Disgruntled (11 page)

Incredibly Loud, Super Fast, and Insanely Crazy – that’s all
Reva could say about the Monster Truck show. It captivated
Eric and she couldn’t help but be entranced as well. By the
end of the evening she was exhausted and totally enthralled
from watching Todd, Eric, the trucks, and all the craziness
of
the
event.
Mainly
though,
she
just
watched
Todd.
Covertly, of course. Sure, he’d caught her staring a few
times; he just tossed a smile back and she went all mushy
and hot inside.
When they walked out of the convention center, Todd
grabbed her hand along with Eric’s. The three of them
walked together still feeling the roar of the engines in their
guts. She attributed some of the rumble to the chilidogs and
popcorn. The night wind caught them as they rounded a
corner to head toward his truck. Reva shivered. This was
good
.
By the time they’d reached her house that night, Eric was
fast asleep in the back seat, hunched over against the door.
“Tired. I’m hellaciously tired.” She yawned and let her head
drop against Todd’s chest as he stood in front of her at the
door of her house. A monumental step for someone who
carefully measured every movement around her. He smelled
so
good and warm
.
“Hold on a second,” he murmured as he lifted his hands to
her hair and fumbled. “You have some popcorn in your hair.
There. Got it.”
Reva inhaled the scent that emanated from his neck. So.
Incredibly. Yummy. She couldn’t stop it, her mouth just had
to go there. And it did. She touched her lips softly against
his throat. She thought he groaned softly. She felt the
rumble.
“You sure you want to do that?” he said.
“Come in with me.” She opened the door and pulled his
hand. An entire day of these two had her hormones in
overdrive. Todd had lifted Eric easily to his shoulders to
walk through the crowd. He’d dropped an arm casually
across
her
shoulders
periodically
and
she
had
felt
the
strength in it. He had no need to prove strength was there, it
just was. He had no need to use it for any purpose other
than to tighten the relationship between he and Eric, or
perhaps steer her gently through the throng of people.
“I have Eric.” Todd nodded toward the car.
She nearly
forgot about the child!
“You have Eric.”
Todd ran his fingers into her hair, gathering it between a
forefinger and thumb. He twisted it and watched in a trance.
“I don’t want to go,” he murmured.
“But you have to. It’s okay.”
Todd pulled her to his chest and wrapped his big, thick, liftanything arms around her. One of the perks of working with
lawn and garden things obviously. “This has been the best
day, Reva. I don’t want it to end.” He kissed her hair.
“I know. Me too.” She slid her fingers up his back.
“There will be other days. Lots of them.” He stroked her
hair.
Would there?
It had been a while since they were together. She
registered the time since she’d seen him last and thought
not. She wasn’t the best catch and he didn’t seem interested
in anything too taxing. She understood that. Once burned,
twice shy and all that. Admittedly, she had been a real piece
of work.
“Like tomorrow for example. Unless something’s changed,
you still have a pile of rocks in the backyard that needs to be
assembled into a fountain. Seems like that’d be a good
project for a nice, sunny day like tomorrow’s supposed to
be. What about it?” He slipped a few fingers under her chin
and lifted it so that she had no choice but to look at him.
“Do you have plans already?”
Reva swallowed the knot in her throat, and shook her head.
He was so gentle, and big and tall and so totally
oozing with
testosterone
. He focused over her head, staring into the dark,
and squinted. His arm tightened against her back.
“Tell me about this guy, Reva. The one that put the fear of
God in you and made you afraid to run on sidewalks or pass
people and cars on the street. What happened? Where is he
now?”
“I don’t know really – how I ended up there, in that
situation.” She
really
didn’t want to talk about it. He had
already seen the crazy side of her family, now he wanted this
too? No, he wouldn’t want to know this about her. “I always
thought I was a strong and capable woman. No one could
take advantage of me. I could handle anything.”
“You are, you know. You still are. I see it. You’ve had to
make a few accommodations to adapt to what you learned,
but you’re still stronger than most. You left, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t have any choice. I can’t believe I let it get that far. I
hate vulnerabilities. I’ve always
felt that if
you prepare
yourself adequately, you can deal with just about anything. I
had no idea it was a contest of wills. He willed me to be the
person who idolized and served his every need, even if I
didn’t know what need he wanted served on any given day. I
willed to be loved as I was. I thought what I was – well I
thought I was all that, you know. Unfortunately, what I was
didn’t seem all that loveable.” She stared down at Todd’s
shirt.
“You realize that’s what he wanted you to think. Don’t
you?”
She swallowed and shook her head.
“That’s how he kept you with him. By making you believe
you needed him—that there was something wrong with you.
That you didn’t deserve—”
“That I didn’t deserve the nice place to live, the nice things
he bought. The trips.”
“Trips?”
“After the first time I disappointed him—the first time he
had been angry at me for talking to one of his coworkers at a
party, he took the dog leash and wrapped it around the neck
of the puppy he’d given me. It was only six months old and
I adored that dog. Nick pressed and pressed with the leash
and watched me for a reaction. I don’t think he had a clue
what he was doing. It was like he’d completely disengaged
from reality, he was so consumed with anger. The dog died
right in front of me and he looked shocked at first that he’d
done it. He apologized and cried. Hours later he told me that
I’d better not think I could get attached to anyone else
because he’d never let that happen. Afterward, he felt so bad
he bought tickets to San Francisco and we flew up and spent
the weekend on the wharf. It was romantic, beautiful, and
so…tainted. He kept apologizing about the puppy and said
he just didn’t want to lose me.”
Todd closed his eyes for a second, then drew them back
down to her face. “I’m sorry you went through that. You
didn’t deserve it, Reva.”
“But I did. I shouldn’t have drank so much at the party and
flirted with his friends. Sure it was harmless but it was still
wrong. He had every right to be angry—”
Todd encircled her face with his strong, calloused palms and
tilted
her
head
upward.
“Don’t
try
to
rationalize
it.
I
understand
your
need
to
empathize
with
others
and
understand their actions. In this case, though, what you’ve
just said is way off base. If you want to drink and have a
good time, there’s no harm in it. As long as you’re not doing
anything illegal, you’re just enjoying yourself. Look at Tim
and Ben. They have fun, but they never lay a hand on
anyone.”
Reva arched a brow.
“Okay, they laid a hand on me, but only because of what this
guy did to you. They weren’t going to let it happen again. I
kind of admire that. And I’d bet my life that they’d never lay
a hand on you, a girlfriend, a child, or a defenseless dog.
Judging by what I’ve seen, I seriously doubt you did anything
out of the norm with his friends.”
“I teased them mercilessly. It was all in fun, but one of them
said something a little inappropriate and that was it. Just like
that. He lost it.”
“And you’re supposed to have control over what someone
else said? Reva, your whole family likes to tease and have
fun. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s called ‘enjoying
life’. Just because someone else can’t deal appropriately with
it, doesn’t make you responsible for their actions.”
“Here we go again.” She sighed.
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“You’re acting like a counselor again.”
“Oh, sorry. I guess it’s in my nature. Okay, maybe not in my
nature but you bring out that side of me for some reason. I
just want to—”
“Fix me. You want to fix me. And you’re so damn easy to
talk to which is really,
really
distracting.”
“Reva. You don’t need fixing and that’s sure as hell not what
I’m doing here with you at the moment.” He ran his fingers
through his hair. “I need to ask you something.”
Reva met his gaze.
“Do you think there’s any chance that this guy would follow
you here or try to stalk you?”

Todd registered the look in her eyes and knew it wasn’t the
first time the idea had crossed her mind. He hated to put it
there himself but he needed to know the extent of the
situation. The person sitting in the truck down the street in
the dark seemed odd. There weren’t any lights on at the
house and no one else in the vehicle. The person just sat
there, a dark silhouette against the glow of the streetlight
beyond. As soon as she was safely inside, he intended to take
a closer look.
“Of course not. My dad had him arrested for what he did.
He wouldn’t bother. Besides, I have a girlfriend there that
calls every month or so. She told me he had already moved
on to a new relationship. Another poor girl that will have the
life beaten out of her and all her dreams crushed.”
“That’s a bit dramatic. You still have dreams, don’t you?
And you’re definitely alive.” He ran his hands down her
back, spreading the big fingers in a fan across her waist.
“Alive and beautiful in this light.”
He looked over her head to monitor the person in the truck
again. A hand lifted in the dark and adjusted the rearview
mirror.
Was he watching them?
“Look, Reva, it’s late.” Todd started. He wanted her inside.
“I’m going to get Eric home and in bed but I’ll be here in
the morning. We’ll be back, both of us. And we’ll get that
fountain installed. Okay?” He gave her a tremulous smile.
“Works for me.”
“Good.” He dropped a kiss on her lips before turning her to
the door. “See you then.”
Once the door clicked behind her, he turned and strode
down the sidewalk. He faced the street, moved to the middle
so there would be no mistaking his intention, and headed
straight toward the figure sitting in the darkened truck.
“You there!” he shouted. “Get out of the truck.”
The vehicle roared to life, choked out clouds of smoke, and
squealed away. Todd stepped up the pace to get a look, but
couldn’t catch it before it turned the corner. Whoever it was,
they
were
watching. Maybe not her, but someone on this
street…and they didn’t want to be seen doing it.
Todd rested his hands on his hips and watched the glow of
the taillights disappear around the corner.
Well, whoever it
was, he intended to make his life a lot more difficult going
forward.
The
beauty
of
neighborhoods
like
this—ones
where they call the fire department when you’re stuck in a
tree and bring food to your door when you’re hurt—these
neighborhoods stick together and watch each other’s back.
He looked at the front door of the house in front of him.
“You have a teenage daughter, don’t you?” he said to the air.
“If someone was lurking around the neighborhood, you’d
want to know.”
Todd stuck his hands in his pockets and
whistled as he walked back to his sleeping son.
If it were my
daughter, I’d want everyone to know.
He knew what he had to do.
His mind was made up. He drove home, put Eric to sleep,
and called Tim and Ben.