The Mitchell Family Series BoxSet 1-4.5 (31 page)

“What?” I asked.

“Did you make this?”

“Hell no! My mother did yesterday. I worked late so she brought it over for me to have tonight.”

“You didn’t even know I was comin’ did you?”

I shook my head. “Work had been slammed. I never even checked my messages. I wish I had because I never would have let those bitches be standing in my living room the way they were. I am so sorry about that.”

“It’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have judged you.”

I looked up at Miranda, who I’d avoided eye contact with this whole time. She was beautiful, especially with wet hair streaming down her chest. Her little tank top revealed that she was chilly as her tiny nipples protruded. I bit down on my lip and looked to her face again. She rolled her eyes and acted like she hadn’t just caught me checking her out. “I didn’t invite them over. I swear.”

She shook her head and let out the smallest air filled sigh. “I don’t care about it Ty.”

“Whatever. I really missed you guys. I have been working non-stop. I am really sorry I missed Izzy’s birthday party. I have her gift. Can I give it to her now?”

She took a huge bite of food and rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

I grabbed Izzy and carried her to the bedroom. In the corner was a huge item wrapped in the worst wrapping job ever. Izzy tugged at me to let her down. I watched her walk all by herself over to the package. I walked over and started pulling away the paper, showing her what to do. Izzy thought it was funny and started hitting the paper then finally ripping it with me.

It had taken me forever to make, but her hand carved rocking horse was the perfect size for her. I used my old one as a model when I built it. My mother helped me assemble the yarn hair and paint the eyes. Izzy started slapping on the seat. I lifted her on it and slid it out on the carpet until we were facing her mother.

“Oh my gosh. That is so cute!”

“I made it for her.”

“You what?” She put her hand over her mouth and stared at the wooden horse. “It’s the best gift ever. Thank you so much Ty.” She looked down at Izzy who was already trying to get the thing to keep moving. “Do you like your horse honey?”

Izzy gave a mean look and her face turned red. “Go!” She said.

I looked at Miranda. “Has she ever said that before?”

“Not that I heard. Every day she says more and more.”

I was so happy to see that little girl on the horsei’d made her. It didn’t matter how depressing my life was, because the moment I saw her my mood changed. I loved that kid. She had me wrapped around her little finger. “I know this is off topic, but how long are you staying?”

“Tryin’ to get rid of us already?”

“No! You can stay as long as you want. You are safe here. I won’t let anything happen to either of you. I promise.” I meant it too. There was no way in hell I would let anyone hurt them.

Chapter 13

Miranda

I guess I should have gone to the farmhouse before heading straight to the carriage house. I thought my mother had explained that the place was sitting there waiting for us to arrive. I had no idea it was where Ty had been residing. I think we were both just as shocked to see each other when I opened that door. I mean, how could I have ever imagined that he would be havin’ some kind of freaky threesome with two girls?

I didn’t know whether to turn back around and get in my car to drive home, or just sit in it and wait until he was finished doing whatever he had planned for the night. I didn’t want to be some party crasher, but I had a little girl that was completely miserable, crying in my arms. As embarrassed as I felt, I couldn’t leave.

Ty insisted that it wasn’t what it looked like, but what else could it have been? He was standing there with two almost naked girls. I didn’t even know what to say to him, and he appeared to be just as speechless. After what seemed like twenty seconds, he turned to the girls and told them to leave. I didn’t appreciate the look I got from either of them as they exited.

Apparently, he had been busy at work and not gotten his messages from his mother stating that Bella and I would be staying with them. I felt bad for barging in, but we had nowhere else to go. After being there for ten minutes, Ty dismissed the earlier events and threw himself into entertaining Bella.

When I saw that horse that he had made himself, I felt like crying. He had put so much work into that thing. The details were insane and I was sure it had taken a long time for him to do.

Bella fell in love with it, and cried when he picked her back up and sat her in front of her food. She kept pointing down at the wooden rocking horse as she cried with a mouthful of food. I think between the long ride and her being hungry, she was just in a really foul mood.

When I realized that she was wasting more food than she was eating, I cleaned her off and let her play with her new toy. Ty cleared my plate, but quickly made a beeline for the floor where Bella sat. He slid the horse around the carpet while she held on and giggled. It was so funny seeing the two of them together. Colt and my brother were the only two men that she saw on a day to day basis, and Bella always seemed shy around other men, well except for Ty. Obviously it didn’t matter how long of a time period the two of them spent apart, she always went to him with welcome arms.

Watching the two of them play made me feel happy. Our ride here was horrible and she had gotten herself so worked up. I half expected her to have fallen asleep by now, but she was having too good of a time to do something like that. Ty was so amazed by the way she was walking around by herself. He walked around the room grabbing everything within her reach after she grabbed the cord to his Xbox and sent it flying across the room. I wanted to laugh, but his face looked like his best friend had been killed. I thought he would be angry, but he smiled as he moved it up to where she couldn’t reach and went back to playing with her again.

Finally, she started yawning an awful lot. I knew she was ready for bed because she was grabbing for her ninny and laying her head down in random places. Ty thought it was cute and took a dozen pictures of her doing it with my new phone.

When he finally sat down on the couch, she climbed on to his lap and fell fast asleep. “I have no idea how she remembers you and takes to you every time you are around.”

He played with one of her long curls. “I was the first guy she ever met. She probably just can’t forget my handsome face,” He teased.

I let out a little laugh. “I don’t think she thought you were handsome, in fact I am pretty sure she has no idea what that even means.”

“Are you mad that she loves me so much, like are you jealous?” He took his leg and kicked me so that I would look at his snarky grin.

“No, I am not jealous that she loves you. Obviously she does.”

“I think she really likes the horse.”

“I still can’t believe you made that for her. It’s so perfect. If you would have come to her birthday party, nobody else’s presents would have been appreciated. She loves it!”

“Thanks. I spent a bunch of nights working on it. I couldn’t wait to give it to her. I am sorry I didn’t make it. I had just started my new job and I couldn’t take the time off.”

“I hope that was the reason.” I put my head down and couldn’t look at him. I had left things badly with Ty and I had a feeling that he was avoiding me the past few months as a reaction to how I had been.

“I have to be honest. I didn’t understand why you stopped talking to me so much. I mean, we were really good friends and then you just stopped talking to me. I know lately things have been better between us, but what happened? Did I do something to make you mad?”

I shook my head, but refused to answer him. I had just arrived at his family’s farm. I wasn’t ready to tell him the real reason I backed off of our friendship.

Bella was fast asleep against Ty’s chest. He noticed me looking and smiled when he saw she was asleep. “Looks like I still have the magic touch.”

“I guess so,” I said as I grabbed her gently and carried her into the bedroom. Ty followed behind me and at first I assumed that it was going to turn into something, but he started picking up the room and removing things within her reach.

“There are some extra pillows in the closet if you want to put them around the bed. I don’t want her to roll off,” he whispered.

I grabbed the pillows and positioned them around my daughter. “If she wakes up she will just climb out of bed and find me. She has been sleeping with me a lot lately.”

We walked out into the living room and I slowed my pace when I realized that for the first time in a long time, Ty and I were completely alone together. He must have got the same feeling, because he quickly walked into the kitchen and started cleaning the counter off.

I sat down at the breakfast bar and played with my fingers, trying not to make eye contact. It wasn’t like Ty was still wearing just a towel, but the t-shirt he did have on hugged his arms and every time he moved his muscles would flex.

“Did you get a new tattoo on your arm?” I asked as I noticed one peeking out from his sleeve.

“Yeah, it’s just a tribal design with my last name in it. I didn’t want anything like Colt has. That one on his back is giant.”

“I have a couple. My newest one is Bella’s name.”

Don’t ask where it is…

“I want to see it.”

Of course he would. I should have just not said anything. I climbed off of the stool and took a deep breath as I lifted up my shirt to reveal my hip and abdomen. In fancy letters surrounded by hearts was the name Bella.

I don’t know why I was being so shy. This guy had seen parts of me that I didn’t even want to know, but for some reason showing him seemed so much more of an intimate thing.

“That looks awesome! I like where you put it too.”

“Thanks Ty. So are you sure it’s okay if we stay here for a while? I mean they say just a few weeks and I can probably head home.”

“Stay as long as you want. Tomorrow I will move some of my things back into my parents and be out of your hair.” He looked away from me when he said it.

“Bella likes it when you are around.” I admitted.

“God, I really miss her.” He leaned against the countertop. “I miss you both.”

I wondered if he was being honest.
Didn’t he say the same things to Van?

I smiled but didn’t answer.

“Miranda, I need to talk to you about what happened. I need to talk to you about that night.”

I couldn’t talk about it. I never should have gone out to that parking lot with Tucker. I should have never assumed that he wouldn’t hurt me. I put myself in danger and I was tired of everyone telling me about it. I was here now because of that loser. There was no need for constant reminders. “Let’s not rehash the past Ty. Let’s just never talk about it again. It was a mistake. I know that now.

Ty scrunched up his face and seemed upset by my words. I didn’t understand why he would want to talk about it anymore. Because of that night, he was forced to come home and our friendship had really taken a toll over it.

“So, do you have any plans for this weekend?” he asked, changing the subject.

“No, this all just happened. I didn’t have time to plan for anything. Honestly, I don’t even know what there is to do in this town.”

“Well, aside from parties, and late night bonfires, there ain’t much, but for a kid, there are a few things. Down the road is a petting zoo. If the weather lets up we could take her tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to keep us company Ty. I don’t want to interfere in your life here.”

“I was offering to take you and the little girl I am crazy about out. You aren’t interfering. In fact, I don’t really do much anymore. I work a lot and I am tired when I get home at night. My friends are all settling down and getting serious and the few that aren’t party too much for even me.”

I watched him walk into the living room and sit on the couch. He patted the seat next to him for me to sit. Luckily he patted it far enough away that I sat a whole cushion away from him. “I think that Bella would love to see the animals. Thanks for everything. It’s been a hard couple of days.”

“Don’t thank me. I know you think you are imposing, but I couldn’t be happier that you are here. I really did miss you. Hell, I can’t believe they suggested you come here. Conner really seemed to be wedging himself between us last time I visited. I mean, I told him we were just friends and he had nothing to worry about.”

I don’t know why I ever thought there had been something between us. He was always a good friend to me. What he did with other girls was his business. He cared about my daughter more than he needed to and I could only be grateful to him for that.

Chapter 14

Ty

I still couldn’t believe they were here, in my house, spending the night. Izzy had gotten so big. She loved her birthday present and I couldn’t have been happier about that. My mother would really get a kick out of that little girl when she saw them in the morning. The last time she had seen her was when she was first born, but I had shown her pictures every time I got new ones. It was funny that her pictures were the only ones in my wallet. In fact, the last time I used my credit card someone commented that I had a cute kid. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that she wasn’t mine, so I just agreed with what they said. It was so cool to see her walking around on her own, getting into things and laughing while she did it.

Miranda looked exhausted. I knew what kind of stress Tucker had put on her in the past, but threatening her was the most evil thing a guy could do to the mother of his child. Saying things like that about his own child was just unacceptable. I would like to hunt him down and beat the shit out of him for doing that.

Miranda stared at the television, almost as if she were in a daze. “Hey, you still with me?”

She turned and gave a quick smile. “Sorry. It’s just been a long day. I think I am still in shock over all of this. How could I have been so stupid Ty? How could I ever think that he could be anything but the devil?”

Her confusion over her poor choices had stressed her more than she wanted to admit. I wasn’t really sure how she would react, but I held out my arms for her to slide into my chest. “I won’t bite you know.”

She reluctantly slid her body over so that she was pressed up against my chest. I folded my arm around her shoulder and across her arm, pulling her into me closer. Very gently I pressed my lips into the top of her head. She remained silent in my arms and I was fine with that. I just wanted her to know that she was safe.

I had started watching a new hot rod show on television. Miranda leaned her body on mine and let me just hold her like that. She looked up at me. “I am really sorry that I have been so distant with you. I should have never shut you out like I did. You are a good friend Ty. We are lucky to have you in our lives.”

She said the word friend again, which I was fine with, if that was all she really wanted. Unfortunately, just being with her for the past few hours stirred up some buried feelings that I was trying to deny having for her. She was so attractive and the fact that she was vulnerable and needy made it easy to want to be there for her. We needed to talk about what had happened between us that night, but she kept telling me to drop it. I felt like we were on the same page, but she continued to shut me down. I wasn’t really sure what to do about it.

“You are both important to me. I don’t know who else I could have talked to about losing Van. It meant so much to me to have you giving me advice. I don’t really talk to anyone else the way that we talk,” I admitted.

“Yeah, well with Bella, it’s hard for me to have any kind of social life. Besides Van and my brother’s occasional girlfriends, I really don’t have many friends. Van is great, but she’s so involved with her wedding plans right now. She really doesn’t have time for my drama, especially since they all told me to stay away from him so many times.”

She repositioned herself a little more away from me so we were face to face.  It should have made things easier, but her gorgeous eyes  looked intently into mine, causing me to look down at her lips. I knew it was a mistake. I never should have even thought about doing it, but I leaned over and pressed my lips against hers.

I kept my eyes open, worried about her slapping me in the face, but she closed her eyes right away. I avoided using my tongue, or following through with a deeper kiss. I just let my lips linger against hers. As I pulled away, I watched her open her eyes slowly.

“What was that for?” She asked.

I have wanted to do that for so long.

“I …well…I don’t know. Are you mad?” Since she hadn’t pushed me away or done worse, I figured what I had done was at least okay.

She shook her head. “No. I just didn’t expect that.”

Me either!

“I should probably head over to my parents.” Things had just become awkward.

I stood up before she could say anything. The kiss was over, but tension had filled the room. I could have just fucked everything up. I needed to get out of there. I didn’t regret what I had just done, but I didn’t want to face negative consequences, either. She had finally smoothed everything over with me and I had possibly screwed it all up.

She let me walk to the door before she stood up and put her hands into her back pockets. “So, will we see you in the morning?”

“If that’s what you want?” I leaned against the door frame.

She nodded her head up and down. “Yeah, I think Bella will be looking for you at the crack of dawn.”

“Should I set my alarm?” I wondered.

“Of course not! Just come over when you wake up.”

She wouldn’t make eye contact. “Are you sure you aren’t mad at me?”

She walked closer to me and leaned against the edge of the couch. “Not at all. It was just a kiss Ty. It was sweet. We are friends. It’s okay.”

There was the friend word again….

“I don’t think anyone has ever called me sweet before,” I admitted.

She looked down at the floor and let out a tiny snicker. “You act different around me. I mean, people say you are one way, but I don’t see that side of you Ty. You have always been so sweet to me and especially Bella.”

“Izzy,” I interrupted.

“Bella!” She laughed. “I think you should show everyone this side of you. You obviously have a big heart.”

I shook my head and disagreed. “Nah, I think that having my heart broken has changed the person that I want to be. The sex and the girls was something that I did to pass the time. They never meant anything to me, it was all for fun. I don’t know whether it was the accident, or the fact that I finally lost Van, but whatever it was made me rethink the decisions I was making. I am not saying that I am abstinent or never going out again, but I just don’t do it a lot.”

“All the partying is what got me Bella. I will never regret her, but I wish I hadn’t run around like I did. For shits sake, her daddy is a convict.”

We both laughed.

We stood there just staring at each other for a couple seconds. I grabbed the door and was thankful when I opened it and realized that the rain had slowed to a drizzle.

“Guess I will see you in the morning.”

“Okay.”

I gave Miranda one more smile before heading out away from the carriage house. It was surprising to find my mother still awake when I walked into the house. She was sewing some huge ass blanket.

“Hey Mom.”

“I tried to call you and tell you she was coming.” She shook her head like she was pissed at me.

I sighed.  “I know you did. I didn’t bother checking my messages. It’s all good though. I got a surprise visit from my favorite girl. She’s getting so big Mom. Wait until you see her tomorrow.”

She sat her blanket down and looked up at me. I knew the look well. I sat down without being asked to.

“That girl is here because she’s running from trouble. It would be in your best interest to keep her at a distance.”

I chuckled. “Seriously? I think I can make my own decisions when it comes to Miranda. She has been nothing but a friend to me when I was at my worst. If she needs a friend then I am going to be there.”

“You know that I ain’t talking about a friend Tyler. She has trouble written all over her.”

I pointed my finger at my mother. “You stayed up to give me this half ass lecture didn’t you?”

“Perhaps.”

“There is nothing that I won’t do for that little girl. I know you don’t understand it, but it’s the truth. Please be nice to Miranda while she’s here Mom. I know how you like to feel in control of my life, but damn it, I am a grown man now. I make my own money and wipe my own ass. You can’t continue to meddle like you do.”

She raised her eyebrow. “I am afraid to tell you that I will always have an interest in your life son. I don’t want to see you get hurt like you did before, or worse.”

I expressed amusement in her last comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe she will try to trap you. Girls like that are always looking for someone to help raise their kids. I can’t blame her for having eyes for you.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head again. “She doesn’t have eyes for me. Jesus Christ!”

“Don’t use that talk around me.”

“Whatever! I am going to bed before I say something else to get you into a tizzy. Goodnight Mom.”

My mother didn’t say goodnight as I walked away from her. I got that she was suspicious of someone that she didn’t know, but Miranda was not looking to trap me, in fact she had never even made a move on me. I was the idiot trying to kiss her tonight. I had to remember that my overbearing mother had been looking out for me again. She needed to stop her meddling, but I saw the good in what she thought would be considered looking out for me.

After Van and Colt had left, things were tough for me. I spent most of my time alone, sulking in defeat. Karma is really a bitch and it dealt me with the biggest payback possible.  I knew all along that Van was too good for me. While she sat at home planning our future, I was out banging chicks. I was selfish and worried about getting my dick wet.  When I finally opened my eyes to look into that mirror they call ‘truth’, well I didn’t like what was staring back at me at all.

I was left with nothing to show for.

No college degree.

No future in football.

No driver’s license.

No girl.

After weeks of sulking, it was my mother who had drug me out of my depressed stupor. Well, it was her and Miranda. Of course she would rather take all of the credit and not give any to the single mother staying in our carriage house.

It appeared that my mother had nothing to worry about anyway. Even if I was interested in Miranda, she had made it clear that we were just friends more than once. It was ironic considering that the more I felt like I wanted there to be something between us, the more she kept shutting me down. I wasn’t used to so much rejection. Maybe all of my cheating had left me with the inability to ever be trusted again. Maybe I needed to move to another country where nobody knew me.

For the next two hours I laid in my bed and pondered on every conversation that Miranda and I had ever had. It left me even more confused.