8. Huntley
Chapter Eight
HUNTLEY
Two weeks, and the lines of communication were still going strong.
River hadn’t given up on me or our blooming friendship. That made me think of sending the woman flowers. I knew the single guys at the station would give me shit for thinking of words like blooming and being all sappy, but I didn’t give a damn.
Would she have liked them if I did send some? She’d been talking to me regularly—not running in the other direction—so I didn’t want to send her scurrying away from me again. Yet the idea did have merit.
The woman seemed to like talking and I thought she was warming up to me with each conversation we had. Enough so that after Bronson and the guys at No Surrender did a security check around her building after seeing the man outside, she’d finally confided in me about the hang up calls.
She may have thought it was just pranks that would eventually stop, but the idea of someone bothering her sent a spark of anger through me. As for the person outside, the guys did see someone on the outdoor camera but found nothing else indicating he’d been in the building.
I’d been happy to hear there were cameras and a security system but that didn’t mean all the guys were not on alert if anything else should arise, me included.
River had promised me that she would stay vigilant and after we got through the not so fun conversation we started to get to know one another. While we didn’t text all day and night, we hadn’t missed a day of some sort of check-in to ask the other how their day had been.
It wasn’t always easy with my schedule, her work and the kids. She put her kids and work first, something I admired about her. I was actually shocked to find out that Lennon and Breland had only been with her for two years. The woman had taken in two teenagers and then adopted them.
Our talks hadn’t gotten too personal. She didn’t tell me about her childhood except that she’d grown up in foster care and aged out of the system. I’d already known that because I worked with Lake who’d talked about finding her sister and doing the test to prove they were related.
She’d told me a bit about college and her job, but not about the rest of her past, what drove her, or about the kids’ pasts either. Some may have thought we had nothing to talk about, but I didn’t mind talking about myself and for some reason she liked to listen.
A good thing since it was the biggest requirement of her profession.
River had asked about my family. I’d told her my dad wasn’t around, that it had just been my mother and I since I was five. I did tell her how close the two of us were, and that I saw her all the time. She didn’t ask anything else about my father, and I didn’t elaborate.
I was worried talking about him would dredge up too much. That’s if my suspicions were right about the things she’d been through in her past. Besides, I thought it would be a better conversation to have in person.
There was talk about my military days and becoming a fireman. We seemed to find things to chat about, even if it was about food, music, and silly questions like what our favorite color was.
Damn, I was itching to hear her voice again.
As I was recalling all our texts, I pulled up in front of my mother’s home. When I’d told River that my mom and I were close, I was not exaggerating. Going through what we had together and her being what I would call an exceptional mother—along with just a beautiful soul—made it easy to love her beyond reason.
My mom was the strongest woman I knew, but I couldn’t help but think there was another woman in my life now that was right there with her.
The car idled and I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and my mom was standing at her door, a huge smile on her face. I turned off my truck's engine and got out, making my way to her.
When I was right in front of her, she wrapped me in a big hug. “How’s my simple man?”
I chucked at her calling me that. When I was a young boy, she would play the song Simple Man, by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and sing along. It was her song for me to live by and her wish for me. To this day, it was my favorite song, and I will never forget the memory of her sitting beside me letting the lyrics sink into my soul.
“I’m good,” I replied as I pulled back and kissed her cheek.
My mother had me at a young age and while she was getting older, she still looked great for her age. I wished for so long that she’d found someone to treat her right and that would love her, but she’d always said I was the only man she needed in her life.
Maybe she just never found the right person?
For me, I’d never found myself, even when I had been dating someone for a while, thinking that they were someone I could settle down with.
But I hadn’t met River yet.
“What put that wistful smile on your face?”
I should have known she wouldn’t miss a trace of what I might have been feeling when River crossed my mind.
“I met someone,” I told her.
Her face lit up with joy and before she could ask a million questions, I held up my hand to stop her.
“She’s been hurt.”
My mother’s face morphed into concern, and sadness glistened in her eyes.
“I don’t know what happened to her, but I hope she will tell me one day. We’re friends. I think,” I said, frowning a bit. She was my friend, I just hoped she thought of me the same way one day.
With a tilt of her head, my mother studied me. “But you feel more for her than just friendship.”
It wasn’t a question, but a true statement that hit me square in the chest with extreme force that almost knocked the wind out of me. I’d known there was more to my feelings, but hearing my mother say it made it more real.
“What’s her name?” my mom asked.
“River.” A huge smile stretched across my face. “Or as I like to call her, Warrior.”
The phone rang as I pulled away from my mother’s home.
I was so glad she’d had a safe place of her own for so many years. After leaving the bastard that never did a thing for me or her—except make our lives miserable—she’d worked hard to finish a degree in interior design that she’d started before getting pregnant.
She ran her own business, made decent money, and was amazing at what she did. I was a proud son for sure.
Excited to hear River’s voice again, I hit the button to connect to Bluetooth. I barely got out a hello before her frantic voice echoed through the car. “I’m so sorry to bother you but I don’t know what to do. Lake isn’t answering her phone and Bronson is working, but I need…”
The woman paused but I knew her well enough to know that she needed something. However, it was very hard for her to ask for help.
“Shh, take a breath and tell me what you need. I can help, sweetheart.”
She was too wound up to be shocked at my term of endearment like she normally was if I used one.
When she didn’t say anything, I coaxed her again. “Come on, I’m here for you.”
Relenting, she rattled on breathlessly about how she was downtown at the courthouse in Portland because she was about to take the stand on a case. I knew she had some big work thing, but I didn’t know she had to do something like that.
Wanting to ask and know more, but also knowing it wasn’t the time, I kept my mouth shut and let her explain how both her kids were sitting in the principal's office and would continue until an adult came to retrieve them.
All because Lennon had gotten into a fight.
“This is a nightmare, Huntley, I should be there, but I can’t leave and if he hit someone then whoever it was had to have done something to Breland. She must be so upset.”
Hearing the distress in her voice and discontent over not being able to immediately get to them had me pushing my foot down on the pedal a bit harder.
“Tell me where the school is? I’ll go get them.” I’d do anything to take her worry away.
It was so quiet; I’d thought she hung up.
“W-What, are you sure? I can’t believe you’d do that for me. I know you said you were only one call away.” She laughed but it was more hysterical than happy. “I just didn’t think before I called, I guess or that you meant I can call for anything.”
This was another time when I wanted to speak my mind but held back. Telling her I thought I’d do just about anything for her would scare the crap out of her.
“Of course I want to help. You can call me whenever you need to.”
After telling me where to go, something else dawned on me.
“Wait, where is his truck?”
Lennon loved the older truck that was still in great shape having not been driven much. I didn’t picture the teen without the vehicle.
“He left the light on inside and the battery was dead. We were running behind this morning and I didn’t have jumper cables, so I had to take them and drop them at school. They were supposed to wait for me until later or get a ride with one of Lennon’s friends, but now they can’t leave.”
I heard someone speaking to her in the background but wasn’t sure what was being said. Then she came back and said, “They are calling me in, I have to go. Please make sure they’re okay and Huntley?”
“What, sweetheart?”
“Tell them I’m sorry and I’ll be home as soon as possible. And… please don’t try and get close to Breland or comfort her. Just trust me, okay. ”
Before I could think about what her words may insinuate and I still had control of my voice, I rushed to let her know I promised that I would tread carefully and I did trust her. Obviously, whatever happened in Breland’s past had affected her greatly.
“Thank you.” She sighed. “I’ve got to run, but I’ll hurry home as soon as I’m done.”
“Don’t rush and get yourself in any trouble, promise me.” The thought of anything happening to her made me feel physically sick.
“Promise,” she whispered.
“Good girl,” I said.
“What am I five?” she fired back in the way she did when trying to be snarky but really was being amusing.
My mouth caught up with my runaway thoughts before I could stop myself.
“Oh no, I’m aware that you are most certainly and very much, all woman.”
There I went taking her breath away again as I heard her gasp. Not wanting her to think about that too much and run from me now that she was letting me in a little, I spoke once more.
“And River?”
“Y-Yes?” she stammered in a hesitant voice.
Damn, I probably scared her and she wasn’t sure of what I was going to say.
“You’re never bothering me. Ever.”
“Thank you,” she told me again before hanging up.
Once the phone disconnected, I slammed my hand on the wheel three times. I’d held back while talking to her but if she had told me to stay clear from Breland, things were not okay; I wanted to rage at the person who hurt that child. Lennon too .
Whoever it was could be added to the list of anyone who’d done something horrible to River.
Protectiveness for all three swam through my veins causing my blood to heat.
My blood reached the boiling point the second my eyes landed on the teens.
The kids sat in cheap plastic chairs in the office. Lennon’s arm was around his sister’s shoulder protectively, and his free hand was clenched into a fist. The look on his face clearly showed he was still pissed and hadn’t calmed down. I’d seen his temper but only when he thought he’d been protecting his mother. River’s words came back to me from our conversation in the car.
If he hit someone then whoever it was had to have done something to Breland. She must be so upset.
I knew she was right as I took in Breland’s trembling body and the tears rolling down her sweet, innocent face.
When Lennon noticed me, his body stiffened. Moving to the counter to speak with the middle-aged woman sitting there, who was clearly not paying any attention to the kids— or even me—I announced my arrival.
“I’m here to pick up Lennon and Breland Roberts.”
The woman looked up, almost startled by my presence. I should have felt bad for scaring her but how the hell did you leave someone sitting there looking like Breland did?
“I’ll be taking them home now, whoever needs to speak with their mother can call her and make an appointment.”
She grabbed the phone, sputtering something about how I couldn't do that until I spoke with the principal, but I turned toward the kids paying her no mind. I stopped a foot away from them and was about to say something when a man came in through a side door, clearly agitated at my abrupt arrival.
I didn’t give a shit.
“Mr. Taylor, the children’s mother said you were coming, but we will need to have a discussion before they can leave,” the guy said in an egotistical tone.
I was obviously making assumptions, but one look at Breland and anyone would. He should have been with them trying to make sure she was actually okay.
“As I told the woman at the desk, they’re clearly not in the right place to do that right now; therefore, I’m taking them home. Call their mother to schedule a meeting.”
“That’s not how this works. Lennon punched another student and we don’t condone that type of behavior here at this school.”
“I didn’t catch your name?” I asked.
“Mr. Wilson,” he said.
“Okay, Mr. Wilson, please tell me why Lennon hit this other kid.”
The man’s face turned a slight shade of red, most likely for being questioned, as he fumbled for what to say.
“Well, I don’t know, that was something I was planning on discussing with his mother when she arrived, but she was obviously too busy to?—”
He was stopped by a rumble that came from not only behind me but from my own throat as well. Lennon and I both growled as he started to talk shit about the woman we both cared about.
I held up my hand for him to shut up and walked toward the door, motioning Lennon to follow. He looked torn, hesitant to leave his sister, but he whispered something to her and met me in the hall .
“Your mom is sorry she couldn’t be here; she was about to take the stand in court and is beside herself right now having to have sent me or anyone else. With that said, I’m going to ask you one question, and I know you don’t trust me, but your mother must have if she sent me.”
The kids had been staring at me not enthused that I was there, probably even pissed it was me who’d arrived, but the moment I mentioned River trusting me, something in his eyes softened. He didn’t say anything, but he nodded his head.
“I’m not going to ask you for all the details, but I will ask you for one. Why did you hit the other kid?”
His hands balled into fists again and his jaw tightened.
“I need something, so I know how to handle this,” I told him.
Through gritted teeth, his voice full of venom, he said, “The asshole touched my sister in the hall without permission right in front of me and then proceeded to tease her along with his friends.”
He paused, his body vibrating with anger. I wondered what else he was about to tell me. I could see it in his eyes, there was more. But then he just said, “Nobody is getting away with that shit when it comes to her and walking away.”
I wasn’t going to pry anything else out of the kid, what he said was fucking plenty.
“Thank you,” I told him. “Come with me for a minute.”
I walked back in the office, Lennon right behind me, and motioned to Breland. “Grab Breland and wait for me in the hall, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Lennon’s eyes widened and his brows rose.
With a nod of my head, I reiterated, “Go on, I’ll handle this.”
He jumped into action doing as I asked while the principal's voice got louder and more enraged at my attempt to do things my way. Which is exactly how it was going to go after what I just heard.
I tuned him out and waited for the kids to leave the room, then I turned to the man, took a step closer to him and I let loose.
“I suggest you learn how to do your damn job. While those kids were sitting here, Breland being obviously very upset, there is another little shithead out there doing whatever he likes after having put his hands on a young girl without her permission.”
Mr. Wilson’s eyes bugged right out of his head.
“Yeah, please tell me what your fucking policy is on sexual harassment and assault?”
I didn’t give him time to respond because I needed to get this out before I really blew a gasket.
“You better figure it out because once I speak to their mother, I guarantee you if that isn’t taken care of right, and also really damn fast, we will be going to the school board.” I was spitting mad and not done yet. “And we have a damn good lawyer in our back pocket that with one call will be all over this in a matter of seconds.”
He swallowed as he took a step away from me. I couldn’t blame him; my voice was menacing and loud.
I glanced at the woman at the desk. She may have been doing nothing to help Breland or Lennon who’d been upset, but I hadn’t wanted to scare her either. She just sat, wide-eyed, with her mouth hanging open. She didn’t seem too distraught, so I landed one more parting shot before I went to find the kids.
“Handle it or Lennon’s temper will look like child’s play compared to mine when I come back!” I shouted.
I stormed out of the office, two sets of wild eyes staring at me as I entered the hall .
Then a small smile tipped Breland’s still trembling lips and Lennon gave me a look of approval.
Protecting them felt as natural as it did protecting their mother.