Chapter Nineteen

Jensen

I breathe in, and something tickles my nose as I shake my head side to side and open my eyes. Looking down, I see blond hair. My arm under me is asleep, my body stiff as the other arm hugs Hailey’s waist. I pull back a bit and see her sleeping with one hand under her cheek and the other around my waist.

Last night, we ate outside, telling each other stories about our childhood. She told me stories about her and Crystal and her brother, Blake. My stories always involved Gabe and Brody. I brought her to the hammock after we finished eating, and we lay there with each other, her head on my chest, and looked up at the stars. Not a word was said; it was just the two of us lost in our own world. When it got too cold, we walked inside. The time got later and later, but neither of us wanted the night to end. We lay on the couch as I put a movie on, but the last thing we did was watch the movie. We kissed each other senseless. The kisses never stopped as we drifted off to sleep, only to wake in the middle of the night with the need to touch each other, and then we drifted off again.

“You suck at pretending to be asleep,” I hear her say as I look down. She put her hands over her head and stretches as my hand brings her closer to me, and I roll on top of her.

“I wasn’t pretending; I was listening to you snore,” I tell her as I lean down and kiss her lips as she smiles. “I think you drooled on my shirt.” My nose rubs against her jaw, and she opens her legs for me to settle between them, my cock bursting to get out.

Her hands roam up my chest as she rubs my shoulders and groans. “I do not snore.”

“Oh baby, you snore.” I kiss her chin. “Softly.” I kiss her chin again softly, moving it along. “You also make this little noise,” I tell her as her legs wrap around mine, “almost like a moaning.” Her breath hitches as she swallows, and as I watch her neck move, I bend to kiss it, sucking in gently. “So you see.” I keep kissing her neck, moving up to her lips. “That is why I didn’t wake you.”

“Really?” she says as I look at her. “I tho—” She stops midsentence because a gasp fills the room, and I look over to see Norma standing in the middle of the room. “Oh, my god.” I hear Hailey whisper under me as she pushes me away from her, and I fly up off the couch, eyeing Norma.

“Norma.” My voice comes out harsh as I get up and try to shield Hailey even though we are both fully dressed. “What are you doing here?” I ask her as I drag my hand through my hair.

“I thought I would come by and see if Mila wanted to take a walk on the beach. I didn’t know you would be entertaining a guest.” The venom dripping from her tongue makes my body go tight, and I feel Hailey tense also.

“I should go,” she whispers from behind me as her hands leave my waist and she looks for her shoes.

“Maybe you should,” Norma says, and I snap as I see the shocked look on Hailey’s face.

“She isn’t leaving. You are.” I look at Norma, who looks shocked. “And from now on, you call before coming over.”

Her hands entwine as she holds them together. “Is this how you plan on raising my granddaughter, with a revolving door?”

“Yup, we are done here,” I yell. “You don’t get to tell me how to raise my daughter.” I stand there, pulling Hailey to my side. “No one does. That’s the joy of having her mother sign away all rights to her,” I say as Norma’s eyes go to slits.

“Julia could still change her mind.” She stands there as I put my hand up.

“I don’t give a shit if she changes her mind or not, Mila’s mine. Not hers. She has two other children she chose to raise.”

“I’m not going to discuss my daughter in front of a stranger,” she says.

“We aren’t discussing anything. From now on, you call before you come into my home,” I tell her, thinking I need to change the locks anyway.

She looks over at Hailey then back at me and then back at her again. “Don’t get too comfortable. My daughter will be back, and she will take her rightful place as his wife.”

“Ex,” Hailey says from beside me, “his ex-wife.” Norma doesn’t say anything, so Hailey holds my hand, and she squeezes it and smiles. “From what I heard, she threw him away along with her beautiful girl.” Norma nods, then turns and walks out of the house, slamming the door behind her. “I’m sorry, I had to say something.” She looks at me as I try to get my anger under check.

“You’re sorry?” I laugh sarcastically. “You’re sorry? Fuck, I’m the one who needs to be sorry for bringing that woman into your life.” She shakes her head. “She crossed so many lines by saying all those things. This conversation with her isn’t over; I can tell you that.”

“I’m not the other woman,” she says quietly from beside me. My body goes solid, and ice fills my blood, and I have a hatred stronger than when Julia left. I walk to her, grabbing her face.

“You are not the other woman,” I tell her as she nods her head and tears form in her eyes. “You will never be the other woman again. Ever.” Her tears fall on my hands, and they soak into my skin. “I promise you will never cry because of that bullshit again.” I kiss her cheeks where her tears just rolled off.

“Okay,” she whispers, her voice cracking as the perfect night got drowned out by the nastiness of this morning.

“I really want to forget this just happened, but I know we won’t.” I kiss her lips. “Last night was the best night I’ve had in a long, long time.”

“Me too,” she says as her hands go to my waist and she holds on to my belt. The doorbell fills the room as I put my head back and count to ten in my head. Brody walks into the room with Darla, but they stop in their tracks when they see us in the middle of the room.

“Well, fuck me,” Brody says as Darla just looks stunned, “we brought doughnuts.”

“What is wrong with everyone today?” I say under my breath as Hailey laughs. My hands drop from her face, and I stand next to her, not sure what to do, but she surprises me by linking our hands together.

“Holy shit,” Darla says still stuck at her spot, “we are so sorry.”

Brody looks at her as he puts the box down on the counter. “Why are we sorry? They aren’t naked. So.” He walks around and starts the coffee. Then the door opens again, and Gabe walks in, taking in the four of us.

“What the fuck? Is this a meeting?” he asks as he walks to the doughnut box, opening it up and taking one out. A knock on the back door has us all turning to find Crystal looking in. “Fuck,” I hear Gabe say as he bites again and swallows. Hailey walks over to the door, opening it.

“Seriously, you can’t go out without your phone. I was texting you all night,” she says as Gabe starts coughing with a fist in front of his mouth.

“You spent the night?” he asks as he continues to cough. “I need water,” he says as he opens the fridge and takes out a beer. “Why are you here?” He points at Crystal.

“I was making sure she was okay. Why are you here?” She folds her arms over her chest.

“This is my cousin’s house,” he says, and we all look from one to the other like it’s a tennis match.

“Well, my cousin went out for dinner, and it’s breakfast, so …” she says, tossing her hair behind her shoulder.

“So you thought you would cock block her?” He smirks. “Nice.”

“I wasn’t cock blocking her; I was making sure she was okay. Why are you here? Did your date wake up and notice what an asshole you were?”

“I told you, she wasn’t a fucking date.” He smashes the can of beer in his hand.

“Whatever. I couldn’t care less.” She rolls her eyes at him, and I look at my cousin and see he is about to throw that can and smash my wall.

“Okay,” I say as I clap my hands together. “Who wants breakfast?” I ask, looking around. “Darla?” I ask her as she looks like she is in another world.

“I’m sorry.” She blinks her eyes. “She spent the night?” She points at Hailey. “And Gabe wants Crystal?”

“I don’t want her,” Gabe says at the same time Crystal yells out, “Oh, he doesn’t want me,” and they glare at each other.

“I actually slept on the couch,” Hailey says, “and nothing happened.” I wrap my hand around her shoulder, and I bring her to me and kiss her head.

“Honey,” Darla says to Brody. “I think we need to go outside and walk back inside,” she whispers as he bends down to kiss her.

“I would love, love to eat something,” Crystal says as she walks into the kitchen and grabs a doughnut. “I can make the toast.” She chews on a piece of doughnut. “Hailey makes the best pancakes of life.”

“I can make pancakes,” she says as she wraps her hand around my waist.

“I can make the bacon,” Brody says.

“I can set the table,” Darla says

“That means you can leave.” Crystal looks at Gabe. “You might have another date waiting.” She smirks at him.

“I’m not leaving.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Me and you are going to have words later,” he says, and the way he speaks, I know I don’t want to be part of that conversation.

“I don’t have to speak to you before Monday,” she says as she turns to face him, “so I guess we can talk then.” He walks to her, and when she looks up at him, he bends over, picks her up, and throws her over his shoulder.

“Now.” He carries her into the backyard as she howls, but only gets two feet away.

“You asshole. You’re hurting me,” she yells, and he stops and puts her down. You could see the horror in his eyes.

“Where are you hurt?” he asks as he checks her out, and she slaps his hands away.

“You hurt my stomach,” she says as she tries to shoo him away.

“I didn’t mean to.” His voice going soft, he touches her stomach, and she lets him.

“Holy shit,” Darla says again. “It’s like aliens have invaded our city.” They look inside, and Crystal walks past him, breaking the moment.

“Are we going to eat or not?” she asks as she opens the fridge and takes out a water bottle. No one says anything as we watch Gabe look at the sky and say something under his breath. We all go into the kitchen and take our places to try to cook breakfast. The saying too many cooks in the kitchen is in fact the right one. With every turn, we were bumping into someone. We finally finished and all ate outside.

After we clean up, we’re all standing around the kitchen. Brody and Darla are the first to leave, kissing us all goodbye. Darla smirks at me the whole time. “You dirty dog, you,” she whispers in my ear.

“Let’s go,” Gabe tells Crystal as he gets up.

“No, thanks,” she tells him as she turns and walks out the back door, slamming it on the way.

“That fucking woman is going to be the death of me,” he says as he turns to walk out the front door, slamming it. I look at Hailey, and she looks at me, and then we hear the door open again and watch as Gabe runs through the house to the back where he slams the door while yelling Crystal’s name.

We both look at each other, shaking our heads. “Come on,” I tell her as I grab her hand and walk back to the couch. “I want to kiss you again.”

“Really?” she says. “Aren’t you sick of me yet?” she asks as I look at her.

“Not even close,” I tell her as I kiss her lips, and we fall onto the couch.

Two days later, I’m still replaying the weekend in my head. Her taste still on me as my cell phone rings, and I see it’s Jessica.

“Hey,” I say as I answer.

“Walker,” she says, whispering. “Norma is here, and I think you need to come home.” I get up from my desk as I walk to my truck.

“What’s going on?” I ask her as I hear rustling in the background.

“She showed up and tried to come in with her key, but it obviously didn’t work,” Jessica says as I start driving home. I had the locks changed the next day. “Anyway, she insisted she see Mila. I didn’t think anything of it till she took her to her room and …” She stops talking, and my blood turns cold. I think I see black, but all I know is that I couldn’t get home fast enough.

“And what, Jessica?” I yell.

“She didn’t know that the baby monitor was still on, so she just started asking her questions …” Jessica stops talking. “About you and Hailey.”

“Jessica, I’m there in two minutes. You do not let her leave. When I get there, I’m going to need you to take Mila for a walk, for ice cream, I don’t care, but I want her out of the house,”

I tell her as I disconnect the phone. Turning in the driveway, I run into the house and see Jessica in the kitchen, her face white as she has just seen a ghost and she points toward Mila’s room.

I walk into the room, stopping at the doorway as I see Norma and Mila sitting on the floor playing Barbies. “So if she comes…” Norma is talking as she looks up, but then she sees me in the doorway, and the blood rushes from her face.

“Hey,” I say as Mila looks up and jumps, running for me.

“Poppa.” I kiss her neck, putting her down.

“Say goodbye to Grandma Norma. Jessica is going to take you out for ice cream,” I tell her as she cheers and runs to go find Jessica. Shouting goodbye over her shoulder to her grandmother.

Norma gets up from the floor and stands in the middle of the room. I wait for the sound of the front door closing before I speak.

“What are you doing here?” I ask her, giving her a chance to see if she will tell me the truth.

“I came to speak to my granddaughter. I missed her,” she says.

“Soo, you didn’t try to use your key to get in, a key I told you not to use again?” I ask her as fury takes over.

“You weren’t really serious about that, were you?” She laughs.

“I was as serious,” I start. “I was as serious as when I told you that you would not get to see her if you didn’t abide by my rules.”

“Those rules were four years ago. What is this?” she starts asking.

“I have to say I really wish I didn’t have to do this.” Norma starts to say something, but I put my hand up. “I warned you, the minute I thought you were playing games with Mila, it would end. Your visits would end. It started when you kept Julia’s picture, with her twins, up on your fireplace mantle when she visited, and I told you to take it down. Then you come over here and ask her questions that are none of your business.”

“What goes on with my granddaughter is my business.”

“She isn’t your granddaughter,” I throw at her, and she gasps in shock that I would go there.

“It ends here. No more visits, no more nothing. You want to see her, call me and I’ll set it up that you are at the same restaurant as us. Other than that, until Mila is old enough to decide whether she wants to see you, that is how it’s going to work.”

“All this for her. You’ve known that woman for five minutes.”

“You don’t get to question me, but just to put your mind at ease I’ll tell you. Your daughter left me, shattering me, and day in and day out that shattered man healed, but then the hatred set in. I hate her, but not because she was a coward and just left me. No, I hate her for not loving her daughter enough to fight me for her. Every day, my daughter smiles at me, and I couldn’t imagine leaving her and just saying see you later. Especially for someone else.” I sigh and then smile. “She’s the first girl since Julia who makes me want more. She is the first one who I ever thought about dating; fuck, she is the first one I want to take that chance with. She is the first one who looked past the man who was left behind.”

“She is going to change her mind,” Norma says, “Julia is going to see reason.”

“I don’t fucking care if she changes her mind and comes crawling back on her hands and knees begging for forgiveness. I don’t want her. It’s been four years. It’s not going to happen. I will not let her near my daughter. Not now, not ever.”

“You can’t stop her.”

“Get out.” I shake my head. “Get out. I’m done here. This is over.” I turn to walk into the living room, and Norma follows me out.

“You’ll change your mind,” she says as she walks toward the door.

“Not a chance in hell because, you see, I have one job, and that job is to protect my daughter, even if it’s from you.”

She nods at me as she walks out the door, and I’m left to wonder if she finally gets it.