Folding Hearts (5 page)

I slid over to hide again and I tried to control my breathing and shaking. The door opened and shut and I could hear laughing coming from inside. Since I had been in the trailer many times, I knew exactly where each room was located.

I walked right in the door, without anyone even noticing I was back. There was nobody else in the
house
, which made it easy to follow the moaning to one of the bedrooms. The door was closed, but I took my boot and kicked the sucker in.

“Miranda? What the fuck?”

Before I even knew what I was doing, I pounced
on that little bitch. I grabbed her by her hair and punched her in
the face three times before I felt Tucker ripping me off of her. She lay there in her skimpy little bra backing away from me, while I fought to get free.

“Get off of me you
lyin
’
sack of shit!” I kicked and I screamed, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Calm the hell down Miranda
,
” Tucker demanded.

“Screw you. How could you? How could you do this to me?” I cried.

He pulled me into his chest and I started punching him with both hands. “You need to leave
so I can talk to her right now,” h
e said to the other girl. I tried to fight my
way free to attack her again, bu
t he made sure to hold me tight.

“Get off of m
e Tucker.”

“Sit down and shut up Miranda. You weren’t supposed to be here tonight, so don’t you dare get all pissy with me. I was just tryin’ to have
a
good time.”He was drunk. I could smell the liquor on his breath and hear it in his voice.

“So you are admitting that you cheated?”
Please don’t cry. Please don’t cry.

“We just aren’t going to work out Miranda. W
e don’t want the same things,” h
e confessed while standing over me.

“How could you say that? We have a baby.
How
could
you not love her?” His words crushed me.

“
Honestly
, I asked you to get an abortion. You knew I didn’t want a kid.” He shook his head and let out a laugh. “I am glad you caught me tonight, because I am just sick of hearing you bitch at me
every day
. There ain
’
t no bitch in this world that is going to tie me down.”

I stood up, causing him to back away. He knew what he said and what those words did to me. I clenched my fists. “You can’t mean this. You can’t regret her.”

“Dammit girl. Are your ears clogged? Just get your shit and get out of here.”

I don’t know what came over me, but anger filled my lungs. I pointed my fingers in his face and backed him up against the wall. “You will never see my daughter again. If you come near me or my family I will fucking kill you myself.”

“Don’t you threaten me. I will take that little girl away and you will never see her again.”

Oh Hell no!

I grabbed my phone and hit the red emergency button while hitting the speaker button.

“Nine one one what is your emergency?”

“Yes, I know where you can
find Tuc….” My phone went flying
across the room and the battery popped out.

“Get out of here now, before I do somethin’ I swore I would never do to a woman.” He threatened.

“What? You goin’ to hit me? Go ahead and give me another reason to turn your ass in. I dare you!”

His eyes were big and they b
ore into me, but he said nothing
.

“That’s what I thought you
lyin
’
, no good cheater. Stay away from me, or you will be sorry.”

Charlie and Nick ran past
me
as I was walking out the front door. My phone was in pieces in my hand, but I managed to pull out my keys and drag them from the front of his black shiny car all the way to the trunk. A small smile covered my face, even as the tears poured out.

I had been such a fool. I fel
l too fast. So much for true love and bein
g
a family. My little girl would never know her daddy and it was all my fault.

I was reluctant to go home at all, but I had nowhere else to go. My aunt and mother had gone to some spa for the weekend
,
so I was alone in the house with Lucy and now Ty. After looking at the clock I noticed it was pretty late. Everyone would be asleep and I could just sneak in without having to explain how my life was a total mess.

I drove slow up the driveway and tiptoed into the house. I noticed the television was still on. Even as I tried to sneak past, I couldn’t help but notice what I saw. My hand went over my mouth as I saw Ty lying there with Bella asleep on his chest.

Why couldn’t Tucker want this? How could someone with no relation love my child this much and not her own father. I sank to the floor in front of the sleeping pair and started balling my eyes out. I tried to be quiet
, but between the sobs and the sniffles, I must have woke Ty up.

His hands first went to Bella to make sure she was safely on his chest, then he turned to look at me.

Chapter 6

Ty

I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until
I heard Miranda crying. She was sitting on the floor next to the couch. “Hey”, I whispered.

It was hard to sit up with a sleeping baby on my chest. The moment I moved she woke up. She started to cry, but I grabbed her pacifier and calmed her enough to sit up. Miranda shook her head and went to get Izzy a bottle. I followed her into the kitchen and handed her Izzy when she finally had the bottle ready. While she walked her daughter to the nursery, I waited in the kitchen.

I grabbed us two glasses and found some whiskey. After adding some coke to each glass, Miranda came walking in. “I hope this is strong
,
”
s
he said before taking a giant gulp. Her face was red and she still had tears falling from her eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

“Not with you Ty
,
”
s
he said rudely.

I set my glass down and
reached
my arm out to her, but she backed away. “Seriously, just don’t. I can’t deal with another guy like him tonight.”

Like Him? “
Look, I don’t know what happened, but I am nothing like Tucker.”

She shook her head and gave me a dirty look. “Oh really? You don’t fuck girls for fun, no matter who you hurt? You don’t sit there
thinkin
’
with your dick instead of
worryin
’ about
your future?”

I swallow
ed the lump that was now in my
throat preventing me to speak. “I was a fool
,
” I said into my drink.

“That’s what I thought.” She shook her head and leaned against the counter. Her sobs got louder. “Why couldn’t he want us? She doesn’t deserve this. None of this is her fault.”

I knew that she was referring to Izzy and it pissed me off immediately. “What happened?”

“He said he never wanted her. Can you believe that? Who says something like that?” Her
cries
became worse and she covered her face with her hands. “I just can’t believe this. Everything is messed up. How am I going to raise her alone?”

I walked behind her and rubbed her shoulders, in the most non-sexual way possible. “You are not alone Miranda. This family would never let you be.
We all love that little girl. Don’t ever think that.”

She didn’t pull away from me. “Tell me why Ty?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you have to cheat? Why can’t you be happy with one person? Is this just something all guys do?”

I wanted to tell her it was, but she and I both knew one person who would never do it. Damn Colt had to be the proof she needed. She just wanted to hear me confess to being an asshole, like somehow it would make her situation feel better. “No, not all guys do it. I can’t tell you why. I guess it is different for everyone.”

“So why did you do it?”

I was standing behind her, leaning against the fridge. She wouldn’t turn around to face me and that was okay with me considering her question. “
For the longest time I wondered about that, but after months of being without Van I came to realize it was never about her. I loved her, but she was never the right girl for me. Hell, in one weekend she gave Colt more than she ever gave me. I guess part of me did
it for the attention. Van was always so sweet and innocent. Every time we did something she would freak out like we were going to get into trouble. As we got older she was better, but she never really was comfortable. Now that I know some of the things she has done with our cousin, I know it was
n’t
me holding her back. I just wasn’t the right person for her
either
.” I shook my head realizing how much I had said.

She turned around and handed me the empty glass. “Can I have some more?”

I refilled both of our glasses and turned back around to face her. “She
wasn’t
even pretty.”

“Who?” I asked.

“The redhead he was hookin’ up with tonight. Does that make me ugly too? Maybe he has low standards.”

I reached over and p
ut my hands on both of her shoulders. “Miranda, you are sexy as shit. He is a fucking idiot for taking you for granted.”

She pulled back and rolled her eyes, while putting the glass to her mouth. “That’s real funny coming out of your mouth. How many girls have you slept with now? Thirty? Fifty? One hundred?”

Did she really think that?
“You aren’t even close.”

“Oh my God, it’s more?”

“No! What the fuck? Do you really think that highly of me? Damn.” I shook my head and finished off my second drink.

“Sorry, I just assumed it was a bunch of people.”

“I was faithful to Van the first couple of years. She was everything, but girls kept tempting me, offering to do things that she would never do. One night I caved and after I got away with it, I continued to do it. I cheated with the same two girls in high school, then in college it was four more. Oh and one time I visited
Colt and hooked up with some random
chick here.”
Holy shit, I had never told someone that.

I expected Miranda to be mean, but instead she started laughing.
“What is so funny?”

She shook her head and continued to laugh. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You can’t do that then not tell me why. Spill.”

“No, you will think I am a whore. I ain
’
t sayin’ nothin’.”

“Fine. Just so you know, I never told anyone that. Not even Van.” I put my glass in the sink and drank from the whiskey bottle. Van was going to find out the truth and hate me more now. I knew how close she was with Miranda.

“Don’t do that.” She said grabbing the bottle away from me.

“Hey, give it back.” I tried to grab the bottle but somehow got my arm caught up around her waist. When our faces almost touched, we froze.

She was so close. I could still smell her sweet perfume. Her eyes were a mess and all of the makeup had run down her cheeks. “I should probably call it a night
,
” She said as she handed me back the bottle and walked out of the kitchen.

I had no idea why she wouldn’t tell me what was so funny. I wanted to know. Without thinking, I followed behind her, hoping she would explain. She must not have heard me coming, because she was
already starting to pull off her tank top when I walked into her room. When the door creaked she spun around and I just stood there.

Her hands naturally covered up the lace of her bra. “Ty? Get out of here? What the Hell?”

I turned around as quickly as possible. “Sorry, I came up to talk to you. I don’t see what the big deal is. I have seen my share of breasts.”
None of them looked at good as that though.

“You can turn around now pervert.”

I spun around to see she had changed into a long t-shirt. I sighed in relief. “I
wasn’t
being a pervert. I was trying to be a friend.”

“You really should just go into your own room now Ty. Right now I hate every man on the planet. I wouldn’t be good company.” She confessed.

“Miranda I don’t think you understand my intentions. I was there for Izzy’s birth.”

“Bella.” She interrupted.

“Izzy is my name for her. Just let me finish.” I smiled at her disappointment.
“
I watched her being born. Something that day made me fall in love with that little girl. I can’t explain it, but I feel like
I always want to keep her safe. If Tucker did something to her mother, then I want to know about it. I know you think you need him in your life, but that bastard doesn’t deserve either of you.”