Broken Pasts (6 page)

“
Suit
yourself,” I said and then paused. “I'd rather have you
behind me anyway.”

How's
that for a little sexual innuendo?

CHAPTER 7

Rhea
showed up on my doorstep at seven a.m. the next morning. When
Nathaniel opened the door, she screamed. I pushed past him and
grabbed her by the shoulders as she started to turn away, pulling her
into a hug. Glen was already out of his car and jogging across the
dew covered grass.

“
Theresa!”
he shouted, reaching out for our daughter's arm as if I'd just
exposed her to a brothel full of naked men, erections raised like
flags for all the world to see. “What on earth is going on?”
I pulled Rhea forward and put my hands on the sides of her face. I
think she'd screamed more from surprise than anything else. Already,
she was calm.

“
Who's
that?” she asked, trying to peer around me at Nathaniel. When
I glanced back at him, his face was completely still, like a Greek
statue, frozen into perfection. He was too stoic, too emotionless,
the ideal bodyguard, like the ones you see in the movies. Either he
was putting on a front for Glen or he thought this was amusing. I
was betting on the latter.

Glen
paused on the bottom step of the stoop and adjusted his glasses.

“
You
didn't tell me you were seeing someone.” I pursed my lips.
Like that was any of his business.

“
Hey
Rhea,” I said, trying to smile through a massive yawn. I
wanted to be pissy; Glen had interrupted the best dream I'd had in
years. One that featured a fully naked and willing Mr. Sutherland.
“Why don't you go in your room and play some video games. I'll
take you to McDonald's before I drop you off, how's that sound?”

“
Yay!
I want pancakes!” she shouted as Nathaniel stepped out of her
way and she moved past him, enraptured by the idea of a little gaming
before school.
Screw the new guy. I've got better things to do.
God, I had an awesome kid.

“
Glen,”
I said, standing up and adjusting the straps of my tank top. “Why
are you here? I asked you to take Rhea for the week.”

“
Well,
it's your week and Winnie wants to take the girls to see her
parents.” I pursed my lips in anger as I stared down at my
ex's severe face. Even with his brown eyes pinched and his thin
mouth set in an unhappy line, he had the appearance of being a
trustworthy, reliable sort of guy. It's one of the reasons that I'd
fallen for him. The types of guys I'd always liked, the interesting,
spicy, mysterious ones like Nathaniel, they'd always let me down.
I'd thought that no matter what, that Glen would be there for me,
even if it was just out of a sense of duty. I'd been wrong. He'd
left me during one of the worst periods in my entire left. Left me
because I couldn't give him biological children. A horrible
miscarriage, a botched surgery, and a pair of cancerous ovaries later
and I was left alone while Glen was off impregnating the first woman
who'd give him the time of day. Winnie Freeman.
You are such a
bitch,
I thought at him as I started off on a very
familiar, very tiresome rant.

“
So
Rhea isn't good enough to visit Winnie's parents because, what,”
I held my hands out to the side and then let them drop against my
thighs. “Because she's my daughter? Or because she's …
” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Adopted. Which is
it, Glen?”

“
I'm
not doing this with you this morning, Theresa,” he said as he
crossed his arms over his pumpkin colored shirt. It did nothing for
his skin except wash him out. Winnie had probably bought it. She
considered herself some kind of nouveau fashionista, but hey, there's
no accounting for taste, right? “Aren't you going to introduce
me to your
friend.
” His attitude made me want to slam
the door in his face, but yet, there was so much more I could do.
Except tell him that Gary was stalking me. Then he'd try to get full
custody of Rhea, play that against me like a curse. I could do
anything but tell him the truth. I stepped back, put my hand on
Nathaniel's arm and hoped he'd play along with me.

“
This
is my boyfriend, Nathaniel Sutherland. Nathaniel, this is my
ex-husband, Glen Gibson.” To my utter delight and complete
surprise, Nathaniel wrapped one arm around my waist, digging his
fingers into the my side and pulling me against him. My reaction was
instant and surprising. Like a heroine in an old movie, I felt my
knees go weak as my blood heated and my body begged for a taste of
whatever this man had to offer. It sounds pretty in romance novels,
but in reality, it's kind of horrible. I felt dizzy, like I could
topple over at any moment and I suddenly had no idea what to say or
do, like I was frozen in place with adrenaline and need.

“
Nice
to meet you, Mr. Gibson,” Nathaniel said as he held out his
other hand and gripped Glen's firmly. I was happy to see that Glen's
handshake was weak and floppy in comparison. His wrist looked dainty
and liable to snap like a pencil under Nathaniel's strength. I
smiled.

“
Likewise,”
Glen said as his eyes snapped over to my face. I felt hot and
flustered, like I'd been in the bedroom for hours with the most
exquisite foreplay. It was a look that Glen had probably never seen
before. This thought surged right through me, took a terrible event
from my past and flipped it right on its head.
Thank god you left
me,
I thought as I stared at Glen's tiny nose and serious frown.
Or I might've been trapped in that horrible place between 'good
enough' and 'safe.'

I
was having a life altering revelation, right there on that doorstep
with a stranger's arm around my waist. I had to call Jamie.

“
When
will you be back?” I asked, suddenly wanting to get rid of him
so I could go in the bathroom and call my best friend. I had
discovered that using the restroom was the only excuse I could use to
get out of Nathaniel's sight. He was damn good at his job.

“
Tuesday,”
Glen said. “I'll pick Rhea up after school.”

“
Fine,”
I said as Nathaniel stepped back and grabbed the knob on the front
door. “See you then.” I closed it in his face without
another word and turned away, letting Nathaniel lock it for me. I
grabbed my phone off the dining table and went straight for the
bathroom. “I'll be just a moment,” I said as Nathaniel
nodded and paused in the hallway just outside the door. I closed it
quickly and turned on the fan and the faucet.

“
What
are you doing up so early?” Jamie answered after only one ring.

A
chorus of shouting exploded from behind her and I caught bits of,
“Good morning, Miss McMaster.” There was some scuffling
and Jamie stuck something into her mouth.

“
I'm
kicking your boys' asses for you, you know?” I smiled.

“
Oh,
so now they're my boys?”

“
Marry
me, Theresa, I'm in love with you!” I chuckled as Ray's voice
exploded through the line for just a moment as he snatched the phone
away from Jamie.

“
Little
brat,” she snarled playfully as she regained control. “Just
wait until Rhea turns thirteen and see how you much you laugh then.
What do you want?”

“
I
had a life altering revelation,” I said and she spit out
whatever it was she had in her mouth.

“
You
are too much, you know that right? You're like every romantic comedy
movie character I've ever seen.”

“
Good,”
I said as I sat on the edge of the counter and ran a hairbrush
through the tangled mat of black at the back of my head. “At
least they always get happy endings. Now be quiet and let me talk.
You're not going to believe this, but I think I'm actually one
hundred percent over Glen.” There was a faux gasp on the other
end of the line.

“
No!”
I rolled my eyes.

“
Yes,
and … ” I paused. “I have a crush on the
bodyguard.” Jamie chuckled and I could just see her shaking
her head.

“
I
knew it,” she said. “I think he's into you, too, so if
you play your cards right, you could be sitting pretty on that pogo
stick.”

“
Mom!”
I heard snorts of laughter in the background.

“
That's
not what I'm after,” I told her. “He's interesting. I
just want to see what makes him tick, you know?”

“
My
guess would be that it's seven inches long and just dying to break
out of those stuffy black slacks.”

“
Jamie!”
I said and then forced myself to lower my voice. “Be serious.
For the first time ever, I'm happy that Glen left me when he did. I
think I'd have been trapped if he didn't, you know?”

“
You
mean you wouldn't have been able to screw the sexy bodyguard?”
I rolled my eyes.

“
I
snuck into the bathroom to talk to you, you know. The least you
could do is be grateful about it.” Jamie chuckled.

“
You
know I love you, Theresa. Don't stress so much. We'll talk all
about it on bowling night. I gotta go. Joel's got a dentist
appointment, so I have to drop the boys off at school before I go to
work, but save that and any other life revelations for Friday, okay?”

“
Alright,
I love you, too. Bye.”

I
ended the call and leapt down from the counter. Nathaniel was
waiting outside the door with a small smile on his face while Rhea
sat at his feet with her legs crossed.

“
Nathaniel
said he's your boyfriend,” Rhea informed me and I was grateful
to see that he'd kept up the ruse. It meant a lot, whether he knew
it or not. “Which means the necklace worked.” I reached
down, grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“
It
sure did,” I said, trying to change the subject before I got
too deeply involved in my own lie. “Now, why don't you help me
pick out some clothes, so we can eat. I'm starving.”

“
Will
you be happy now?” she asked me, completely serious. Her face
was twisted into an expression that was far too grown-up for a nine
year old. “Now that you have love and a penis?”
Nathaniel snorted, actually snorted. I'd been expecting a deep,
silky chuckle, like dark chocolate or something, but his laugh wasn't
like that at all. It was so … real. Human.

“
Absolutely,”
I answered as she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Now let's
go before they run out of pancakes.”

***

Apparently,
to a nine year old, being chauffeured in the back of a sleek, black
car with tinted windows and leather seats is the coolest thing in the
world.

“
Is
Nathaniel a prince?” she'd whispered to me as she'd eaten her
pancakes, syrup and all, on those very same leather seats.
I owe
you big time, Mr. Sutherland.

“
Nope,”
I replied, trying to keep the conversation light. “You want a
bite of my McMuffin?”

“
What
does he do then?” she asked, her mind still attached to the
previous question. She stared at me, brown eyes wide, hair braided
down her back and tied with a furry, purple hairband that she'd
picked out all on her own.

“
I'm
a security officer,” Nathaniel replied, voice light and
cheerful. He was good at playing the boyfriend character, great
actually. Rhea and Gary had never really hit off like this which
should've been a bright red flag to me.
What was I thinking?
Rhea's eyes widened.

“
Do
you have a gun?” she asked as she tried to take off her seat
belt and stick her head between the front seats. I pushed her back
gently and refastened it.

“
Couple,”
Nathaniel replied, looking at me through the rearview mirror as if to
confirm that what he was saying was okay. I nodded. “One
under my jacket and one strapped to my ankle.”

“
Why?”
she asked as she pushed her half eaten platter towards me.

“
The
better to protect your mother with, my dear,” he joked and god
help me, but I thought it was kind of … cute.
Good lord,
woman, get a hold of yourself. You're thirty-two years old. You get
to know men before you start fawning over them, remember? Cute is
not a descriptor that you need to be using for judgmental purposes.

“
Why?”
she asked as I put my hand out and rested it on her arm.

“
We're
going through a 'why' phase right now,” I said as I gave her
the eye. “Once is more than enough when it comes to other
people's business, remember?”

“
It's
okay,” Nathaniel said as he pulled the vehicle up to the line
of cars waiting to get into the loop where the kids were dropped off.
He'd done it without a hitch, too. Surprising since I always ended
up going in the wrong way and causing a traffic jam. “I
protect good people from bad people. That's why I need the guns,
just in case.”