Chapter Fourteen
The next week, Anna was loading the dishwasher when Louie walked into the kitchen.
“I know what we should name him,” he said. He held up a baseball glove that had fallen victim to puppy teeth. “Chewy.” The dog nipped at his ankles and yipped.
“Where did he get that?” Anna asked.
Her son shrugged. “I don’t know. He had it in his mouth when I found him.” Tears welled in the corner of his eyes.
Anna grabbed the glove and her heart sank. In the corner, it was signed. She couldn’t make out the signature, but she was sure it was part of Clark’s collection. She didn’t want to think about how much it was going to cost her to replace it. If that was even possible.
She tensed automatically. Clark was going to be furious. Even though he was an easygoing guy, surely, he had a breaking point.
“How did the puppy get into Clark’s office?”
Louie looked at the floor. “I had to go to the bathroom, and he followed me inside.”
“You weren’t watching him?”
More tears welled up in her son’s eyes. “No. I was in a hurry.”
Anna sighed. “We’ll have to find a way to pay for this.”
The old money worries slammed into her, making her feel like she couldn’t breathe. Since she’d moved into the cabin, she hadn’t worried about the grocery bill or the electricity. She’d been able to relax, but now, with the ruined glove in her hand, she remembered the nauseating worry that came with trying to make ends meet as a single mom.
“I’m so sorry, Mama.”
Her heart broke for Louie, but there had to be a consequence. “No playing with Chewy inside. Not until he’s a little older. When he’s inside, he needs to be in his crate. You know the rule.”
Louie nodded. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.
“Sorry for what, buddy?” Clark asked. He’d been outside mowing. His clothes were dirty and he smelled like freshly cut grass. She fought the urge to brush a blade of dried grass off his cheek.
Louie looked at Anna, then at Clark, then back at Anna. “Chewy ate your glove.” His voice was small and shaky.
Anna handed him the remains of the mitt and braced herself for his reaction. “I’ll pay for it.”
With George, she’d learned to offer a solution quickly. Sometimes it worked.
“Chewy, huh? Sounds like you found the perfect name.” Clark took the glove in his hand, looked it over, and bent to address Louie. “He wasn’t in his crate?”
The boy nodded. “I’m very sorry.” Tears ran down his cheeks and his lip quivered.
Clark ruffled his hair. “You know the rules, bud.”
“Chewy can’t play inside until he’s potty-trained.”
Clark nodded. “That’s right. He’s just a puppy, and we need to make sure he understands what we expect of him before we give him too much freedom.”
“You can ground me if you want,” Louie said. “It was my fault.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary. I think you understand what you did wrong.”
Anna breathed a sigh of relief. Clark didn’t seem angry at all, just firm. While she wanted to teach Louie to be responsible and keep his word, she could tell by the look on his face he’d learned his lesson. Louie was crushed. Clark had picked up on that, too, and it made him all the more wonderful.
“Thanks, Clark. I’ll make it right,” Louie said.
Her son sounded so much like Clark. Knowing this was a short-term arrangement, it should have concerned Anna, but it didn’t. Finally, Louie was spending time around a man who was teaching him the right things. Even though the marriage was only temporary, maybe some of the lessons would stick with Louie forever.
Clark rose and smiled. “No need. Can I tell you guys a secret?”
Louie looked up at them and Anna, not realizing what she was doing, leaned closer to Clark. They both nodded.
“I never really liked this glove.”
Anna arched an eyebrow. “It’s not a collectible? I thought the signature—”
“It’s collectible, all right. For Braves fans. It’s a Chipper Jones glove.”
“And you hate the Braves,” she said.
“With a passion,” Clark said.
The three of them broke into laughter. It felt so good to take a rotten situation, one with the potential for real tension, and turn it into a teachable moment for Louie and a family laugh.
Just what she’d always wanted.
Anyone who saw this moment would assume they were a family, and a happy one at that. Why couldn’t Anna have picked someone like Clark to be Louie’s father?
“How did you get the glove?” Louie asked, breaking her train of thought.
“My best friend, Jake, is a die-hard Braves fan, and lost it to me in a game of poker. I was planning on giving it back to him. But I wanted him to suffer the loss a little while first.”
“Poker?” Louie asked.
“A card game. I’ll explain it to you when you’re a little older.” Clark turned the glove over in his hands and ran a finger along the soft leather. “After the accident, I wanted to give it back to him, but I felt weird about it, like he might think I was returning it out of pity.”
“Jake will want it back eventually. It’ll cost you quite a bit to replace it.”
Clark shook his head. “Not that much. I can get one on eBay when the time is right.”
How could he be so chill? If George had been on the gnawed end of a baseball mitt—whether it was signed or not—he’d have raged and swore and he didn’t even like baseball. He would’ve made sure Louie felt like the worst kid in the world. He would’ve used it to break the kid down. Clark had used it to build the child up.
“I’m going to put Chewy in his crate now,” Louie said. He picked the dog up and kissed him on the head. Chewy responded with nibbles and licks. “He probably needs a rest.”
“Thanks,” she said to Clark. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was the only word she could find. “I appreciate the way you handled that.”
He shrugged. “He’s just a kid. Things happen. It’s no big deal.” He moved closer to her and placed his hands on either side of her waist. “I know a really good way you could show your thanks,” he whispered against her lips.
Her body reacted to him instantly. “Who are you and what have you done with Clark?” Anna teased. “Clark would be itching to fix the ruined glove.”
He raised one eyebrow and gave her a roguish grin. “I’m not Clark.” He lowered his voice just enough to make every cell in her body turn to mush. “I’m Redhawk, and I have the tattoo to prove it.”
“Maybe you’ll show it to me later.”
“Gotta make sure I can trust you first.”
“What do I have to do to prove myself?”
He cupped her ass and pulled her closer. His erection pressed against her, and it made her wet with anticipation. She wanted him. Badly. He smelled like fresh-cut grass and man. A dangerous combination that sent her need for him off the charts.
“Kiss me,” she said. She hadn’t meant to say it. His lips were just so close.
It wasn’t a soft kiss. It was demanding. All consuming. She placed her palms on his chest and grabbed his shirt.
He pulled away. “That’s a start, but to really prove yourself, meet me in the bedroom at half past eight. Stark naked. I’m going to need to search you.”
“Oh my,” she said in an exaggerated accent. Anna batted her eyelashes. “That sounds serious.”
“Seriously fun,” Clark said.
…
Anna’s feet and legs ached. The only thing she wanted was a soak in the hot tub and a few chapters of the romance she was reading. While she’d cut back on her hours to spend more time with Louie, she was keeping her best accounts. She didn’t know what was going to happen after they moved back to Florida Street, but she didn’t want to be without a source of income.
When she pulled into the driveway, Clark and Louie were in the front yard. Tools were spread out on a tarp and a stack of wood was placed off to the side.
“What in the world are y’all doing?” she asked.
Both boys looked up with huge smiles. Anna sighed. That probably meant they were up to no good.
“We’re building Chewy a house,” Clark said.
Louie ran toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “He’s going to love it! We’re painting it to look like Redhawk’s lair!”
Clark held up a stencil. The Redhawk logo had been painstakingly cut out of the plastic sheet with an X-Acto knife. It had obviously taken a lot of work and patience.
Something she’d never have been able to do for her son. Something George would never do. He’d think it was stupid, a waste of time. The smile on Louie’s face told her it was anything but a waste.
She raised an eyebrow and looked at Clark. “Looks complicated.”
“Not for Clark,” Louie said. “He can do anything, and he lets me help.” He ran over and hugged Clark’s leg. “He’s the best!”
Anna’s heart sank. Her son was becoming very attached to her husband. Her fake husband, she reminded herself. If she was being honest, she was getting a little too attached to him herself.
This wasn’t for keeps.
She hadn’t planned on liking him so much. The chemistry was nice and the sex was beyond amazing, but it was more than that. At first, she’d convinced herself that it was only physical, but it had morphed into an emotional connection.
This wasn’t her house, her husband, or her life, and she wasn’t at all sure how she felt about that.
Maybe a good soak would help her sort it all out.
“Have fun, boys. I’m heading to the hot tub.”
Even though the temperature was above seventy degrees, the hot tub was still her favorite feature in the cabin. It relaxed her like nothing else. The small fiberglass tub in her house had nothing on this setup.
The water in the tub was perfect, but no matter how hard she tried to relax, she couldn’t. She’d had no idea Clark and Louie would bond so quickly, so closely. Louie was finally getting everything he’d ever wanted in a father. Baseball, a puppy, time doing fun boy stuff that most moms, including Anna, knew nothing about.
It was going to kill him when they moved back to their rental house. Even though she’d told him it was a short-term adventure, Louie had little concept of time, and jerking him away from Clark was going to be awful no matter when she did it.
Anna wasn’t going to take it so well herself. The sex was way hot. She’d never been with a man who took his time, made sure she had her fill of pleasure, too. The only other man she’d been with was George, and he was a one-trick pony whose entire act rarely took longer than thirty seconds. Unless he’d had a whole case of beer, in which case he might last sixty seconds.
She leaned back onto the side of the hot tub and let the jets work at the tension in her lower back. Neither she nor Clark was looking for love. That was the deal. Marriage in name only. But the heat between them was clouding her brain, muddying the water.
What the hell am I going to do?
No amount of soaking was going to solve this problem.
…
A few weeks later, Anna had just finished grocery shopping. She was looking forward to quiet weekend at the cabin with her husband and son. She was stuffing the last of her haul into the trunk of her car when something blocked the sun.
George. Who else?
It was more than a little creepy he’d shown up here. She knew better than to think he’d run into her at random. He could’ve just called and set up a meeting, but that wasn’t his way. Respect and consideration were much less fun than bullying and intimidation.
Her car was far from the building, and there was no one nearby.
“What are you doing here?” She willed her voice to remain firm and steady. Even though they’d been divorced for years, the fear was still there, especially when they were alone. If Clark were here, she’d feel much safer.
“We need to talk,” George said.
“You could’ve called or texted to set something up.”
“I was just driving by, and I saw your car.”
Yeah, right.
She placed one hand on her hip. “Talk.”
“I’m sick of the shitstorm your husband is throwing my way.”
Anna wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You know exactly what he’s up to. Hell, you probably planned it. Set me up and stuck him with the bill.”
She leaned against her car and crossed her arms. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” This wasn’t the first time George had accused her of something she knew nothing about. “You’re just making shit up again.”
He stepped closer. Her heart sped up and her senses heightened. Nothing good happened when George was too close to her. She needed to choose fight or flight in a hurry. “Your husband is making my life a living hell, and I want it to stop.”
“What’s he doing? Sure you’re not imagining it?”
He moved to grab her wrist but he thought better of it and stepped back. “I’m not imagining shit. He’s making my life miserable.”
“How?” she demanded. It all sounded ridiculous.
George smiled sardonically and shook his head. “Last weekend, I was leaving Jack of Hearts, headed home after a few beers with the boys. I wasn’t even out of downtown before a Franklyn cop pulled me over. Nearly got a DUI. Luckily, I knew the cop and talked him out of it.”
“How is that Clark’s fault?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. He called them. Told them I was leaving the bar,” George said. “Wanted me to get a DUI so you could keep Louie.”
Anna laughed. “I think you’re a little paranoid. You had a few too many and left the bar. You were probably weaving in the lane or something.”
“I’m not paranoid. Ever since you married him, shit like that is happening. It never happened before.”
“Maybe your luck’s run out.”
“It’s not luck, Anna. My family owns this goddamn town. I can do what I want, when I want. I don’t need your husband fucking with me.”
“So tell him. I have nothing to do with it.”
George ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “It’s not just the traffic stop.”
“What else?”
“Someone called the cops because my party got a little noisy last weekend.”
Anna narrowed her eyes. “But you had Louie last weekend.”
He shrugged. “It was bogus. I had a few friends over after I put him to bed. We had a few beers, listened to some music. Nothing serious.”
George was never going to grow up. In fact, he was less mature now than ever. It was as if he was aging backward.
“Did you get a citation?” While he lived outside of town, there were several houses near his. She wondered how Clark could’ve known about the party. It seemed far-fetched, but then again, Clark’s reach was pretty wide.
“Just a warning. But it was embarrassing. And totally uncalled for.”
Anna didn’t believe that. She’d seen enough of George’s friends and their parties in the short time she was married to him to know they had no concept of a mellow gathering.
“You shouldn’t have parties when you have Louie for the weekend.”
“Don’t give me a lecture. Don’t tell me shit.”
“So you think Clark is trying to get you in trouble?”
“I know he is.”
No one had ever cared enough about her to work behind the scenes on her behalf.
Not my parents. Certainly not George.
Her heart squeezed. Clark, despite his tendency to help where help wasn’t needed, was one of the good guys. He’d kept his word, fought to ensure she retained custody of Louie, and done his best to keep her safe. Even when she wasn’t aware of it. For the first time, she wasn’t alone.
“How much do you really know about him?” George demanded.
“Plenty.”
“I don’t think you do.” He leaned against the car and exhaled. “Bet you didn’t know he still has reckless endangerment charges hanging over his head.”
Anna had asked Clark about the accident several times after the night they’d had a steak dinner on the porch, but he was still reluctant to talk about it. Clark had led her to believe there were no pending charges, but what if he was lying? She couldn’t let George see her sweat. “That’s ludicrous. He made a bad decision and drove when he shouldn’t have.”
George shrugged. “Believe what you want, but the bottom line is he got into an argument with his best friend and nearly killed him. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do the same thing with Louie in the car?”
“He would never do that.” She’d never even seen Clark get angry, but both Taylor and George mentioned the argument in the car that contributed to the accident. She worried that he had a hot temper and she just didn’t know about it. She’d been prepared for it when Chewy destroyed that baseball glove, but Clark had stayed calm and never raised his voice.
Is there a side to Clark I’ve never seen?
“He’s high-handed, and now he’s trying to put the squeeze on me.” George reached into the back pocket of his jeans and handed her a tattered envelope. “Read this.”
Anna placed the letter on the hood of the car and smoothed out the folds. Clark’s office stationary. She ran her finger over the raised lettering. Authentic. She quickly skimmed the contents.
In very plain yet firm wording, it spelled out the stakes. Clark knew George was embezzling money from his father’s company. If he ever tried to take Louie away from her again, Clark would bypass George Sr. and take the evidence straight to the court.
“Skimming off the top? Your daddy would be some kind of pissed if he found out. What the hell were you thinking?”
“It’ll all be mine someday, anyway. I was just borrowing it.”
“It’s stealing. Plain and simple. You threw acres and acres of mud at me, mostly over things I couldn’t control, and you’re dipping into the company honey jar.”
“I’m George Bishop Junior. I can do whatever the hell I want. You should know that by now.”
“If you’re that confident, call Clark’s bluff.”
George shook his head. “Not worth the trouble.” Anna turned to go, but George grabbed her arm. At first, his grip was tight, but he quickly loosened it when she glared at him. “His best friend is in a wheelchair because of him, and he’s got a private investigator following me. What makes you think he’ll be on the level with you?”
“He’s always been on the level,” she said. Anna ignored the tickle of doubt forming deep inside the pit of her stomach. Clark may get involved where he shouldn’t, but he’d never been dishonest. She wanted to believe he’d just forgotten to tell her about the private investigator, that it was just still too difficult to discuss the accident, but maybe it wasn’t so innocent. “You’re the one who might be in a whole heap of trouble, and this time it might not be so easy to get out of.”
It felt good to have someone on her side, fighting for her and Louie. She’d been alone in her corner without any support. Every worry, every concern was hers alone. And now her husband, her fake husband, had her back. She and Louie finally had a champion.
On the other hand, she didn’t like the way he felt his money gave him carte blanche to insert himself into other people’s lives. Anna was also pissed that he hadn’t told her about the pending charges, charges that might have an effect on her ability to keep her son. She was conflicted and unsure how to reconcile her feelings.
“Get the PI off my back, and I’ll drop the custody motion,” George said. There was something Anna had never seen before in George’s eyes. Fear. “I’ll work things out with my dad. I don’t need Clark snooping in my business anymore. But there’s a catch, I want the PI off my ass immediately.”
Anna didn’t know what to say.
“Think about it tonight.” George turned to go, but just before he got into his car, he said, “If he ever steps out of line, harasses me, follows me, anything like that, I’ll refile the motion and have Louie full-time faster than you can say boo.”
Her ex-husband was never going to stop making her life an exercise in fear and anxiety. Even though he’d been caught doing something illegal, he was still trying to press his advantage. “I can’t make any promises. He’s a grown man, free to do what he wants.”
“Give him a little. You’re good at that.”
White-hot rage filled her. She was tired of George treating her like she was nothing more than a lay. “Fuck you, George.”
“Call off your husband.”
“I’ll think about it.”
On the way to the cabin, she tried to sort out her feelings. While she’d love to see George forced to explain his sticky fingers to his father, the most important thing was making sure Louie stayed with her. If he dropped the custody motion, she and her son could move back to Florida Street and go back to their old life.
Except her old life wasn’t as appealing as it once was.
Anna felt a little cheated that the arrangement might be ending earlier than expected.
With a lighter work schedule, she was able to spend more time with Louie, and she was closer to him than she’d ever been. It was also nice to have another adult around the house who helped out with Louie and the million other things it took to keep a household running smoothly. The idea of having a man in the house was beginning to grow on her.
Clark was beginning to grow on her.
In the beginning, she’d tried to convince herself that the attraction was purely physical, but it wasn’t. It was a spiritual and emotional connection, too. She was so confused she didn’t know where to start sorting her feelings.
Even if she was falling for Clark, Louie came first.
If she agreed to George’s terms, she kept primary custody of Louie. But if she told George to fuck off and took her chances with the judge, she might get to keep her son and she might not. It was a blind bet.
Agreeing to George’s terms was the sure bet and she loved Louie more than anything in the world.
It was the classic catch-22.
When she got back to the cabin, Louie and George were in a heated game of UNO. “I brought dinner,” she said, placing a pizza box on the counter. “Pepperoni.”
“Yay!” Louie tossed his cards on the table and ran into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around her legs. “You’re the best mom in the world.”
Anna kissed him on the head. “In that case, you can watch TV while you eat.”
She handed him a paper plate, and he ran into the living room and clicked on the Disney Channel.
“Want to eat on the porch?” she asked Clark.
“I’ll grab a couple of Diet Cokes.”
After they each finished a couple of slices, Anna said, “Thanks for getting George off my ass.”
Clark reached over and took her hand in his. “I promised you I’d find a way for you to keep custody of Louie.”
“I wish you’d told me about hiring an investigator. It would’ve been nice to talk about it before you hired him. It would’ve also been nice to know you still had charges from the accident hanging over your head.”
“I told you. There’s nothing in my past that will affect custody of Louie.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the investigator?”
“It was my responsibility to handle.”
“I want to know about any and all charges that were filed in regards to the accident.”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I don’t like to talk about the accident.”
She’d been determined to stay calm and discuss things rationally, but his stonewalling was pissing her off. “I don’t give a shit whether you like it or not. Those charges could affect Louie and me. The judge will know about them, and it might change his ruling.”
His gaze met hers, and she saw the pain in his eyes. “The charges were dropped nearly a year ago.”
Son of a bitch. George had brought that up just to jerk her chain. Now she felt like a huge jerk for not trusting Clark when he’d been nothing but honest. “I should’ve trusted that you would never do anything to hurt us.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“George promised he’d drop the custody motion if you called off the PI immediately.”
Clark took a sip of his drink and looked out the screen and into the yard. “Is that what you want me to do?”
“Keeping Louie is the most important thing.”
“Do you think George will keep his word?”
“He’s lied to me so many times, but in this case, I think he’ll keep his word because it means saving his own ass.”
“I only have a preliminary report from the investigator. If I fire him now, we may never know the full extent of George’s sticky fingers.”
Anna thought about it for a second. “What if he doesn’t drop the motion?”
Clark shrugged. “All of this could be for naught.”
She’d never been so confused, felt so pulled into two totally different directions. “But if I wait to see what else the PI digs up, I might lose my son.”
“Since the day of Louie’s birthday party, I’ve kept my word. You have to decide if you’re going to trust me or George.”
As much as she wanted to stay here with Clark, she had to take the surest bet. Louie was the most important thing in her life and she had to protect him first. “Call off the investigator.”
It was one of the most difficult decisions she’d ever made, and she’d probably be second-guessing herself for months, but in the end, she took the sure bet.
“Your wish is my command. But I’m going to miss the two of you.” He kissed her softly on the lips, and she could taste the sadness.
Anna kissed him back, savoring the emotional connection between them. Clark placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her closer. He deepened the kiss, and her heart began to race. Scared Louie might come out onto the porch at any moment, she pulled back. “I’ll never be able to thank you for everything you’ve done to help me.”
“You can try,” he said with a sad smile.