Chapter Ten

Bryn

When Tory walked into the apartment, smiling, I knew she had found a job or a new man. I wasn’t sure which. With her, you never knew. She could have forgotten what she was supposed to be doing today and ended up at a bar somewhere.

“Well?” I asked, thankful Cullen was interested in the Superman show he was watching.

She beamed. “I got a job,” she replied.

Relieved but hesitant to be hopeful, I replied, “Great! Where?”

“Stonies.”

My brief moment of excitement was now slowly fading.

“But isn’t it only open at night?”

Stonies was a club where local bands played. It wasn’t a daytime operation. I knew this even though I had never been there.

She shrugged, as if that wasn’t an issue. “Yeah. Tips are great, and I’ll make nine dollars an hour. If I work two of the nights a week that you don’t work, then there is no problem.”

I worked weekends almost every week. This was The Shores, and I doubted Stonies made much money during the weeknights unless summer was in full swing. We were close to summer being here, so maybe that would be okay for the next few months. In September, we would see if it was still good.

The voice in my head was saying, If she still has this job in September , and as much as I should feel guilty for thinking it, I was justified.

“Okay, well, if that’s your plan. But I did talk to the lady at Signed Sips, and she’s hiring. That would be a daytime job.”

Tory yawned and sank down onto the sofa beside Cullen. “I don’t want to work at some coffee shop all day with a bunch of books in it.”

I didn’t argue with her that it was a better idea. Maybe it wasn’t. Now, we wouldn’t need to put Cullen in day care during the day. That was more money we would save, so it would be as if Tory were making more.

“And I’m surprised she spoke to you. If it was the owner, her boyfriend is Rio’s best friend. I would think she would’ve recognized your name,” Tory said.

“Henley Warren?” I asked.

“That’s the one.”

Stonies was definitely the better choice then. Once Henley realized who we were, there was no way she would hire Tory.

“What did you do today, kiddo?” Tory asked her son.

I took that moment to go outside and take a walk. They needed to spend time together, and I needed the quiet. Although things hadn’t been easy since we’d moved to The Shores, I was thankful Cullen was here. This was a place he could grow up safely. It was nothing like the home we’d left behind.

The roads were getting busier every day, leading up to the end of May, and more out-of-state license plates were appearing. The summer rush was on its way. I looked forward to being lost in the crowd when I went to buy groceries. Not worrying who might see me and know I was the girl who had beaten Rio March’s Jeep with a metal pole.

More than once, I had been ridiculed for it. A younger girl at the checkout counter refused to wait on me, and someone else had to. The owner of the pizza place that Cullen had always wanted to eat at told me we weren’t welcome there. The most difficult had been the candy store, which Cullen had dreamed of going into, turning us away when I could finally afford to treat Cullen to a trip inside.

Other than that, the town was okay. I was used to people not accepting us and disliking us on sight. Tory had always made enemies. We had left the last town we were in because of her affair with the Baptist minister. His wife stayed by his side, but Tory had been broadcasted as a harlot far and wide. The only day care we could afford for Cullen had told us not to bring him back because of Tory’s affair.

After that, we had packed up and left. As bad as beating Rio’s truck up had been, it was nothing compared to the ostracizing you got when you slept with the beloved minister in town. Not everyone knew or cared about Rio’s Jeep. Everyone loved Pastor Bart.

I didn’t stop walking until my feet touched the sand. I slipped off my sandals, then bent down to pick them up before walking closer to the water’s edge. The crashing waves were soothing, and for a moment, I could get lost in the sight and sound. Worries of what Tory had done to alienate us in The Shores forgotten. Thoughts of my going back to work and what I did for money no longer seemed important.

My past was gone, and the future that lay ahead was vast and full of opportunity. The ocean was healing, if only for that moment you stood before it. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes, and the sounds of the kids nearby, the music playing, the people talking all faded away. It was simply me and the crashing waves.

“Don’t go back to Signed Sips.” Rio’s deep voice interrupted my peaceful solitude.

My eyes flew open, and I turned my head to see him standing a few feet away from me. Glaring at me as if I were here to annoy him instead of the opposite. I was the one being annoyed. I glared back at him.

“If I w-w-want coffee or a p-p-pa-pastry, I will. Henley didn’t t-t-tell me I wasn’t welcome,” I shot back at him angrily.

Hadn’t he had us banned from enough places in town? Did he have to take away Cullen’s favorite new cupcake place too?

“Tory doesn’t need to work there. Henley needs good employees. Good people working for her. Not someone like your sister,” he said with a slight snarl of disgust.

If I wasn’t so mad about his interrupting my moment of peace, I might agree with him. Tory wasn’t the best employee, and I liked Henley too. She was very nice. But at the moment, I disliked Rio enough that I didn’t care about any of that.

“I don’t s-s-s-se-see how where T-T-T-Tory works is your b-business,” I replied.

His eyes flashed the hatred he felt for me, and a stupid lump formed in my throat at the sight of it. I wished I didn’t care. It would be easier if I could hate him too.

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t get the job. Don’t waste your time,” he warned.

I had no doubt he would do just that. The next time Cullen wanted a cupcake from there, I doubted I would be served. I would be turned away at the door, like the pizza place and candy shop. Sighing, I just nodded. My fight was gone. I didn’t want enemies here. I wanted to fit in and let Cullen grow up somewhere that accepted him. It was a constant struggle to give him everything his mother and I hadn’t had. There were days I felt like giving up and moving us once again. Possibly to Mobile, but then what about when men who frequented the club saw me out in town? I didn’t want to deal with that either. Cullen needed stability.

So, I didn’t respond to Rio’s threat. I believed him, and I knew he had that power. I nodded instead and fixed my gaze out on the water in front of me. I could almost pretend he wasn’t standing there and I was alone. Almost.

“It’s disappointing, you know,” he said then.

I didn’t look at him. I was afraid of what he would see in my eyes. “Wh-what is?” I asked.

“You,” he replied.

I winced, and my chest felt as if someone had slammed a heavy fist into it with one hard swing. Later, I would pride myself on standing there and not breaking down. I would be impressed with my strength and the way I’d handled it. Right now though, I wasn’t sure I could take my next breath. My throat was too tight, the pain inside too intense.

I knew the moment he walked away. I could feel him leave, and I was relieved he had said nothing more. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to stand here without crumpling if he had continued on. I had survived nightmares that most would never know, and I had come out stronger. I hadn’t let life take me down.

The boy I had once adored was gone. Once I got that through my head, I would be able to face Rio’s hatred and not feel anything. Until then, I would suffer. How could someone who had been through the depths of hell and come out on the other side still be affected by something as simple as words?

Rio March was my weakness, and I couldn’t afford a weakness in this life. Life wasn’t on my side. I had been fighting against it since birth.