12

 

Shoulders shaking with amusement at the crazy redhead, Jarek jogged down the front steps. Looking up, humor fled.

“Can I help you?” he asked, tone hard and sarcastic.

The man looking over the 77’s tailgate didn’t even flinch. Jarek’s jaw clenched. Bloodshot eyes rolled up to meet his gaze as he neared the truck. The slack smirk wasn’t friendly.

“Looks like the little girl is keeping you busy.”

“I keep myself busy,” Jarek answered curtly.

“Is she around?”

“You must have the wrong house.”

“If you’re the guy that drives this truck, then I’m at the right place,” the older man said, running a hand along the top of the tailgate.

Jarek bit back a snarl. He had a pretty good idea who the asshole was and didn’t like the bastard’s hands on his truck any more than the thought of them on Cali.

“I don’t know who you’re looking for, but I’m not it. So, step off.”

“Or what?”

“Seriously? This isn’t the playground, pal,” Jarek said, shaking his head.

Circling the front of the truck, he dug his keys out of his jeans pocket. The man was a typical drunk, low on intelligence, high in belligerence. The easiest thing was to just walk away. He’d unload in the back.

“Where’s the little bitch at?”

Opening the truck door, he didn’t bother to answer. A moment later that was a moot point.

“Are you waiting for me to carry the heavy stuff?”

Cali’s teasing taunt cut across the front yard. She’d already hopped down the front steps by the time she spotted their visitor. The playfulness and joy drained from her face. Her slender body stiffened and her expression turned almost feral.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

The older man pushed off the tailgate and Jarek slammed the door. Moving back around the nose of the truck, he prepared to step in between them if necessary. 

“What is he doing here? Do you know him?” Cali demanded, her tone and body language angry and accusing.

“I don’t know the guy, but I’m guessing you do.”

She turned back to the other man, her chin rising a notch. “What do you want, Benny?”

“You and I need to talk.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

“We’re not done, little girl,” Benny said.

Jarek tensed at the threat in the older man’s tone, but Cali didn’t seem impressed.

“You’re right. I do have something to say to you. You’re an abusive drunk, a pedophile, a rapist, and a worthless piece of shit,” Cali hissed, actually taking a couple of steps toward her former foster father. “Now we’re done.”

A vein throbbed grotesquely in Benny’s forehead, his face flushing an unhealthy hue.

“Is that what you told your little case worker friend, Amy?”  

Jarek stepped in front of the livid man before he got any closer to Cali.

“You need to leave,” he said firmly.

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“Actually, it concerns me a lot that someone like you is walking free, and right now, you’re trespassing on my property.”

“She was my property long before yours, boy. Don’t let the little bitch fool you into thinking she’s got anything new,” Benny sneered.

Jarek’s fists clenched. “You’re a real piece of work. Get your ass off my lawn or I’m calling the cops.”

The other man’s sneer moved back to Cali.

“One of the problems in picking a guy you can lead around by the balls is that then they don’t have the balls to protect you.”

He punctuated his insult with a shove and Jarek retaliated slamming both palms in the middle of the older man’s chest sending him staggering back. The trunk of a sturdy oak stopped his backpedaling and kept him upright. Licking sloshed beer off the skin between his thumb and forefinger Benny chuckled.

“What do you know? The pussy does have a backbone.”

Jarek tossed his cell phone to Cali. “Call the cops.”

“Oh, I take it back. Maybe not. I’ve seen more fire from you, little girl.”

“You are not worth going to jail over, old man. I’m in the right here. I can just call the cops and laugh while they haul your ass away,” Jarek said with a nonchalant shrug.

Benny glared, his beady eyes boring into Jarek before darting to Cali. “Your little friend has been asking questions since you moved out. I thought you were smarter than this, that you knew how to keep your mouth shut. One more word and I’ll be back. Your guard puppy won’t always be here.”

“I’ll be ready,” Cali said, her lips pressed into a cold smile.

Benny flung his beer can. Cali side-stepped but didn’t retreat. Backing to the street, he turned with a mocking wave before climbing into his mini-van.

Nose wrinkled, Cali gingerly picked up the foaming beer can and emptied the remaining contents. Shaking her hand, she put the can on the porch and turned back to the truck.

“I’ll help you get this stuff upstairs since most of it goes up there and then we can set up the living room before you play grill master.”

He hesitated, but she was already dropping the tailgate. Obviously, she didn’t want to talk about it. Shutting his mouth, he reached over the side and plucked her hamper out and handed it over. He didn’t miss the way her fingers ran over the hand-painted moniker scrawled on the canvas. It was possible the asshole had happened down this street and recognized the gift, but his comments about the ’77 suggested it was more likely they’d been spotted at the Romano’s house.

Cali disappeared inside with her armload. Benny’s last words stuck in his head. He wasn’t always here to protect her. The thought worried him. Big girl or not, they needed to talk about it.

“Are you going to let me carry it all in?” she asked, coming back down the steps.

Jerked from his worries, Jarek slid his hands through the cardboard handles and hauled the new toilet out of the truck. She was right. This shit wasn’t going to carry itself in. They’d have time to talk while she pointed and he moved furniture around. Single or not, he still knew how that worked.

 

 

The sun was going down by the time they finished eating. Sitting on the small back deck, there was a cool evening breeze.

“It’s pretty out here,” Cali said softly. “How much of this will have to go for your new garage?”

“It’ll extend to the property line there and then leave just enough for a gate to the alley on the other side. I’ll lose about four feet of grass coming this way, but that’ll give me enough room for two cars and a work bench, plus the lawn mower, tools and stuff.”

“I love the greenery back here.”

Her voice held a wistful note. He looked at the hostas and shrubbery that lined the yard. The landscaping had been done by the previous owner and had escaped the vandalism that had marked the interior. He shrugged. There was no reason to tear it up.

“My thought is to keep the beds around the deck and sides, then seed everything but a walkway to the garage,” he said, then waved at the deck. “Then put padded bench seating around this when I add the railing and a roof to keep it cool and useable even in the rain.” He paused, looking around with a self-conscious smile. “I have a lot of dreams, but it takes time and money.”

“Add one of those fire pit things and it would be your own oasis.”

Nodding, he looked around. With the privacy fence on both sides and the setting sun, he could see her vision.

“We would have to vent the roof over the fire pit somehow, but I like the way you think. That would be sweet. Should I have put French doors in place of that window that looks into the dining room?”

“I don’t think so. The kitchen is just through the mudroom. That’s still convenient and the window won’t mess up the wrap around bench seating you were talking about.”

“Good point.”

Leaning back, lists of building materials and visions of the finished product ran through his mind. Time and know-how, he had, money would just take more time.

“I’m sorry about the asshole earlier,” Cali said softly.

He shrugged. “Not your fault.”

“My past, my shit.”

“We all have shit in our past that comes back to bite us in the ass. Sometimes it’s in our head. Sometimes it shows up in person.”

“I’d understand if you wanted me to go,” she said, shifting in her chair like she was preparing to leave now.

“I don’t,” he said firmly. “I’m not worried about your foster father.”

“You moved the truck back here, fixed the loose board and locked the gate.”

Jarek grimaced, glad the gloom hid some of his discomfort. “I’m possessive of my truck. It’s the first thing that I could say was mine. Call me crazy, but I got the feeling that Benny could tell I didn’t like him touching it.”

Cali was quiet for a moment. He saw her bite her lip. “I don’t think that’s crazy at all. He’s good at finding weaknesses and pushing buttons,” she said. “And I get what you mean about your truck. My laptop was the first thing that was really mine. The first thing that didn’t come from them. Something they couldn’t dangle over my head and tell me how grateful I should be.”

The swirl of her emotions slammed into him, breaking the dam on a flood of memories. Some good, others bad, most painful in one form or another. He shook his head, trying to chase them away. It didn’t work.  

“I know. Grateful, ungrateful, I don’t know how many times one or the other has been thrown at me. I got lucky with the Murphys, but still, sometimes, especially if I’d upset them, I’d look around and think that it was all by their grace. The bed I slept in, the food I ate, every last stitch of clothing, it was all theirs. I have nothing left that I came into the system with,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Not so much as a picture.”

“And now look at you.”

Her words were soft, impressed. It was embarrassing. He rubbed the back of his neck looking for the right words.

“I spent the first thirteen years of my life trying to survive, the next five trying to be worthy, and the last five busting my ass to make myself happy.” He grimaced. “Minus seven months of stupidity with Alyssa. But the point is, I know how you feel. Think about it. For the first time, it’s about you, Cali. The past isn’t going to disappear, and there’ll be times like today when it bites you in the ass, but the decisions are firmly in your hands for the first time.”

“How’d this become about me?”

“I just don’t want you to let Benny showing up here today mess with your head.” 

Cali slumped back in her chair. “There were times that I didn’t know if I’d make it out of there. The last year I counted down the months, weeks, days until I had my diploma and I was free. Call it naïve, but I never wanted to see him again,” she said in a choked whisper. “I wanted to walk away and never look back.”

“You didn’t look back.”

“He said we weren’t done. I’m never going through that again,” she said, her voice soft but resolute.

What did he say to that? The words she’d flung at Benny had erased any question of what type of abuse she’d suffered. His own nightmares be damned, he wasn’t a woman. He wouldn’t claim to understand what she’d been through.

“You’re safe here,” he offered awkwardly. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. You’ve been nothing but decent to me.” She tried to smile, but the result was sad. “I’m sorry you have to pay for him.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. “It’s like what you said about the Murphy’s having to deal with your food issues. You’re a nice guy, straight forward, funny, decent looking. You make good money and you have your shit together. Most women in my position would be all over you, but you get to deal with my issues,” she muttered into her knees.

“Some women in your shoes would look for a quick fix, someone to take care of them. You’re stronger than that.” Jarek rubbed the back of his neck again and took a deep breath. “The shit we go through shapes us, pretty or not. You and me, we share some of the uglier secrets. We might not know everything about each other, but we get it, and we can talk. Even if we never become more than friends, that’s healthy for us both.”

“You’re okay with us just being roommates?”

“I am,” Jarek said with a firm nod then remembering the simple compliments, he added, “You’re attractive, you make me laugh and I love your fire. If we become more down the road, great. If not, it’ll be fun watching you torment other guys.”

She gaped at him as he stood up and grabbed both of their plates.

“Was that a shot at my red hair?” she demanded.

Heading for the door he hid his smile. “Why is everything an argument with you? Can’t you just take a compliment?”

“Why would I want to torment other guys when I have you right here?” she yelled after him.

“Oh, lucky me,” Jarek called back with sing-song sarcasm and grinned.