Chapter Eleven

Josh dropped Reggie off after a twenty-minute drive of mostly silence. He’d tried to talk, but she only gave short answers. He’d felt her anxiety swarming through the truck, and every instinct made him want to take it away, to pull Reggie in his arms and tell her it’d be okay. He didn’t understand why the scuffle had her freaking out. He watched her walk across the yard, past the greenhouse, until she disappeared before driving over to the pizza place.

“Daddy!” Emma shimmied out of the green pleather booth before dashing into her father’s arms. He knelt, encompassing her in a hug.

“Hey kiddo,” He kissed her cheek. “I wasn’t gone that long, was I?”

She pulled back, keeping her small hands on his shoulders. “No.”

“She was scared,” Ethan said. “That the jerk from the field followed you.”

The truth came out. When his ex first left, Emma would be scared when Josh was even a half an hour late while out on a job. The older she got, the tougher she tried to act, but every so often, a situation arose that made Josh remember just how frightened his kids were of losing another parent.

“Nah.” Josh took off her cap and replaced it backwards on her head. “That guy’s long gone by now.”

She smiled, and he stood up. They walked over and sat down, Emma staying closer to Josh than usual. Not that he minded. This, at least, was a nice reprieve from the attitude she’d been giving lately.

“Took you long enough,” Carrie said, dropping the crust on her plate.

“Apparently I’m just in time,” Josh said, grabbing the two slices left on the tray in the middle of the table. “You heathens went and ate all the double pepperoni!”

Ethan snorted. “That was Aunt Carrie.”

“Hey!” She grinned at him. “Traitor!”

Taking a bite of his pizza, Ethan gave his aunt a giant chipmunk grin. Rolling her eyes, she took a dab of sauce and swiped it on his nose. “That’s what traitors get.”

Josh put an arm around Emma, and they relaxed around the table, eating pizza and talking. These were his favorite times of the week. When they all got together after some activity and just hung around as a family.

“Hey, did anyone here from mom at all?” Josh asked. “Everything okay with her?”

Carrie nodded. “Yeah, she sent me a text earlier. Everything went fine with the doctor, but she was a bit tired, so she went home.”

Josh frowned. It wasn’t like his mom to miss the kids’ game. She’d been to every one of them, though he was almost glad that she had missed it. Mom probably wouldn’t have appreciated the spectacle today. Still, when she started changing her patterns, it usually meant she had something up her sleeve.

“How come Reggie didn’t want to come have pizza?” Ethan asked around a mouthful of food.

Josh bopped the bill of Ethan’s cap. “Don’t talk with pizza in your mouth, and I guess she was tired, too.”

Ethan grabbed the red cup and downed a gulp of soda before speaking. “I bet she was! Did you see the way she took that guy down? That was so awesome!”

Emma scoffed. “It was not.”

“She was defending you, idiot.”

“You’re the idiot,” she shot back.

“Stop calling each other idiots,” Josh said. “Finish your pizza, both of you.”

“Can I talk to you outside for a second?” Carrie asked him. She took the napkin off her lap and wiped her hands before standing up.

“Sure thing.” Josh slid out of the booth, leaving Sylvia sitting between two irate siblings. He figured it was good practice for her, anyway. He still held out hope that they’d be able to have kids of their own soon. Then Carrie would have someone else to be overprotective of.

They walked outside and Josh leaned against the disabled parking spot pole. “What’s up?”

“What the hell was that all about today?” Carrie asked. “That guy was ready to press charges.”

Josh shrugged. “He shoved Reggie first. Technically, she could have pressed charges against him.”

“But she didn’t.” Carrie crossed her arms over her chest. “She put a guy twice her size down in two seconds flat. That’s not normal.”

“Maybe for her it is.” He actually found it pretty damn hot that she’d been able to handle herself so efficiently—and that she’d been willing to stand up for his daughter. “She’s a truck driver. It’s smart for her to be able to protect herself. Besides, if she hadn’t put that ass down, I would have.”

“I don’t think she’s safe to be around the kids,” Carrie said.

“Oh, come on,” Josh rolled his eyes. “She did that for Emma.”

“It was a violent outburst.”

Josh conceded his sister had a point, but Reggie didn’t seem the type to lash out for no reason.

“It was self-defense.”

His memory went back to her taking down the son of a bitch. There’d been no hesitation. She’d moved fluidly, as if she’d done it a hundred times. When she came down on his neck, Reggie knew how to apply just enough pressure to keep him down, but not do any permanent damage. He figured if there had been, he and Carrie would be having a totally different conversation right now.

“Damn it, Josh.”

“What do you want me to say, Carrie?” He pushed off the pole and spread his hands out. “I’m not going to kick her out because she stood up for my kid, and I’m certainly not going to be pissed she defended herself after that asshole put his hands on her. If he’d shoved Sylvia, you’d have done the same thing.”

Carrie clenched her jaw shut and Josh knew he’d won the argument.

“Fine,” she snapped. “But at least keep an eye on her till I get the background check in my hand. We still don’t know who we’re dealing with.”

“Fair enough, but something tells me you’re not gonna find out she’s an ex-con.”

“You never know, brother dear.”

“Yo, Josh!”

Trevor Monroe jogged over to them from across the street. He’d been Josh’s best friend since they were kids. No matter what happened, Trevor always stood on his side. Even when things went bad with Sonja, Trevor was there to keep him out of a cesspool of self-misery. Trevor brushed a blond strand out of his eye and slowed his pace as he approached them.

“Hey Carrie,” he said.

“I gotta get back inside,” she said. “Try to put some sense in his head for me, Trevor.”

“Uh, sure?”

Josh shook his head as Carrie walked away.

“That about what happened at the field today?” Trevor asked.

Rubbing his face, he nodded. “Guess you already heard about it.”

Not that he was surprised. Not everyone knew each other in Merrydale, but there was still community—and gossip. Trevor pulled out his phone and pulled up the video, showing it to Josh. Someone had uploaded it to YouTube. The title: Moms Gone Wild - Little League Mom Takes Down Misogynist Dad.

Josh groaned. At least it only had thirty hits. He had stood next to Reggie, other people standing by, taking the situation in. The look on Reggie’s face was dark as she knelt beside the guy, whispering something to him. For a moment, it made Josh wonder if Carrie was right, if his kids were safe around Reggie.

If she’d been cruel from the start, maybe he could see it, but she’d been nothing but kind to his kids. That didn’t say much, seeing as how she’d only been there a day. Josh wondered if his lust for her was clouding his vision.

“Great,” he said.

Chuckling, Trevor turned the video off and put his phone away. “You know her?”

“Yeah. She’s working for me until she’s got enough money to fix her truck.”

“You lucky son of a bitch.” Trevor grinned at him, eyebrows raised. “You have that sexy ass woman sleeping out in the bunkhouse? How many cold showers are you going to take tonight?”

Too many.

“It’s not like that,” Josh said.

“You don’t think she’s hot?”

“No,” he protested. “Yes. Maybe, ah hell, Trevor, I don’t know.”

Except he did know, and he wanted to know more. Josh wanted to know what her skin would feel like beneath his hands as he explored the smooth flesh of her body. He wanted to learn about the spots that drove her wild, make her writhe in pleasure beneath him until she couldn’t stop screaming his name.

“Yeah,” Trevor said in a dry tone. “You don’t know.”

Josh rubbed the back of his neck, trying to keep the sheepish look off his face. “She’s leaving at the end of the week either way.”

“Hey, I’m not saying you have to marry her, but that doesn’t mean the two of you can’t have some fun while she’s in town.”

“Get your head out of the Frat house,” Josh said. While he’d stayed home and taken over the family business, Trevor had gone to college out in California. He became part of a law firm out of Baton Rouge, handling the smaller criminal cases in the more rural areas. Trevor had looks, brains, and a playboy attitude. He’d had his heart broken just as bad as Josh, but Trevor didn’t have kids to worry about and kept that college guy attitude when it came to women.

Trevor held up his hands. “I’m just saying. You’re both adults.”

“So, you came all the way to the pizza place because you saw her on YouTube?” Josh asked, trying to change the subject.

Trevor shook his head, the amusement fading from his gray eyes. “No. I got a call earlier today. Sonja got early release from prison a few days ago.”

The world stilled. A lump formed in Josh’s throat and he swallowed, trying to force it down. He opened his mouth to speak and then clamped his jaw shut. For three years, Josh did what he could to keep Sonja out of their lives. Trevor brokered the deal with the courts to get Sonja into a minimum-security facility. It’d been a lot of court dates, a lot of crying, a lot of pain, a lot of hell his kids went through.

“What do you mean she got an early release?” Josh demanded. “Why wasn’t I told?”

“Apparently,” Trevor said. “She hired another lawyer and they’ve been working on this behind my back. If I’d have known, I’d have said something.”

Josh knew he would have. Rage coursed through him, boiling his blood. He tried so damn hard with Sonja, and every time she kicked him right square in the dick. He kept wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt because she was the mother of his children, because Josh hoped that maybe one day, she’d be well enough to be a part of their lives again. Not as his wife, but as the twin’s mother.

Rubbing his face, he let out a frustrated sigh. “Goddamn it, Sonja.”

“I’ve got feelers out, trying to figure out where she went,” Trevor said. “When I hear something, I’ll let you know.”

“She’ll come back here,” Josh said. “Sooner or later.”

He hoped she was clean when she did.

Trevor nodded. “Yeah.”

Fuck. Josh let out a sigh. No matter what, Sonja always found a way to complicate things.

“Hey,” Trevor said. “I’ll come over tonight. We’ll have a few beers, watch a game.”

Josh knew what he meant. Trevor would be there in case Sonja either showed up or called. Considering the circumstances, Josh didn’t think that was such a bad idea.

“Yeah. I’ll see if Sylvia and Carrie will keep the kids tonight. If Sonja does show up, I don’t want them there.”

“Good idea. I’ll pick up some brews. Meet you at your place around eight.”

“Thanks man.”

Trevor clapped him on the arm. “We’ll make it work, man. We always do.”