The Fight for Us (2 page)

He studied her eyes with a monstrous expression. She knew that expression well. He wasn’t out of control—not in the least. Everything he did was calculated and cruel, and he was taunting her, nothing more. When he suddenly laughed, she jumped and cringed, instinctually waiting for the pain. But he didn’t hit her, and as quick as a viper’s bite, his tongue lashed out, running across the scar on her chin. She squirmed against the slithering wet thing, but it was useless, and as she fought, he covered her mouth with his lips, thrusting his tongue between her lips as her muffled voice yelled. When he pulled back, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as he chuckled.

“See you in court, dear.” And then he was the one reaching for the doorknob just behind her hip.

If she thought she’d been panicking before, it was nothing compared to the images suddenly circling in her mind. All she could see was their daughter crying for her and Joss not being there—unable to be there. And as quick as his tongue had assaulted her, her hand shot out to clutch at his forearm. She was panting, staring at his chest as her hand grappled with his wrist, trying to keep him from wrenching the door open. Tears of desperation were filling her eyes as her hand fumbled to stop him.

“Wait…” Her breath left her in a defeated huff.

Part I: The Fight

Chapter One

“This is one of two bedrooms that has an en suite bathroom. That’s certainly unique. The folks who had this place built ten years ago took great care to choose upgrades like extra en suite bathrooms. Their family largely came from the Chicago area and spent a good deal of time visiting in the summer months. They were also very particular about the design elements, which show in the real walnut plank flooring and slate tile work. They skimped on nothing and chose natural materials over synthetics.” Joss’s phone started vibrating in her pocket, humming against her thigh and demanding to be paid attention to. “Excuse me for a moment. Feel free to snoop around a bit while I take this.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, smiling one last time at the young couple before turning and walking away.

She answered quickly. “This is Joss.” She was struggling to sound polite.

“Is this Joselyn Verna?”

“It is.” Now she just sounded shrill as she walked down the wide staircase that led to the main level of the mansion-like cottage overlooking Lake Superior.

“Ms. Verna, this is Sue Harding from Bristol High School. I’m Principal Johnson’s assistant.”

“Okay?”

The woman was simply not responding quickly enough for Joss.

“He’d like to speak with you about Harper as soon as possible.” And then nothing as though a statement like that didn’t warrant something more.

“Ms. Harding, I’m sorry, but I’m in the middle of a house showing right now. What
are
you talking about? Is my daughter okay?” She paused, resting her hand on the wide, perfectly finished woodwork of the large living room window and staring out to the expansive lake view beyond. The trees were tall and mature, and the wind was causing the yellow and red leaves to rain down as they spun and floated through the air.

“Harper is fine, but we’re concerned about some behavioral issues. Principal Johnson would like you to be here at three thirty if that’s possible.” Joss took a deep breath as her chest tightened. She was oddly angry at Sue Harding who couldn’t seem to keep the conversation moving at the speed Joss preferred to operate on.

“I’ll be there. I really need to go.”

“Ms. Ver—”

Click.

She hung up on the woman as the couple caught up to her, and as she turned toward the approaching sound of feet on hardwood, she plastered her best smile right back on her face.

“We want to make an offer!” The woman could barely contain her excitement. Her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulder, squeezing gently as he grinned his cheesy smile. They were young, happy, and excited about life in a way Joss could barely remember from her own existence. It was hard to keep her smile rigidly in place as she looked at them. Her own life was nothing like theirs at this point, and she resented them.

“Great!” She hid the resentment well. “I’m thrilled to hear it. Let’s go back to my office, and we’ll get the paperwork done now. It’s early enough in the day we may get a response yet this afternoon. The sellers
are
motivated.” She turned from them, walking toward the front door and out into the early fall air.

* * * *

It was nearly four in the afternoon before Joss managed to get herself to Harper’s school. Her heels clicked quickly along the cement floors as she walked toward the office and breathed deep and calming breaths. She’d had to cut out of the office early to get here, and she’d left before the negotiations with the young couple and the seller were even close to complete. They looked at her in shock when she told them she had another appointment she had to get to, and when it was all said and done, she’d had to put her commission into the hands of Randall Cunningham just to keep the buyers happy.

They were intent on staying put until they reached an agreement, and now, Joss had to hope Randall wouldn’t get the contracts signed before she returned, less she forfeit eighty-five percent of the commission to him. He was a snake, and the first time she’d rebuffed an advance from him, he’d become even snakier. But seeing as they were the only two realtors in the office during the slow season, not to mention it was the only realty agency on the island, there was simply nothing to be done about it. Short of bringing the buyers with her to the school and forwarding her office phone, she had little choice. What were the chances? Could he pull it off? Wrap up negotiations in an hour? Randall would likely sell his child on the Internet rather than let something as trivial as a meeting with the principal stand in the way of a commission. Joss hated Randall at the moment. Actually, it was safer to say she hated Randall all the time. Something about the way he only smiled when he was staring at her tits, but when his attention was on her face, he sneered like a venomous snake. Could tits really make a man that happy?

Now, her irritation was growing exponentially with every passing second, not to mention the anxiety. This commission could mean the difference between having to get a part-time job this winter to make ends meet or not. It was going to be winter soon, and sales always fell off sharply once the first snow fell. If it got cold enough that the lake froze over, the ferry would stop running and the ice road would become the only means of travel to mainland Wisconsin. It would be all over then. This was not the day to blow a commission. Not when the happy young couple was ready, willing, and able to buy one of the large cottages on Bristol Island’s most desired stretch of coastline.

Bristol Island sat only three miles off the coast of Wisconsin’s northern border on Lake Superior, and the ferry would put a traveler right at the Harbor’s edge of Baymont, Wisconsin. The town of Bristol was plenty bustling during the summer months, but once the tourists left for the season, it became what Joss could only guess was one of the quietest places on the planet. With only fifteen hundred year-round locals, it wasn’t surprising.

“I’m Joss Verna. I’m here to see Principal Johnson.” She hadn’t bothered to greet the woman behind the office counter, and she was paying for it now as the woman glared at her without making a move to help her in any way. “I really am in a hurry.” She glared right back.

An older man was suddenly standing in the doorway of an adjacent office. “Joselyn Verna, Harper’s mother? I recognize you, of course. Harper is the spitting image of you, but I don’t think
we’ve
ever formally met, though I’m sure I’ve seen you around.” He appraised her sternly before glancing to the woman behind the counter. “Sue, you should leave for the night. You’ve stayed late enough as it is.” He smiled at her kindly before turning his focus back to Joss, and when his eyes lit on Joss, they instantly cooled again.

“I’m Joss, yes. Principal Johnson, I take it?”

He nodded for a moment as Sue began gathering up her belongings. “Come in, please.”

He walked back into his office without waiting for her, and when Joss’s eyes flitted over to Sue, the woman was shaking her head in what looked like utter disdain. She apparently was not Sue’s favorite parent.

She stepped within the man’s office, and just as she did, the exterior door slammed shut as Sue left. Joss jumped where she stood and then pursed her lips in irritation. The good principal didn’t bat an eye, but it wasn’t he who’d attracted her attention this time. They weren’t alone as she’d expected they would be. There was another man there, and for whatever reason, he seemed to hate her already. She had no idea who the man was, and she couldn’t imagine he had any good reason to despise her, but given the malicious glare zoned in on her like tractor beams, he most definitely did not like her. It usually took longer than a millisecond for that to happen.

“Ms. Verna, please sit. I’ve been waiting for some time for you to arrive.” Principal Johnson indicated the chair next to the man.

The man hadn’t stopped staring daggers at her since she stepped through the door, and as she moved toward him to take the chair, he clenched his jaw tight and his hands fisted on the arms of the chair.

“Have you met Isaiah Henry, Ms. Verna?” Her eyes moved up to the principal’s quickly before flitting back to the man, Isaiah.

“I haven’t. I’m sorry, can you please tell me what is going on? Is Harper okay?”

Isaiah suddenly scoffed in what could only be annoyance at her question. Nothing much of what was going on made a damn bit of sense to her, and before she’d even a chance to take the chair next to the curmudgeonly Isaiah, she planted her hands on her hips and stared at Principal Johnson, refusing to allow the mystery to go on one more moment.

“Isaiah is Natalie Henry’s father. I’m not sure if you’ve met Natalie, but Mr. Henry and Natalie are new to Bristol Island, and this is her first year here.”

“Okay… I’m still not—”

“Harper and her friends have been making things a bit difficult for Natalie, and we need to discuss how you as a parent are going to—”

“Wait, what are you saying? And furthermore, why are we having this conversation with Mr.—”

“Well, frankly, you were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, Ms. Verna. Mr. Henry showed up at his appointment time as did the parents of Harper’s friends earlier this afternoon.”

Isaiah could barely seem to sit still as she bickered with Principal Johnson, and when at last that tension snapped, he stood abruptly and turned toward Joss. If ever she’d examined someone’s ears for smoke just to see if there was any possibility of it, it was deserved with this man. He was raging, and when he opened his mouth, she cringed.

“My daughter is about the last person who deserves to be bullied by your child—”

“Bullied?” She cried incredulously as she turned toward him, leaving her hands planted firmly on her hips. “Harper is not—”

“Then what on earth would you call it?” Isaiah’s voice had risen to a rather terrifying decibel, and Joss wasn’t one to let that go unchecked at this point in her life.

“Listen, Mr. Henson—”

“Henry!”

“My daughter is not a bully, and I don’t appreciate the insinuation that she is. I’ve heard nothing of any behavioral issues in the past, and I won’t be condemned by you! You don’t know her!” She wasn’t even entirely sure who she was mad at—Sue for talking slow; Principal Johnson for interrupting her rather busy day; Harper for apparently being a bully; Randall who was, as she spoke, doing his best to take the bulk of her commission; or Mr. Isaiah Henry for being upset with her because her daughter had apparently been mean to
his
daughter. Since Isaiah was the one standing closest and he appeared to want to pummel her, she was going to aim her anger at him.

He was intimidating to see even before he opened his mouth; now that intimidation was escalating and had Joss’s defenses snapping into place before she could even wrap her head around what was going on. His eyes glanced to her chin where she had an inch long scar—nothing nearly as sexy as Harrison Ford’s and something she was rather self-conscious of regardless of the attitude she was trying to exude. Her fingers instantly moved to the scar before she realized what she was doing, and it was only when he opened his mouth to respond that she got hold of herself and dropped her hand.

“Your daughter and her two friends have been making Natalie’s life a living hell since the moment she set foot in this school two weeks ago, and if I have to see her in tears one more time, I promise, it is going to end badly.”

“Oh, is it? Are you threatening me?” She couldn’t seem to temper the shrill sound to her voice. “You don’t know Harper. She is a wonderful—”

“Your daughter is a bully!”

“Call her that one more time. I dare you.”

“Fine! She’s a bitch! Is that better?”

He was yelling. She was yelling. Poor Principal Johnson was simply watching them with tennis court eyes as they spewed their anger at one another quicker than even his eyes could keep up with.

“That’s enough! And Mr. Henry that was quite out of line.” Principal Johnson was on his feet now, but it seemed to phase Joss and Isaiah little, given both of them were far too busy glaring at one another and ignoring the principal. “This meeting was not meant for the both of you to start some war with each other! I’d much prefer to see the two of you do your part as parents to control and positively influence the course your children are on. Now, you will both sit, and you will both listen without interrupting. Am I clear?”

She didn’t bother answering, and she had no intention of it until Isaiah did. She recognized her petulance plenty. She wasn’t stupid, and she knew full well her behavior was immature, but she’d be damned if his wasn’t as well.

“Sit!”

She actually jumped at the force behind Principal Johnson’s voice that time. As both she and Isaiah’s eyes finally flitted away from one another, they took the man’s advice and sat like dogs on command.