The Best Bride (43 page)

Kyle could see he was scared. His eyes were wide behind his glasses, his body stiff. The taller of the other two boys moved closer.

“You're scared, and I'm gonna make you more scared. You can't tell me what to do.”

Kyle recognized the neighborhood bully. “Gary Warner, stop that right now.”

Blake looked up at him. Gary took advantage of the boy's distraction and hit him right in the mouth.

“Damn little brat,” Kyle muttered. He started toward the trio. The third boy took off running. Gary hesitated, then darted for home. Blake stood there looking stunned. He touched his hand to his mouth. When he drew it away, he saw the blood. Instantly, tears rolled down his cheeks.

Kyle reached his side. The other two boys had disappeared, so he put his arm around Blake. “He popped you good. Let me see.”

Blake sniffed and raised his chin. He continued to cry. Tears dripped from his eyes, but he didn't make any sound. The silence tore at Kyle's gut. He wanted to catch that little punk and teach him what it felt like to be bullied by someone. Instead, he stared at Blake's mouth. Carefully, he turned down Blake's lower lip.

“You've got a cut here,” he said. “How do your teeth feel? Are any of them loose?”

Blake closed his mouth and used his tongue to check. He turned away and spat out blood. “They're okay.”

“Good. Let's get you home and we'll put some ice on your mouth. You're going to swell up like a chipmunk.”

Blake tried to smile, but the movement made him wince. He sniffed. “It hurts,” he mumbled.

“I know, kid. It happened to me a bunch of times. I never seemed to remember the pain before I got in a fight. It'll get better.” Kyle bent over and picked him up. Blake wrapped his legs around Kyle's waist and buried his head in his shoulder.

Kyle could feel the dampness on his skin. He wasn't sure if it was from the tears or the blood. He didn't much care. Instead, he started back the long way, going to the end of the private road, then turning left and walking until he reached Sandy's driveway. An occasional sob shook Blake's skinny body. He held the boy close, patting his back and murmuring soothingly. Poor kid. If this was his first fight—and from the way he'd reacted, it had been—he was scared, sore and defeated. Hell of a way to spend a summer afternoon.

As he turned down the fork in the driveway toward his house, he saw Lindsay waiting by the back door.

“Where were you?” she anever ses had ses, hthe lemonade.” She glanced at her brotherr sesWhat happened to him?”

“He got into a fight.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened. “Mom's gonna kill you, Blake.”

Kyle glared at her. “He doesn't need to hear that right now. Why don't you go home while I take care of your brother? When your mom gets back, would you please ane her to come see me?”

Lindsay glanced at the boy in his arms and shrugged. “Sure. I'll be by later to help you with the cooking, Kyle.” She gave him her best smile, then sashayed up the walkway.

Kyle groaned softly.

Inside the house, he set Blake on the counter and examined his mouth more thoroughly. There was only one cut and it had almost stopped bleeding. But his cheek was swelling fast. Kyle grabbed a frozen bag of peas from the freezer and had the kid press it against his face.

Blake touched the bag to his skin, then jumped. “It's cold.”

“It's supposed to be. It'll help take the pain away and make you look a little more normal so your mom might not kill me along with you.”

Blake held the bag with his left hand and pushed up his glasses with his right. “It wasn't your fault. Gary is the one who hit me.”

Kyle leaned against the counter at right angles to where Blake was sitting. He folded his arms over his chest. “I saw that. You want to tell me why?”

The boy lowered his head slightlyr sesWe were playing ball. I even hit a double.” He looked up and tried to smile. “That hurts. Anyway, the next guy to hit was Robby. He's nice. He said I could come swimming at his house.”

“So Gary punched you?”

“No.” Blake sighed. “Robby hit his ball out. Gary was
pitching, and he got mad. The next time Robby came up to bat, Gary hit him with the ball. We all knew it was on purpose. But no one would stand up to Gary except for Robby and me. A lot of the boys went home. I guess they were scared.”

Blake looked scared, too, as he told the story. Kyle knew he'd had nothing to do with cultivating the strength of character Blake showed, but he couldn't stop the feeling of pride swelling inside of him. The kid had guts. Standing up to a bully to protect a new friend. Sandy had done a hell of a job with her kids.

“Then what happened?”

“Gary started chasing Robby. I tried to protect him. Gary hit Robby, then he turned on me.” He shrugged. “You saw that part.” He sighed. “Lindsay's right. Mom's gonna kill me. She hates fighting.”

Kyle knew it was wrong, but at this moment in time he wanted to get his hands on Gary and shake him until the kid's teeth rattled. He wouldn't, of course, but he would do the next best thing. When he went on duty, he would pay a visit to Gary's parents and have a talk with them. He knew the Warners and suspected they would be as angry as he was at their son's behavior.

“You weren't fighting,” Kyle told him. “You didn't even raise your hands to defend yourself. Someone hit you. It's not the same thing.”

Blake looked a little brighter. “Yeah?”

Kyle grinned. “Yeah.” He moved closer to the boy. “How's that cheek?”

Blake lowered the bag of frozen peas. “It doesn't hurt so bad.”

It might not hurt, but it sure looked ugly. A large bruise had formed on the left side of his mouth. The skin was
puffy and discolored. At least the bleeding had stopped. Kyle touched the tender area.

“You'll live,” he said, then stared at Blake. “Did your dad ever teach you how to defend yourself?”

Blake shook his head.

Figures, Kyle thought. He was probably too busy with his own life to notice how he was ignoring his son.

“Do you know why Gary hit you?” he asked.

“'Cause I said he'd thrown the ball at Robby.”

“That's only part of the reason. Gary hit you because he thought he could get away with it. Bullies pick on people who let them. If you stand up to a bully, he usually backs off. At heart, they're cowards.”

Blake frowned. “Gary didn't act like he was scared.”

“He was. Trust me. Did you see how fast he ran off when I showed up? Also, he hit you when you turned toward me. It was a cheap shot, when he knew you couldn't fight back. What you need to do is learn how to defend yourself. I'm not saying you should start a fight, but if one finds you, you have to be able to keep from being taken advantage of. Do you understand?”

“I guess.” Blake looked doubtful.

“It's not that hard. I'll show you.” He took the bag of peas and set them on the counter, then he grabbed Blake under his arms and lowered him to the floor. He heard the sound of a car going past. Sandy was home. Lindsay would tell her what had happened and she would come right over. He couldn't wait to tell her how well her son had behaved. She was going to be proud of the kid for defending another boy.

“Stand like this.” Kyle demonstrated the stance, with his feet apart and his weight balanced. “You need to be able to move quickly in either direction. There's no shame in ducking a punch.”

Blake mimicked the action. “I wanna duck for sure, because it hurts to get hit.”

“You're telling me.” Kyle grinned. “So you want to make sure the other guy doesn't get a clear shot. Next, keep your arms up. You want to protect your face and body. Hunch over a little, giving him a smaller target.” Blake bent in half. “Not so much. Like this.”

Kyle hunched down, drawing his chest in. “Keep your head low, but watch what he's doing. Try to anticipate the move.”

Blake lowered his arms to his side. “I can't remember all this.”

“It's hard at first. We'll practice. In a couple of weeks, you'll be able to stand up to Gary and feel confident that he won't get in another sucker punch.”

The back door jerked open. Sandy tore into the room. From the look on her face, Kyle knew she'd spoken to Lindsay. She didn't even glance at him. She rushed to her son's side and dropped to her knees.

“What happened?” she aneve frantically. “Are you okay? Lindsay said you were bleeding. Oh my God, look at your face.” She clutched his chin and stared at the darkening bruise. “You've been fighting.”

Blake tried to smile, then he winced. “Kyle's been teaching me to do better, so next time Gary won't get in a cheap shot.”

“A what? Never mind. Are you hurt anywhere else?” She ran her hands along his chest and sides, then down his legs. Blake giggled when her fingers tickled him. “Nothing's broken?”

“He's fine,” Kyle said. “The other kid got off one good hit. That's all. I saw it happen.”

The back door opened again. Lindsay came in. She wouldn't look at him. Sandy stood up and pushed her hair
out of her face. “Lindsay, take your brother back to the house and put some ice on his face. I'll be right there. After I speak with Kyle.”

He didn't like the sound of that. “Look, Sandy, it's not what you think.”

She ignored him. “Now, Lindsay.” Her daughter grabbed Blake by the hand and led him out the door. Sandy followed them and stood by the screen, watching until they were out of earshot. Then she turned on him.

“What the hell were you thinking? I leave my child in your care for a half hour and he gets in a fight. He's bruised and bleeding and I walk in on you trying to teach him how to do it again. Are you crazy? Where was your brain in all this? Your common sense? I don't want Blake starting fights.”

He held up his hand to stop her. “Sandy, it wasn't like that.”

“Sure it wasn't. Let me guess. You weren't thinking at all. You were too busy playing daddy.”

“I was trying to teach him to defend himself.”

“Against whom? You let him go play with children who are dangerous? I trusted you, Kyle. You said it was okay, and I believed you. You have to be more responsible than that. This isn't a game. The well-being of my children is at stake here.”

She paced across the kitchen and back toward the door. “I can't believe this.”

He couldn't believe it, either. She wasn't giving him a chance. “If you would let me explain.”

She stopped in front of the door and spun to face him. Her chest heaved with each breath, anger darkened her eyes. “Explain what? That you were too busy with your car or your tan to supervise Blake? My ten-year-old son is bleeding and bruised from a fight. You're the one who let
him go off with those other boys. You even admitted you saw what happened. Did you try to stop it?”

“Of course I did.”

“Not hard enough.”

“Dammit, Sandy, if you would shut up and listen to me, I can tell you what happened. You're jumping to conclusions.”

“No, I don't want to hear it.” She approached him and raised her arm until she was pointing at the center of his chest. She stopped when she was less than a foot away. “Your problem is you won't take responsibility for your actions.”

He couldn't believe she was being this unreasonable. Maybe it was a parental thing he couldn't understand. He tried to hold on to his temper, although she was making it damn hard. “Your problem is you spend so much time being responsible, you've forgotten what it's like to live.”

She glared at him. “Maybe I have. So what? I've learned the hard way that I can only depend on myself. My dad walked out before I was born. My mother was an alcoholic. I spent the first twelve years of my life looking after her. When she died, I moved here to be with my aunt. It was the first time I got to be a child. Maybe it wasn't enough. Maybe I couldn't stop acting like a grown-up, but I'm glad. Because I'm going to make it work. Despite you, and despite Thomas, who instead of being a husband was worse than any kid I could have had. Do you know how he died? Do you?” Her voice was shrill.

He shook his head. He didn't know anything anymore. He'd never had a clue about Sandy's mother.

“He fell off a mountain. He'd gone away, like he did every summer. He usually disappeared for two months at a time. He'd wanted to take Lindsay, but I wouldn't let him. Thank God. He was careless, or unlucky, and he fell
to his death. Now there's only me. I've got a mortgage and three kids. They're depending on me. So don't you tell me that I've forgotten how to live. Just getting through the day is a victory for me. My children are happy, healthy and warm every single night. The bills are paid and I'm keeping it all together.”

He reached toward her and touched her face. “I'm sorry.”

She jerked away from his hand. “Sorry doesn't cut it. You're used to getting what you want without having to work for it. Nice for you, but not realistic for the rest of the world. I don't know what kind of game you've been playing with me, but it has to stop. I don't want to get involved with you. I can't afford to be one of your conquests.”

He felt as if she'd stabbed him in the gut. “It's not like that. I haven't been playing a game with you. Just because I'm not like you doesn't mean I'm a jerk like Thomas. You're judging me on my reputation and what you remember about my brothers. I've been here for you, Sandy. From the moment you arrived in Glenwood, I've made it easier.”

Emotions chased across her face. He watched as she wrestled with the truth of that statement. Her mouth straightened and he knew he'd been judged and found guilty.

“So you've been neighborly. I appreciate that. But it doesn't mean I want you in my life. You're not Thomas, but you're just as dangerous.”