Believe Me (Hearts for Ransom Book 3) (12 page)

Claire mindlessly cleared a table. She had been living in nightmare for the past two days. Mason hired a lawyer. He would at least want visitation rights, and may even want partial custody of Zoey. He wanted to claim his daughter.

What would she do? What could she do? Would he just be able to go in front of a judge and get whatever he was asking for?

She needed to talk to somebody. But who? She couldn’t let Spencer know what was going on. It would destroy him. Wait a minute…Would Mason be willing to hurt Spencer? Finding out Mason was Zoey’s father would end their relationship for good. Maybe she wasn’t so much at Mason’s mercy after all. She had one card left to play; hopefully it was an ace.

“You have a single diner at table seven, Claire.” Alma’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

Feeling better, she fixed her tray and walked over to the table. She was surprised to find Bryan Dyer sitting there.

“Hello, Bryan.” Judy had been telling her of his latest job search not an hour earlier. “If you’ll wait a minute, I’ll go get Judy so she can take care of you.” She’d just swap tables with her friend. Stan didn’t care as long as they kept their duties evenly divided.

Bryan smiled warmly at her. “That’s okay. I’m actually here to see you. Mom told me you’d be at work today.”

Claire didn’t know what to think. “What can I get you to drink?” She’d just go ahead and do her job.

“Can I get a beer in here, or do I have to go to the bar for that?”

“You can order any drinks off the bar’s menu,” she told him. “I’ll just go pick up whatever you order.” The bar was in a separate building connected to Butlers. Only the staff could use the door connecting it to the restaurant. Customers had to enter through exterior doors.

“Then I’d like a beer, please.” Bryan grinned at her, and he looked so much like Mason she nearly dropped her pen.

“I’ll be right back.” Shoving Mason Wright out of her mind, she walked over and set her tray down. Serving alcohol was part of her job, but it wasn’t her favorite. The fine dining atmosphere of the restaurant kept most people from becoming too inebriated while eating, but over the years she had her fair share of dealings with tables full of drunken fools.

She firmly pushed the memory of her own drunken foolishness away as she walked into the bar and told Tommy she needed a beer. Claire found it a little disconcerting that Bryan Dyer was a drinker since neither Louise nor Judy touched the stuff. He probably just enjoyed a beer with his meal, though, and it certainly wasn’t her place to judge.

A few minutes later, on her way back to Bryan’s table, she passed Judy, who had a tray full of entrees.

“Somebody’s having beer with lunch?” she asked, disapproval on her face.

Claire was unsure of what to say, so she decided to say nothing. Again, it wasn’t any of her business. She just nodded and kept walking.

After she had placed the mug in front of Bryan, she took the order pad out of her pocket and got ready to write on it. “What would you like?”

“I’m ordering the fried chicken meal, but I would
like
to take you out on a date Friday night.”

She was so shocked, this time she actually succeeded in dropping her ink pen.

Bryan leaned down and picked it up. She was flustered as she accepted it from him.

“I don’t date,” she told him. “You know about my children.”

“My mom will watch Zoey if Spencer can’t.” He was very persuasive. “I really want to take you out for dinner and dancing.”

Claire shook her head. “I just can’t.”

His brown eyes, so like Mason Wright’s, looked imploringly into hers. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been able to take a beautiful woman on a real date? Will you please go with me?”

She was finding it difficult to tell this man no. It wasn’t like she didn’t have something to celebrate since she figured out how to beat Mason at his own game. And Bryan knew about Spence and Zoey and wanted to date her anyway.

“Okay.”

There was that grin again. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

After she told him that was fine, she left to go turn in his order. The day had been looking dismal, but now—now things were starting to brighten up.

“Mom has a date tonight.”

Mason was surprised. “I didn’t think your mom ever dated.”

Spencer shrugged. “She usually doesn’t, but this guy is her friend Judy’s brother. We just met him on Thanksgiving. He just got home from Iraq. It’s weird, though.”

“What is?”

“He looks a lot like you,” Spencer replied.

Mason suddenly realized he was not one bit happy Claire was going on a date. It must be because if she were to get serious with this guy, there would be another man in Zoey’s life. That had to be it. It couldn’t be anything else.

“I want to show you something,” Spence nearly whispered. “But you have to promise not to tell anybody. Mom would ground me forever if she found out.”

“What did you do?” Mason couldn’t condone Spencer breaking his mother’s rules.

Spencer looked pleadingly into Mason’s eyes. “I just had to know, Mason. I just wanted to know my dad’s name. That’s all.” He scooted closer to Mason’s wheelchair. “I got into the locked box Mom keeps her important papers in, and I found Zoey’s and my birth certificates.”

Mason couldn’t breathe for a moment. Was his name on Zoey’s? Did Spence already know Mason was his sister’s father?

“Look.” Spencer spread out a birth certificate on Mason’s lap and pointed to the line with
Father
printed beneath it. Mason scanned the paper. It was Spencer’s, and the dad was listed as
unknown
.

Then Spencer spread out a second paper on top of the first one. He pointed to the same line. Mason felt his heart break to see
unknown
above “father” on Zoey’s birth certificate, even though he wasn’t really surprised.

Spencer was upset. “My mom knows who our fathers are,” he stated emphatically. “She’s not one of those women who…she didn’t have sex with a bunch of different men. Why wouldn’t their names be on our birth certificates?” Pain-filled eyes met Mason’s. “Do you think it’s because our dads didn’t want us?”

“Calm down, Spencer.” Mason tried to keep his voice soothing. He felt terrible for what this boy was going through and even worse to be part of the cause. “It most likely has nothing to do with you—or Zoey. You don’t know what happened between your mom and…these men. They might have hurt—”

“They dumped her, Mason.” Spencer clenched his fists. “I might not ever be able to do anything about my father, but if I ever find out who got my mom pregnant with Zoey and just dumped her, I’m gonna kill him. I hate the jerk.”

Mason watched as tears filled Spencer’s eyes and rolled down his face.

He mindlessly patted Spence’s shoulder. If Spencer ever found out about him, he would hate Mason. And Mason was the only father figure Spencer had. What could Mason do? He’d have to choose between hurting the young man beside him and giving up his daughter for good.

What was he going to do?

Claire was with Bryan in a bar called the Dog Sled. She had never even seen this establishment before, and really could have gone through her life without the privilege. The entire place was full of intoxicated people, one of whom was Bryan Dyer. She had long ago lost count of the beers he practically chugged.

When Bryan was drawn into a dart game with another stumbling fool, Claire was grateful to escape his attention for a few minutes. She wanted to leave, but even if the big guy glaring at her from behind the bar allowed her to use the phone, she had no idea who to call. Her only options were people she worked with…and Judy. Could she call Bryan’s sister and tell her what was going on? Just as she decided she had to, fingers wrapped around her arm so tightly it hurt. Claire nearly fell when she was yanked around to face Bryan.

“Let’s dance.” He unceremoniously pulled her to the dance floor, where he jerked her against him—way too close to be comfortable.

She managed to shove herself a little bit away from him. “I don’t want to dance with you. I want to go home, and I’m driving.”

He yanked her back against him, even closer than she was before. She didn’t like what she was feeling pressed against her at all.

“You need to have a drink and relax.” He didn’t ease his hold on her. “Soda isn’t going to help you have a good time. You just need one drink.”

A young, pregnant woman on her own, Claire Hadley had learned to defend herself. She lifted her foot and brought it down hard on his instep.

“Ow!” His startled jump made it possible to break his hold and pull free.

“I’m going home. I’ll call a taxi if you’re not going to leave.” She dodged his grasping hands.

His eyes swept over her from head to toe. “Fine.”

“Give me the keys.” She held out her hand. There was no way he was getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.

He reached into his pocket and pulled them out.

“Come ‘n get ‘em, baby.” Swaying on his feet, Bryan held the keys out between them and took a step back. “Come ‘n get ‘em.”

If he thought she was putting herself in the position for him to grab her, he was blowing soap bubbles. Waiting until he swayed to his right, Claire quickly reached over and shoved his left shoulder. When Bryan met her expectations and stumbled off balance, she grabbed the keys and turned to walk away.

“Hey!” She turned to see his arm outstretched and seriously considered ignoring him. “Ah’ll be good. Don’t leave me here. You kin drive. Ah’ll be good.”

Seeing as how he was slurring words and could barely stand, Claire felt a bolt of confidence. “Fine. But keep your hands to yourself.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed for the door.

She heard him follow her to the car, stumbling over his own feet. He was mumbling something about her backside. She was just going to ignore him and get herself home.

Unfortunately, once they reached the car, Bryan caught up to her and grinned. Claire could almost hear him: “Game on.”

Round one came when he fumbled with his seatbelt so much she decided if she didn’t fasten it, they would still be sitting there at sunrise. Slapping and shoving his hands away while sliding the clasp together was no easy task, but she finally managed.

Once behind the wheel, she drove as quickly as she safely could. She then made a concerted effort to pretend Bryan Dyer wasn’t even there.

He leaned toward her, and round two of their battle began. The louse probably thought he was whispering in her ear when he practically shouted, “Why don’t you just pull into a motel so we can get to the good stuff?”

How she would have liked to kick him into the soprano section of a choir! Unable to silently ignore his suggestion, she spoke as coldly as possible. “I’m not going to a motel with you. I’m taking you home and having Judy run Zoey and me to my house.”

“You really need to loosen up. Come on.” He was slurring his words even more than he had been a few minutes earlier. “You muss give it away to ever man who lucks at chew.”

As hard as she tried, Claire couldn’t stop the tears of humiliation from sliding down her cheeks. She wiped them away with her hand and kept driving, determined to get away from this man once and for all.

It wasn’t going to be soon enough.

“You should just pull over and take care of me real quick.” Sounding nearly sober, he then proceeded to tell her exactly how she could “take care” of him. The filthy language flowed from his mouth. Then he capped off those vile instructions with a couple more unwelcome statements. “At least that way there won’t be a chance of you getting knocked up again. Aren’t two brats enough to take care of?”

She would never justify his words with a response. Besides, any response would undoubtedly encourage the creep. Maybe he’d just pass out.

“Okay,” he slurred again. “I’ll take care of you first.” He unfastened his seatbelt and slid across the seat to her.

“Get back over there.” She remained as calm as possible and managed to keep the sobs from breaking through.

“It’ll feel good.” She felt him clumsily try to unsnap her jeans.

This was not happening. Even drunk, he was strong, and it took all the strength Claire could muster to push his hand away. The car swerved dangerously toward the curb, and she jerked it back on the road.

“You’re going to make us wreck!” She hauled off and smacked his hand as hard as she could. When he kept moving toward her, she made a fist and struck the side of his head. “Stop!”

“Ow!” he yelled, as he grabbed his head.

Wondering how much of a reprieve she had, Claire suddenly saw a solution. The lights of a convenience store called to her. She quickly pulled in and parked. Only when she shut off the ignition, did Bryan seem to realize they had stopped.

“Hey.” His head bobbed as he looked around the dimly lit parking lot. At least he appeared to have forgotten his quest to make Claire feel good. “Iss this place hawring? Never worked on a car lot before, but nobody else wuns me.” He flopped his head back around but seemed to look past Claire. “Those guys think I’m damaged goods.” Both hands shot up in the air. “Seven places…seven guys…tole me to git help. I jiss wanted to be relaxed for the innerview.”

So, he hadn’t been hired because he showed up for interviews in an intoxicated state…and Claire cared, why? She silently unfastened her seatbelt and opened the door. As she moved to get out, she briefly considered leaving his keys in the ignition and letting him drive home, but she couldn’t live with the potential consequences.

As she leaned back in for them, Bryan lunged for her. Ready for another struggle, Claire was relieved when he slumped over, dead to the world. She made sure not touch him as she retrieved the keys.

Now, what would she do? She just wanted to go home. He was unconscious, so could she shove him over far enough to drive? When his hand twitched, Claire immediately made a decision. She would walk home before getting back in a car with that man. He was liable to come to and get sick, or even renew his efforts. Still uncertain what to do, she looked around the nearly empty parking lot and at the building.

A big, sloppily printed sign on the door proclaimed
No personal use of store phone – Pay Phone available for customers
. Realizing she was in a lower income part of town, Claire figured too many residents asked to use the phone, and the pay phone was the store’s response. Well, it was Claire’s salvation.

Glad she decided to carry her money in her pocket, Claire pulled out the ten-dollar-bill she brought.

The sleepy-eyed clerk looked suspiciously at her when Claire asked for change.

“Zat guy okay?” The young man’s dishwater-blonde curls bounced as he nodded out the window toward the parked car.

Even though he was at most, eighteen years old, Claire was certain he had seen more than most adults. “He’s passed out cold.”

The boy nodded knowingly. “My pop drinks. He ends up like that ‘bout every night. “Zwhy I’m working.”

Setting her predicament aside, Claire took a closer look at the young man. Not much older than Spencer, he was in a family situation Claire wouldn’t wish upon anyone. “What about your mom?”

“She works...at the bicycle factory, but there're five of us kids, and she don’t make enough to pay all the bills. It’s okay. She’s got me to help.” The love he felt for his mother practically burst from his eyes and brought tears to Claire’s.

“She’s very fortunate to have you.”

He produced a small smile as the jangling door announced another customer’s arrival.

Leaving the young man to get back to work, Claire walked over to the pay phone. Able to see the top of Bryan’s shoulder and knowing he was still out, she inserted her coins and dialed Judy’s number.

As hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop the tears when her friend answered.

“What’s the matter?” Judy asked worriedly. “I can tell you’re crying.”

Wishing she didn’t have to ask her best friend to help her get away from a man Judy loved, Claire managed to speak. “Bryan is…very drunk and he…” She couldn’t finish. “Can you come and get us so Zoey and I can just go home?”

“Where are you?” Judy sounded angry, but Claire had no idea who the anger was directed at.

Claire looked at the store’s half-lit sign reigning over the parking lot. “Toby’s Quick Stop…a convenience store, but I don’t know the add—”

“I know where it’s at,” Judy snapped. “I’ll be right there.”

The thought that her only real friend might be upset with her made Claire cry harder. The clerk looked past his customer and nodded as Claire walked out the door. There was still no way on God’s green earth she would get back in the car, so she stood by the ice box in her too-thin coat; shivering, crying—and unfortunately, thinking.

How could she have been so foolish? Was she inclined to let men make her feel like this?

Bryan Dyer said the most demeaning things to her that anybody had ever said. Even intoxicated, he made the reason for dating her all too clear.

And then there was Tim, Spencer’s dad. He treated her like nothing—used her, tossed her aside, and never looked back.

But Mason…Mason had at least looked back. He cared about his actions enough to want to make amends. In too many ways to count.

Judy’s old Impala pulled into the parking lot beside her brother’s car. The tears Claire had just about managed to stem once again threatened to flow. What would her friend say to her?

The sound of Judy’s car door slamming shut did nothing to alleviate Claire’s anxiety. With her heart pounding, Claire watched Judy walk to the passenger door of Bryan’s car. After what seemed to Claire like an exceptionally long look into the window, Judy turned to her.

“Where are his keys?” Her clipped voice didn’t bode well for Claire.

“I have them.” Claire reached into her jacket pocket and pulled them out.

“Good,” Judy proclaimed. “He can stay right where he is and figure out how to get himself and his car home tomorrow. It’s not supposed to get too cold tonight.”

Claire stood with a mixture of relief and wonder as her friend walked to her. “He’s your brother.”

Judy slid an arm around Claire’s waist. “You’re my sister. I love you, Claire, and as much as I love Bryan, I would never stand by and let him hurt you.”

A sob broke through as Claire turned to embrace the woman who had saved her more than once. “I love you, too.”

They stood that way for a few minutes, with Judy patting Claire’s back. Finally, Judy stepped back. “You’re freezing, Claire. Let’s get you out of this cold air.”

Judy took her hand, and Claire let herself be led to the car. Judy stood there until Claire was safely buckled in before she went around and got into the driver’s seat.

“I’m sorry for whatever my brother said or did,” Judy told her once they were on their way. “He didn’t use to drink like this. It’s not an excuse or anything, but I think being overseas for so long changed him. I’m just sorry I ever encouraged you to date him.”

Claire drew a ragged breath. “It’s not your fault. I’m obviously only good for one thing when it comes to men.” She laughed humorlessly. “Everyone has to have a talent, right? Mine is to have sex with a man who has his pants on and is halfway out the door before my head hits the pillow. Spencer’s dad…Zoey’s dad.”