Earning Her Love (2 page)

“Are you from around here?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“I am. I grew up close by. I live about fifteen minutes from here. How far away did you live before you moved here?”

She shrugged. “About an hour and a half north.”

“What do you do for a job?”

“I’m a checkout chick. I’m permanent part-time.” Mia didn’t even turn to look at him when she answered.

“What do you do with Zane while you work?”

This time she turned to him. Mia looked him straight in the eyes. “He goes to a family daycare one day a week. The lady is great. My best friend Beth takes him twice a week, and I take her son twice a week.” She smiled. “I’m lucky to have a job that’s so flexible. The extra money helps me out big time. I know Centerlink thinks it gives me enough to live on, but what they give me barely covers the essentials.” She held up her hand. “And before you ask, no I don’t get anything from Zane’s father. He signed away his parental rights.”

Alex didn’t know what to say for a moment. Mia sounded very defensive about her situation. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude prying into your situation.”

Mia ran her fingers through her hair. “Sorry. I hate leaving him, and when people meet me they want to know the story and they always think they have a better way to help me.” She closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again. “Look, I’m sorry. I have to go. Maybe I’ll talk to you later.” With that she grabbed her kid and rushed away.

Alex stared after her, unsure what to do. He’d never had a woman treat him like Mia had, and he didn’t know how he felt. Alex was eager to find out more about her, and that was one thing he intended to do.

* * * *

Over the next couple of weeks Alex took Olivia to swimming lessons and he learned about Mia. He was amazed that she’d done so well. She’d had her child at seventeen, and from what little he could gather her parents had abandoned her and she’d raised Zane on her own. When he found out her age he told himself to stay away, that she was way too young, clearly too young for him, and not interested anyway. He’d thought Mia looked young, but he’d assumed she was at least in her mid-twenties.

Mia didn’t talk to him again, and when he did look at her, it was to see her blushing and avoiding him, but by the fourth week he was really struggling not to ask her out or to turn up at her apartment. Alex became more interested and attracted to Mia the more he saw her and learned about her.

Alex decided that the next time he saw Mia he would ask her out. He couldn’t get her off his mind, and all the signs he’d waited for were there—when she was around, his heart beat faster, he grew hard, he followed any movement she made, he worried about her, and she was all he thought about. He’d never had all those things before. He’d promised himself long ago he would never settle, he wanted what his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents had. His brother Chad had it with his wife Lana, and Alex wanted it too.

Chapter 2

Mia silently begged the light to turn green. Not only was she late for work, but her car didn’t sound like it was going to last much longer. Zane sat in his car seat making explosion sounds with his two action figures. Mia knew she was way overdue for a service, but Grant would just tell her the same thing he had said last time—she needed a new car. Mia couldn’t afford a new car. She’d just paid the rent, phone, and electricity bills, and this week was a speech therapy week for Zane. So she had to find money somewhere in her nonexistent funds for that, even though she was broke beyond belief.

The light finally turned green, and she put her foot down on the gas pedal. The car made a sputtering noise, and then it stopped completely. Cars honked around her. She tried to start the car again, but nothing happened. She couldn’t even turn her hazard lights on. “Crap.”

“Mummy.”

“Sorry, sweetheart, Mummy can’t talk right now.”

She looked around the busy intersection and knew she had to call someone before she was hit by a car. Grabbing her bag off the passenger seat, she reached into it and got her mobile out and dialed triple zero.

“Hello, which service would you like to be connected to—ambulance, fire station, or police?”

“Police please.”

“One moment please.”

“Hello, Blacktown police department.”

“Hello, my car has broken down on Seventh Street in the overtaking lane at the lights before the Juniper left turn. I’ll be calling a tow truck, but since I have my four-year-old son in the car I thought I’d call just to be safe.”

“You did the right thing, ma’am. That is a very busy road. I’ll send someone to help right away.”

“Thank you.” Mia hung up, then called Grant’s Garage. Grant had a tow truck, and she asked him to come and get her. Grant was a friend of her parents, or he used to be. He didn’t agree with how her family treated her when she fell pregnant with Zane, and he helped her out from time to time.

Gazing around at the cars speeding by, Mia thought it best she and Zane get out of the car. Turning, she smiled at Zane. “Mummy’s car is broken. I’m getting out, then I’ll get you.”

Zane nodded. “Okays, Mummy.”

She undid her seat belt and turned and smiled at her son just as a car sped toward them.

Mia heard the brakes screeching, and she prayed they would be okay. That was the last thing she thought before she felt herself fly through the air.

* * * *

Alex had ten minutes left and he was done with his shift. He’d worked thirteen hours and was exhausted. He couldn’t wait to get home and go to bed. Tomorrow was swimming, and he intended to ask Mia out.

A call came over his radio, and he knew he should ignore it, but he was just two streets away. Alex answered the call, telling them he’d deal with it. As he came around the corner he saw a poo-colored bomb sitting in the overtaking lane. He furrowed his brows, the car was familiar. It looked just liked Mia’s wreck of a car. He put his lights on just as a red car came flying around the corner and right into the bomb of a car. The windscreen shattered as a female body flew from it and landed on the ground.

Calling dispatch, he told them as quickly as he could what had happened, so he could get more help and they could send an ambulance. A sickening feeling settled into his bones as he parked and set up a perimeter, making sure it was safe before he went over to the woman. He tried to think positive thoughts and deny his edgy feeling. Blood gushed from her head, and her body was covered in deep cuts that oozed more blood. She was damn lucky to be alive.

She groaned and her eyes fluttered. “Zane. My baby. Please make sure he’s okay.”

As the beautiful dark brown eyes opened Alex’s heart sank. Mia, his Mia, was hurt. Glancing over at the car, he debated whether he should leave her and go check on Zane or stay with her. He heard sirens in the distance.

“Please,” she begged.

Alex was surprised that Mia was even alive, let alone conscious enough to talk. He wanted to touch her, but he was scared, terrified that he could hurt her further. All he could do was nod and do what she wanted. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

He walked to the car to see a screaming Zane. The back of the car was crumpled, but Alex could see the other car was in worse condition. It was a cheap plastic one. Thanks to Mia’s car being really old it was metal. The passenger door wouldn’t open so he tried the front and it clicked open.

Zane instantly stopped crying when he saw him. “I knows yous. You’re Olivia’s uncles.”

Alex tried to slow his speeding heart. Zane seemed fine. Kids were resilient. He gazed back in Mia’s direction, and for the first time in many years, he prayed. He was grateful she was young, because hopefully it would help her recover. He worried though. She wasn’t tall, he would guess her lucky to be five-two. He hoped her shapely body with its cushioning helped her fall.

Alex regretted not asking her out sooner. Not spending time to get to know her. He’d been a fool. He’d been attracted to her and was going to ask her out, so he looked into her. When he found out her age he stayed away. He was a just over a month from his fortieth birthday, and Mia was all of twenty-one...barely. Alex thought she looked young, but she had a four year old, so he thought she must be older. Once he found out her age he knew she was way too young and he needed to stay away.

The problem was he couldn’t stop thinking about the strawberry blonde haired beauty. His dad, and even his younger brother Chad, said over and over that when you found the one you just knew. She was the person you couldn’t stop thinking about, she was the one who got your heart racing every time you saw her. Alex was close to his family. He usually spoke to Owen, but Alex had mentioned to Chad that he liked Mia, and since then Chad had been on his case, telling him that if Mia was the one, he wouldn’t let age be a problem. Chad told him not to stuff things up, like he already had wasting time he could spend with her. Now he regretted not listening to Chad. Alex was almost forty and hadn’t found anyone, but as his heart felt like it was about to break at what was happening around him, he thought he could be wrong. He’d finally decided to ask her out and this happened.

Looking at the cute blond haired boy, he forced a smile. “Yes, I’m Olivia’s Uncle Alex. I take her swimming.”

Zane nodded his head. “Ahah, I likes Olivia. I’m bigger than her, iza just turned four.”

His niece Olivia was three. Her swimming skills were super advanced, and she had been placed in a higher age group. Alex adored Olivia.

The paramedics came over and Alex turned to them, noticing out of the corner of his eye another set of paramedics with Mia. “Hi, I was the first on scene. I saw it happen. Mia was thrown from her seat as the car behind hit her vehicle. This is Zane, her four-year-old son. The passenger door doesn’t open.” Alex knew the paramedic, John, he’d worked with him before.

“Do you know the victims?” John asked.

Opening his mouth, he closed it as an old, short guy in a mechanics uniform ran over to him. “Oh God, they won’t let me over to Mia. Is Zane okay?”

Alex eased out of the car and stared at the balding man. Alex knew he wasn’t Mia’s father. From the information he had gathered, Mia’s father was a very powerful businessman, who was known all throughout the building industry. Alex’s brother Owen dealt with him on occasion. “You are associated with Miss Lexington how?”

“Um…sorry. I’m her mechanic Grant, but I’m a friend too.”

Alex raised his eyebrow at the last. “A friend?”

The man turned red. “Well…er…yes. I am…argh…was a friend of her parents.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “They disowned her when she got pregnant at sixteen. She was almost seventeen, but that didn’t sound any better they thought. I didn’t agree with how they cut her off.” The old man sighed. “I’m all she’s got, besides that boy in there and a couple of girlfriends.”

Shit! Alex didn’t need to know that. Not now when his heart was already shattering. He knew she didn’t have anything to do with her parents, but he had hoped she had other people. People who helped her and that she could rely on. Glancing at the boy who the medics were talking to as they carefully lifted him out of his seat, his heart skipped. Alex knew he had to help. If Mia had no one, Zane would go into foster care with strangers while she was in the hospital. He knew with the injuries she had she might not survive, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t, let himself think of that happening.

“She has me. I’m Alex. I’ve been seeing Mia.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Alex had seen Mia every Monday and Friday morning. He’d also been to MacDonald’s with her once.

This time it was Grant who raised his eyebrow. “Really? She hasn’t mentioned you.”

He shrugged. “It’s new.”
Yeah, like a couple of minutes.

Grant crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. John came and stood next to him with Zane in his arms. “He seems fine. The child car seat saved him from any harm, but we’ll take him to the hospital to get him checked out just in case.”

“Sure. I—” Alex didn’t get to finish.

“Alex.” Zane threw himself into his arms. “I wants my Mummy.”

Cuddling the little guy close, Alex looked over to see Mia on a gurney being put into the ambulance. He turned to John. “I’ll go with you. I can’t be on this case as I’m involved with the victim. I’ll go tell officer Dirk what I saw and about my relationship to Mia.”

John tried to take Zane back from him, but the little boy wouldn’t let Alex go. In the end, Alex just took Zane with him. Officer Daniel Dirk was talking to the two men who’d been in the red car. Seeing Alex, Daniel excused himself and came over to him.

“I’ve been told you were the first on the scene,” Daniel said.

“Yes. I can’t be involved in it because the victim, Mia Lexington...I’m involved with her. This is her son Zane.”

Daniel’s eyes flashed, showing his surprise before he quickly hid it. “Well, from what I hear she is a very lucky woman. They have her stable I’ve been told.” Daniel glanced at Zane and looked back to Alex. “Would you like me to contact the station and tell them your situation? Will you need to leave?”

Alex was friends with Daniel, but they weren’t close. Alex looked down at Zane, who seemed to be taking everything in, unsure of what to say and do. Grant had told him Mia had no one. Alex knew from his own info that she was a single mother. He should really stay out of everything, but as his eyes locked with big, innocent, brown ones he knew he had to help. “Yeah, I’d appreciate that. I’ll call when I get a chance. I’ll come in to give my statement as soon as I can get my parents to look after Zane and I know Mia is doing okay.”

“Sure. Look after your girl…argh, woman, and I’ll be waiting when you’re ready.”

Smothering his groan at Daniel’s comment about Mia being a girl, Alex walked over to John and sat Zane down in the back of the ambulance. “Buddy, I need you to go with John. I don’t have a seat in the patrol car for you.” Zane looked terrified, and Alex moaned, he knew he couldn’t leave him. “Fine. Let me go give my keys to the other officer and call work. I’ll be right back.” Zane gave a shy smile, and he wandered back over to Daniel.