Her Lucky Love (5 page)

Brayden came up behind her and let her rest against his chest as she tried to breathe.

“A gnome?” she asked, barely able to comprehend.

Rina nodded, but didn’t say anything more as Rachel, Allison’s co-worker, walked in.

“What’s wrong, guys?” Rachel asked as she took off her coat.

Allison stood up, Brayden on her heels, his hand in the small of her back. Rachel’s eyes glanced toward the gesture, and a smirk crossed her face.

Great, that news would be around town in ten minutes. Whatever. Who cared about gossip when her babies could be in danger?

“I need to go pick up my kids. Can you cover my shift?”

Rachel’s eyebrows rose at the suggestion. Usually, Allison would never leave her shift when she so desperately needed the money, but this wasn’t a normal case.

Rachel shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”

“Thank you,” Allison said as she ran to the back and grabbed her things.

They hurried to the parking lot, and Rina touched her arm. “Get your kids and go home. I’ll meet you there, okay?”

Allison nodded, and Brayden rubbed small circles in her back. God, she needed his strength right now. As much as she wanted to be super-mom and do everything on her own, she knew when to stop worrying by herself and ask for help.

They climbed into Brayden’s truck, and she wrung her hands. “You need to be at work, Bray.”

He looked at her as though she’d gone crazy and grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I have guys to run it for me. You and those kids are more important.”

Yes, she loved this man.

He cleared his throat and took his hand back. She held back a sigh at the loss of contact.

Damn it.

“When I told Justin a little of what was going on, he pulled your kids out of class so they’re hanging out in his office with him. They’re not alone, Ally, okay?”

She nodded, instantly relieved even though she needed to see them to be sure.

When they pulled in and got to Justin’s office, her kids ran up to her, confused.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Aiden asked.

“We just need to take you home, okay?”

Oh, God, how was she going to explain this to them?

Justin gave them a look, but Brayden shook his head. “I can explain later,” he said, and Justin nodded.

She bundled her babies up, and Brayden drove them to her apartment. Rina sat in her car in the parking lot and joined them in Allison’s too-small living room.

Her kids looked scared, confused, and lost. Lacy climbed up into Brayden’s lap and curled into a ball as he ran a hand through her hair and down her back. Allison sank into the couch next to him as her boys sat on either side of them, their fear adding to hers.

Rina sat in the chair across from them and tried to smile.

“What happened, Mom?” Aiden asked.

As much as she wanted to lie and tell them nothing, she knew the more knowledge they had, the safer they’d be. Even if it would scare them.

“A man came into the diner today,” she began. “Remember when Daddy told you about his family and how things were different with them?”

And, boy, howdy, were they different.

They nodded, and Aiden snuggled into her side.

“You know how I’m an elf, guys, right?” Rina said into the silence, and Allison was grateful. She honestly didn’t know how to start.

“You work for Santa,” Lacy said, a smile on her face.

Rina grinned back and nodded. “Yep, I work for Santa. I know you know elves are real, but we’re not the only beings with pointy ears.”

Allison tensed, and Brayden patted her thigh. She tried to ignore the warmth that spread through her at his touch. This wasn’t exactly the perfect time to entertain those thoughts.

“You see, we elves have cousins called gnomes,” Rina continued.

The kids gasped, and Allison shot a look at Brayden. Was this really happening? Allison caught Rina’s glance, and she knew there was more to the story than what Rina was saying, but couldn’t reveal in front of the kids.

“Like the one with the red hat?” Cameron asked.

Rina grinned. “Sort of. The thing is, gnomes look just like humans except they have pointed ears like elves and aren’t as short as elves. They also can have black eyes if they do darker magic, but like elves, can hide their appearance. Ally, you wouldn’t have seen Greg in his natural state if he hadn’t wanted you to see it. They also have magic, but only full-blooded gnomes have pure magic.”

Allison held her breath. Her babies didn’t look like what Rina described. She’d seen every part of them and had wiped their little butts and cleaned their runny noses. She would have noticed something like a pointy ear or magic.

They were only half-blooded. That had to count for something.

“What does this have to do with why you took us out of school, Mom? And why were you talking about Dad’s family?” Aiden asked, his eyes cloudy with confusion.

Allison squeezed Aiden’s hand and turned so she could see her other two children. “Because apparently your father was a gnome.”

Lacy’s eyes filled, and Brayden squeezed her close as Cameron shifted so he too sat on Brayden’s lap. Aiden tapped her on the shoulder and blinked.

“But…but he never said anything,” her eldest son stuttered.

“I know, baby. I don’t understand either, but his brother came into the diner today, and Rina recognized him as a gnome.”

“I don’t want to be a gnome,” Cameron said as he patted Lacy’s back.

“We’re only half gnomes,” Aiden corrected and laid his head on Allison’s shoulder.

“That means you probably won’t have the pointy ears or magic,” Rina reassured. “We won’t know until puberty, but I don’t think it will be a problem.”

“But, we’re different,” Aiden stated.

“So? We’re all different,” Brayden said as he soothed Lacy’s tears. “Who wants to be like anyone else? And no matter what, you still have your mom. And me. And all of the Coopers.”

Cameron nodded and leaned into his hold.

Thank God Brayden was there.

She’d found herself saying that a lot lately.

“Wait, why was Dad’s brother here?” Aiden asked after Lacy had calmed down. “I thought they weren’t nice people and we should stay away.”

Allison gave a small smile and tried to look reassuring. “I know. That’s why we pulled you out of school. The man’s name is David, and he’s your father’s twin.” She looked at her children as they absorbed that tidbit of information. “If you see a man that looks like your dad, you run, okay? He’s not a nice man.”

It hurt her to say things like that, to bring fear into her children’s lives. Greg’s family wasn’t to be messed with, not when his brother had so blatantly told her he was there for her kids.

“Why would Daddy’s family want to hurt us?” Lacy asked.

Allison swallowed hard. Damn Greg and his family for bringing this into her family. “I don’t know, pumpkin. Sometimes people don’t do nice things, but no matter what, you have to remember that I will always be here for you. I won’t let them take you.”

“Take us?” Cameron asked.

She silently cursed herself for letting that slip, but it was important that they knew not to go anywhere with their…uncle. God, she hated the fact that he was of their blood.

“I want you three to be careful and stick together. I can’t keep you from school for long, but until we make a plan, I don’t want you three alone.”

She knew she hadn’t answered the question, but it was the best she could do.

“I know it’s scary, but you’re not alone,” Brayden reassured, and she fell that much more in love with him.

Greg’s family wanted her children, but they weren’t going to get them. She might only have a high school education, but she had a job, and her kids had a roof over her head. They couldn’t take away her babies without a fight.

Legally, she didn’t even think they had a case, but in terms of magical beings, she didn’t think that was an issue. If the gnomes planned anything to harm her children, they’d have to come through her.

The kids went to the other room and Rina sat across from her, a frown on her face. “Ally, I don’t know exactly what happened in your marriage, but he could have made you stay against your will. Do you understand that? It wasn’t your fault.”

Her vision blackened at the words.

No, she couldn’t think about that. Not yet.

She needed to think of her children.

Her gaze met Brayden’s, and he gave her a nod.

And she wouldn’t be alone. No, she had someone to stand by her side, at least for a little while.

Together, maybe they had a chance.

Chapter 4

Allison woke as tension filled her body. Something was off. It was still dark outside, and she looked at the clock, realizing she’d been asleep for only an hour.

After Rina had explained a bit more about elves and gnomes, she’d left so she could tell the Coopers what was going on and to keep everyone updated. Brayden had stayed for the rest of the day, completely ignoring his responsibilities, and ate dinner with them. When he would have stayed and slept on her very small couch, she forced him to leave.

Tyler, the town sheriff, had promised to have his deputies drive by every hour, and she had the windows and doors locked. She knew it wasn’t the safest place, but she couldn’t keep Brayden away from his life and in her tiny apartment forever.

Even if she wanted to.

Well then, she needed to stop thinking about what she felt about them because it wasn’t as important as her children’s safety.

She could be a woman later; she had to be a mom now.

That tension increased along her spine, and she sat up in her bed, trying to listen for any off sound. She could hear only the clock ticking in the kitchen, the slight sound of Cameron’s snoring, and the wind as it brushed against the windows.

Something wasn’t right. Call it a mom thing, but she couldn’t sleep not knowing what had woken her up.

Allison crept out of bed, grabbing her cell phone in the process. Hopefully, it was just her hyper-aware nerves playing tricks on her senses and not someone trying to get into her home.

She shuddered at the thought.

The apartment had cooled down as the sun had set, and she cursed her flaky landlord and his lack of repair skills. The heat may have been on, but it wasn’t doing its job. Thankfully, she owned numerous blankets and quilts to keep them all warm, but it was getting ridiculous.

She knew she was thinking about other things rather than what could be happening as a defense mechanism, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want there to be anything wrong.

Allison looked into her kids’ room and saw only her sleeping babies, nothing else. Relief slid through her even as she told herself not to get her hopes up.

She tiptoed to the living room and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary there, or in her small kitchen.

Maybe it was just in her mind.

Allison walked past the front door, made sure it was locked, and started back to her room. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, and the door crashed open behind her. She turned on her heel, arms raised as the moon shined on David as he raised a knife and slashed through her forearm.

She screamed in pain, clutching her arm, and fell to the ground when he pushed her. Blood poured from the wound as she bit her tongue trying not to cry. Every breath tore at her skin, sending glass shards of pain through her.

“I told you I’d come for them.”

“You can’t have my children,” she said, her voice sounding firmer than she expected.

“I don’t really care what you think you can do.” He started toward the bedroom, and she kicked out, tripping him.

He lashed out, hitting her twice as hard.

Allison screamed, feeling along the floor to where she’d dropped her phone then dialed 911. She sat up, her body aching. Before she could speak, David pulled at her leg, spilling her back onto the floor with a crash, her head thumping painfully. She swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat as he slapped at her, over and over again.

She shielded her face and held her arm. If he kept his attention on her, then he wouldn’t be near her kids. Hopefully her kids would run. That’s what she had told them to do.

“Get off my mom!” Cameron yelled as he jumped on David’s back.

Allison’s heart fell down to her stomach at the sight of David throwing Cameron against the wall, her little baby slumping to the floor and cradling his arm as tears ran down his cheeks.

“Cameron!” she yelled as she staggered to her feet. Blood streamed from her arm, and her body ached in every place David had hit her, but she barely felt it. Her baby was hurt, and this bastard deserved to die.

Sirens echoed through her apartment as the police grew close. David cursed and slapped her again, knocking her into the couch as she went to Cameron’s side. David ran out the door, leaving them alone as the adrenaline pulsed through her system.

“Mom?” Aiden called as he hurried toward them, Lacy clutched to his side.

“Come here.”

Lacy knelt beside Cameron, her cheeks wet with tears and her eyes wide.

Cameron was pale, and he couldn’t stop crying. She looked at his arm and wanted to throw up. It was bent at an odd angle and had to hurt even more than the cut on hers.

“Baby?”

“Mommy, it hurts,” he cried, and she wanted to find David and kill him. Slowly. Nobody hurt her babies.

“Allison?” Tyler called from the doorway. “Dear God.” He called over his shoulder for the paramedics as cops filled her apartment.

“He’s gone,” she whispered, her voice not strong enough to talk any louder.

She hadn’t thought it was real, not really. Yes, she’d taken the threat to her children’s safety seriously, but deep down, she had hoped David was all bark, no bite.

Oh, how she’d been wrong.

Tyler kneeled down. “I’ll take care of it. We’re going to take care of you. As for the reports, we can leave things out, okay?”

She knew he was saying that for the benefit of the children when, at any other time, talk of reports when she was bleeding and her son’s arm was broken wouldn’t have been the best time. There were some things, like magical beings, that couldn’t go in reports.