Ellie
“I swear, he was like something out of a movie.” Sandy sighed softly as she remembered the way Parker protected me outside the diner.
“Yeah, he was something, all right. I only wish he never had to do it.”
She nodded, sagely. “But that Connor, he’s asking for it. You know? What else was Parker supposed to do? He wants to keep you safe and away from that creep.”
“I know. Still, it worries me.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that Connor would come back for revenge somehow. “I mean, you didn’t hear the way he threatened Parker and me when he drove away.”
“Oh, threats. That’s all he is, a bunch of empty threats. Don’t even let him get to you, honey. It’ll be okay.” She nodded like all I needed to hear was her reassurance and everything would be okay. I wished she understood a little better. I wished somebody did. I wanted to be as sure as she was, but she hadn’t lived with the man. She didn’t know the way he thought, the twisted way he had of turning everything around to make it my fault. I hated that I lived in fear of him the way I did. I hated knowing him so well.
“Come on,” Sandy said, smacking my butt. “Get your head in the game. I need you out there.” She nodded toward the dozen or so tables waiting for food during the lunch rush.
“Aye, aye, captain.” Work would take my mind off things. It always did. While I never exactly liked a rush—I preferred a nice, steady stream of customers rather than dozens at once—it would at least give me something else to think about. I remembered playing a game when I was a kid where the object was to keep a diner’s customers happy at all times. It started out slow—take their order, get their food, give them their check, clean up their table. One table, two tables. Soon, there would be a rush at the door and dirty tables everywhere and lots of angry customers who wanted their food. And to think, I ended up doing that very job in real life. I was better in real life than I was in the game, that was for sure.
I tried not to look outside at the spot where Parker had punched Connor. The spot where Connor had terrorized me. I saw a motorcycle, with a burly man I vaguely recognized as one of Parker’s friends sitting astride it. Oh great. He sent me a security guard. I didn’t know whether to be angry or flattered. Or relieved. Maybe a mixture of the three. I hated that he thought he had to keep tabs on me, but didn’t hate that somebody cared enough. And I had the feeling the sight of a man on a bike would be enough to keep Connor away if he were crazy enough to consider stopping by.
“See that?” I nodded toward the window, and Sandy grinned.
“Well, I feel much safer now,” she said with a wink. I never thought she would feel unsafe, but I could see the possibility. Connor could easily have hurt her the night before.
“I’m sorry, Sandy. You don’t feel like he would hurt you, do you? God, why did I never think about that?”
“Because you were too busy heaping blame on yourself for all sorts of other things. Don’t worry about it. I think we’re all a little shaky right now, but it will blow over—especially since you got the restraining order.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” I only hoped he chose to honor it, but I wouldn’t say that out loud. I didn’t want to worry Sandy more than I already had.
The rush went by in a flash, leaving me with much less to do between the hours of two and five. Only a trickle of customers came in during those odd, in-between hours. I waved to my knight in dirty armor, asking him if he was hungry. “Come on. I’ll treat you to a late lunch,” I called. He came in moments later. Yes, I recognized him. Tall, burly, auburn hair with a mustache and overgrown goatee. His patch said Hook.
“Thanks for the offer,” he said, sitting at the counter. “I wondered if lunch was included, but I didn’t wanna say anything.”
“I appreciate that.” I smirked.
“I was here last night, too, but Parker told me to leave before you did.”
I frowned, pouring him a soda from the dispenser. “What do you mean, he told you to leave?”
“He didn’t want you to know I was there.”
“Oh, I see.” It was all clear. He didn’t want me to be angry. I wished Hook had stuck around after all. I had the feeling Parker would have wished the same thing, no matter how much fun it was to break Connor’s nose.
I handed him a menu. “Anything you want, on me,” I said. “It’s the least I can do, seeing as how you already gave up so much time to keep an eye on me.”
He grinned, a scar visible when he did. It extended from the corner of his mouth to just beneath his nostril. The mustache covered it most of the time. I wondered at the violent life those men led, and what it would mean to someone like me who thought she might be falling for one of them.
“Oh, so we’re letting the criminal element lunch here, now?” Sandy wasn’t serious, as the smirk on her face told me. She was actually flirting with him, and I saw from the way he smiled that he appreciated it. I decided to let her take care of him, reminding her that I would pick up the tab. I gave them some space, choosing to focus on side work while I waited for new customers.
It was slow, tedious work, which gave me plenty of chances to think. I thought about that first night, when the club came in to eat. Fate had stepped in that night, I was certain. Otherwise, where would I be? Connor would have still come in, and he might have hurt me if Parker hadn’t saved me. He might have hurt me the night before if Parker hadn’t stepped in again. I might have gone crazy sitting in that apartment with my daughter, unable to leave for fear of my ex-husband. I wouldn’t have slept a wink, afraid to relax in case Connor showed up. Over and over, Parker had protected me.
But was that enough? Once the excitement died down, would it be enough to keep him around? Did we have enough to common to make a good match? Love took a lot more than just a show of protection. It wasn’t enough for Parker to beat the crap out of anybody who got in my way—though it was helpful. I smiled to myself, a little smug, knowing he would go that far to help me.
But I couldn’t keep smiling when I thought of the future. Did we have one? I didn’t know. I didn’t even know if he wanted to have one with me, or if he would scare off as soon as things got too real. Once we settled into the boring everyday stuff of real life. I remembered the story he’d told about his fiancée, too. How much pain did he still carry because of that? How much of that would I have to suffer for, though I’d never known the girl?
Hook must have noticed the way I stood there, staring at the counter instead of working. “Hey. You okay?”
I looked up, trying to smile. “Sure. Just thinking. Nothing important.”
He scowled. “You’re as shitty a liar as Parker is. You’re a perfect match.” He took a bite of a big, juicy burger, the juice dripping down his goatee.
I looked away, nauseated. “Yes, well, that’s one thing we have in common, then.” I brushed it off, trying to ignore him. He wasn’t anything like Parker. More like the stereotypical biker, the one “nice” people crossed the street to avoid. Parker might have looked like one, but he at least had manners. Even if he burped loudly after eating.
I waited for Hook to finish his meal, then cleared his plate. “Thanks,” he said, standing and stretching. The t-shirt he wore beneath his leather kutte was a bit too small, revealing a strip of white belly. I tried to hide my laughter, and the slight disgust I still felt. He was a piece of work, for sure.
“I’ll go back outside now,” he said, ambling to the door. “Let me know if you need me.”
“Thanks. I will.” He might have been a pig, but he was an obliging pig. I appreciated his time, even if all he had to do was sit on the back of a bike all day.
# # #
As I walked out of the diner, I waved at Hook. He pulled up to my car, and I rolled down the window for him.
“Everything cool?” he asked.
“Yes, thanks. Just going to my mom’s now to pick up my daughter.”
He nodded. “You want an escort?”
I was tempted to accept, but then I pictured the horror that would cross my mother’s face if she saw Hook out front. Parker was bad enough. Hook was another thing entirely. “Thanks, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Okay.” He shrugged with a grin. “See ya later, then.”
“Thanks again!” I waved, and he waved back as he pulled away. Maybe they weren’t all bad. Maybe Parker wasn’t the exception to the rule. No man so intent on protecting a woman could be bad.
I was still smiling to myself as I pulled up in front of Mom’s. I wondered how many of Parker’s friends I would meet. Maybe all of them if we stayed together.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the house was the quiet. It was completely silent. No TV, no anything. I thought Mom might have turned off the TV to give herself peace and quiet while Isabella napped, but it was way too late in the day for that. It was almost dinnertime. They would have been in the kitchen, fixing something to eat while the news played on the little TV on the counter.
“Mom?” Nothing. I walked through the little walled-off entryway between the front door and the living room, where coats hung along the wall. “Mom? Where are you?”
When I got to the living room, I found my mother on the floor with blood running down her face.
“Mom! Isabella?” I ran through the house, panicked. No sound. Nothing. “Oh God, baby! Where are you?” I ran upstairs, searched every room. I looked under beds, in closets. “Please, baby, if you’re here, tell Mama! Please!” Nothing. She was gone.
I fled downstairs, falling to my knees beside my mother’s body. She was so still, so silent.
With shaking hands, I dialed Parker’s number. “Pick up, pick up, pick up,” I whispered, wiping the blood from my mother’s face.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Hurry! Please! Please, come!”
“What is it?” I could hardly hear Parker’s voice, my screams overpowering him. “Ellie! Stop screaming. What is it? Where are you?”
“He took Isabella! He hurt my mother, oh my God, I think she’s dead!” I screamed and screamed, unable to stop. Terror poured from me.
“Where are you?”
“Her house!” I gave him the address, and he told me he’d be there right away. I dropped the phone to the floor, holding my mother’s face in my hands.
“It’ll be okay, Mommy. It’ll be okay.” I couldn’t think straight. It never occurred to me to call an ambulance. I could only think about Isabella. Where was Isabella? Would I ever see her again? How could I have been so foolish as to leave them alone? I didn’t even know how long ago he’d come for her! He could have had hours of a head start on me, and I would never know where he went. Ever. I would never see my daughter again. I let out a loud, heartbroken sob. I would never see my baby again.