Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Harrison
We’ve only been in the car for a few minutes, but the silence is deafening. There’s a nervous energy coming off Delaney. We’re about one-and three-quarter miles from my house, so I know we must be getting close since she’s told me prior that she lived about a two-mile walk from work.
I’m wracking my brain trying to think of where she could possibly live on the remaining stretch of road. As far as I know, it’s all pretty deeply wooded land with just a few houses tucked in here and there.
“Would you please pull over here?” Delaney’s soft voice breaks me out of my thoughts.
“Are you okay?” I slow the vehicle down to prepare to move off the road.
“Yes. Please just stop, though.”
“Okay, I’m stopping. There’s a turn-off in about a hundred feet. That’ll be safer.”
A minute later, I pull into the turn-off and put the car in park. I turn to her, confused as to what’s going on.
“Bets? You okay?” She’s staring straight ahead. “Talk to me.”
“I’m fine. I’m gonna walk from here. It’s right up the road.” She turns her head toward me, but her eyes don’t meet mine. She wears a forced smile on her face, and she quickly looks away.
Delaney reaches to unbuckle her seatbelt as though she really believes I’m going to let her get out of the car in the dark on a deserted road. I cover her hand with mine to stop her, and she turns her head to me, her lips pinched together, with one of her eyebrows raised in question.
“I didn’t pull over to let you out. I did it to figure out what’s happening right now. You’re almost… jumpy. Is it something I did?”
“I’m not jumpy,” she answers too fast. “I need to stretch my legs a little bit. I want to walk the rest of the way. That’s all.”
“Okay, I’ll take you home, and you can walk around the yard.”
She turns her gaze away from me and stares at the passenger window. Something isn’t matching up.
“Harrison, please don’t make a big deal out of this.”
“I promise I’m not trying to be a jerk, but a lot of people take these curves too fast. Tonight is the best night I’ve had in about two months. I’m not going to ruin it by letting you get hit by a car or abducted by some trucker passing through.”
She whips her head to the side, facing me. “Has that happened? The trucker thing, I mean?”
“No, but it could. You’re not going to be the first.”
She pushes me in the shoulder and chuckles.
“You’re ridiculous. Do you know that?” I grin and shrug in response.
I rest my head on the back of my seat, keeping it turned toward her, and she does the same. We sit in silence for a few minutes except for the summer sounds of the katydids and tree frogs floating in the air and through our open windows.
“What happened two months ago?” she whispers.
I can’t stop myself from reaching up and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She sucks in a deep breath as I do, and I’m struck once more by how beautiful she is.
“You know what happened two months ago, Bets. We happened.” I make sure she’s looking right into my eyes when I say it because I don’t want there to be any doubt about what I mean.
“I hoped that’s what you meant. That was a good night,” she says.
“It was. Amazing actually. I met a woman that night who I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since.”
“Makes sense, I heard she’s spectacular in bed,” she says. The most gorgeous grin graces her face.
“Oh, she is. Mind-blowing, really. But that’s not the main reason I can’t forget her. Spending time with her brought me more peace in just a few hours than I’ve felt in years. I have a feeling she has no idea how incredible she is.”
She frowns and looks downward. “I don’t know about that.”
I put a few fingers under her chin and gently lift it until her eyes meet mine again. “Please tell me what’s going on in here.” I tap lightly on her head with my index finger.
She diverts her gaze to the side.
“I don’t want you to see where I live.” She says the words so quietly I can barely hear her.
“Can you tell me why? Help me understand.”
“I just don’t. I’m… I’m private.” She’s closed off again.
When I don’t give in and agree to let her walk, she huffs.
“Fine. Take the path off to the left in about five hundred feet.” She’s back to refusing to look at me.
A couple of minutes later, I’m traveling on a dirt road that’s leading quite a way back into the woods. She makes one last attempt—and fails— to get me to drop her off where there’s no house in sight.
“Nope, I’m letting out at your door. In fact, I’m walking you to your door.” My voice leaves no room to argue.
“Oh, my God. Fine. Up there, where the driveway curves, there’s a little path and a parking spot. Stop there.”
I follow her instructions, expecting to see a little house in the woods. Instead, there are two trailers, about a hundred feet apart.
“Okay, this is it.” Her words come out clipped.
Delaney undoes her seatbelt, grabs her bag, and jumps out of the car before I even have a chance to unbuckle.
I fumble to free myself from the strap and practically jump out of the car to get to her.
It’s clear she’s heading towards the trailer on the left even before she steps up onto the small porch.
I catch up to her and wrap my hand loosely around her upper arm.
She keeps her back to me.
“Stop for a second, please.” She stills. “This is where you live?”
“Uh, yeah. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be about to walk inside.
” She spins to face me. We’re just a few feet apart.
“Listen, thank you for letting me join your family tonight and for the ride home. I really do appreciate it. I’ll see you at work.
Don’t worry about my car. I’ll get that figured out tomorrow and out of the way. ”
She pulls a bit, but not enough to even break my light hold.
I let my eyes pass over the length of the trailer.
It appears to be in decent shape, but there are some sections with significant wear and tear, causing me to worry about whether it would keep her safe in a severe storm. I return my gaze to hers.
“Delaney, why do you live here? Are we not paying you enough?” I realize the second the words slip off my tongue that they don’t come out as I mean them to, but I’m not fast enough to apologize.
“First of all, you’re being very pretentious. I live here because I choose to. I have my reasons. Second, you pay very well—that’s not what this is about. Can we please drop it and say goodnight?”
I catch myself stroking her upper arm with my thumb as I stare at her, searching her face for what I’m sure she’s not saying.
“I’m not meaning to be pretentious. I’m concerned.”
“There’s no need to be concerned. I’m fine here. I take care of myself, Harrison.”
A clinking sound coming from the right catches our attention. When my eyes focus on the objects surrounding the other trailer, I notice the shape of a man sitting in an Adirondack chair on a small deck off the other trailer.
“That’s just Brandon. He’s my landlord, and the noise was probably him throwing a beer can at the garbage and missing. He’s a horrible shot.” Her voice is hushed.
A sense of unease washes over me. I’m about to insist she come home with me tonight—not that I think she’d really listen—but I don’t get the chance to ask her.
“Goodnight, Harrison.” She lifts up on her toes, kisses me on the cheek, and disappears into her trailer.
I stand staring at her closed door for a few seconds, when a cackling laugh disrupts the peaceful summer air.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree with that one, buddy. Believe me, I’ve tried to get with her, too. That girl ain’t gonna put out willingly.”
“Fuck off,” I mutter. I want to go knock his teeth out for confessing he’s hit on Delaney, but that will piss her off for sure. So, I walk to my car, and a few seconds later, I’m driving back toward the main road.
When I’m about to turn onto the county road, Brandon’s words suddenly fly back into my consciousness. Willingly. He said she wasn’t going to ‘put out’ willingly. Hell, there’s no way I am leaving her back there with that drunk scumbag tonight. Who knows what he’s capable of?
I get the car turned around and drive back down the dirt road as quickly as I safely can. It takes about three minutes, and when my headlights hit her trailer, fury fills my veins. Brandon is standing at Delaney’s door, alternating between pounding on it with his fist and shaking the door handle.
When I’m close enough, I slam the car into park and jump out, not even bothering to turn the engine off.
In seconds, I’ve got him by the shirt, and I drag him down the few steps to the ground.
He swipes at my face with a poorly aimed punch, and it grazes my chin and the left side of my mouth.
I toss him several feet away onto the dirt.
“What the fuck, asshole,” he screams.
He scrambles to standing and comes at me, and I meet him with my fist. He flies backward and falls again. I dive forward and am on top of him with my arm cocked back, ready to deliver another blow, when her voice stops me from delivering it.
“Harrison, stop!” The anxiety in her tone pains me and keeps me from releasing the shaky hold I have on my arm.
In the back of my racing mind, the pounding of her feet on her steps registers, and in seconds, she’s by my side.
Her fingers wrap around my bicep, and her soft touch is in such contrast to the rage racing through me. “He’s not worth it.”
“Fuck off—”
“Brandon! If you’ve got an ounce of self-preservation, you need to shut the hell up. You went too damn far tonight, and you’re more than a little outmatched.” Brandon wisely heeds Delaney’s words and shuts up.
The slight pressure she puts on my arm encourages me to lower it. She’s smart not to remove her hand, though.
“You’re not staying here tonight,” I growl.
“Okay. I’ll find somewhere—”
“No. You’re coming with me.” I tighten my grip on Brandon and briefly glance over my shoulder at her.
Her mouth drops open, and her breathing picks up. Her pupils dilate.
“Okay. I’ll come with you. I promise. Just let him go.” Her voice is quiet, soothing.
I hesitate, but climb off him and back up, sure to keep Delaney behind me.
I keep my eyes on Brandon as he scurries to his feet. “Go pack a bag, Delaney. You,” I say to Brandon, “Stay outside where I can see you until we’re gone.”
“Piss off,” he hisses. He spits out a mouthful of blood as he walks over toward his trailer.
“No. Away from the darkness around your house. Stay by your truck.”
Brandon flips me off but obeys. I’m still shaking from adrenaline, and the red-hot anger I’m trying to come down from, but I don’t react to his childishness.
A few minutes later, Delaney rushes out of her trailer with a laundry basket overflowing with clothes and toiletries. There’s a journal on top. She has a reusable shopping bag hanging on her shoulder, and it’s so full it’s bulging.
“Watch him, and I’ll carry that to the car.” I move toward her, but she twists her body to keep me from grabbing the basket.
“I’ve got it. I carry more than this all the time.” Her eyes tell me there’s no arguing with her on this.
I keep an eye on Brandon while Delaney puts her things in my backseat. When she comes back over to me, she says, “I’m just going to lock up, then I’m ready.”
The seething glare Brandon is throwing our way makes me worry about what he’ll do when we’re gone.
“Make sure you have everything important to you. I don’t trust this asshat not to go into your trailer and do something to your belongings.” I pivot my head to look at her, and her eyes are wide open. She’s nervously chewing on her lower lip and staring at her trailer.
“I can put it in my car when I get there,” she mutters to herself as she walks away and into the trailer. A minute or two later, she’s back out, and I watch as she sets a large box behind her on the tiny porch and turns to lock her door.
While she’s distracted, I swoop in, grab the box, and take it to the car, careful to make frequent visual checks that Brandon is still where he’s supposed to be.
“Hey,” Delaney calls after me. “I could have gotten that.”
I walk and meet her halfway between the trailer and the car.
“Didn’t say you couldn’t have. Doesn’t mean you have to,” I say as we walk to the vehicle. I open the passenger door, and she climbs in. Then I grab the seatbelt and buckle her in before she can protest.
But I don’t get in the car. Instead, I walk over to Brandon. He’s standing arrogantly with his arms crossed.
“Harrison!” Delaney calls from the car, but I ignore her.
I fix my eyes on Brandon and stare at him for a few uncomfortable seconds. He looks away first.
“I’m going to say this once. You stay away from that trailer and Delaney’s things until she’s had a chance to come get them all—”
“She can’t move out. She has a lease.” He smirks like he thinks he’s won.
I look down at the ground for a second and scratch my head as if I’m processing his words. Then I lift my gaze back to his.
“Did you know I’m an attorney? A damn good one, too.
So, believe me when I say that you will let her out of her lease, and give her back her security deposit, or I’ll destroy you in court.
Not only are you violating zoning laws, but look over at my car, at those little red lights on my mirrors.
” Whether he means to or not, his eyes dart over to the running vehicle, then back to me.
“Those are cameras. They’ve recorded everything since I got here.
That includes you trying to break into Delaney’s home and throwing the first punch at me. ”
“I don’t believe you,” he hisses. I shrug.
“Doesn’t matter what you believe, but take it as a fair warning.” I turn and walk toward my car. Without giving him another glimpse, I say, “You’ll be hearing from me soon.”
As I get to the car, Delaney has her head sticking out of her window, and she’s wearing a scowl. Once I’m inside and have turned us around so we head down the dirt driveway, she clears her throat.
“What the hell was that there at the end? What did you say to him?” Her tone is demanding.
It’s pitch-black back here in the woods, so I keep my eyes on the road since I don’t want to hit a tree or an animal.
“Nothing. I just warned him not to touch your stuff.” I keep my voice even.
“That was an awfully long time for that to be all you said.” Her voice bears a hint of a dare for me to challenge her.
She huffs when I don’t reply, but says nothing.