42. Chase
42
Chase
I set the cinder block and rope next to the pool and sat down beside them. In my hand, I stared at the wallet-sized photo I kept in my nightstand. It was a picture of the four of us—Bailey, Lachlan, Ethan, and me. At the pitts. Lachlan’s brother had taken the picture to get us in trouble, but his mom and dad just laughed about kids being kids and made copies of the picture. We must have been eight or so, with a missing tooth here or there. It was a great photo and one I looked at often when I was struggling.
I shoved it into my pocket and took out my phone. The new picture of us at the pitts. Nolan made a great addition. As much as I’d hated him in the beginning, he was a good guy. Jealousy, likely…of how close he’d gotten to Bailey so easily. Now I saw how much work he put into it, how much he cared about her, how he would protect her. No jealousy remained.
Holding down my thumb on the picture, I included all their names and clicked send. I hoped this picture would help them through difficult times, like the other had me.
I set my phone down, took the rope, and began tying it to my feet. The other end, I tied to the cinder block. I pulled the block into my lap, then I just sat there.
Dad’s text message had come at exactly midnight, telling me to get out and to leave his belongings behind. Telling me he wanted nothing to do with me. That he would legally remove my name from any tie to his. He reminded me I had nowhere to go. I had nothing to start off with. I had no resources.
I wouldn’t be a burden to anyone anymore. I didn’t need his reminders…I knew.
A tear slipped down my cheek, but inside, I felt empty. This was how it had to be. I left no note. I had no one to write to. Another tear slipped free…free…how long had I been told to hold back the tears, to take it like a man. Now, the liquid flowed freely because was just about me. I could finally get rid of this loneliness inside of me. I could finally let the pain go. I could…
My phone began to ring, breaking the silence all around me. I risked a peek at the screen.
Bailey.
Fuck. I let out a shaky breath and tried to compose myself. I couldn’t. I couldn’t answer it.
The phone stopped ringing. I took another deep breath, held on to the cinder block, and—
My phone pinged as a text flashed on the screen.
Bailey: I need you.
I set the cinder block down and picked up my phone, clearing my throat before pressing the dial button.
“I’m sorry.” Bailey was crying.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I couldn’t get a hold of Lachlan, Ethan doesn’t have a car right now, I know Nolan doesn’t have his phone…and I didn’t know who to call.” She took a deep breath.
“Bails, what’s going on?” I began untying my ankles.
“My parents had an emergency. One of the tractors is stuck in the field, and the farm hands are trying to get it out. The cows got loose, into the neighbor’s field.” She was speaking so quickly.
“You want me to come out and catch cows?” I asked. I didn’t have the faintest clue how the fuck I would do that, but if she needed me to, I would. I stood up and started walking to the house to grab my shoes and keys.
Bailey chuckled through her cries. “No. I…I’m at home. It’s just…the garden door keeps opening and slamming shut, and the dog is barking. I don’t know why the dog keeps barking. And I think someone is here, and I don’t know what to do. I can’t move.”
She was scared. Someone was in the house with her? Fuck. “Stay on the phone with me, Bails. I’ll be right there. Did you call the police?”
“NO! I can’t. They will take me, Chase. They will come and take me when they see what I did to him. Oh my god, what have I done?” She wasn’t making any sense.
“Easy, deep breaths. I’m coming.”
“I’m s-sorry.”
I’d thought I was empty, void, but my heart shattered at the sound of her voice. Of her sobs. How could I be empty if I ached so hard from her pain?
I kept Bailey on the phone with me while I drove through town and out to the side roads. I talked to her about football. I told her I watched her touchdown on replay so many times; her run was amazing for a first-time player.
As I pulled up to her property, every light in the house was on. “You said the garden door was slamming?” I asked.
“Yes, the small shed on my side of the house.”
I knew which one she was referring to, so before I ran inside, I went around back and up to the shed door. “It’s locked, Bailey.”
“No…” she whispered. “It can’t be.”
I looked up at her window. “This shed?”
“Yes, that’s the one.” She looked absolutely terrified.
“Maybe it was just the wind. Is the front door unlocked?”
“No, I’ll be right down.” She hung up as I ran up to the porch.
The front door flew open, and she flung herself into my arms, and I just froze, feeling her tremble. “What happened?” I whispered. I didn’t think she would let go of me, even as I brought us in and closed the door behind me. I pulled her back just enough to get my arm under her legs and lift her up, walking her over to the couch. I set her down with me, on my lap. I needed to hold her just as much as she seemed to need to hold on to me. “Please, tell me.”
She pulled away and looked at me with those big amber eyes, and damn, I knew I was done for. Bailey owned me. “I thought they were going to get me again. I heard the banging of the door, and all I could think was how easy it was for them to take me the first time.”
“They?” I tried to follow what she was saying. She was so frantic, though, it was hard to understand.
She nodded. “Hadley and Derrick. If they came, then he might come, and if he came, he would hurt me. And then he started yelling at me. He started telling me he was getting stronger, that he would find me.” She took a breath, trying to slow down. Closing her eyes, she leaned into me. “I remembered you reached me first. At the football field, I was so alone, and you found me first, and you took the hood off, and your eyes were the first I saw, and I wanted that again…” Her words slowed further, along with her breathing. “So, I called you. I’m sorry I woke you.”
I wanted to tell her that I would always be first. That I would always run to get her, to make sure she was safe, but the truth was, I wouldn’t. In the morning, I would tell the guys what was happening so they could be more vigilant.
“Bails, you didn’t wake me. Don’t worry about that. I…” To think what I had been doing while she was here, scared. I held her until her trembling tapered off, then I got up, leaving her on the couch. I walked around the house, checking everything. I kept the lights on in the rooms, but as I walked over to the couch, I turned off the ones in the living room. I grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over her. “Do you want a hot chocolate?”
She shook her head.
I sat next to her and pulled her to me; she didn’t fight as she lay against my chest. “Try to get some rest. You have practice in the morning. This week’s game is going to be so good. I know the team will win.”
She sniffled.
“Bails…” I spoke softly, not wanting to wake her if she had fallen asleep.
“Yeah?” she whispered sleepily.
“When you said he would be here, who did you mean?”
She wiggled into me for a moment. “My ex.”
I let that sit for a moment. “What did he do to you?” I didn’t want to scare her, but if I could find out, maybe I could let Lachlan know.
“I didn’t think he was hurting me, but you guys…you don’t treat me like he did. It’s easier to realize how badly he hurt me when I see how much I could have been loved. I hear his voice less and less with you guys around. I don’t remember if he ever held me when I was scared. He would berate me for feeling scared.”
I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “Do me a favor?”
“Yeah?”
“Always call one of the guys. Never allow yourself to be scared and alone. It does some messed-up shit to your mind.”
She wrapped her arms around me, giving me a squeeze that both warmed and grounded me. “I promise.”
I smiled. “Pinky promise?” I held my pinky finger up.
She hooked hers in mine. “Pinky promise.”
I lay wide awake as she used my chest for her pillow. It wasn’t long before her parents arrived back and saw us on the couch. Her dad was covered in mud, so her mom shooed him away. “What happened?”
I shrugged. “She thought she heard someone breaking in, so she called me. All is good.”
Her mom smiled softly in a motherly way that caused a pang in my heart. “She called you instead of the police.” Her mom rolled her eyes. “I’m glad all is good. Do you have to get home?”
“No. We’re comfortable…if that’s okay.”
“Well, the guest room is just up the stairs and to the left if you need to stretch out.”
“Thanks.”
Her mother walked away, still smiling softly as she went upstairs.
I made myself comfortable, sank into the couch, and held on to Bailey. How lucky was I that I got to spend one night with her in my arms?