32. Collins
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
COLLINS
Soft bells chime, and my eyes slowly peel open. I feel Theo move to the side to shut off the alarm. My face is on his chest, my arm draped around his middle, my leg tangled with his. His arm is around me, holding me to him as he turns us both on our sides and then wraps both arms around me.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he mumbles as I close my eyes and take a deep breath in. “I wanted to wake before the alarm to not disturb you.” I kiss his chest at the same time he kisses the top of my head.
“I have to get up,” I tell him, “so it’s fine.”
“Why do you have to get up?” He lets me go a bit so he can look down at me. “You called in sick last night.”
“I have to go and get my car from Brock’s. Then I’m coming home and doing nothing.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I brought your car home last night, so now you don’t have to go anywhere.”
I push away from him. “Um, I’m sorry, what?”
“I picked up your car on my way home last night. And it’s a good thing, since I want you off your feet. You’re to relax all day long, maybe even tomorrow.”
“I didn’t even talk to him about the price of the tires.” My hand goes to his chest, suddenly embarrassed that I have to tell him that I made a payment plan with Brock. “I have to call him to discuss how much it was.”
“You can,” his hand goes to my hip, “but it would be for nothing since I paid for it.”
I try to move away from him, but his hand on my hip holds me in place. “Theo, let go of me.”
“No, I like you here close to me. I want you even closer when you get mad so I can kiss you.” He bends to kiss my neck. “Don’t make a big deal over it, please. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Not that big of a deal? How much did it cost?”
He bites his lower lip, and certain parts of me get tingly in spite of my irritation. “He gave you the friends and family discount, and he didn’t charge you labor. So that’s on him.” He tries to hide his smirk.
“How much was it?” I ask him, my voice low.
“What difference does it make?” His gray eyes stare into mine.
“It makes a huge difference because now I’m going to have to pay you back. And I just can’t do it in one shot.” I’m going to have to make a payment plan with Theo. How awkward is this going to be? I already hated my parents, but I especially loathe them for putting me in this position.
“Pay me back?” he questions in disbelief.
“Yes, pay you back.” I move away from him and get off the bed, standing beside it, though I really want to go hide in the bathroom until he leaves. “Theo—”
“Baby,” he says softly, “you aren’t paying me back.
Not now, not in a year, not even ten fucking years from now.
” He flips the covers over, gets up in his black boxers, and puts his hands on his hips.
“This is what happens in relationships, Collins, it’s a give-and-take.
” I think about his words as he walks around the bed.
His hands come up to hold my face. “This is nothing,” he declares, and I pfft at him.
“You are giving me a child. A whole human child. Do you know what that means?” My eyes roll to the side of my head.
“No, seriously, think about it. Our child. There is nothing I can give you that can measure up to you carrying our child.”
“Theo,” I say his name in almost a whisper.
“Give me this.” He puts his forehead on mine. “Let me give you this.”
“I don’t know how to do this,” I admit to him. “In my whole life, I’ve never had anyone to depend on but myself.”
“Stick with me, baby. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” He kisses my lips. “Now, I have to get to the jobsite for a bit. Then why don’t I come back and we can go out to lunch?”
“I don’t know. I would hate to go out and have people see me, and then it gets back to the station that I was out galivanting when I just called in sick.”
“So how about I pick something up, and we can have lunch here together?”
“I can make us lunch.”
“You are supposed to be off your feet,” he snaps, “and you need to call the doctor. Why don’t you do that while I make you breakfast?”
“It’s—what time is it?”
“Alarm rang at six-thirty.”
“Well, I don’t think the doctor is there, but I can leave a message. I’ll go and do that now.”
“That would be great. I’ll start your breakfast.”
He starts to walk out of the room when I call his name. “Theo.” He looks over his shoulder. “Thank you”—I put my hand on my stomach—“for everything.”
“It’s my pleasure, Collins.” His smile is full, lighting his eyes. “That first night I met you, I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I’m not saying it to say it. I’m saying it because it’s true.
Not only are you the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, but you have a heart that is so pure I don’t think there is another person on this earth who is like you.
I just know our child will have the best parts of you, and for that, I’m the luckiest man alive.
” He smiles again and heads off to the kitchen.
I have to sit on the bed to take in his words while he makes me breakfast. Then he’s rushing to get dressed and kissing me on his way out. “I’ll be back for lunch. Call the doctor.”
“I already left her a message. She’s going to call me back.”
“Well, if she doesn’t call you by nine-thirty, why don’t you call her again?” He gets into his truck. “It’s an emergency.”
“I haven’t had any cramping since last night, so I don’t think it’s an emergency, plus there has been no bleeding,” I remind him again. I’ve told him five times now.
“Why are you still standing there? Go inside.” He shoos me away, and I close the door, laughing as my phone rings from the kitchen.
I run to answer. “Hello?”
“You have a collect call from Montgavin County Jail from inmate Harris Henderson.” I sink down on the couch at the automated voice. “Say yes if you would like to accept.”
“Yes,” I say, even though I know I should say no.
“You need to bail me out.” My father skips right over saying hello. “I’m going to court today, and you need to be there and talk to a bail bondsman. Sign whatever they need you to sign for collateral.”
“What did you do?”
“I did nothing,” he snaps. “I’m going in front of the judge sometime today, so get your ass down there.” Someone says something to him in the background. “Fuck you,” he swears at them. Then he says, “I have to go.” The call cuts off abruptly.
My hand is shaking like a leaf on a tree in the middle of a storm. “Stay calm,” I tell myself, but I can feel my teeth clattering.
My eyes fix on the screen saver of my phone. My heart is hammering. The breakfast Theo made me threatens to come up. I put one shaky hand on my head as the doorbell rings.
I don’t know how I do it, but I walk to the front door and open it.
My mother, face streaked with tears, barges into the house before I can speak. “Are you ready to go?” she snaps out, looking me up and down. “Your father was arrested last night.”
“He just called me.”
“Well, we have to get down to the courthouse to meet with the public defender or something. Make sure everything is set up with the bail bondsman.”
My head feels like it’s spinning around and around. “What?”
“This is your fucking fault,” she hisses, her finger coming up to point in my direction.
I take a step back. “Me?”
“It’s because of your boyfriend.” She takes two steps toward me. “Now you have to fix it.”
“Get the fuck away from her. Now!” My head whips to the doorway. Theo. He looks like he ran here.
“You,” she hisses at him, “this is your fault.” She’s stalking toward him now. “He did nothing wrong, and they arrested him while he was sleeping.”
“That’s not what the evidence says,” Theo replies.
“What is going on?” I ask him. “What is she talking about?”
“He”—she points to Theo—“had your father arrested.”
“What?” I ignore my mother and look at Theo.
“A couple of our building sites have been broken into.” I feel everything leave my body.
“Tools and stuff taken. We placed cameras. The other day, we caught someone on video breaking into our office. We saw a part of his face, not all of it. But Burke confirmed it, it’s your father.
I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t know how to tell you. ”
“Oh my god.”
“You don’t know it was him!” my mother shouts, throwing her hands over her head.
“Out!” Theo roars. “Get the fuck out of my house right now, or I’ll call the cops, and you can join your husband.”
“You’re just going to let him talk to me like that?” She stares at me, expecting me to take her side. “Your own flesh and blood?” I don’t say anything. “Remember who took care of you.”
“I don’t have to remember,” I whisper. “I know. My whole life it was me who took care of me.”
“Sorry excuse for a child. Give me money to get to the courthouse.”
“You are not getting a cent from her,” Theo declares before I can reply. He takes out his phone. “And you have one minute before I call Officer Burke.”
“You’ll be sorry about this,” she hisses at Theo, storming past him and out of the house.
“I can’t.” My eyes fill with tears so big I can no longer see Theo clearly. “They’ll never stop. Now do you see why I can’t do this with you?”