Chapter Twenty-Five
Blaze
Don and his wife took us to a steakhouse on the county line. It was the best meal of my life, at least that’s how it tasted after eating frozen dinners at the jail all weekend. That's what they fed me twice a day. Breakfast was unflavored oatmeal and a banana. I’d probably lost a few pounds just lying in there.
I ate every bite and scraped the crumbs.
I could tell Marchella was trying not to laugh.
“What?” I whispered when her grandparents went to take care of the bill.
“You eat like a fucking inmate, and you weren’t even in there for a solid week.” Her laughter warmed me and I gave her knee a squeeze beneath the table.
I sat back and tried my best to give her a side eye, but I ended up laughing.
“You two are adorable,” the waitress commented while cleaning the table.
“Yes, she is. And– She’s all mine now,” I informed her, earning myself a swat from Marchella.
I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles.
“You two love birds ready?” her grandfather asked, pausing long enough to drop a cash tip on the table.
“Yeah,” Marchella agreed, hopping out of her chair.
I scooted it in for her and claimed her hand. Everyone seemed to know her grandparents. They were stopped twice on the way to the car by folks who just wanted to say hello or comment on last week’s sermon.
“You sure you’re good?” I asked her once we were alone in the back of a super clean Cadillac.
She looked me over and gave a slow nod, “I’m good. You?”
I reached out and gave her thigh another squeeze, “Never better.”
I let go when I saw her grandmother wandering toward the car.
“We have one more surprise for you,” Mrs. Winehopper announced.
“Does it include a phone charger?” I teased, holding my dead phone up.
She smiled at me from the passenger seat, “Actually– Just you wait.”
Don slid in and she grew quiet while he put his seatbelt on and put us in reverse. I settled for teasing my fingers between Marchella’s while we rode.
“Gran says you have another surprise?” Marchella pressed.
“It’s true,” Don confirmed, but he didn't elaborate.
We drove in silence for a few blocks before he turned onto the big hill of the cemetery. I let go of Marchella’s hand and sat up a little. He stopped the car in front of a house beside the graveyard and I glanced at Marchella. Her mustang was sitting in the driveway. A for rent sign had been plucked out of the yard and was resting against the cement ledge of the porch. Each side of it was flanked by tall, perfectly trimmed bushes. There were carved black shutters, and it looked like it might have a pretty nice yard and a bit of woods in the back.
I couldn’t keep my attention from returning to the cemetery, though.
“What is this? Why is my car here?” Marchella laughed.
“Because I bought it for ya, honey. Well, I leased it for a year. Long enough for Blaze to finish his court business, then you two can get on with your life.”
“There is furniture, clothes, even phone chargers, and dishes inside,” Her grandmother proudly boasted.
I rubbed a hand over my stubbled jaw, unsure of what to say. I didn’t want to seem like an ungrateful bastard. We did need a place to stay, but it was a helluva hand out.
“Don– I– I mean I have a little money, but I can’t pay you back for this. I don’t even have a job.”
“You will have. It’s part of your release,” he assured me, completely unconcerned. “Go on, there’s plenty of groceries, even frozen ones, and canned goods. You guys will be set for a while.”
They’d thought of everything.
“I– I don’t know how to thank you,” I stammered, opening my door.
He met me at the trunk.
“You’ll thank me, by being a better man today than you were yesterday. You’ll repay me in your kindness and affection for my granddaughter. You keep her happy, Blaze, and you don’t owe me a thing.”
He held out his hand, and I shook it without hesitation. Marchella and her grandmother embraced. Then they handed us the keys, and left me clutching the marriage papers and the conditions of my release.
“I feel like we’re in some kind of movie.” I said, once they were well on their way down the block. “It’s all so surreal. I thought I was fixing to spend the rest of my twenties in a state prison.”
She laid a hand on my chest and turned, pressing her weight into me.
“Is that why you married me? To avoid prison?”
I flinched and looked down at her, sliding my fingers along the curve of her face, chasing a thick curl behind her ear.
“No. I told him I loved you before he asked if I wanted to marry you.”
Her fingers curled into my shirt, and she gripped, hooking a knee at my hip. Her other hand shot up to my neck and she scaled me like a damn tree. I dropped the papers and fumbled until I had two handfuls of ass.
“Don’t.” She sounded feral, the word catching in her throat. Her tone sparked with warning, but those glistening, blue eyes were threatening to bubble over with emotion.
I hefted my brows in question and rolled the weight in my hands. “Don’t what?”
She swallowed and slowly shook her head, “Promise you won’t ever use that word against me–”
The way that her request wounded me was something I’d never experienced. It left my arms momentarily weak and my mouth dry. I had to juggle her, not to drop her where I stood.
“Promise me, or don’t ever say it to me again, Blaze Anthony Aviston.”
I blinked at her use of my full government name.
“Wha– Marchella, are you fuckin’ serious right now?” I stammered.
I tried to kiss the bullshit out of her, but she wasn’t about to be deterred. I felt the swish of her slap just in time to catch her wrist.
“March!” My voice boomed in surprise.
I pinned her to the brick column of the porch and tried to see her eyes. I didn’t want to fight with her on our wedding day. I didn’t even know what we were fighting about, but I was struggling to keep my face from contorting with irritation.
Her eyes widened and for a sliver of a second, fear flashed in her eyes when my voice exploded.
“Goddamn it.” I bowed my head, letting it rest on her shoulder. “I fucking love you, alright? Get used to hearing it, because I’m not going to shut the fuck up saying it anytime soon, Babe. Look, I don’t want this– Us fighting. What are we doing? We just got married, for fuck’s sake.”
I nuzzled at her until she softened against me and her arms tightened around my shoulders in a hug of sorts.
“I just– I don’t trust easily. I freak out, sometimes. I’m half-fuckin’-spastic on the drop of a dime on my bad days, Blaze. You’ve got no idea what you’re signing on for– Honest to God.” She rambled, her arms snaring tighter with every shuddery breath.
I clutched her ass with one hand and stroked her side with the other.
“Guess what? I’ll be here, holding you on the bad days. And maybe if I keep a calm space for you that isn’t charged with jolts of chaos every other day, maybe you’d be able to come off livewire status and those ‘ spastic ’ days will be a little fewer and farther between? I’m willing to try and adapt, to tweak and perfect until we are a comfortable fit if you are?”
She pressed a kiss to my neck, and I nipped her jaw. We melted into a kiss that left my cheeks wet with her tears. I held her in a lingering kiss when it ended.
“Get that door open, I need to go get the marriage license out of the shrubs.” I snorted.
She laughed and shook her head, looking down at the keys.
I watched her climb the steps and went to fetch the paperwork.
The neighborhood was quiet, and no one seemed to have ventured outside. That was good. At least no one would be kicking down the door to put handcuffs on me for another assault.
I rolled my eyes and took the steps two at a time in search of my wife.