Withholding Secrets (24 page)

“Sky, look at me.” Keri’s voice had come out so soft and sweet that it had rattled my insides again, warming me through to the broken bones she left me with a moment ago. How could anyone not be in love with that wonderful and amazing woman? She was so compassionate and caring, and so much more loving than I ever saw a woman to be. I would marry her tomorrow if I could, but she would never allow it. She would run away as fast as she could. “Honey, do you remember what I told you about numbers? It’s all a game. It’s all a code to tell you something.”

Sky nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I just can’t think.”

“I know, honey. Clear your head and take a moment. When you are ready to start, you can start.” She smiled as she rested her arm on the desk. “Play the game like I have been teaching you.”

“But I can’t do it. I can’t be like you. I try. I try to be.” A few more tears had trickled down her face, and the panic washed the color from the innocent face again.

“You are like me, Skylar. You are exactly like me.” She pulled the girl to her chest and kissed the top of her head. “Close your eyes.” She did. “Remember the calendar that we had in the kitchen. The one with the beaches. Imagine the one that is your favorite. That one that we talked about. With the palms hanging over the white sand and the crystal blue water. We danced and sang and we were free. Imagine us all there. Me, you, Jordan—”

“And Coach Kane,” Sky whispered softly. “He’s there, too, now. He’s holding your hand and dancing with you.”

Keri’s eyes drifted over to me, melting everything that I had inside. She was so beautiful, and still worried that I would walk out of their lives without looking back. If I left that, I would be doomed forever. There was no walking away from that woman. No matter what came about. She had that hold on me that just kept pulling me in deeper and deeper. She just didn’t know yet.

“I’m ready.” Sky sat up and used her sleeves to wipe the tears away.

“Play the game. Play the game, honey.” Keri rested back in the seat, watching Sky pick up her pencil. Reaching over, she cupped Sky’s hand quickly. “You get this and we will do something all day Sunday. Anything you want.”

“Can we go skating again? All of us?” Her doe eyes met Keri’s, and I could see the cringe in those grays. Keri was horrible on ice skates and she hated skating, but if it was what Sky wanted to do, Keri would force herself to do it.

“I will see what we can do.” She sat back again as the gritting of her teeth was there while she played off a smile. “You could’ve asked for that sweater or something.” She huffed, making Sky giggle. “Maybe even a pony, but no. Had to ask for something that I can’t do.”

“Oh, Keri!” Sky cried, holding back the laughter. “It’s all a numbers game.”

“Do your damn test, girl.” The rosiness filled in Keri’s cheeks as she looked away, letting Sky work on the test. When the girl finished, Keri took the test and walked it over to me as her eyes turned instantly sharp on the teacher who was huddled behind his desk. Her hand came up as she pointed at him. “You screwed with the wrong girl.”

And just like that, she went back to Sky, gathered the backpack, and they both walked out with the boys.

Handing the test over, I pointed at it. “Grade it now.”

His hand went for the red pen and he tipped his head going through each question. When he finished, he cleared his throat. “No wrong problems.”

“I would really think twice about picking on her, or any other student, for that matter. I hear about it again, you won’t have to worry about Keri coming in here. You
don’t
want to cross me.”

Straightening up, I walked out letting the door small behind me, and smiled at the kids and Keri. “I’ll take the kids home if you want to drop Ben’s off at home. He should be there shortly.”

Keri nodded as she smiled at Sky. “I’ll see you in a little bit, okay?”

Sky hugged her, and then came to my side. “We are a family now.”

“Sure are.” I took her backpack and walked them out of the school. Just as Keri started for her car, I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her tight to me. The blood began to boil and I wanted to crawl over her like an animal, but not there, not yet. Tonight, though. In the bedroom.

I attacked her mouth like a starving animal over witnessing her in action in that classroom. This was definitely my woman and there was no way I was ever letting go. But, I had to let her take Ben’s kids home so she could come back to my side. “We have dinner with my mom tonight. Ben said that he wouldn’t be long, but just wait there with them. There were two more missing girls this weekend and they were closer to here.”

“I will call you when he gets home.” She glanced over at Sky. “They want these two, they will have to get through me first.”

“And that is why I am colored one lucky bastard.” Smirking, I went to swoop in for a kiss, but she backed away.

“Go. I will call you when Ben gets there.” Reaching over, she balled her fist and hit me softly in the stomach.

I laughed and got into the truck with Jordan and Sky looking at me. “What?”

They both shook their heads, the smirks sliding across their faces, and sunk into their seats.

We arrived back at my place, the jumped out and went straight to their rooms where they put their book bags away. When Jordan came up, he stretched out on the couch, glancing over at me at me taking up space in my recliner.

I flipped through the stations on the television, not seeing anything really on to watch. Leaving it on an old hockey game, I tossed the remote onto the table, sensing the thick hesitation in the airwaves. “What’s up?”

Gnawing on his fingernail, he dropped it and turned his look over to me. “You really like her, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Can I ask you something?” He chewed at his bottom lip, allowing the right words to form in his adolescent mind.

“Of course.” My heart jumped a little as the thoughts appeared all over his face; the
what-ifs
,
should he
or
shouldn’t he
, and the
I need to
.

“Are you really into Keri?” The color filled into his cheeks as quick as the words flew out of his mouth. “I mean, it’s nice that you like her, but I don’t want to see her get hurt. She’s not going to give us up, and this might not be something that you really want.”

“It wasn’t something that I ever wanted, Jordan.” Leaning forward, I pushed the footrest down and rested my elbows on the knees of my denim covered knees. “I never wanted this. Ever. I was happy before.”

“And now?”

“I realize that I was just biding my time. I am happier now than I’ve ever been. You never know what’s missing until you have the hottest woman in the city come barging into your office, robbing you of everything inside.” I smirked and reached over the arm of the couch and hit his leg. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”

“Well, Sky gets pretty attached and I have to watch out for her. I just know that this will really hurt her bad if you walk out. And Keri. You will kill her if you did, too. Those are my girls, Coach Kane. I have to watch out for them.” His shoulders straightened and he pushed his chest out, trying to send me the
warning
.

“I’m not leaving, and I told Keri that. If that was the case, I never would have done anything except help you three.” Looking up, I saw Sky standing in the kitchen with tears in her eyes. She flew across the room and into my arms. “We have to go to my mom’s tonight for dinner.”

“I have some homework to do.” Jordan cleared his throat as he stood, straightening his jeans a little as they were getting a little small on him.

“Get your stuff together. You can do it at my mom’s.” Pulling my phone out, I checked for any calls, but nothing yet. Sending Keri a text, I walked the two out with their book bags and alarmed the house.

Going down the dirt road, I went out to the highway and headed out toward the county where my parents’ place was. Pulling into the gated driveway, I heard Sky wince a little as she twisted in the seat to watch the gates close behind us.

We parked in front of the three story brick building, and I walked the kids into the home that was three times the size of mine. My parents had a lot of money, but they earned every cent. And without those people, I never would have had the chance at life. At the rate that I had been going, I would have been dead before I reached the end of my high school years, which I never would have saw what high school was about.

The kids looked around the entryway with their eyes opened wide at the art work and the scrolling woodwork. Two staircases were on each side of the room that went up to the upper level filled with bedrooms. The clicking of the heels on the marble floor echoed as my mother, dressed in a pair of black pants and a cream blouse that hugged her small hips, came around the backside of the left hand staircase.

“I thought you would be earlier.” The sweet smile slid across her face as she looked over the kids. “Come on in. Don’t be shy.”

Sky reached over, taking hold of my hand as we followed my mom through to the large dining room that was simple and decorated in the art collections that she bought because she liked and not based on price or fame. It was one of the more comforting places in the house, I always thought, and made a perfect room to house the family dinners. Nudging Sky to a chair, I passed over her pink backpack and smiled, assuring her that she was allowed at the formal table.

“So, who do we have here?” My mom put her hand on Jordan’s shoulder as she smiled, and he tensed up.

“That’s Jordan, and this here is Sky.” Feeling the vibration in my pocket, I pulled out my phone to read the text from Keri. Ben still wasn’t home, and she just had a feeling that she should stay there until he was. And when Keri had gotten those feelings, she was right about something. “Keri’s going to be a little late.”

“Dinner’s not done yet, so there’s still time.” She glanced over at Sky. “Would you like something to drink, honey?”

Sky’s eyes shifted up to me, filled with nervousness. “Could I have some juice?”

“What kind?” My mom shrugged a little.

“A glass … of juice, please.” Her eyes watered as she clutched her backpack tight to her chest.

“Honey, we have all kinds. There’s apple, cranberry…” Watching the corners of her red painted lips curve upward, she held back her smile the best she could, not to bring any more embarrassment to the little girl.

“Cranberry is fine, Mom.” I pulled a chair out and sat down as my mom disappeared through the double swinging doors. “Relax, you two. She’s not going to bite. Besides, the blood would ruin her blouse. She saves that for after dinner.” Sucking in a deep breath, I held it in as their gaping mouths hung open and their eyes were wide open. “I’m kidding. Get working on your homework. I don’t want Keri coming after me for you both not getting your work done.”

“Keri always helps me with mine.” Sky’s eyes shifted down to the table, her finger brushing over the Mahogany and taking in the sleekness and perfection of the wood.

“Keri has a way of explaining things to her so Sky can remember them.” Jordan put his bag on the table and looked over at her. “Just try, and I will help with what you need.”

Getting up, I went through the swinging doors into the kitchen as the fancy Italian aroma drifted through the air. There were a few times that the cooks were around, but most of the meals my mom made. It was her art, and she loved it. And she was damn good at it, too.

“I take it that this is the woman with the two kids.” Her thin eyebrows raised a little as the concern had filled in her eyes. “Where is she?”

“There was an issue at the school and she had taken home Ben Bradford’s kids. She’s going to stay with them until he gets home from his meeting because of the two newly missing girls.” My chest tightened, knowing that pinched look on her face. I put myself into a spot that I would never be able to just walk away, and she knew that. But, I didn’t want to walk away. Not from this. And for her to see that I was serious about Keri and the kids would be hard. She’d known exactly how I was from the first day I entered their home.

“Kane, I really wish that you would have…” Her breath came out as she pulled the top oven door open in the brick portion of the wall. “And what if she was looking for someone to dump the kids on? She’s … what … twenty-one you said? What kind of life will she ever have with those kids?”

“She’s twenty-five, and there is no way she’s walking away from them. Just wait until you meet her. You will see for yourself.” I grabbed the glasses of juice and started for the door.

“I hope that you’re right.” Shaking her head, she pulled a white china plate down from the open cupboard and pulled the white cookie jar out of the corner of the kitchen counter. “You’re still my son no matter what, and I still have to be concerned.”

“I know, but really, just wait until you meet her to pass your judgment.” I pressed my back into the left side of the door and stepped out, holding it for her. She carried the plate of cookies to the table, looking at Sky trying to concentrate, but her mind just wasn’t there. “Hey. Keri will be here soon.”

“She always helps me when we get home.” Her eyes shifted up to my mother, the anxiety spilling over with water in her eyes.