Chapter 9
Gray
Because I know what betrayal feels like.
“Everyone needs help at some point in their life. If the situation was reversed and I was the one, I have a feeling you’d step up.
“Right now, your safety, your life, is the most important thing. We get the Stump family issue resolved first. If it takes longer to graduate, it doesn’t matter.
Age is just a number. Eighteen or nineteen isn’t a big deal.
You have a goal. Just keep working toward it.
We can find ways to make it happen. I have some friends and so does Gerdie who can also help. ”
I spend the next thirty minutes walking her through the phone use and various apps. Taking a quick snapshot of her, I have her then text it with a note to each of the guys. They respond with their own photos. She insists on making me a quick omelet that we share before we leave.
On the way to the town where we’re getting the license, she practices the different phone options with Gerdie.
I get a text from Clay Harker as we’re pulling up in front of the courthouse. He just got a call from the police chief in Cogburn saying to keep a look out for an underage girl with mental problems who may have been taken against her will. The picture and name is Tawny.
Gray: We’re at the courthouse in Grants Pass applying for our marriage license.
Sheriff Harker: Come my way when you’re done. I want to talk to her. Don’t say anything to her as to why.
Gray: I’ll text when we’re on our way.
“Something wrong?” she asks.
“Naw. We just need to make a stop on the way home.”
Once we’re finished with the paperwork, I lead her across the street to the jewelry store.
“What are we doing here?” she asks.
“I want you to have a wedding ring. Physical evidence that they can’t bother you anymore. Pick out anything you like,” I whisper near her ear.
She raises her chin. “Millard refused to wear one but made Mom wear the one from his previous wives. It was all about owning but not being owned.”
My girls got fire.
Shit. She’s not yours. You can’t think that way. I’m just helping her get her freedom the quickest way. The whole thing will be annulled when she’s ready to move on.
“I plan to use my Pops’ ring. It’s black tungsten and rose gold. Is that okay?”
She blushes and nods. Then the clerk greets us. “How can I help you?”
“Wedding ring for my girl. Whatever she wants.”
The clerk takes us straight to the diamonds and starts laying a selection on the top of the glass. Tawny eyes them then trails her gaze to the next cabinet. “That one. Second shelf, third row from the back, fourth from your right.”
Retrieving the ring, the clerk’s excitement for a big sale dims. The rose gold band with jade inset is simple, elegant and beautiful. Just like Tawny herself. Without knowing, she picked a perfect match for Pops’ ring.
“You sure? You can have anything you want.” As the words leave my lips, I realize how true they are. This woman has stolen my shielded heart in a matter of hours.
“I’m sure. It’s simple yet beautiful and enduring. It’s perfect.”
We stop at the sheriff’s office in Kennedy, Oregon which is farther east than our town. We’re shown to Clay’s office.
Standing, he smiles and reaches out to shake Tawny’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’d like to talk to you alone for a few minutes. I’ll have one of my female officers join us. Once we’re done, Gray can come back.”
She nods. Leaning forward, I kiss her forehead. “Clay can be trusted. Take your time. I’ll be right outside.”
Standing against the wall next to Clay’s door, I close my eyes and gently thump the back of my head against the wall.
What the hell was I thinking to kiss her like that?
For fuck’s sake. This isn’t real. She’s not going to want to stay.
As soon as she’s safe and hopefully all the Stumps are in jail, she’ll leave and really start her life.
This is a marriage of convenience to protect her. That’s all. I can not for a minute think it could be more.
The fact she’s the perfect woman does not make her right for me.
Or that I could be right for her. Hell, I’m as battle scarred, inside and out, from war as they come.
One of the lucky ones, I don’t have any debilitating injuries or PTSD like some of my friends.
But I’ve seen the worst of what some are capable of.
I’ve buried friends and taken lives I’ll be judged for.
And I’d do it again for her. I know Stump better than most. Way better. Memories flood me....
Mom and I are living at the cabin since she lost our house in town.
She forgot today was my twelfth birthday. She’d been out boozing and screwing. She brought the asshole Stump home with her. This was the third time the jerk has been here. She told me to go check the chickens.
My cue to go for a walk and not come back till his truck leaves. Like I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve seen it all when she thought I was asleep on the couch.
I walk into the woods then weave my way back behind the cabin. Something inside me told me not to go far. Pops always says to listen to that voice.
Mom starts screaming and I rush in. Stump is raping her ass from behind and banging her head against the headboard.
I jump on his back and start scratching at his face. Grabbing my shirt, Stump throws me against the wall. Then laughs. Stroking his dick, he grins at me, “You want some of this, sissy boy?”
When Stump reaches for me, I grabbed his balls placing my hunting knife beneath them. “You ever want to fuck again?”
Knowing how delicate the situation is, Stump freezes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
I just raise an eyebrow.
“You’re a fucking kid. I can slap you from here to neverland, boy.”
“Yeah, but your balls will go with me. Start backing toward the door.”
He pauses in the open doorway. “My clothes.”
“You got more at home. I’m keeping these for proof. If you ever come back, or something happens to Ma, I got your DNA.”
Releasing his balls, I let the knife slip just enough to sting and draw a bead of blood as I slam the door.
“You’ll pay for this, you little fucker.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
A week after our encounter Stump went to jail for a few years on theft charges. I was gone in the military by the time he got out.
Shortly after he went to jail, Mom left town and never came back. I never saw her again after that night. Pops tracked her down in LA after I joined the army. She died a few years later of an overdose.
Now I’m back and protecting another woman Stump wants to abuse. Either karma is a bitch or fate has it out for me. Probably a little of both.
Regardless, this is the last time he and I will come up against each other. I’ll willingly stand where the shadows meet the light.