38. Hi There, You Must Be Bax
Hi There, You Must Be Bax
Miss y
It takes a moment, a beautiful moment of waking to the sound of the birds outside the window I always leave partially open for fresh air, and the cozy comfort of the soft cushions and warm blanket cocooning me to realize I’m on my sofa, and then why I fell asleep out here — then who I fell asleep with. Then another minute of wondering where he is before it sinks in that he left.
‘ Mama , where are you?’
Shit. I sit up. ‘Here, baby, I’m here.’
‘Why do you have my blanket?’ my beautiful boy asks sleepily when he reaches me in the living room.
‘Silly Mama fell asleep out here. I must have grabbed it while I was dreaming.’ He chuckles, amused, and I open my arms. ‘Want to snuggle?’
Jonah climbs onto the sofa and cuddles into me, and I breathe him in.
‘I need to use the bathroom,’ he says after a while, and I smile as I release him.
‘Go on, wash your hands.’ Pushing myself up, I head for the kitchen. I need coffee and carbs. Putting on a pot, I take out some frozen waffles and find the chocolate sauce. Today is not the day for fruit and yogurt.
I wonder where my phone is. I don’t remember the last time I saw it. As Jonah turns on the TV and makes himself comfy, I look for my purse, finding it on my bed where I must have dumped it in a haze when I came upstairs yesterday. Flutters of panic twist my stomach at the memory of yesterday, but I tamp them down. Not now, not in front of my boy.
My phone is, unsurprisingly, completely dead, so I take it and my charger to the kitchen to plug it in and get breakfast fixed up. As it powers up, I hear the vibrations of an afternoon’s worth of messages coming through, and I close my eyes, not wanting to face that.
Pouring myself some fresh, hot, beautiful, and very much-needed coffee, I pick up my cell and start to read the messages in the group chat: The Coven.
Cara: Miss, you okay? I’m here if you need anything x
Zoe: Why wouldn’t she be? What did Nick do?
Bree: Not Nick. Jonah’s asshole dad showed up. Need me to kick his ass, Miss?
Zoe: He did? What does he want? If he upsets my favorite boy, I’m coming home to join in the ass kickin!
Bree: Let’s go! Campbell women don’t play! Cara, you’re basically a Campbell woman, and I know you can throw down. You in?
Cara: Oh, absolutely I am!
Zoe: Miss, you good?
Cara: Honey, do I need to come over?
Bree: I just saw Nick. He said you’re sleeping… does this mean you and he are
Zoe: Fill us in tomorrow, sweetie x
I close my eyes. I need to tell them, but I don’t want to face it. I wonder what Nick told Bree, and I wonder where he saw her.
Clicking out of the group chat, I go to the next message down.
Nick: If you wake up and need me to come back, call me. I needed to get some air and let you get some rest x
I blow out a breath of relief. He didn’t shut me out again.
I need him. I never realized how much until last night. He calms me, and I meant it when I said he makes me feel safe. He makes me feel like the whole world could be against me, but he’d protect me from it.
I click out of his message and freeze.
Bax: I meant it when I said I’m taking my son. You or your pretty boy try and stop me next time, and you’ll be fuckin sorry! You better be ready, Marissa.
No. Not today, Satan. I put down my cell with trembling hands and blow out a breath. He is not getting my son. When he comes back here, I’ll be ready. I need to talk to Bree, but right now, I need to eat waffles with my baby.
‘You okay, Miss, whatever happened yesterday looked kind of intense.’
Kacey, Emma, and I are sitting in the salon before opening, drinking the coffees that Emma got us from the diner.
‘Um, that was Jonah’s dad, Bax. Things are,’ I think of a word, ‘strained between us.’
Emma nods, clearly unsure what to say.
‘Do we let him in if he shows up again, or is he not welcome?’ Kacey asks, squaring her shoulders like she’s ready to go to war for me, and I smile.
‘Just let me know he’s here if I don’t already know. I’ll do the rest.’
‘We got you, honey.’
I glance up at the clock and finish my coffee. ‘Let’s get to work, ladies.’
It was a good day. It was what I needed: good music, some fantastic haircuts, lots of laughs. As we get ready to close up for the day, Emma cleaning up around us and Kacey finishing up curling Bree’s deputy, Jenna Luckman’s hair after doing an amazing rose gold balayage, I feel like the tension of the morning has eased. I know I have a mountain to climb, but not tonight.
I head into the office and pick up my cell to send a text.
Me: Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to eat takeout with us tonight? Jonah has missed you so much x
Almost immediately, the dots of a reply dance on the screen, and I fight my smile.
Nick: I’m just about to go into an emergency surgery. It should be about an hour and then I can get cleaned up — that work?
Me: Absolutely, I’ll go get Jonah from Doug’s and meet you at my place x
I put my phone back into my purse and tie up all my end-of-day tasks in the office. Emma sticks her head around the door to say goodnight and tell me Kacey is almost done, and I start to get ready to leave.
The need to pee is overwhelming so I head to the bathroom and as I come back out, I hear Kacey’s raised voice.
‘She’s busy right now. You can wait outside.’
‘I’ll wait right fuckin’ here.’
No . My steps falter, and I want to run until I hear Jenna, ‘Now wait just a damn minute. Who the hell are you talking to with that tone?’ and I know I have to step in.
‘Bax,’ I call out as I find him turning toward Jenna with fire in his eyes. ‘Stop, please. Can we talk outside?’
Jenna stands from her chair, her brand new hair looking as badass as I now realize she is, as she prepares to take on this man for cursing in my shop.
‘Where’s my son?’
‘Outside, please.’
The tremble in my voice is unmistakable and unavoidable. My heart is trying to beat out of my chest, sending vibrations all over my body, so my voice doesn’t stand a chance of staying steady.
‘Get Jonah,’ he growls, and I feel my knees weaken with the muscle memory of what follows that tone.
‘Bax, he isn’t here right now. Can we talk outside, please ?’
I feel Kacey and Jenna’s eyes on me, and I know they’re wondering who I am right now. Wondering who this meek, terrified woman in front of them is.
‘You ladies can go.’ I force a smile. ‘Really, everything is fine.’
‘Missy,’ Kacey hesitates, and I smile wider.
‘Really, we have a lot of shit to discuss. I’ll lock up. See you tomorrow.’
Kacey nods, and I wait as she and Jenna get ready to leave. She leans in to hug me and whispers, ‘Are you sure? ’
I nod yes and smile to reassure her, then fight the bile that rises as I watch them leave.
After glaring at me for what feels like minutes, Bax heads out of the door onto the street and leans cockily against his car.
‘I’ll wait here. Go and get him.’
‘Bax, you can’t just take him. We talked about this.’
I stand back, putting space between us, and he steps forward.
‘Nah, see, you talked.’ He takes another step. ‘Your fuckin’ Ken doll talked.’ Another step. ‘And in the interest of keeping things friendly,’ another step and heat rushes across my skin as my breath stutters, ‘I listened and tried to be reasonable.’ Another step, and his cologne fills my nostrils — a scent I have tried so hard to block out. The expensive aftershave his mom buys for him, the scent that brings back memory after memory of abuse. His chest presses against mine, and I turn my head to the side, squeezing my eyes closed as I feel the wall at my back and know I have nowhere to run. ‘Then I thought about it, and that son of a bitch doesn’t get a say in my son’s life, and you,’ his thick finger presses into my cheek, harder, harder, pushing the flesh against my teeth, ‘you will do what you’re fuckin’ told.’
‘Please,’ I whisper, realizing only now that I’m crying, and he steps back. I take a breath at the respite until he turns, and I notice too late the hand coming toward my face.
The back of his fist strikes my jaw, snapping my head to the side and making me stumble back against the shop front, my own hand hitting the glass as I reach out absently for something, anything to anchor me.
‘Don’t fuckin’ beg, bitch. It’s embarrassing.’ He turns his back, stepping away toward his car as I steady myself.
‘Bax, stop this. You don’t want him — you never wanted him.’ My words come out as sobs, and he laughs then rushes forward. His hand grips my ponytail and he yanks hard, snapping my head back as he pulls me away from the window and into the gap at the side of the salon — out of sight.
‘But your misery makes my dick hard, Marissa.’ His free hand grips my throat as he leans in to drag his tongue up the side of my face, then starts to squeeze.
‘Bax,’ I struggle to speak as his grip tightens, and he starts to lift me from the ground.
‘If you die, he’s all mine,’ he says close to my ear, and hot tears make their way down my cheeks. ‘ Yes! ’ He laughs maniacally as my vision blurs, and I claw at his wrist and hand in desperation. ‘Cry, baby. You know I love it when you cry.’
Somewhere in the distance, I hear a door open and can make out the blur of a figure approaching. I hear the shout, the dull thud, the sound of a body crumbling to the ground as my own does just that, and my vision starts to clear as oxygen fills my lungs once more, and Nick stands over Bax, fists clenched, body ready to act, his maroon scrubs drawing the light to them, taking all my focus as Kacey lowers next to me, her hand coming to my cheek.
‘Missy, honey…’ She doesn’t say any more, just sits with me, but I can’t take my eyes off Nick.
‘You mother fucker.’ He rears back again, and I see Bax cower, his nose bleeding from the first or maybe second hit. Nobody hits back, I think. He isn’t used to being on the receiving end.
‘Nick,’ I call out, and he freezes, glancing back at me for a second. ‘You’re not like him.’
My words give him pause, and he drops his hand but doesn’t move. Instead, he points at Bax.
‘Stay the fuck down.’
I hear pounding footsteps and the welcome sight of Bree and Jenna.
‘Nick,’ Bree says firmly. ‘I’ve got this.’ He doesn’t move. ‘ Nick! ’ I see him meet her gaze. ‘Go to her.’
He steps back, snapping himself out of the trance he was in, then turns to me. Uniform or not, Jenna takes her place with Bree as Nick lifts me from the ground and before wrapping me up in his arms.
‘Jonah,’ I cry, and he shakes his head.
‘Lynnie is calling Doug now,’ Kacey says softly.
He holds me out, looking me over, inspecting the damage, and I shake my head. ‘Don’t, please.’ I don’t want him to look at me like I’m broken.
I turn to see Bree lower next to Bax.
‘Hi, there. You must be Bax,’ she says brightly. ‘My name is Breanne. I’ll be your police chief tonight. Your accommodation comes with drinks and meals provided. You also have your own bathroom and one hell of a view.’ She sprinkles extra sugar on her sarcasm, and I know she wants to tell him exactly what she thinks. I suspect once he’s in a cell, she will.
She and Jenna lift him up and turn him around, pushing him against his car forcefully, probably more forcefully than was required. I watch, unable to look away, as she handcuffs him. ‘You can call down to reception any time if you need anything, and we will do our utmost to offer you the very best service we can. We hope you enjoy your stay with us.’
She shoves him hard against the car, and if I wasn’t in pain and traumatized right now, I’d be so fucking impressed seeing my friend in action. Instead, I fixate on the smeared blood against the white car as Bree and Jenna haul him toward the station, and my body sags.
‘Come on,’ Nick says softly, ‘Let’s get you upstairs.’
‘Miss, you okay?’ Kacey asks, and I turn to her, then wrap my arms around her.
No, I think, but don’t answer, can’t answer, but as Nick guides me toward our joined stairwell, his strong arm, the arm he used to tear Bax away from me, around my back, I know that I will be.