Chapter Fourteen
Alan
Some dude old enough to be her father sat in the driver’s seat. Jessica opened the passenger door with a polite smile.
“Hi, Mr. Roberts. Thanks again for coming to get us.” She stepped to the side and said, “This is my boss, Lainey Beaumont. And Alan...”
She turned to me when she realized she didn’t know my last name.
“Callahan,” I supplied.
The man ignored Jess and Lainey and addressed me.
“You work here?”
I realized the bakery shirt must have given him that impression and decided not to correct him.
I chuckled. “I help out when I’m in town.”
Lainey spoke up. “His brother is the newest hire on the Haven Springs police force. Alan came to visit him.”
I could tell he had more questions, but Jessica said, “Just let me install Ruthie’s car seat and I’ll be ready to go… it should only take a minute.”
“No problem, Jess. And I told you, call me Kevin.”
No, Kev. She should keep calling you Mr. Roberts.
Jessica opened the rear passenger door and held her hand out for Lainey to give her the diaper bag, which she then deposited on the floor.
I relinquished the car seat next and stepped back. As Jess maneuvered the safety belt through the back of the baby’s seat, I watched ol’ Kevin’s eyes fixate on Jessica’s tits, and my ire went through the roof.
Sticking my body inside the passenger’s seat so I could block the old guy’s view, I asked her, “Do you need any help?”
She blew her hair out of her face as she looked over at me.
“Nope, I almost got it.”
A few clicks later she gave a victorious smile. “All done!”
As much as I didn’t want to, I begrudgingly stepped out of the car to let her replace me in the front seat.
With a “Thanks, guys. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she closed the door and put her seat belt on.
As the car backed out of the spot, I had an overwhelming desire to follow them to make sure Kev didn’t try to make a pit stop. It’d be easy enough to do; Brian’s Silverado was parked two spots down, and the keys were in my pocket.
As if reading my mind, Lainey encircled my arm with both hands and whispered, “She told me she’d text me the minute she got home. Relax.”
That was easier said than done.
****
Jessica
I nervously tapped my fingers in my lap and looked out the window as we drove out of town. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of any small-talk topics to fill the quiet car.
Finally, he spoke.
“Your parents invited me to dinner again tomorrow night. What do you think you’ll make?”
I’m sorry, what?
“I have to work tomorrow, so I’m sure Mama will be the one cooking.”
“Maybe your boss will let you go home early.”
So I can cook you stupid dinner?!
“Well, considering it’ll only be my second day, I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking.”
His mouth turned down, and I swear if he hadn’t been driving, he would have stomped his foot and crossed his arms like a petulant child.
“Surely your boss has to know your priorities are still at home. If she doesn’t, then you need to reconsider working there.”
Is he for real?
He had a lot of nerve butting into my business like that.
I wanted to point out that cooking dinner—especially when my mother was normally the one to cook—wasn’t a real priority for me or my family.
Still, because I was a good girl, and Mr. Roberts was an elder, I murmured, “I’m sure Mama wants to cook.”
“I’ll talk to your dad about rescheduling for when you’re off work.”
What?! Why?!
Of course I didn’t say that, just dutifully replied, “I’m off on Saturday.”
“And Sunday, too, I assume.”
The Bradbury’s had never really observed that Commandment since the mine didn’t care about keeping the Sabbath holy, and as Papa liked to say, “Jesus understood”.
And because the church liked the money Papa’s job afforded him for tithing, the elders somehow managed to overlook that sin.
My experience with Jon and the school had opened my eyes to a lot of things they were willing to overlook if it suited them.
“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “I don’t think Lainey has made next week’s schedule yet.”
“You need to tell her you’re not allowed to work on Sundays.”
Says who?
Why did Mr. Roberts think he was entitled to an opinion on my work schedule, or what I was “allowed” to do? I got that the elders thought my and Ruthie’s souls were in jeopardy, but this was too much—even for them.
We pulled into my drive, and I unfastened my seatbelt. The second he put the car in park, I opened my door and hopped out, closing it as gently as I could so not to wake Ruthie.
As I undid the baby’s car seat, I told him again, “Thank you again for picking us up. I’m able to get a ride the rest of the week.”
“With who?”
None of your business!
“One of the girls who works at the bakery. She wasn’t working today, that’s why I needed a ride.”
It almost scared me how easily that lie flowed off my tongue. But I didn’t owe him an explanation, so I didn’t feel bad about it as I headed inside.
****
Alan
“He was staring at her boobs!” I groused as I stabbed the beautifully prepared steak my brother had made for dinner.
“Is that what you were so upset about?” Lainey asked from across the dining-room table in Adam’s rental. It was right next door to Brian’s place, where I was staying.
“Yes! Like, what the hell—he’s some friend of her parents from church and he’s leering at her.”
Adam grinned. “I don’t know… Lain said you were doing some leering of your own.”
“That’s different!” I snapped.
He laughed out loud when he asked, “Why’s that?”
“Yeah,” Lainey chimed in with a shit-eating grin. “Why’s that, Mr. ‘I’m-not-going-to-do-anything-that-makes-her-uncomfortable’?”
I felt my eyes go wide, and I dropped my fork with a clatter.
“Do you think I made her uncomfortable?”
Aw, hell. That was the last thing I wanted to do.
Lainey shook her head. “No, I’m just teasing you. I think she thought you were just being nice. Like I’m sure she thought Kevin was being.”
I glowered at her.
“Bullshit. Even I could tell she didn’t want to get in the car with him.”
“Okay, yeah. And I’m not gonna lie, I would have insisted you go look for her if she hadn’t texted within ten minutes after leaving to tell me she’d made it home.”
“Exactly. I’m kind of offended you even put me in the same category as that dude.”
“That’s fair. But you did say you weren’t going to ask her out, yet I’m pretty sure if you’d been the one to take her home, that wouldn’t have been the case.”
“Lainey,” I replied with a smirk as I examined the piece of steak on my fork like it was a work of art. “Unlike some of the other males in this town”—I shot my brother a look to make my point—“if I’m interested in a woman, I’m going to go after her.”
She set her silverware down and leaned back in her chair with a deadpan expression, unimpressed with my theatrics.
“I’m going on the record right now I think that’s a mistake.
Of all the women in this town to go slow with, it’s her.
” She picked up her fork and loaded it up with a bite, pausing to add, “And I swear to god, if she quits because of you—you’ll be the one in my kitchen baking cinnamon rolls. Got it?”
That wasn’t going to happen.
I wasn’t some clown who didn’t know how to read people. While officially I was a homebuilder, and a damn successful one at that, off the record, I was a military contractor doing counterintelligence for the government.
I considered it my penance. Survivor’s guilt of not one, but two, attacks overseas lived rent-free in my heart. I’d made it home when my fellow Marines—and close friends—didn’t while we were protecting our country. I owed it to their memory to continue our mission, even if it wasn’t in uniform.
And, I wasn’t a saint—it helped that the pay was outstanding.
Very few people knew that I still worked for the government.
Except, Lainey knew; it’s how I helped save her life. She should cut me some slack.
If Jessica wasn’t interested, I’d back the fuck off.
“Got it.”