18. Hayes
Chapter eighteen
Hayes
This morning, I wanted nothing more than pausing my life and staying in bed with Lennon. I wasn’t lying when I said that last night with her meant everything. I want the rest of my nights and mornings intertwined with the woman that reached in and stolen my heart. But life did not pause, and I had to work early to finish up a truck, and I took Rosie to breakfast before school, so it wouldn’t be awkward for Lennon when she woke up.
The cloud that I have been walking on this morning has disappeared. Could Lennon still be asleep? Since she has been back, Lennon hasn’t seemed like the one to sleep the day away, but she hasn’t texted me yet. Does she regret last night? Did I rush things? No, we were on the same page…weren’t we?
“Uhh…boss? You wanted to talk to me?” I pause my pacing to find Travis standing in the doorway of my office. “Everything okay?” Once I wave him in, Travis takes a seat and waits for me to gather my thoughts.
“Yeah, just…a few things on my mind. But I wanted to talk to you about the new building. First thing, the Chevelle that you have almost done, I would like to put that out front of the new building to showcase it. You did damn good work, I’m proud of you.” I watch as his cheeks start to redden, as my phone goes off. I give him a minute to process the compliment and check the message.
Sunshine
Thank you for the flower, it was very sweet.
Sunshine
But we need to talk about the school principal.
Flower? Principal? What the hell is Lennon talking about?
What flower, sunshine?
Sunshine
You didn’t leave a flower underneath my windshield wiper?
Sunshine
Are you sure?
Where are you?
Sunshine
Getting ready to leave the school.
Come straight to the shop.
Please.
“Boss, are you sure everything is okay?” I find Travis with a concerned look on his face when I tear my face away from the phone.
“I’m not sure. Lennon found a rose on the Bronco, and she thought it was from me. But it wasn’t. So, she is coming up here so we can try to figure this out. So, I mentioned the Chevelle, but that isn’t everything I wanted to talk about. I would like to promote you to a management position. Once we are in the new building, I want you in charge of bodywork and the paint jobs. That will include ordering and scheduling. Is that something you would be interested in?”
“Are you serious? I’m definitely interested! Thank you, Hayes—boss. This means so much to me, I won’t let you down. I won’t.” We take the next couple minutes discussing my expectations, and I hand over the official offer, which he quickly signs. I know that he didn’t have an easy time growing up, but since he started working for me, he has been eager to learn and has a natural talent for the work.
We are lost in conversation when there is a light knock on the door. We both look up, finding an anxious looking Lennon standing there. “Hey, sorry. I can come back. I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting.” I stand up from my desk and quickly make it over, pulling her into my arms. “Sunshine, you aren’t interrupting. Are you ok?” I know there are a lot of things that she isn’t ready to say out loud. And that is ok, but I think it’s time to talk about some of it.
“Boss, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll get my list together tonight and bring it tomorrow. Lennon, it’s good to see you. If you guys need anything, please let me know.” Travis makes his exit, leaving us alone. “C’mon, sunshine, let’s go sit down.” She silently follows me over to the small couch while I pull her down next to me .
“Talk to me, sunshine. What are you thinking?” Lennon is looking down at her lap as she starts picking at her nails. In a small voice, she finally starts to tell me about her morning. “Well, I went to the school to talk to the principal about the bullying and how you hadn’t been made aware of the reoccurring problem. But the principal is an ass and wouldn’t talk to me. Said that a parent or guardian needs to make an appointment. I was there probably only ten minutes.”
I love that she did that for Rosie. If I knew about this earlier, I would have already gone up there, with or without an appointment. That principle better be ready, because now I have two things to talk to him about. “And then what?”
Tears are now starting to spill down Lennon’s face, I brush them off as she continues, “I was getting into the Bronco when I noticed something on the windshield. So, I got out and that’s when I noticed the rose.”
“And you thought it was from me?” I wouldn’t get her a rose, I think she knows that. I know her favorite flower is a sunflower. Followed by peonies. She slightly shakes her head. “I was hoping it was, but I knew it wasn’t you. It was him. Every time…every time he would bring me white roses. It was him, Hayes. ”
She turns into my chest, and that’s when I notice that she is shaking. I’m barely holding onto my rage, but she needs me to remain calm. If I didn’t think it before, I do now. Lennon is terrified of her ex. “Hey. He isn’t getting close to you. You are mine now. Remember? Me, you, and Rosie.” I can feel her nod her head against my chest, so I know she heard me. I don’t know how long we sit there, me running my hand threw her hair, Lennon drawing circles on my chest. We hear the phone continually ring, so Lennon pushes up from her position. “I’m going to go answer the phone, someone must really want to reach us. And it’s my job.” Before she leaves the office, I pull her back to me and capture her lips. “I missed you and these delicious lips,” I murmur.
Once I am alone, I replay what Lennon told me. She was only in the school for ten minutes. That means she was followed from my house to the school. Is this her ex or someone else? It has to be her ex since it was his signature flower. I pull out my phone and find the group thread with Cash and Scottie.
We might have a problem.
Cash
With?
Scottie
What’s going on?
Lennon’s ex might be in town.
Cash
WHAT!?!
Cash
Why do you think that?
Scottie
What happened?
Scottie
The restraining order was filed.
There was a white rose left under her windshield wiper today.
Cash
A rose?
Cash
How does that mean he is here?
She told me that he would bring her a bouquet of roses…
I think she meant after he hit her.
Cash
SON OF A BITCH!!
Can we all have a meeting at my house, seven o’clock, tonight? I think she is ready to tell us some details.
Scottie
I’ll be there.
Cash
Shelby, me, and the kids will be there. Her parents are out of town so we can’t bring them there.
That’s fine.
The rest of the day goes by slowly, the only bright spot is that it seems like Lennon isn’t as upset. I had Travis go pick up lunch for everyone, not ready for her to be out of my sight. I told her about wanting to get everyone together tonight, so she has time to mentally prepare. She didn’t seem upset when I told her, so I just hope that I didn’t mess up by setting it up.
Lennon is nervously floating around getting everyone drinks and checking in on the kids. We set them up in Rosie’s bedroom with a movie, in hopes that they wouldn’t hear what was being discussed in the kitchen. If it were any other situation, I would love seeing her in my home looking like she belongs here. Like she has been here this whole time. But she wasn’t. She was with someone who doesn’t deserve to be called a man. A man doesn’t beat on someone smaller than them. A woman.
“Boss…she is spiraling.” I asked Travis to be here because he usually is always around one of us and needed him to be aware of the situation. Lennon and Travis have gotten close since she moved back, her looking at him as a younger brother figure.
“Sunshine, everyone has something to drink. Why don’t we sit down?” She sidles up next to me, wrapping her arm around my waist. “Okay, let’s get this over with.” With that statement everyone walks over to the table and sits down. I’ve already talked to Scottie and Shelby about trying to keep Cash calm.
We are all just staring at each other, waiting for Lennon to speak, not wanting to rush her. She stands and starts pacing in front of the table. I hear a sniff, looking up I see that Shelby is already crying. They have been attached at the hip since they were kids, so I know this is going to be hard to hear for her.
“I met Connor at the end of freshman year, but then I came home for the summer. Once Sophomore year started, he kept inviting me to hang out with his friends. I would invite my friends, and we would hang out as one big group. He was nice; he would send study snacks, stop by with pizza. We started officially dating at the beginning of Junior year. He was still nice…charming. I knew that his family had a lot of money, but at the time he didn’t act like it was a big deal. Umm…middle of Senior year he did start to get more possessive. He didn’t like it when I went to hang out with my friends without him. He started to bring up that he wanted us to get a place in the city. And you know that I wanted to move back home. That was always the plan.
She pauses to take a drink of water, and before she can continue, Cash speaks, “So, he was already possessive, and you still moved in with him?” It’s a good thing that Shelby reaches over and slaps his chest, because I would have done worse.
There is a moment of pain that flashes across Lennon’s face before she speaks. “Yes, bub, I did.” The anger leaves his face to her childhood nickname for him. “I started looking for jobs everywhere. Between here and the city. A week before graduation his dad had us meet him downtown where he gifted us the condo. We moved in after I came home for the week, and he went to work for his dad, and I found a part-time position at a newspaper.”
She takes another drink, and looks around, almost looking like she is looking for the quickest exit. “For a couple months, everything was fine. And then he kept calling the newspaper to make sure I was there. Stopping in there multiple times a day. Anytime I had a work function, I would go home, and he would accuse me of cheating on him with my boss. He saw my boss out one night and cornered him, telling him that he needed to leave me alone. They let me go after that. I wasn’t mad at the paper, I understood.”
Lennon stops her pacing and comes and sits down next to me, taking my hand in hers. I gently give her hand a squeeze, letting her know that I am right here. “After I was let go, things went downhill. The first time he slapped me, he swore it was an accident. He didn’t mean it. He gave me a small bouquet of white roses. One of his co-workers hit on me, and it was my fault. He started to make sure he only hit me where I could cover it, he liked to bring me around his colleagues a lot. I’ve had my wrist fractured, ribs bruised…probably fractured, bruises all over my body. He took my phone. I could only respond or call with him next to me. I woke up one day and my car was gone.”
The table is silent while we digest this information. Scottie breaks the silence when he clears his throat. “Lennon, I am so sorry that you went through that. Is that everything?” I am floored when I look over and see her shaking her head no. “About two months before I left, he started to lock me in a closet when he was mad at me. The night before I left, I thought he was going to kill me. He just kept kicking me and at some point, I passed out on the bathroom floor.”
I quickly glance around the table and see every man’s hands fisted, while Shelby and Tess are crying. This is the moment I was expecting- when Cash loses his temper. He shoots out of his chair, sending it toppling to the floor. “You are not stupid, Lennon! You let him do those things to you!” When he pounds his fists on the table, everyone rushes to action. Shelby tries to calm him down, while Scottie puts a hand on his shoulder.
“I know! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Lennon cries out, before resting her head in her hands. All the commotion must have been heard upstairs, because the kids come running into the room. “Hey! We don’t like bullies, and you are being a bully to my Lennon! That isn’t nice, Mr. Cash.” Rosie yells as she scrambles into Lennon’s lap .
This was not how tonight was supposed to go. While Lennon looked uncomfortable telling her story, she looks absolutely crushed at the words that came out of Cash’s mouth. They have always been close, and I know she feels like she failed her big brother. Now my woman and daughter are upset. “I’m going to go give Rosie a bath and get her ready for bed. Thank you all for coming tonight.”
Lennon goes upstairs with Rosie, while Shelby takes her kids to the car to wait on Cash. Tess starts to clean up the kitchen while I turn my attention to the guys. Travis is looking around the room, looking unsure of what he should be doing. Scottie looks like he is on edge, but keeps directing his attention to my sister. That leaves Cash. He is hanging his head, not looking up from his feet.
“We all know what this fucker looks like, so let’s keep an eye out. Travis, if you are in the shop and I happen to not be, I need you to keep an eye out. I don’t really want her left alone until we figure out if he is in town. Scottie, I assume you already know what you are going to do.” I wait to finish until both Scottie and Travis tell me that anything I need is done. I turn my attention to my best friend. If we hadn’t been friends for so long, I would be taking a swing.
“And you. You are better than that, Cash. You are going to take a few days and you are going to apologize to your sister. Until you can sit down with her and keep your shit together to apologize, don’t come around here. Now I have a woman and a daughter that are upset, so thank you for coming, but I think this is the end of the night.”
The guys quickly exit my house, but my sister lingers. “Are you okay, Hayes?” I give her a hug and kiss the top of her head. “I’m not the one I’m worried about, sis. We will all be okay, but I want you to be vigilant. This guy is dangerous, so keep your eyes open and don’t be alone with him.” I walk her out to her car, instructing her to text me when she gets home.
I make sure all the windows and doors are locked before setting the alarm and heading upstairs. I find Lennon in bed with Rosie, reading. I watch from the doorway until Rosie is sleeping and Lennon creeps out of the room, leaving the door cracked as she leaves.
“C’mon, sunshine, let’s go take a bath.” She gives me a small smile as she follows me to my bedroom. Our bedroom. Once I have the bath filled, making sure to add extra lavender bath salts, I carefully take her dress off and set it on the counter. Her mouth drops open when I take my shirt off, followed by my jeans and step into the tub. I hold out my hand to help her, Lennon wasting no time to climb in, her back molding to my front. We don’t speak, it isn’t needed. I know she is upset with what took place downstairs. When I notice that she is starting to fall asleep, I get out of the tub and dry off, then turn my attention to Lennon. Once she is dried off, I carry her to bed, not worrying about any pajamas.
When I have her tucked in and her eyes are closed, I do another house check. When I peek in on Rosie, I find her still sound asleep, but I take a few minutes in my daughter’s room. After hearing Lennon’s story, I hope to everything out there, that the same doesn’t someday happen to Rosie. With Crosby at her side, any boy would be stupid to think about treating her that way. Once I check downstairs again, I climb into bed. I pull Lennon to my side, she subconsciously turns into my side, laying a hand on my chest. Even with the unknown of her ex, I have never felt peace like this.
“I love you, sunshine.”