Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
BETTER DAYS
A couple of days later…
School was back in session. The windchill was normal for a mid-January day, but Moose hovered beside his car outside Ree Heights Elementary.
He felt like he hadn’t slept in days. It seemed the more he tried to get the monkey off his back, the stronger his addiction grew.
Inari wasn’t talking to him. Kong was grieving.
Mozzi and Coast were dealing with a newborn, so Moose was spending a lot of time alone.
Today he decided to get out of the house at least and somehow ended up parked in the pickup line with a few other parents who arrived early.
He wasn’t lurking, just watching, posted.
Lowkey, he was waiting. On top of Ayla being gone, and his guilt over that, he was also trying to make sense of something he wasn’t ready for.
Kids spilled out, racing against the wind and laughing.
Hella noise engulfed him. Then he spotted her in the crowd.
Tiara. She walked with another Black girl with box braids, and they laughed and talked so fast he wondered if they even heard what the other was saying.
She looked up and picked him out in the line of parents waiting as some of the staff escorted the kids to their cars.
There was no fear behind Tiara’s warm amber eyes, only recognition.
“Hi,” she said, waving to him like it was normal, completely disarming Moose.
“Who’s picking you up today, Tiara?” One of the teachers, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian woman with a single Dutch braid down her back, questioned.
“Him.” Tiara pointed at Moose, freezing him where he stood.
He should have corrected her, objected, and walked the hell away. It was the right thing. Somehow, he managed to push all that aside.
“Yeah.” He slowly pushed himself off the car and smiled. “I got her.”
The teacher was hesitant. Narrowing her eyes, they roamed him in his jeans, sweater, and leather coat with a beanie on his head.
“What’s your name?” she asked after a beat.
He didn’t miss the pause.
“Moose,” he told her. “I’m family.”
Tiara didn’t wait for approval. She adjusted the purple Sprayground backpack on her shoulder and walked over to him like she belonged there.
As if Moose was right where he was supposed to be.
The certainty in her movements is what did it, locking him in and letting him know he was on to something.
He opened the passenger door to his car for her and walked around the back to get into the driver’s seat.
Tiara set her backpack on the floor between her legs and looked over at him.
“Where we going?” she casually queried.
Brows pinching together, Moose blinked a few times. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. As if a light bulb went off, he glanced her way with a hiked brow.
“Food?” he suggested.
“Okay,” Tiara agreed with a grin.
Moose drove them to Comfort Kitchen, and the two of them sat at the counter to order.
Tiara was far from soft spoken. She said what was on her mind, and Moose could tell she was always thinking.
After grabbing an order of tacos and chips and salsa, he decided to take her to the park.
He backed his car into a spot, and the two got out to take up space on a bench near the playground.
There were already some kids playing with their moms while Tiara picked up a taco and tilted her head to take a bite.
She talked his ear off the entire time. There wasn’t a subject off limits.
She spoke about school, her friends, and the things she liked and didn’t like.
Moose mostly listened. He didn’t know what else to do as he ate and watched some smaller kids on a slide having the time of their life.
In all his life, he’d never thought about having kids.
He didn’t want to project any of his trauma onto a child.
Most of the women he fucked with didn’t want them either, so it was a win.
If he did spend time with a woman who had children, he had never interacted with them or tried to be some type of role model.
It was why he was still single now. You weren’t going to come across many women without kids.
It was no judgment for it either; it just wasn’t his preference.
At least not until Inari blew into his life.
Now his mind was wandering to her and Dane while Tiara’s mouth moved a mile per minute.
He couldn’t help but examine her, looking for similarities.
Finally, she took a breath and sipped her strawberry lemonade.
Squinting up at him, she lowered her cup.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
Moose exhaled and shook his head. “Like what?”
“Like you’re trying to figure something out,” she replied
That hit a little too close, and Moose smirked to deflect before looking off.
“Maybe I am.”
“Well, I like you,” she added, shrugging.
It was the simplest, sweetest thing, and his chest tightened as something broke open inside him. He checked the time on his Patek watch. It was almost an hour since he’d picked her up now. He wondered if Tulla knew and was somewhere going crazy.
“How? You don’t even know me. You been talking this whole time,” he jested with her, and Tiara giggled. “And how you just lie to that woman like that? I’m a stranger.”
“Nu-uh. You said your name was Moose,” she corrected him, taking a bite of her last taco.
She chewed in a circular motion, reminding him of all the times Mozzi and Kong talked about how he ate his food.
“Plus, I know good people. My mama is a police officer, and my daddy is a lawyer.” She lifted her cup to her lips and wrangled the straw into her mouth again. “What do you do for work?”
“I own a tattoo shop,” Moose responded.
“Did you do your own tattoos?” Tiara studied the many ink designs on his hands and neck.
“Some of them. I went to other artists, too, though.”
“They look cool. I want tattoos when I grow up,” Tiara acknowledged.
Moose tensed up and cringed inwardly at that. She was only eight, talking about tattoos. It was obvious from her conversation that Tiara was both smart and perceptive as hell.
“We better go.” He inhaled the last of his taco and grabbed a napkin to wipe his hands.
He wasn’t going to run or hide. Tiara was safe. Wasn’t like he didn’t bring her back. Was it technically kidnapping? Maybe. Once they were settled in the car, he turned the heat on and looked over at her.
“Where do you live?”
She rattled off her address with no hesitation.
Within thirty minutes, they were pulling in front of the large stone brick home with a two-car garage.
It had to be at least three levels, with a perfectly manicured lawn and hedges.
A black Mercedes sat in one parking space, and a silver Range Rover came speeding down the block moments after Moose parked.
It whipped into the driveway, and the engine wasn’t even turned off before Tulla hopped out, fuming.
“Uh oh.” Tiara’s eyes stretched, watching her mother stomp toward Moose’s whip.
He got out calmly, and Tiara did the same. Tulla rushed to her daughter, examining her before pulling her into a hug and glaring at Moose while embracing her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mama. Moose took me to get tacos, then we just sat at the park and talked,” Tiara explained like this was normal. “Can he come inside and—”
“No. Moose should be leaving.”
Tulla gritted her teeth and stood tall, keeping a protective arm around her daughter and grilling Moose when he joined them on the sidewalk.
“But—” Tiara pouted.
“Tiara, you need to go inside and start any homework you may have. Say goodbye to Moose,” Tulla ordered as her front door opened, and her husband appeared.
“Fine. Bye, Moose.”
The little girl stepped forward and gave him a hug, taking him and Tulla by surprise.
“It was nice hanging out with you.” She walked off, disappointment crowding her cute face.
From the front door, Christian let her inside but stepped out and closed the door behind him once she was secure. Tulla swung on Moose so fast her head nearly swiveled off her shoulders.
“Have you lost your mind!” she belted. “Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t just take someone’s child—”
“I didn’t take her. She talked me into picking her up.”
“What were you doing at her school in the first place?” Tulla hissed.
“Look, I ain’t stupid, and I damn sure know how to count. I wanted to know.”
“Know what?” Christian chimed in, causing Tulla to turn as he appeared at her side.
“If that’s my daughter.”
Tulla lost control of her breathing. Standing there stylishly in a gray skirt suit and a suede coat with fur, she was the picture of professionalism. Moose’s statement had completely winded her, though.
“That is my daughter! Get the hell away from my house, and don’t you ever come near her again!” she warned, aiming her medium length French tip acrylic at him.
As far as he was concerned, the truth was staring him right in the face. Even Christian didn’t seem surprised, more like angry as his jaw tightened and he studied his wife’s erratic movements. She was usually the epitome of calm, but when Moose was around, it rattled her severely.
“Like my wife said, you need to leave.” Christian nodded to Moose’s car. “Tiara is our daughter. Stay away from her.” He turned to go, but Tulla hadn’t budged and was still eyeing Moose like he was the foul one.