Chapter 2
Makenna
“Mommy! Mommy! The truck’s here!”
Ana went running to the front door before she ripped it open.
“Ana, what have I told you about not opening the door by yourself?” I asked.
“But no one knocked on the door,” she said.
“You don’t open it by yourself at all,” I said.
“Sorry.”
“Okay. You wanna help me with the boxes?” I asked.
“Yeah! I wanna decorate my room.”
I was thankful for the men that drove the moving truck all the way from Texas to here. Getting away from my ex was something I had wanted to do for years. The men pulled the van up into my new driveway and smiled at me, then they began helping me lug things into the house.
I picked up a box from the back and took it upstairs. I had everything labeled where I wanted it to go. My bedroom. Ana’s bedroom. The kitchen. The living room. Decorations for hallways. Stuff like that. I didn’t realize how much stuff I actually owned until I started packing it up one day, which was what made me look into a house instead of an apartment.
I found a rental house I could afford on my budget, so I jumped at the chance.
The guys were hauling furniture into the house and I was directing them where to go. I had an idea of how I wanted to lay things out. It was why I had come in a couple of days early. I had been sleeping on the floor while Ana was on an air mattress, but seeing the layout of the house gave me time to envision what it would look like after. I wouldn’t be able to easily move around furniture once the movers were gone, so I wanted them to be able to set it down in the right place the first time around.
Ana kept running in with bags of stuff from the back of the truck. I tried to make sure she wasn’t underneath any of the guys hauling furniture, but it was hard to keep track of her. She was running around with her red hair bouncing around her shoulders and her arms flailing like she was running away from a monster.
My daughter had the funniest run I’d ever seen.
The movers brought in the last of the big furniture and I told them where to set it. A few more boxes and I would be completely unpacked from that damn truck. I went out to the back and grabbed another box, hauling it off the truck.
Then, I heard a rumbling sound coming up the road.
I set the box down and wiped at the perspiration on my forehead. I saw a man on a motorcycle with a leather vest on his back and black aviators on his face. Oh. He must’ve thought he was hot shit. Were there men like that all around Northern California?
Because that shit was going to get old fast.
“Mommy? What’s that?” Ana asked.
“That’s a motorcycle. They’re very dangerous, sweetie. Make sure to stay away from them,” I said.
“It’s a bicycle?” Ana asked.
“No,” I said as I watched the man pull in next door. “It’s so much more than that.”
The man parked his bike in the driveway as his garage door opened. I studied him, watching as he turned his head towards me. I picked my daughter up into my arms so she wouldn’t go running off to who was apparently our new neighbor. But when he stood up and took his sunglasses off, I felt the breath flee from my lungs.
His amber eyes were piercing. Dark. Brooding. But with a hint of kindness to them. He was tall in stature and his legs stood strong. His jeans clung to his rounded ass and his shirt was soaked with sweat. I could see the outline of his chiseled abs underneath the fabric and the way he grinned at me made fire rush to my toes.
I turned my back to him and I drew in a deep breath.
“You okay, Mommy?” Ana asked.
“Just a little tired,” I said.
He was sexy. No, more than that. He was fucking gorgeous. But I couldn’t get wrapped up in something like that. My neighbor? Was I insane? I didn’t have any time for fun. I had a daughter to raise and jobs to interview for and a life to restart.
I couldn’t go around having a slice of fun simply because I was single for the first time in four years.
“Ma’am?”
I turned around at the sound of the mover’s voice.
“Yes?” I asked.
“All the boxes and the furniture are inside. You need anything else?” he asked.
“Oh, wow. Um… no, then. Thank you very much for your help.”
I slid a couple of twenties out of my back pocket and handed it over to the man. He took it proudly and nodded his thanks, then I watched him and his buddy climb up into the moving van. I stood there while Ana waved them off, then the two of us turned back to the house.
And I was painfully aware of the fact that my neighbor was staring at me.
Without turning to look at him, I started back into the house. I opened up the back door and let Ana run out into her new backyard. She had a few play toys back there that would keep her occupied, and I could watch her from the kitchen while I unpacked everything.
Her laughter was intoxicating, and it reassured me that I had done the right thing.
My ex was a piece of shit. I’d caught him cheating with one of my co-workers. Right there in the fucking back room of the building. I worked as a warehouse manager and was always back and forth between the front desks of the operation and the products out back. Despite the fact that the job wasn’t glamorous, it was a very good paycheck and had outstanding health benefits. I was thankful that my prior boss put in a good word for me, because I already had three interviews set up.
And I was pretty sure one of them was already a given.
As I stacked things in the kitchen, I watched Ana slide down her little plastic slide. She was giggling and having the best time and it made my heart soar. I’d already planned ahead and gotten her enrolled into school. She started at the beginning of the week and I hoped she would enjoy it. The people around here seemed nice enough. The secretary of the Elementary School she would be starting at helped me out by faxing everything over so I could get it back to her immediately.
They had been a massive help through this entire process and it reassured me I’d chosen a good spot for us to touch down.
The moment I figured out my ex was cheating on me, I threw him out. Then I packed up my shit and left. Luckily, he wasn’t Ana’s father. So, I didn’t have to worry about him coming after her or anything. Ana’s father was a good man. We’d gotten pregnant my senior year of high school and he had enlisted into the military in order to provide for us. He went through basic and moved us onto base with him, and we quickly fell into a good life together.
But before Ana was even six months old, an accident out in the field took him from us. Leaving me as a single mother at nineteen years old.
That was how I’d gotten into the warehouse business. It was the only place that would hire someone like me with nothing more than a high school diploma. My ex was my boss, and he saw potential in me. We grew close and he suggested all these certifications for me to get, and then I was promoted. I kept getting promoted, inching my way towards success. And he cheered me on every step of the way. Loved me and supported me and enjoyed his time with Ana.
Until I had been promoted over him as the overall manager of the entire warehouse.
That was when our relationship took a turn for the worst. He got angry with me easier and didn’t come around as much. He stopped spending time with Ana and she would constantly ask about him. We had more fights in the last year of our relationship than we’d had throughout the course of it, and it wasn’t until I caught him cheating with one of the line workers that I realized what had happened.
He resented me for the success he pushed me towards.
I decided I didn’t need that kind of negativity in my life, so I left. The few things he did have at my place were put in boxes and left on his doorstep. I told my immediate boss what was going on and she did everything in her power to try and convince me to stay. But when she knew it was fruitless, she put out a few feelers in Redding.
She still didn’t know why I wanted to be all the way out there, but she finally became supportive of it.
Redding had a massive warehouse that employed more than half the town. It sat on the outskirts of the town and had an opening for the exact position I was looking for. That was the job I was hoping to get. More money than I was getting paid in Texas, better health benefits, and a 401(k) with company matching up to four percent.
I was really hoping to nail that interview.
Ana was getting grass stains all over her dress as I emptied the last of the contents for my kitchen. It wasn’t much. Enough for Ana and myself. But it was what I had and I was proud of it. I moved into the living room and threw open the curtains so I could continue peering into the fenced-in backyard, but a knock at the front door drew my attention.
Who was at my door?
I walked over and threw the door open before my heart stopped. There he was, with his white t-shirt pulling against his athletic frame and his strong shoulders. My eyes grazed up his body, clocking every single piece of strength he had sitting underneath his tight jeans. There was a vein throbbing against his neck that I wanted to lick. I could feel my breasts rising to peaks behind my bra.
I looked up into his amber brown eyes as a small grin crossed his cheeks.
“This box yours?”
I stuck my head out into the porch and saw the massive cardboard thing sitting there.
“Yes. Yikes. Thank you,” I said.
I went to step out of the house, but his hand landed on my shoulder to stop me. His touch was hot. White hot. It sent electricity shooting down my spine and weakened my knees. I looked up at him as he withdrew his hand, then he bent down and picked up the box in his hands.
His arms flexed with their strength as veins began to bulge from his forearms.
“Where do you want it?” he asked.