Trust In Love (A McCord Family Novel Book 2) (4 page)

***

Sophie stared in pleasure at the website she created. Her shop was all set up. Thankfully, she already had a small customer following or it would have been harder to start a new life. She had managed, somehow surprisingly, to create her artwork without Kevin becoming too mad about it. He eventually would have made her stop.

It had been her only source of income when she was with him. So pathetic. She had been reliant on him and his money. But no more. From now on, she would make her way in this world with her own hard work. She would never allow herself to become reliant on anyone else. Never again.

It'd be her way, or die trying.

She was behind on a few orders, sending apology emails with discounts for their next purchase, almost making it free for them. She couldn’t afford to lose her faithful followers.

She enjoyed toying with projects, creating interesting and unique designs made out of anything really. She made a coat rack once out of a pitchfork. She had curved the prongs into hooks, adding a touch of whimsy to it. She painted the handle with a delicate pattern, drawing out the beauty of the wood. For the bottom, she found a metal funnel with the hole just large enough to fit her handle through and hold the weight of it. With the right tools and frame of mind, anything was possible. She had both.

The past week had flown by with hard work she had never doled out in her life. She had cleaned the house from top to bottom, every speck of dirt swept with a painful brush of her hand. She forgot how many times she filled her bucket up with new water, it turned brown so easily, so fast. Now cleanliness filled the air. Smelled fresh, new, and a little like freedom.

She had gone grocery shopping, buying a few more essentials for the house, supplies for her work, and gas for the lawn mower that sat in the shed waiting to be used. Except when she filled it up, changed the oil, and pulled the string to start it, nothing happened. No roaring sound pierced her ears.

She tinkered with it for a while, realizing she had no clue whatsoever what she was doing. A brief flicker of her mystery man swarmed her brain, almost wishing he would suddenly appear in front of her. She hadn't seen him once all week, almost as if he never existed. She didn't even know where he lived, but assumed somewhere in the neighborhood.

Why hadn't she taken his offer to mow her yard? Her lawn mower was broken, she had no clue how to fix it, no money to buy a new one, and the grass was growing way beyond the appropriate height. He was right. Her house was the only run-down, neglected house on the block.

She had no worries, though. She would just fire up another search engine on the computer and find how-to instructions on fixing a lawn mower. She created obscure and odd things all the time, she could figure out how to fix a lawn mower. She wasn't dumb. No matter how many times someone told her that as she grew up.

***

"What the hell you doing?" he bellowed in a disgusting tone, the stench of alcohol perforating her senses.

"Setting the table," Sophie replied timidly.

"You're doing it all wrong. You're the dumbest kid I know. Get the hell outta here and get your damn mother. I want it done right," he yelled, spit flying as the words flew out.

Sophie nodded, turning abruptly, the tears in the corners of her eyes as she ran upstairs to where her mother was folding the laundry.

"Mama, I can't set the table right. He wants you to do it," Sophie whispered behind her mother, who had just finished folding a towel.

She turned towards Sophie. "Did he shout at you?"

Sophie nodded. "I'm too dumb, Mama."

Her mother crouched down to Sophie's level, grabbing her shoulders in a comforting embrace. "You're not dumb, Sophie. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. He didn't mean to yell at you. He's a good man. He takes care of us."

"He's been drinking, Mama. You know how he gets when he drinks. How is that taking care of us?" Sophie asked, hating that her mother put up with him, defending him constantly. She wished he would run out on them like her real father had. He wasn't a good man in her eyes.

"He provides a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. He gets a little angry when he drinks, but he doesn't drink that much. We have no choice right now, Sophie. He's a good man deep down. We just have to see that part of him. You're not dumb. I'll help you set the table."

Sophie nodded as she followed her mother to the dining room. She knew it was inevitable, the ensuing rage that would end the night.

***

"Oh, you fanuzeling piece of crap!" Sophie exclaimed, as she whacked her wrench over the lawn mower with brute strength, not making one tiny dent.

She had been working for hours, or at least in her mind it had been hours, trying to fix the lawn mower with no luck whatsoever. She had no clue what she was doing and neither did the internet. She was about to give it another huge whack with the wrench when a slobbering kiss melted her senses.

She turned her head to the side, receiving another slobbering dog kiss and giggled at the intrusion. "Well, hello there. Thank you for the kiss and the much-needed distraction from demolishing this horrid device," Sophie said as she ruffled the dog's hair.

"He's an expert kisser, that's for sure. Learned none of it from me, but he has good skills," said the voice of the man she had wished for earlier.

Sophie turned towards him with a look of surprise. Yet, she couldn't explain why. He had been with the dog the last time she saw him. Suddenly, without thought, she said, "And you know how to kiss well, is that what you're saying?"

His lip curled with delight. "I would like to think so. Would you care to find out?"

Sophie grimaced in horror at his words—and her loose lips. Why couldn't she control what came out of her mouth with him?

"Or Axel and I can leave you to finish demolishing your lawn mower. Sorry about interrupting you," he quickly said with an apologetic smile. "Come on, Axel. Let's go, boy."

He patted his leg for Axel to follow, turning to leave, when Sophie said, "How did you know his name was Axel? Did you find his owners?"

He glanced back at her. "No, I didn't. I called around to the local Humane Society and a few other animal shelters, but no one put out a missing report for him. I'm not really surprised with the state he was in. We bonded that first night and I couldn't bear to part with him, so I named him."

"Axel? That's different," Sophie said hesitantly, petting Axel, who hadn't moved from her side.

"It was the first name to pop into my head. I like it," he said with a shrug.

"I like it, too."

"Thanks. You'd be the first to like it. I'm sorry about what I said to you. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I tend to joke around and just have fun sometimes. I didn't mean to offend you."

Sophie stood up, wiping her hands on her pants. "It did surprise me. I don't mean to be rude either. I'm sorry."

He took a step towards her, making her instinctively step back. Either he noticed her retreat, or hadn't planned to come that close to her, but he stopped moving.

"Well, now that we got that awkwardness over. I'm Austin. I live next door," he said with a friendly smile, gesturing his head towards his house. "Offer still stands to mow your lawn, just as a neighborly gesture. I can see you're struggling with yours. But if not, that's okay, too."

Sophie shuffled her feet slightly, hating that she wanted to accept his offer. He seemed so nice, so genuine. They always acted like that at first. She had a horrible intuition when it came to men. The longer she looked him in the eyes, the harder it was to resist.

"Well, the fanuzeling machine just won't work, no matter how hard I try to fix it," Sophie said, irritated, kicking the lawn mower, hoping to jumpstart it that way.

Austin laughed. "Fanuzeling? I'm not sure what that means."

"You know—fanuzeling," Sophie said with a shrug, embarrassed.

"No, I don't know. It sounds cute coming from your lips, though."

Sophie blushed. "Another version of swearing. I hate foul language. It sounds better to me to say fanuzeling."

Austin grinned. "It's a pretty word when it leaves your lips. I like it."

Sophie's blush crept further around her face, traveling down her neck. "Well, like I said before, it just won't work."

"Would you like me to mow your lawn? I don't mind. I can even look at the lawn mower and see if I can fix it," Austin offered.

"I'm not dumb! I can handle it," Sophie exclaimed.

He stumbled back a step by her outburst. "I never thought so. It was just a friendly offer, nothing else. Or we can do it together. I don't know much about lawn mowers. Actually, nothing about them, but sometimes a second pair of eyes helps."

"I appreciate the offer, but I can handle it. Excuse me," Sophie said, giving one last pat on the head to Axel and walked quickly back to her house. She would not fall under his spell. He had experience and player written all over him, especially when he smiled. As she shut the door to the house, she also tried shutting the door on his glorious smile.

To her extreme annoyance, unable to do so.

***

Austin watched as she walked away without a backward glance, wondering how it went wrong so fast. She was a puzzle. He had been unable to help himself with a little light flirting. The longer he had stood there, the more her beauty had wrapped around his senses. Even covered in sweat and grime, she looked beautiful. The sun had shined brightly on her, haloing her loveliness, making it difficult for him to remember why he needed to stay away from her.

Oh, yeah. She was his neighbor. He could not dabble with her.

He hated the fact he missed seeing her, and the fact her face penetrated his thoughts more than he wanted. She still hadn't been nice to him once since they met. But she had liked Axel's name. That did make him happy. Zane didn't like the name and Ava didn't mind the name, but offered better choices, which Austin refused. He liked Axel and wasn't going to change it.

He just seemed good at mucking things up with her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't manage to get back on better ground with her. A very touchy woman, the littlest thing set her off. There was something about her behavior that struck him as odd, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Not his problem, though. He had to stay far away from her.

Unfortunately, he had to keep repeating that to his thick brain. He wanted to unravel the mystery surrounding her and he hated that.

To stop himself, he pulled his phone out, scrolling through the contacts until he found the one he wanted, hitting call.

"Hey, Bethany, just the beautiful woman I was thinking about. How about hitting up a movie later tonight? I've been missing your gorgeous face," Austin said, even as he did, Sophie's face intruded on his thoughts.

"Great. Can't wait to see you, darling," Austin said, hanging up the phone, feeling more miserable. He blew out a frustrated breath, glanced one more time at her house, then slapped his leg. "Come on, Axel. Let's get ready for our date. We have better things to do than worry about our crazy neighbor. She's not that beautiful."

As he walked inside the house, Axel trailing his steps, he knew he was lying to himself. She was beautiful and he wanted to see a real smile light up her face.

***

Austin walked quietly into the house, his footsteps barely making an audible sound.

"Did you have fun?" Zane asked quietly as he sat on the couch in the living room, barely visible in the dark.

Austin jumped from the intrusion, a hand jamming to his chest from the scare. "Geez, Zane. What the hell you sitting in the dark for?"

"Where have you been? It's past curfew," Zane asked as he stood up, walking towards Austin.

"What are you, my dad? Nope, you're not," Austin shot back sarcastically.

"I can go wake up Dad for you if you like. Although, I think it's better I'm sitting here waiting for you than him."

Austin sighed. "What's the big deal? Maybe you should try breaking curfew for once. If Dad were so concerned, he'd be up waiting with you."

"I worry about you, Austin. You'll be graduating soon and look at what you're doing."

"What am I doing? Having fun. What's so wrong with that?"

"Jimmy said there's a rumor going on around school that you got a girl pregnant. A Chrissy or something. Is that true? Dad will skin your head if it is."

"Jimmy needs to keep his damn mouth shut! I didn't get any girl pregnant. I didn't even sleep with her. She wanted to and I chose to decline because she's been with too many guys already. If she's pregnant, it's not mine. She started that because she saw me with another girl. Don't worry about it."

Austin started to walk away when Zane grabbed his shoulder. "I will worry about it. You're my brother and I don't want you to screw your life up. If you didn't sleep with her…fine! Just make sure you use some damn protection when you're with a girl. Better yet, wait for the right one to come along instead of sleeping with every damn girl you find attractive. You're only seventeen," Zane said.

"I don't sleep with every girl I find attractive. So I have a reputation with the ladies. Big deal. I haven't actually slept with that many. I do have some morals. I enjoy making out thoroughly, though," Austin said, grinning deviously. "I use protection, Zane. I'm not dumb. Quit worrying about me. And no, I didn't have sex with any girl tonight either. Good night."