 1950 Ford Mercury.” Realization hits me when he touches his hand to my cheek, his calloused skin from a hard-working man moving over me. “Nothing that’s happened to you, defines you. It will never change who you are inside. A good person. A deserving person.”

Running my hands up his chest, I fist the fabric between my fingers, knuckles turning white. I’m so freaking turned-on by all this and the fact that he’s all sweaty now I have to show him how much I appreciate this. Because he’s absolutely right. Nothing will ever change who I am inside. “Do you have to go get Nova?”

“She’s with my mom tonight. I have to go get her after this.”

“Can you be a little late?”

He nods.

“Then come with me.”