SEAL's Baby (Navy SEAL Secret Baby Romance) (46 page)

“How did what happen?”

“You and Sarah becoming bestest buddies?”

Laughing again, he said, “I ran into her
in the grocery store one day. We got to talking and one thing led to the
other…”

“Ew, you can stop there if this goes any
further than gossiping like two old ladies.”

“Not that I don’t find your sister kind of
hot for an older lady…”

“Knock it off!”

He was having way too much fun. “I’m
sorry. It’s not like that and you know it. I miss you, man. It helps to have
Sarah to talk to. I didn’t know what to do with myself when you cut me off.”

“You slept with my girl.”

“I know, and if it were the other way
around, I would have reacted the same way. But do I get a life sentence for it?
I’ve done my penance, man. For six years now I’ve lived without my best friend.
Can we get past this at some point?”

The waitress saved me. She brought our
food and while we ate, I changed the subject to work. I found out he was
running his dad’s business and that his parents had both retired and moved to
Florida. Just as we were finishing our meal he said, “So…two questions you
never answered, who was your date with?”

“Amber.”

He grinned. “Nice, man.” My face must have
given me away because then he said, “Not nice?”

“It was great. Probably the best date I
ever had.”

“Hmm, I guess that’s why you look
ecstatic…”

“It didn’t end well. She had to run off in
the middle of the night because her ex-boyfriend was calling.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Ex? What did he
want?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe I’m
cursed.”

“Or maybe you have a lot of issues because
of what your mom did to you.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Carpenter by
day, psychologist at breakfast.”

“Listen, I know what Lisa and I did to you
was fucked up. I was drunk and high and stupid. I would have stuck it pretty
much anywhere at that point and if I were you, I might have cut it off. But
it’s been six years and you still act like it was yesterday. You already had
issues with trust. Lisa and I just made it worse…and now, Amber.”

“So, what are you saying? I should trust
blindly?”

“No. I’m saying I understand your issues
with trust, but in Amber’s case, I can see you really like her. Maybe you
should give her a chance to explain before you just write her off.”

The waitress laid the check down on the
table and I picked it up. “I’ll get that,” he said.

“Nah, I’ve got it. We can call it payment
for the session, Dr. Freud.”

“I think you very much want to sleep wit
yur mudder!”

I had to laugh at his terrible impression,
if not the sickness of the statement. “Fuck you, Freud.”

CHAPTER
TWELVE

AMBER

I was almost in tears as I raced out of
Kyle’s loft and down to my car. My hands were shaking so badly that I could
barely get the key into the lock. When I finally got into the car, I just sat
there for a few seconds trying to prepare myself for the battle that was about
to come. I sucked in enough air to settle myself down slightly and then I
started the engine and drove towards Marlene’s house. The drive was about
thirty minutes long, and I cussed everyone on the road in between. The anxiety
was building up with each minute that passed.

When I got close to the house, I was
relieved to see there was at least no smoke and flames, but as I rounded the
corner my stomach fell when I saw Dylan and two policemen in the front yard. I
thought about just driving on by, but Dylan saw me. His dark eyes stayed on me
until I parked the car and got out.

“Here she is now,” he said. His speech
sounded clear, for Dylan at three a.m.

“What’s going on?”

“Are you Amber Reed?” one of the officers
asked me.

“Yes sir.”

“Is this man your boyfriend?”

I looked at Dylan and hoped the disgust I
was feeling wasn’t readily evident on my face. “He’s my ex-boyfriend.” I heard
the front door open behind me. My poor sister looked frazzled. I reached my
hand out to her and she took it. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”

“I called the police because he was
beating on the door and saying he was going to burn the house down.”

“I didn’t say that, you stupid-”

“Watch it,” the cop warned him.

“Sorry…Sir. I was looking for Amber and
this one,” he said, looking at Marlene with disdain, “she wouldn’t tell me
where she was. I was…worried.”

“He wasn’t worried, he was jealous,”
Marlene said. “And he did say he was going to burn my house down. I have a
six-year-old daughter. He woke her up and scared her to death.”

“Lying cunt,” Dylan mumbled under his
breath.

I’d come over here with the idea that I
would calm him down, even go home with him if that’s what it took. That word
always sets me off, however, and without regard to how long they would keep him
or what he would do to me when he was out I said, “I have proof that he said
it.” Dylan and Marlene both looked at me with shock on their faces. I hate that
I’ve become the woman that everyone thinks is comfortable being the victim.
“Can I play the message for you, sir?”

“Sure,” the cop said. The look he was
giving Dylan told me this cop would love nothing more than to see him cuffed
and in the back of his car.

“Amber…” Dylan began.

“Shut up,” the second cop interrupted him.
I pulled up the voicemail and pressed play. Dylan’s voice wafted out.
“Where the fuck are you, Amber? If you’re
out whoring around, I suggest you get your ass back to your sister’s house now
before I burn this mother-fucker down with her and whoever else is in there
inside.”

When the message finished playing the cop
said, “Can you show me who the message is from?” I showed him where it said
Dylan’s name and number. He looked over at my former boyfriend and said, “That
sounded an awful lot like a terrorist threat to me, Mr. Lane.”

“I was mad. You can check me and my truck
man; I don’t even have a light.”

“He carries his handgun in the compartment
underneath the floorboard of his pick-up. There are also matches and other
emergency supplies in there. I think if you check the back end of his pick-up,
you’ll find a five gallon container of gas.” I heard myself, but still couldn’t
believe I was saying these things right in front of him. If the look on his
face was any indication, I was going to be in a world of hurt when he got out
of jail.

“You little bitch!”

“Mr. Lane, turn around and put your hands
behind your back.”

“What the fuck for?”

“You’re under arrest sir for making
terrorist threats-”

“You’re going to be sorry, bitch!” he said
as the cop slammed him forward into the wall of the house and pulled his beefy
arms behind his back. “You fucking little-”

“I’d shut up now if I were you,” the cop
said. “You have the right to remain silent…” While they read Dylan his rights,
Marlene gripped my hand so tightly that it hurt. Dylan quieted down, but the
after the cop cuffed him and led him over to the car, the look he gave me sent
a surge of fear ripping through my body.

The second cop was searching the truck. He
found the gun that I knew for a fact wasn’t registered. Dylan had bought it off
of one of his rodeo buddies and the serial numbers were filed off. He also
found the matches I knew Dylan carried for those nights on the road when he had
to camp out and the gasoline he always carried in back for those long stretches
on the country roads in between gas stations. All I could hope at this point
was that they’d keep him at least for a while.

Once he was in the car, the first cop came
back and explained to Marlene and me how to file for a restraining order for
when he did get out. He said one of the terms if he did get bail would be to
stay away from those that he had threatened. That didn’t make me feel a lot
better. Dylan does what Dylan wants and ninety percent of the time, he doesn’t
consider the consequences. He was currently staring daggers at me from the
backseat of the police cruiser. I wouldn’t be surprised if I suddenly burst
into flames.

“Let’s go in out of the cold,” Marlene
told me as the cop was driving away. We went inside and she put on a pot of
coffee. There was no way that either of us was getting any sleep now, anyways.

“I’m so sorry.”

She made her face that I call, “Mom face.”
She looks just like our mother when she does it. “What are you sorry for? You
didn’t do anything. As a matter of fact, I’m really proud of you for standing
up the way that you did.”

I shrugged. “I feel so bad for getting you
and poor little Nona involved in all of this. Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. I told her Uncle Dylan was
sick and the police were going to come and take him to see the doctor. She
bought it, and she’s sleeping like an angel now. But you know what?”

“What?”

“Part of this craziness with that man is
you taking responsibility for the things that he does. He did this tonight, and
you are not to blame for it. I’m going to go and get that restraining order
Monday morning…I hope you are, too.”

“I will, but you know that a piece of
paper won’t make a difference to him when he’s drunk.”

“I do know that, but I want to make sure
if he does show up and I call the police, he leaves here in handcuffs every
time. Eventually, maybe he’ll get sick of it and stay away.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I just wish he’d find
someone else…”

Marlene laughed. “You’re wishing him on
some other poor woman?”

I laughed, too. “True, I guess that’s bad,
huh? The thing about Dylan is none of this is about how he feels about me. This
is about him thinking I’m his property and hating to be alone when he’s home.”

“You have to prove to him that you don’t
belong to anyone but yourself. How did your date take your sudden departure?”

I gritted my teeth. “I may have ruined it.
I was freaking out worrying about you and Nona. I told him I had to leave
because you were sick, but he saw Dylan’s name pop up on my phone. He wasn’t happy
with my sketchy explanation.”

“Maybe you should go see him today and
give him a less than sketchy explanation.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m
just getting to know Kyle, but I get the feeling that he would feel like he
needs to ‘save me.’”

“That’s bad?”

“Well, yeah. First of all I’m a grown
woman, I don’t want to be saved. Second of all, he’s recovering from a major
illness and operation. He doesn’t need the stress of taking on something like
this.”

“So if he walks away now, you just let him
go?”

I shrugged. “I guess I’ll cross that
bridge if and when I come to it. I’m more worried that this will screw up the
determination he’s shown in therapy. He’s come a long way in a short time and I
don’t want him to feel uncomfortable with me. This is why you shouldn’t date
patients.”

“Then why did you?”

“I just can’t stop thinking about him.” It
was more than that, but I had no idea how to explain it. When he was near me,
it was a wonder that any rational thought could slip through. My mind was
clouded with a completely overwhelming sense that this is the guy – the one I
was meant to be with. It wouldn’t make any sense if I tried to put it in words,
so I just left it at that.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

KYLE

Sarah came over to my dad’s house on
Sunday with the specific intentions of lecturing me – and trying to find out
who my date was with. She finally just came right out and said, “Was it Amber?”

Frustrated that she thought everything in
my life was her business I said, “No.”

“Are you kidding? That girl is so sweet,
and I think she really likes you. Are you just going to play around with the
plastic ones forever? Are you never going to settle down with a nice girl and
give me nieces and nephews?” I looked at my dad for help. He hid his face
behind his
Guns and Ammo
magazine.

“Jesus, Sarah. It was Amber, okay?”

“Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Because I’m not fourteen and I have a
right to some privacy in my life.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Do you
need a ride to therapy tomorrow?” My stomach clenched at the thought of seeing
Amber. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about her hasty departure.

“Greg said he can take me.”

“Oh, so you call him when you fall and now
he’s taking you to therapy… Did you two make up?”

“Are you worried I’m stealing your
bestie?”

She laughed. “He’s a good guy who made a
stupid mistake.” Dad grunted behind his magazine. Smiling, Sarah said, “Did you
have something to say over there Chief Cloud?” She has called my dad “Chief”
since we were little and she found out he’s half Cherokee.