Folding Hearts (13 page)

Izzy gave
a mean look and her face turned red. “Go!” She said.

I looked at Miranda. “Has she ever said that before?”

“Not that I heard. Every day she says more and more.”

I was so happy to see that little girl on the horse I had made her. It didn’t matter how depressing my life was, because the moment I saw her my mood changed. I loved that kid. She had me wrapped around her little finger. “I know this is off topic, but how long are you staying?”

“Tryin’ to get rid of us already?”

“No! You can stay as long as you want. You are sa
fe here. I won’t let anything
happen to either of you. I promise.” I meant it too. There was no way in hell I would let anyone hurt them.

Chapter 13

Miranda

I guess I should have gone
to the farmhouse before heading
straight to the carriage house. I thought my mother had expl
ained that the place was sitting there waiting
for us to arrive. I had no idea it was where Ty had
been residing
. I think we were both just a
s
shocked to see each other when I opened that door. I mean, how could I have ever imagined that he would be havin’ some kind of freaky threesome with two girls?

I didn’t know whether to turn back around and get in my car to drive home, or just sit in it and
wait until he was finished doing
whatever he had planned for the night. I didn’t want to be some party crasher, but I had a little girl that
was completely miserable, crying
in my arms. As embarrassed as I felt, I couldn’t leave.

Ty insisted that it wasn’t what it looked like, but what else cou
ld it have been? He was standing
there with two almost naked girls.
I didn’t even know what to say to him, and he appeared to be just as
speechless. After what seemed like twenty seconds, he turned to the girls and told them to leave. I didn’t appreciate the look I got from either of them as they exited.

Apparently
,
he had been busy at work and not gotten his messages from his mother stating that Bella and I would be stayin
g
w
ith them. I felt bad for barging
in, but we had nowhere else to go. After being there for ten minutes, Ty dismissed the earlier events and threw himself into entertaining Bella.

When I saw that horse that he had made himself, I felt like crying. He had put so much work into that thing. The details were insane and I was sure it had taken a long time for him to do.

Bella fell in love with it, and cried when he picked her back up and sat her in front of her food. She kept pointing down at the wooden rocking horse as she cried with a mouthful of food. I think between the long ride and her being hungry, she was just in a really
foul
mood.

When
I realized that she was wasting
more food than she was eating, I cleaned her off and let her play with her new toy. Ty cleared my plate, but quickly made a beeline for the floor where Bella sat. He slid the horse around the carpet while she held on and giggled. It was so funny seeing the two of them together. Colt and my brother were the only two men that she saw on a day to day basis, and Bella always seemed shy around other men, well except for Ty. Obviously it didn’t matter how long of a time period the two of them spent apart, she always went to him with welcome arms.

Watchin
g
the two of them play made me feel happy. Our ride here was horrible and she had gotten herself so worked up. I half expected her to have fallen asleep by now, but she was having too good of a time to do somethin
g
like that. Ty was so amazed by the way she was walkin
g
around by herself. He walked around the room grabbin
g
everything within her reach after she grabbed the cord to his Xbox and sent it flying across the room.
I wanted to laugh, but his face looked like his best friend had been killed. I thought he would be angry, but he smiled as he moved it up to where she couldn’t reach and went back to playin
g
with her again.

Finally, she started yawning an awful lot. I knew she was ready
for bed because she was grabbing
for her ninny and layin
g
her head down in random places. Ty thought it was cute and took a dozen pictures of her doing it
with my new phone
.

When he finally sat down on the couch, she climbed on to his lap and fell fast asleep. “I have no idea how she remembers you and takes to you every time you are around.”

He played with one of her long curls. “I was the first guy she ever met. She probably jus
t can’t forget my handsome face,
” He teased.

I let out a little laugh. “I don’t think she thought you were handsome, in fact I am pretty sure she has no idea what that even means.”

“Are you mad that she loves me so much, like are you jealous?” He took his leg and kicked me so that I would look at his snarky grin.

“No, I am not jealous that she loves you.
Obviously
she does.”

“I think s
he really like
s
the horse.”

“I still can’t believe you made that for her. It is so perfect. If you would have come to her
birthday party, nobody else’s presents would have been appreciated. She loves it!”

“Thanks. I spent a bunch of nights working on it. I couldn’t wait to give it to her. I am sorry I didn’t make it. I had just started my new job and I couldn’t take the time off.”

“I hope that was the reason.” I put my head down and couldn’t look at him. I had left things badly with Ty and I had a feeling that he was avoidin
g
me the past few months as a reaction to how I had been.

“I have to be honest. I didn’t understand why you stopped talking to me so much. I mean, we were really good friends and then you just stopped talking to me. I know lately things have been better
between us
, but what happened? Did I do something to make you mad?”

I shook my head, but refused to answer him. I had just arrived at his
family’s
farm. I wasn’t ready to tell him the real reason I backed off of our friendship.

Bella was fast asleep against Ty’s chest. He noticed me looking and smiled when he saw she was
asleep
. “Looks like I still have the magic touch.”

“I guess so,
” I said as I grabbed her gently and carried her into the bedroom. Ty followed behind me and at first I assumed that it was going to turn into s
omething, but he started picking
up
the room and removing
things within her reach.

“There are some extra pillows in the closet if you want to put them around the be
d. I don’t want her to roll off,” h
e whispered.

I grabbed the pillows and positioned them around my daughter. “If she wakes up she will just climb out of bed an
d find me. She has been sleeping
with me a lot lately.”

We walked out into the livin
g
room and I slowed my pace when I realized that for the first time in a long time, Ty and I were completely alone together.
H
e must have g
ot the same feeling
, because he quickly walked into
the kitchen and started cleaning
the counter off.

I sat down at the breakfast bar and p
layed with my fingers, trying
not to make eye contact. It
wasn’t
like Ty was still wearing
just a towel, but the t-shirt he did have on hugged his arms and every time he moved his muscles would flex.

“Did you get a new tattoo on your arm?” I asked as I noticed one peeking out from his sleeve.

“Yeah, it’s just a tribal design with my last name in it. I didn’t want anything like Colt has. That one on his back is giant.”

“I have a couple. My newest one is Bella’s name.”

Don’t ask where it is…

“I want to see it.”

Of course he would. I should have just not said anything. I climbed off of the stool and took a deep breath as I lifted up my shirt to reveal my hip and abdomen. In fancy letters surrounded by hearts was the name Bella.

I don’t know why I was being so shy. This guy had seen parts of me that I didn’t even want to k
now, but for some reason showin
g
him seemed so much more of an intimate thing.

“That looks awesome
! I like where you put it too.”

“Thanks Ty. So are you sure it is okay if we stay here for a while? I mean they say just a few weeks and I can probably head home.”

“Stay as long as
you want. Tomorrow I will move
some of my things back into my parents and be out of your hair.” He looked away from me when he said it.

“Bella likes it when you are around.” I admitted.

“God, I really miss her.” He leaned against the countertop. “I miss you both.”

I wondered if he was being honest.
Didn’t he say the same things to Van?

I smiled but didn’t answer.

“Miranda, I need to talk to you about what happened. I need to talk to you about that night.”

I couldn’t talk about it. I never should have gone out to that parking lot with Tucker. I should have never assumed that he wouldn’t hurt me. I put myself in danger and I was tired of everyone telling me about it. I was here now because of that loser. There
was no need
for constant reminders. “Let’s not rehash the past Ty. Let’s just never talk about it again. It was a mistake. I know that now.

Ty scrunched up his face and seemed upset by my words. I didn’t understand why he would want to talk about it anymore. Because of that night, he was forced to come home and our friendship had really taken a toll over it.

“So, do you have any plans for t
his weekend?” he asked, changing
the subject.

“No, this all just happened. I didn’t have time to plan for anything. Honestly, I don’t even know what there is to do in this town.”

“Well, aside from parties, and late night bonfires, there ain’t much, but for a kid, there are a few things. Down the road is a petting zoo. If the weather lets up we could take her tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to keep us company Ty. I don’t want to interfere in your life here.”

“I was offering to take you and the little girl I am crazy about out. You aren’t interfering. In fact, I don’t really do much anymore. I work a lot and I am tired when I get home at night. My friends are all settling down and getting serious and the few that aren’t party too much for even me.”

I
watched him walk into the living
room and sit on the couch. He patted the seat next to him for me to sit. Luckily he patted it far enough away that I sat a whole c
ushion away from him. “I think t
hat Bella would love to see the animals. Thanks for everything. It’s been a hard couple of days.”

“Don’t thank me.
I know you think you are imposing, but I couldn’t be happier that you are here. I really did miss you. Hell, I can’t believe they suggested you come here. Conner really seemed to be wedging himself between us last time I visited. I mean, I told him we were just friends and he had nothing to worry about.”

I don’t know why I ever thought there had been something between us. He was always a good friend to me. What he did with other girls was his business. He cared about my daughter more than he neede
d to and I could only be grateful to
him for that.

Chapter 14

Ty

I still couldn’t
believe
they were here, in my house, spending the night. Izzy had gotten so big. She loved her birthday present and I couldn’t have been happier about that. My mother would really get a kick out of that little girl when she saw them in the morning. The last time she had seen her was when she was first born, but I had shown her pictures every time I got new ones. It was funny that her pictures were the only ones in my wallet. In fact, the last time I used my credit card someone commented that I had a cute kid. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that she wasn’t mine, so I just agreed with what they said. It was so cool to see her walking around on her own, getting into things and laughing while she did it.

Miranda looked exhausted. I knew what kind of stress Tucker had put on her in the past, but threatening her was the mos
t evil thing
a guy could do to the mother of his child. Saying things like that about his own child was just unacceptable. I would like to hunt him down and beat the shit out of him for doing that.