Playing with Fire (22 page)

“Oh.”

Trent rubbed her knee under the table.
“It’s fine. The last thing you need is to have to deal with another
jerk so I’m good just ignoring him.”

Noelle looked over to where his
parents were sitting. “Does he come to these a lot?”

Trent shook his head. “No. Actually
this is the first time I’ve seen him in over a year. Honestly, I’d
be fine to go another few years without crossing paths with
him.”

Noelle nodded in understanding and
they changed topics. A short time later, the food was cleared and
the music started. Trent leaned against the table and nestled
Noelle in front of him. They laughed as the children began dancing,
trying to show their best moves to impress the crowd.

When the song changed, the women took
over the makeshift dance floor and his Tia Lita came toward
them.

She held out her hand to Noelle. “Come
with me. My nephew here may be content to sit on the sides and
watch, but I see you tapping your foot. Let’s dance!”

Noelle shook her head and waved his
Tia away. “Oh no. I don’t dance. I’ll just watch.”

Lita laughed and pulled on her arm.
“Nonsense. I’ll teach you.”

Noelle gave him a look over her
shoulder as she was thrust into the group and they all
simultaneously tried showing her how to shake and sway. Within a
few moments she was keeping good rhythm with the beat and his Tio
Guillermo jumped in to twirl her around.

As twilight darkened the sky, someone
turned on the strings of white Christmas lights that zigzagged
overhead, encompassing most of the yard. The lights shined off
Noelle, making her seem even more angelic.

Trent tensed when his grandmother took
a seat next to him. For a few moments they sat in silence. Finally
she spoke. “Ella esta bien.”

Trent smiled. “She’s better than just
alright. She’s the one, Abuelita.”

“Si? Es verdad?”

He nodded. “Yes, it’s true. I’ve
finally met the woman I want to marry. I wish you would accept
her.”

He turned his head as his grandmother
took his hand and patted it. She used her other hand to cup his
cheek and stared into his face. “If you truly believe that, if you
truly love her, than I will love her. Even if she’s a gringa. Maybe
I teach her to speak Spanish, cook like I cook. Then she’ll be even
better.”

Trent laughed and kissed his
grandmother soundly. “I’ll take that as an approval from you.
Gracias Abuelita!”

His grandmother laughed and waved him
away. “Anything for you, mi amor.”

Trent joined the crowd of dancers and
cut in between his Tio and Noelle. Everyone cheered as the music
changed to ballad and he dipped her like she was Ginger and he was
Fred.

Noelle rested her head on his shoulder
as they swayed back and forth. “Today was a lot of fun. New friends
and good food. I need more days like today.”

Trent smiled. “I think I can make that
happen.”

Noelle smiled up at him and he kissed
her, long and slow. He didn’t even care that his family was making
cat calls and whistling at them.

Noelle pulled back with a blush. “Oh
geez, hopefully this doesn’t make your grandmother hate
me!”

Trent pointed to where his abuelita
stood. Her huge grin warmed his heart. “She told me that she can
see how much I love you and so she will love you too.”

Noelle slowed their pace and stared at
him. “Do you want to say it again?”

Trent rested his forehead against hers
and whispered, “I love you. With everything in me I love you and I
swear I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and
happy.”

Her eyes gleamed as tears formed in
the corners. He gently wiped at a tear as it slid over her lashes.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Noelle smiled and shook her head.
“It’s okay. It’s just that I never thought someone would say that
to me and really mean it. I love you too.”

Trent kissed her again. “You know what
this means don’t you?”

Noelle’s brow arched as she eyed him.
“That I’m stuck with you?”

Trent beamed even more. “Oh yeah. And
you’re gonna love every second of it.”

Noelle cocked her shoulder and rolled
her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Trent dripped her low again. “We’ll
see about that.”

Noelle came up laughing and hugged his
neck tightly as the song ended and everyone clapped. Trent nuzzled
her ear, “I think now is a good time to head home, don’t
you?”

Trent tried to rush through the
goodbyes to most everyone as fast as he could as they made their
way back to his car. And he almost made a quick escape.
Almost.

“Mijo, wait.”

Trent closed Noelle’s door and turned
to see his mother hurrying over to him. His father hung back,
propping himself against the front corner of the house.

His mother reached his side and took
his hand. “Why don’t you at least say goodbye to your father. He
really is trying. He’s even stopped drinking.”

Trent rolled his eyes. “For how long
this time? Mom, I don’t want anything to do with him.”

She gave him a stern look and put her
hands on her hips. “Well, you’re going to have to deal with him.
He’s asked me to marry him again.”

Trent swore under his breath. “And you
said yes?”

She threw up her arms. “Of course I
did. He’s the love of my life. Why wouldn’t I?”

Trent shrugged. “Oh, I
don’t know. Should I start naming all the women he’s cheated on you
with? Or how about the times you had to go bail him out of jail?
Need I remind of all the times the cops
weren’t
called?”

His mother sucked in her breath and
flinched as if he’d struck her. “Trent Torres, why do you have to
ruin this for me?”

Trent shook his head. “I’m not doing
anything but saying the truth. I will not sit back and watch you
continue to put yourself in a bad situation anymore. I can’t keep
coming to your aid every time things fall apart.”

“I’m not asking you to come to my
aid.”

“Yet. You haven’t asked yet. But in a
few days or weeks you’ll be calling and crying. This time I won’t
come rushing over. I can’t keep living like this. I should be
allowed to focus on my own happiness and not have to see to
yours.”

Trent shook his head again. His mother
stood silently sniffling. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched
his father stay put, never once coming to defend himself. His
father had always let his mother fight the battles for
him.

Noelle’s door opened and she got out
and came to Trent’s side. “Go get in the car. Maybe I can talk to
her.”

Trent stared at Noelle for a moment
until she motioned toward the car with the turning of her head. He
raised his hands in surrender. “Alright.”

He kissed his mother’s cheek, but said
nothing more to her, afraid of what else he would say while he was
so agitated by her announcement.

He got behind the steering wheel and
leaned against it, watching Noelle and his mother. He didn’t know
what was being said, but something about the way Noelle hugged his
mother told him she was getting through.

Trent decided that tomorrow, on the
way home from work, he’d be stopping off at the jeweler. He may
have done a lot of dumb things in his past, but he was smart enough
to know the sooner he married this woman the better.

Noelle waited until she heard Trent’s
car door close before she turned to address his mother. “Please
don’t be mad at Trent. He’s trying to protect you.”

His mother eyed her for a moment.
“What has he told you? Sometimes he can make things seem worse than
they really were.”

Noelle shook her head. “He didn’t have
to say much. And I know how things really can be. I’m here today
because I was running for my life from an abusive man. I know how
it can be.”

Noelle watched as Rosa’s shoulder
slumped. “I want to believe him. He really has stopped going to the
bar and he isn’t drinking at home. People change,
right?”

Noelle slowly nodded. “Sometimes, yeah
they can. But sometimes the thing that needs to change is us and
how we see things. I know it took a lot of years for me to see I
deserved so much more than how I was being treated. Trent treats me
like I matter, like I’m the most important thing in his universe.
He wants you to have that too.”

Rosa looked over her shoulder to where
Trent’s father leaned against the house. She turned back to Noelle
and shrugged slightly. “Maybe this is the right time for
us?”

Noelle didn’t know enough about the
situation with Rosa and her husband and she wasn’t about to let her
experience with Lenny cloud her judgment or advice. “You have to do
what you feel is right in your heart. But please listen to your
head too.”

Rosa nodded. “I will. Do you think
Trent is serious?”

Noelle nodded. “I know he is. I can’t
speak for him on his reasoning, but I know what my family and
friends thought about my ex. I didn’t want to listen or hear it and
then I didn’t want to deal with the ‘I told you so’. But sometimes
our loved ones can see the bigger picture.”

Rosa wiped at a tear. “I just want to
be happy. I want everyone to be happy for me.”

Noelle rubbed Rosa’s arm reassuringly
before giving her a hug. “Trent will be happy for you if you are
genuinely happy. He doesn’t think his father can give you that
happiness.”

Rosa wiped at another tear and framed
Noelle’s face with her hands. “My son is very lucky to have a woman
like you. I can see how much he loves you.”

Noelle felt the tears in her eyes
again. “Well I love him right back. He just wants to see that same
love for you in someone’s eyes.”

Rosa nodded. “Thank you for talking to
me. Take care of my son. I hope to see you both again
soon.”

Noelle gave Rosa another hug and then
waved goodbye. When she got into the car, she didn’t look at Trent
as she buckled her seatbelt.

Finally she turned to him and was
surprised at the smile on his face, dimples and all. “Thank you for
that. You didn’t have to do that.”

Noelle nodded. “Yeah I did. For too
long I was quiet about my own situation, but maybe I can use what
I’ve been through to help others. They say things happen for a
reason, might as well make it a reason I that’s useful,
right?”

Trent nodded and kissed her. “You make
me fall in love with you more every second. I’m a lucky
man.”

Noelle winked at him. “Oh you’re about
to get even luckier if you’d just shut up and get this car
moving.”

Noelle let out a laugh as Trent pulled
out of the yard and hit the gas so hard that the tires spun,
leaving a cloud in their wake.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Trent kissed Noelle goodbye the next
morning, but she didn’t wake up. He stole one more look at her
before he closed the bedroom door. Her hair splayed out on the
pillow around her and her creamy skin stood in stark contrast to
his black bed sheets.

He debated playing hooky today, but
knew Marshall wouldn’t let it fly. As Trent left the house, he did
one final check to make sure all the doors and windows were secure,
not that he needed to worry since Lenny and his dad were still
locked up as far as he knew. But it made him feel a little better
about leaving Noelle all alone.

Traffic was light for a Monday, but
then again it was still an hour before most people would be heading
to work. Trent hated this time of year just because the days were
getting shorter and all it made him want to do was
sleep.

The thought put his mind right back on
Noelle and he was grinning when he walked in the back door of the
precinct. He nodded in greeting to some of the other officers as he
walked through the locker room.

Marshall poked his head in and pointed
to Trent. “Torres, I need to see you in my office when you’re done
here.”

Something in his tone made Trent’s
stomach start to knot. He had a feeling he wasn’t gonna like this.
He finished putting on his shoes and hurried out after
Marshall.

Marshall looked up from his paperwork
and motioned for Trent to close the door. Once that was done,
Marshall tossed down his pen, rubbed his hands over his face, and
let out a curse. “Look, there’s no easy way to say this so here
goes … Lenny and his father got out of jail late last
night.”

Trent dropped into a chair in
disbelief. “How the hell did that happen?”

Marshall shrugged. “I guess Mr. Dunlap
pulled some strings and somehow got Judge Douglas to release them
on their own recognizances.”

“What? They had guns pointed at us,
they wanted to kill us. I know I already asked this, but how the
hell did that happen?”

Marshall leaned back in his chair and
crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Dunlap told him it was
official police business. That his son was job shadowing him on a
missing person’s retrieval and they feared the victim was in
danger.”