26. Harmony
CHAPTER 26
Harmony
“W yatt, we have to go,” I say when I walk back downstairs after taking a shower, expecting him to still be in the kitchen eating the fresh fruit I cut before I escaped quickly. I stop in my tracks when I see the kitchen empty. The stool’s pushed in, and he’s nowhere to be seen. Even his fruit bowl isn’t left on the counter. I see something in the yard and see Wyatt in the backyard with Brady, who throws him the ball and he catches it.
Last night when Brady came home from work, he found Wyatt and me on the couch, where he made it a point to sit down and talk to Wyatt about his day. I sat there, not sure what to say, especially when Wyatt got up to go to bed, high-fiving Brady before just walking to the bedroom he was staying in. I got up to follow him, and Brady grabbed my hand, pulling me back down so he could kiss me. It was a soft, sweet kiss, and it made my knees weak and my stomach flutter. He was also waiting for me when I walked out of Wyatt’s room, not saying a word as he took me to his bedroom and kept me there for the rest of the night. I woke up snuggled against his naked body, and it took everything I had in me to leave him. But I did, and again, he was there downstairs to carry my stuff to the truck, kissing me before I left. When I got back, he was already showered and ready to make breakfast. He made sure if Wyatt was in the room, there was no touching or kissing. He pushed me up the stairs to shower, and now I am standing in his kitchen, watching him toss a ball with my son.
I push open the storm door. “We’ve got to get going,” I call out, and Wyatt turns to run to the side of the house. “Where are you going?”
“The truck, I already put my bag in there,” he explains over his shoulder. “Brady told me to.”
I look back at Brady, who is coming straight for me, stopping on the step in front of me to kiss my neck. “I like that you smell of me,” he says, sniffing my neck. “I just wish I was the one who lathered you up.” He walks to the door. “Go to the truck. I’ll meet you in the front.” He swats my ass, stopping and turning. “Do we have time when we get back before you meet Ryleigh?”
“I don’t think so. I have to go to Mr. Mendelson’s house and grab my things,” I tell him, but I really want to come back home and get naked with Brady. Not to say we didn’t get naked last night, but it’s not as fun when I have to muffle my face or when he has to bury his in my neck to stop from groaning out loud.
“Tonight, after work, we’ll get creative.” He winks at me, and I try not to blush, but I do anyway before I quickly walk away from him toward the truck. He gets there at the same time, closing the door behind him.
“I can drive him by myself,” I tell him, and he just looks me up and down, not answering. Instead, he walks over to the driver’s side and gets into the truck.
“You coming?” he asks when he starts the truck and rolls down the passenger side window.
“Of course I’m coming,” I mumble, climbing into the truck. Drop-off is about the same as it was yesterday. Lots of eyes looking our way as the three of us walk to the fence, with Brady ruffling Wyatt’s hair and telling him to have a good day. He waits beside me with his hands in his back pockets until Wyatt is safely in the school. A few of the moms spot him and say hello. I notice a couple of them look at him with a look I definitely know, and I don’t have to know why they are looking at him like that. It makes me look down nervously, wondering how long ago they were in his bed.
When we get into the truck, he reaches his hand over and grabs mine to hold his. I’m almost tempted to ask him about it, but it’s none of my business. I have to remind myself of that constantly. “You okay?” he asks as we pull out of the parking lot, and he makes his way over to Mr. Mendelson’s house.
“I’m fine,” I lie to him. Well, sort of. “I’m just nervous for the meeting today.”
“It’ll be okay.” He brings my hand to his lips, and all I can do is nod at him.
I’m expecting Mr. Mendelson to be having his coffee on his porch, but the front door is closed, and he’s nowhere to be seen. “I’ll be right back.” I look over at Brady, who nods at me as I get out of the truck and walk up the steps to ring the doorbell. I listen for his footsteps, and they come a couple of minutes later. The minute he opens the door, I see him in his robe, with his nose red and coughing up a storm. “Oh my goodness, Mr. Mendelson,” I say as he puts his hand to his mouth. “How long have you been like this?”
“It’s just a cold.” He pushes my hands away when I go to reach for him. “I’ll be fine tonight to watch Wyatt.”
“You will not,” I immediately snap at him. “You will get back in bed, and I’ll go home and make you soup as soon as I’m done with the lawyer.”
“Stop fretting over me,” he huffs as he turns and walks back to the kitchen. “I said I was fine.”
“You are not fine.” I want to argue with him, but I don’t want to make Ryleigh wait for me. “I need the envelope I gave you,” I tell him, and he nods at me, walking out of the kitchen and toward the back of the house. He comes back with the big manila envelope and hands it to me. “You sure about this lawyer?” he asks. “Once they see that, they can’t go back.”
“I trust her,” I admit, “or else I wouldn’t show her this.” I take the envelope from him and hold it to my chest. “Now get back in bed.”
“Get out of my house,” he jokes with me but starts coughing, “and call me and tell me how things went.”
“Will do,” I reply, walking out of the house and closing the door behind me before walking back to the truck.
“What’s wrong?” Brady asks me as soon as I get into the cab of the truck.
“I can’t work tonight,” I state. I know this will cost me money, which I can’t afford right now, but with no one to watch Wyatt, there is nothing I can do. “Mr. Mendelson is sick.”
“No worries,” he says without skipping a beat. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow, and if he’s not better, I can ask my dad to come over and sit with him.”
“Brady, I’m not going to have your father coming out to sit with my son so I can go to work. I don’t even know him.”
“Please,” he responds, pulling away from the house, “he’ll love every second of this. He needs to keep busy.” He looks at me. “You’ll be doing him a favor. Besides, how else is he supposed to ask you for more baked goods?”
“Brady,” I chide him, and he looks at the envelope before asking me.
“Do I want to know what’s in there?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“Are you going to stay there when Ryleigh comes?” I ask, and he looks at me.
“The question is, do you want me there?” he asks, and I do for more reasons than one, but reasons I don’t want to admit.
“I think since you are in this, you should know it all, so let’s wait for Ryleigh,” I suggest. He parks the car and looks over at me.
“Are you saying that because you think I won’t cause a scene in front of anyone?” His statement is filled with venom. “Because you obviously don’t know me.”
The statement sends a shiver up my spine and also makes me feel just a touch sad since I don’t know him even though it feels like I do. I know he is a good man. I know he’s thrown down with my ex for no reason, except he knew it was wrong. I know my son sleeps better knowing he’s under his roof, and to me, that is everything. “I know what I need to know.”
He’s about to say something else when we hear the sound of a car approaching. “Here we go,” Brady says, getting out of the truck, and I follow him.
Charlie gets out of the driver’s seat and smiles over at me. “Figured it would be easier if I made the introductions,” he says of his grandfather that is coming out of his car.
My eyes go to the front passenger door that opens, and Casey gets out, not coming to me but instead opening the back door of the car, and I see the most beautiful woman get out. “Aren’t you the Southern gentleman,” she observes, and I recognize her voice as Ryleigh. My mouth hangs open because she’s literally supermodel gorgeous. She moves past him and comes right to me. “Harmony,” she greets me. I’m expecting her to hold out her hand, but instead, she comes in for a hug. “I’m so happy to finally meet you. We got here earlier than expected, so maybe we can talk before we head to the sheriff’s office.” I hear the men exchanging names and look over. “Don’t worry about them. They are the definition of overbearing and dramatic.” She rolls her eyes. “They are my husband’s uncles, and since we are married, I now get to claim them as mine.” She smirks. “They can be a tad protective, and after getting off the phone with Casey and Matthew heard of the situation, there was no way that they were going to let me come here by myself. It was either I bring them both or my husband comes and, well, that wouldn’t do anyone any good. So it’s the lesser of two evils.”
“Hi, I’m Casey.” He officially introduces himself to me. “That big bull is Matthew.” He points at the man who looks like he spends all the time in the gym. “And that’s his sidekick, who also keeps him in line”—he mentions the other man, who looks like he could take you down with one hand—“Max. They go by M and M.”
“We don’t,” Matthew denies, coming to me and shaking my hand. His piercing blue eyes are mesmerizing, but not as much as Max's. “In fact, we hate that.”
“Oh, okay,” I say, “good to know.” I look at them. “Would you guys like coffee or something?”
“No,” Charlie answers for them, “I’m leaving Ryleigh and taking the rest of them to the barn.”
“She going to be okay here?” Matthew asks Brady.
“I’m not leaving their side, and I’ll arm the house.”
Matthew looks at Max, who looks at Ryleigh. “Are you good with this?”
“No one knows I’m here,” she assures him, “and you think I’m going to let them scare me?” she scoffs. “Be gone before a house falls on you guys.”
“This isn’t Kansas.” Matthew laughs at her. “You keep your phone close, and you call me if anything happens.” He hands her a black bag.
“You got it, boss,” she confirms to him and then looks at me. “Shall we?” I nod at her and then look at Brady, who follows us inside. I’m not expecting him to arm the alarm, but he does it anyway.
“Let’s sit in the kitchen,” I suggest, walking to the back of the house. “Would you like a coffee?” I ask, and she nods.
“I’ll do it, baby,” Brady says softly, squeezing my hip. “You go sit.” Ryleigh watches, her eyes going from Brady to his hand at my hip, and I start to get nervous.
“There are muffins.” I point at the tray of muffins I also baked this morning. He just nods as I walk over to the table in the breakfast nook area.
“Okay,” Ryleigh begins, opening her bag and getting out her legal pad, “shall we get started?” I wait until Brady pulls out a chair beside me after handing a cup of coffee to Ryleigh and putting the plate of mixed muffins I made beside her pad. He sits right next to me, making sure he’s as close as he can be to me. His hand goes to my leg, giving me the support I didn’t know I needed.
“Yes,” I say, putting the envelope I had in my hand on the table. “I have something you might need.” She puts her pen down on the pad as she takes out the papers from the envelope. “I started gathering this five years ago.” I hand her the pictures of Winston with all the different women. “I hired a private investigator from New York so he wouldn’t know the Cartwrights,” I tell her as I hand her the report that he has made over the last five years. “He would come down once a month and just follow him around. There is also a number of women who have shown up at my door who were pregnant or allegedly pregnant with his child. I never saw them again.” I hand her the names and addresses of the women I have. “I don’t know if they will talk or not. This,” I say, handing her a USB key, “is video of him showing up at home drunk and us fighting. It was a weekly thing, and most of the time he was drunk. I have the footage of him stumbling up the steps and then walking into the house. Some of the fights are not seen but you can hear the screaming or at least the screaming from him.” The hand Brady had on my leg is gone.
“Excuse me.” He pushes away from the table, standing up.
My hand flies to his. “Brady,” I say softly, “please.”
He takes one look into my eyes that have filled with tears as I told her my story. “He’s not going to go away quietly.” Ryleigh ignores the fact that Brady and I are having a stare down. “And if I know them like I think I do”—my fingers link with his as I turn back to look at her—“they are going to drag you to court for everything, and I mean for everything.” She looks back at Brady, then back at me. “Are you ready for this?”
“As ready as I think I will ever be,” I admit to her. “The other lawyer didn’t have that.” I point at the envelope. “I didn’t think he would do anything with it, and then I felt like he was working more for my in-laws than he was for me.”
“These people will be looking for all your secrets,” she tells me something I already know. “They are going to probably make up a bunch of shit and parade it down Main Street.” She looks back at Brady. “I’m not judging you, but I have to know.”
“It just started,” Brady almost snaps, “when she moved in. When he put his hands on her in the middle of the night with his son watching. So they can parade whatever they want down Main Street. But if they think coming after me is going to make me go away, they are wrong. They aren’t the only ones who can parade shit down Main Street.” He squeezes my hand, and I can’t help but look at our hands linked together as the tears roll down my cheeks. “I’m ready to make them pay for everything.” I make the mistake of looking up at him, and he brushes the tears away from my face. “No more tears, yeah?” He bends to kiss my lips.
“Well, then.” She tries to hide the smile. “I believe I have everything I need.” She looks at Brady. “If you can call the cavalry, it’s time to go and have a chat with the sheriff.” He nods before he walks out of the room.
I wait for him to be out of the room before I turn to her. “His family has suffered enough because of my in-laws,” I start to say and swallow the lump in my throat before saying the rest of my sentence. “I refuse to have them in the crosshairs again. If I have to, I’ll stay somewhere else.” The pain in my chest is so strong I put my hand to my chest and rub it to release the throbbing.
She reaches over and puts her hand on mine and squeezes. “Harmony, if you think that man”—she motions with her chin toward the door he just walked out of—“is going to let you go, you weren’t in the room right now.” She shakes her head. “That man isn’t letting you out of his sight, not now, and I don’t think for a long time.”
He comes back into the room. “They will be here in five minutes,” he reports, and I get up from my chair.
“I’m going to go wash my face,” I tell Ryleigh. “Maybe put on some war paint.” I make a joke as I turn to walk out of the room, replaying Ryleigh’s words in my head, letting them sink in. But I know that eventually I’m going to have to let him go. There will come a time and a place when it’ll be too much for him. When that time comes, I’m going to have to walk away from him, and it’ll break my heart in a way it’s never been broken before.