Chapter 27

Sierra

WALKING INTO THE KITCHEN, I pulled a bottled water out of the refrigerator and took a drink. I’d spent most of the afternoon cleaning. The only thing left in the house was my bedroom set Kacey was coming to pick up with her husband. Heading back into my bedroom, I began taking the drawers out of the dressers. Glancing at the clock I saw it was three. Kacey would be here in an hour. I wonder if she could come sooner? Sitting on the bed, I sent Kacey a text message.

Me: Hey. If y’all want to come over early feel free. I’ve got everything out of the house.

Kacey: Our truck won’t start. Running to get a new battery and then we will head that way.

The front door alarm beeped saying it had opened. Jumping up, I glanced over to the alarm box. Shit. I swore I set the alarm.

I began walking out of my room when I called out, “Aaron?” Walking into the kitchen, I set my cell phone down on the counter and made my way into the living room. Letting out a scream, I came to a stop as I came face to face with Robert standing in the middle of my living room. He smiled an evil smile as he tilted his head and looked at me.

“I’m home, baby.”

Swallowing hard, I tried to stay calm as I turned and headed to my bedroom. “Robert, you need to get the hell out of my house now, or I’m calling the cops!”

Glancing over my shoulder, he just stood there smiling. The moment I stepped into my bedroom, I shut the door and locked it. Running over to the alarm box, I hit the silent panic button.

Turning around, I stared at my bedroom door. “Sierra, tell me what I hear is not true. You’re getting married so soon after our divorce? You fucking slut! You belong to me, don’t you know that, Sierra.”

Covering my mouth with my hands, I closed my eyes tightly. My cell phone began to ring, causing me to snap my eyes open. Fuck! I left it in the kitchen. It had to be the alarm company.

“Is that your lawyer calling, Sierra? How long were you fucking him? The whole time? Maybe before he took your case for his daddy. Is that why Mr. Walker’s son took your case, Sierra? Because you were fucking him, you damn whore!”

Jumping when Robert yelled out, I fought to contain my sobs. Shaking my head, I dropped my arms to my side and took in a deep breath. No. I will not let him do this to me again.

The doorknob to the bedroom began to wiggle. “You locked me out, baby? That hurts, Sierra. That really hurts. Open this damn door or I’ll kick it in.”

Quickly running to the closet, I looked at the small safe I had sitting there. For some reason I decided to keep it and walk out of the house with it last. Dropping to the floor, I started spinning the combination.

Robert began banging on the door. “Open the fucking door, you bitch!”

My hands were shaking so bad, I kept messing up the combination. One more number to go.

The door to the bedroom busted open as I screamed. The next thing I knew, Robert had grabbed a hold of my ponytail and pulled me backwards and dragged me out of the closet.

“Robert! Stop this! Please stop, this is not you!”

Reaching down, he picked me up and grabbed a hold of my arms as he began to shake me. “This isn’t me. You drove me to this, Sierra! Do you know that? I only fucked those other women because I wanted it rough. I like to fuck in the ass, Sierra and I would never do that to you. You were my perfect angel. So beautiful and untouched.”

Tears began to slide down my face as I looked into the eyes of a man I once loved. “Why are you doing this? You didn’t want me, Robert! You just said so.”

Dropping his hands from my arms, Robert took a few steps back as he looked at me with a look of horror on his face. “W-what?”

Swallowing hard, I fought to keep my tears from falling. My heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest as I struggled to get air into my lungs. “What do you mean I didn’t want you?”

Taking a step away from him, I said, “You cheated multiple times on me, Robert. You don’t go looking for something somewhere else. That’s something you don’t do to someone you love and want. You don’t treat them like a piece of trash.”

Pulling his head back he repeated my words. “Treat them like a piece of trash? Is that what I did to you, Sierra? Treat you like trash? I gave you a nice home, took you on trips. I adored you.”

His words cut through my heart like a knife. “You adored me?” Letting out a laugh, I shook my head. “You didn’t fucking adore me! You fucked my best friend in that nice home I helped pay for, you dickhead!”

Robert balled his fists together and took a few steps toward me. “Why do you have to make me angry, Sierra? Do you know how many times I had to stop myself from getting rough with you during sex? I wanted to fuck you so hard you’d feel me for hours after I dumped my load into you. I couldn’t do that to perfection though, so I had to go looking for them. They had to be blonde like you. Blue eyes were a must so that when I was fucking them, I could pretend I was with you.”

Looking away, I felt sick to my stomach with the way he was talking to me. “Look at me, Sierra! I don’t want to hurt you. I love you. I wanted you, Sierra. They were all just fillers.”

Backing up, I bumped into the bed and had to stop. “Robert, you don’t love me.”

Closing his eyes, he yelled out, “I love you! Fucking don’t tell me how I feel.” Quickly walking up to me, Robert grabbed my face with his hands and looked down at my lips.

Air. I can’t get in any air.

My whole body shook in fear as he squeezed my face. “You’re. Hurting. Me,” I whispered.

Moving his lips to my ear, Robert spoke softly. “Tell me you love me, Sierra.”

Closing my eyes, I felt my tears fall. “I don’t love you, Robert.”

“Open your fucking eyes and look at me, Sierra.”

Doing as he said, I quickly looked in my closet. “Do I need to remind you of the love we had for each other?”

A sob escaped my lips as I whispered, “No.”

Aaron. Oh God. I need you, Aaron.

Before I knew what was happening, Robert forced me onto the bed and began unbuttoning my shorts as I kicked and punched at him.

“No! Stop this now, Robert, or I swear to God I’ll kill you!” I screamed out. My cell phone began ringing again, but this time it was Aaron’s ringtone. Where in the hell were the cops? I didn’t answer my cell when the alarm company called, so they should have called the cops.

Robert was working hard at getting my shorts off but I fought him back with all my might. Damn it! I was starting to get tired and Robert had managed to pin my left arm above my head.

“Sierra! Stop fighting me. Let me remind you what we had together.”

Closing my eyes, I fought as hard as I could. “Get the hell off of me, you sick fucker!” I screamed as I punched with my free hand and fiercely kicked with my legs. Then he was gone. Opening my eyes, I quickly sat up and covered my mouth as I watched Aaron push Robert against the wall. “You fucking piece of shit. Keep your hands off of her!”

Scrambling up and off the bed, I ran to the closet. Glancing over my shoulder, Aaron punched Robert and then Robert punched Aaron. Screaming, I turned and finished the combination. A loud crash caused me to scream and look over my shoulder. Oh God! Robert has pushed Aaron and he feel into one of the end tables next to my bed. Robert began kicking Aaron as I screamed out, “Aaron! Robert, stop this!”

Hearing sirens off in the distance, I opened the safe and pulled out my pistol and quickly stood back up. Aaron had Robert pinned against the wall as he kept punching him. Aaron punched him hard across his left cheek; it caused Robert to fall down and pass out. Aaron stood over him and pulled out his cell phone as I walked up to Robert. He was passed out and lying on the floor.

“Dad, I made it in time. They’re almost here,” Aaron said from behind me.

Looking down at my ex-husband, my body shuddered as I thought of what he had almost done to me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and slowly pointed the gun at him. Opening my eyes, I let out the breath I had been holding and tried to steady my shaking hands.

Aaron walked up next to me and softly began to talk. “Sierra, baby, I need you to give me the gun.”

“He tried to rape me,” I said as my voice cracked.

Aaron softly touched my arm. I felt his love rush through my body, and I knew I was okay. Everything was going to be okay because Aaron saved me. He’d kept his promise and kept Robert from hurting me. Turning to Aaron, I let my tears fall freely again. “He tried . . . but you came . . . Aaron you came.” Dropping my hands, Aaron quickly took the gun from my hand and pulled me into his arms as the police came rushing into my house.

Burying my face in Aaron’s chest, I tried to block everything out. Robert had begun to wake up as the police rushed into the bedroom. Attempting to stand up, Robert started moaning. The police quickly began handcuffing Robert as he started yelling out, “Sierra! You belong to me! Only me!”

The police led Robert out of the house as he kept shouting over and over how I belonged to him.

Once Robert was out of the house, Aaron poured me a glass of water as he kept his arm wrapped around my waist. Brice walked into the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief as he looked between Aaron and me. “He will sit in jail for a very long time, sweetheart.”

Smiling weakly, I attempted to talk but nothing came out.

Brice gave Aaron a look that told me he wanted to talk to Aaron alone.

Kate walked in, and I immediately felt tears build in my eyes. Quickly making my way over to her, she wrapped me up in her arms as she spoke softly to me.

“Shh, he won’t ever touch you again, darling girl. Aaron and Brice will make sure of it.”

Leading me away from the kitchen and outside, I let myself relax into Kate’s arms. These last few months she had become the mother I longed for since my own mother passed away. Her fight and win with cancer showed me how strong she was, and I strived to be half the woman she was.

Walking me to her car, I stopped and turned to her. “I don’t like feeling this way, Kate. He made me feel weak. He took something from me, and I’m not sure how to react to that.”

Giving me a smile that caused my heart to melt, Kate placed her hand on the side of my face. “Baby girl, he didn’t take a damn thing from you. You fought him off and you kept him away. He may have scared you and made you feel vulnerable, but he didn’t take anything away from you.”

My lower lip quivered as I said, “What if Aaron hadn’t showed up?”

Shaking her head. “There is no what if’s in life. Everything happens for a reason on a set course. What if I had never gotten cancer? What if you had never met my son? What if you had never caught Robert cheating? We could play that game all day long. What is in front of us, Sierra, is that you held off a man who wanted to hurt you. You did it until someone came to help. You were strong enough to fight him and he didn’t get to take that away from you. That is what we focus on. Nothing else.”

The woman standing before me was beyond amazing. In the short amount of time I had known her, she had changed me. Kate was strong, yet admitted her weaknesses. She was caring, yet no one pushed her around. She wasn’t afraid to take a chance, but always proceeded with caution. Come Saturday, I would become her daughter-in-law, and she would become the mother I had longed for.

Nodding my head, I smiled at Kate. “Thank you, Kate. Thank you for being the mother-figure I hadn’t realized I had longed for all these years. I’m honored to be your future daughter-in-law.”

Pressing her lips together in an attempt not to cry, Kate looked away for a moment before turning back to me. “Oh, Sierra, my darling girl.” Kate’s voice faltered as she blinked her eyes rapidly, causing me to do the same. “I’m the one who is honored to be gaining another daughter. Aaron has no idea how lucky he is.”

Trying to find my voice, I wiped a tear from my cheek. “Oh, Kate, I’m the one who is lucky. Besides my father, I’ve never had anyone love me like your son. My life without him would be nothing.”

Glancing up, I saw Aaron and Brice walking out. Aaron’s eyes caught mine and his smile instantly calmed my crazy heartbeat. Shaking his father’s hand, Aaron made his way over to me. Kissing his mother on the cheek, he turned to me. “They just need a statement and then we are good to go.” Looking at his mother, who was now leaning into Brice as he wrapped his arms around her, Aaron said, “Mom, is it okay if we push dinner off and do breakfast tomorrow?”

Waving her hand, Kate said, “We are good to go. Everything is set and ready to go for Saturday. I want you and Sierra to just spend some time together. Don’t worry about a thing.”

My heart felt as if it was going to explode, I was so blessed with Kate and Brice. I couldn’t even imagine Aaron and his father being at odds with as close as they had become the last few months.

“Kate, are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to stick you with everything.”

Giving me a big grin Kate said, “Oh please, I’m loving this. Now, Aaron, you take Sierra, and Brice will make sure everything here at the house is secure.”

Turning to leave with Brice, I remembered Kacey. “Kacey! She’s coming to get the furniture.”

Aaron wrapped his arm around my waist and led me to his truck. “I already took care of it. They’re coming tomorrow morning. Em and her boyfriend, Zach, are going to meet them here.”

Feeling utterly exhausted all of a sudden, I stepped into Aaron’s truck. Turning to him, I asked, “Can we just go home? I want to forget this day ever happened, and the only way I can is to be snuggled on the sofa and in your arms.”

Something in Aaron’s eyes changed as he looked at me. I’d never seen him look so happy and yet so sad. Lifting his hand up, he placed it on the side of my face and it felt as if my whole body warmed with that one touch. “I think that sounds like the perfect way to spend the rest of the day.”

Pulling my head back, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Um . . . yeah no. We snuggle for a bit and then you’re taking me out to dinner and then somewhere for an adventure. I want to end this day together . . . laughing and being . . . us.”

Aaron’s face lit up. “Holy shit! I have the perfect place!” Kissing me quickly on my lips, Aaron shut his door, fist pumped and then dialed someone on his cell phone as he slowly walked around the front of his truck. Looking back at me, he started laughing.

Shaking my head, I whispered, “Oh, holy hell. What does he have planned?”