Heaven With You
Authors: Rebecca Julia Lauren
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Women's Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Contemporary Fiction, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Sagas
Heaven With You
Rebecca Julia Lauren
This book is dedicated to my mother for taking the time to read it and offer suggestions. Thank you for your help. It’s greatly appreciated.
I’d also like to thank my daughter for offering to read my book, however her dad said she wasn’t allowed to read any of my books until she was thirty. Thanks anyway sweetheart. I love you.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 Rebecca Julia Lauren
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Melody Simmons of eBookindiecovers
Contents
Prologue
I was sixteen when I met Hunter McAllister.
All day I’d been on edge, a restless energy chewing at my nerves until I was jumping at every sound, and dropping enough orders that my manager was glaring at me as if I’d screwed up everything on purpose.
“Can I get you some more coffee, sir?”
The man looked wary. “I like it in a cup. Think you can manage not to miss this time?”
Since he didn’t say it unkindly I smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Turning to get the pot, I halted when Sara stepped in front of me shaking her head. “I’ll cover for you. Get the hell outta here.” She jerked her thumb towards the door.
I started to protest, God knows I couldn’t afford to give up the money, but Sara held up her hand. “You break another plate and Dennis is gonna fire your ass. Go home and work out your shit. Tomorrow you’ll still have a job.”
Feeling the weight of Dennis’ glacial stare, I figured she was right and I thanked her before walking back to the trailer. I refused to call it a home. It hadn’t been anything close to a home since Mom had been gone.
My heart lurched. That’s the last time I’d felt as if I could jump out of my own skin, the night Mom had been killed. A cold sweat broke out over my body and I realized I was completely at the mercy of fate. The only thing I could do was wait for disaster to strike and pray I was strong enough to get Reed and I through it.
It happened at midnight.
Jimmy, owner of the Outcast Bar called to tell me I needed to come pick up Darryl, and I started walking the mile long hike to the bar. It was not the first time I’d made this trip, and it wouldn’t be the last. Since Darryl drove our only means of transportation Reed and I had to either walk or rely on friends to get us to and from work and school.
The moon was full and it was a warm, sultry May night. If I hadn’t been going to get Darryl, I’d have enjoyed the walk, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that tonight was going to be a bad one. Darryl was a mean drunk, and I was afraid of him. The threat of Reed being thrown into foster care kept me moving forward. If it was only me I wouldn’t care if Darryl rotted in jail, but social services had been watching us carefully, and I was scared that they would separate Reed and I.
Something was wrong.
I saw the blue and red flashing lights in the bar parking lot, and I stumbled, catching myself before I went down. My stomach felt hollow, and for a moment I just wanted to turn and run. Taking a deep breath, I walked faster toward the scene in the parking lot.
Darryl was shouting and an officer had him pinned to the ground.
“’Bout time you got here, girl!” Darryl cried when he saw me.
I recognized the officer standing over Darryl, and I forced a smile. “Please, Officer Jenkins, can I just take him home?”
Officer Jenkins smiled sympathetically at me, but turned his attention to another man that had just walked up with Jimmy. Frowning, I followed his gaze and my eyes landed on the hottest guy I’d ever seen in my life. He looked to be in his late twenties, and he was wearing a dress shirt, slacks and had a badge pinned to the belt at his waist. I was five-seven and he towered over me by several inches. He had sandy brown hair, a tanned complexion and he looked fit, but I somehow knew all that muscle hadn’t come from pumping iron in a gym. I shivered, despite the warm air.
As if sensing my regard he turned and my gaze collided with his soulful, clear blue eyes. I’d never seen eyes quite that shade before, incredibly light, nearly translucent and undeniably striking.
“Is he under arrest?” I directed the question at Officer Jenkins, but
he
answered.
“Not at this time. We’re just trying to calm him down.”
His voice was a deep rumble that seemed to slide over my skin like silk.
“I can take him home. I’m his daughter.” To my dismay, my voice actually quavered. Lifting my chin, I met those intense blue eyes and faked a confidence I didn’t feel. “Do I need to call my lawyer?”
His mouth tugged at the corners, then he pressed his lips together as if trying not to smile. “You have a lawyer?”
Stiffening, I squared my shoulders and spoke as if I had several lawyer friends. “I can get one.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Not as long as he behaves himself.”
My legs went weak with relief. “Then I can take him home?”
“You shouldofgot here sooner!” Darryl’s drunken words slurred together, making me flinch.
“Jus’ wait til’ I get you home girl! I’ll take the belt to your ass and that’ll teach you to mind me!” Darryl had hoisted off the ground, but the guy with blue eyes pushed him back down.
I was shaking and praying no one noticed. My cheeks were hot with embarrassment, and it was a thousand times worse that he had to witness my humiliation. “Can I take him home?”
Blue eyes looked surprised. “He just threatened you.”
“He didn’t mean it,” I lied.
He cocked an eyebrow. “No?”
“It’s not against the law to discipline children.” I spoke confidently and hoped this would all turn out okay. Bailing Darryl out of jail would eat into our meager supply of money, and I could not allow that to happen.
“I have a daughter not much younger than you. I’ve never laid a hand on her.”
Lucky girl
, I thought. On the heels of that came the realization that he probably also had a loving wife at home. It was stupid to feel sad about that, but for some reason I did.
“Sergeant McAllister?”
“I’ll take care of this. You can go, Jenkins.”
“You sure?”
“Get outta here. Tell Abigail I said hi.”
Officer Jenkins smiled at me before he got into his patrol car and drove away.
“You need some help with him, Hunter?”
Hunter. It fit him.
“I’m good. You pressing charges?”
Jimmy glanced over at me and I saw the pity in his eyes. “Nah, but I doubt I’ll let him in my bar again.”
“That’s probably best.”
McAllister pulled Darryl to his feet and then shouldered most of his weight as Darryl sagged drunkenly against him. Making it look as if Darryl didn’t weight almost two hundred pounds, Hunter McAllister lifted the older man in a fireman’s hold and deposited him in the back of our beat up truck. My jaw dropped at the ease with which he did this, and I was in awe, and fear, of such strength.
“Did he pass out?” I heard the hopeful note in my voice and so, apparently, did McAllister.
He nodded, his expression grim. “What’s your name?”
“Why do you wanna know?” I asked suspiciously, sounding every bit as belligerent as my little brother.
His eyes locked with mine, and I could tell he was in no mood for games. I sighed. “Isabelle.”
“How old are you, Isabelle?”
“Sixteen.”
His jaw tightened. “Has your dad ever hit you before?”
“No,” I lied. I could tell from the look on his face that he didn’t believe me.
“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the truth.”
“That is the truth.”
He sighed, rubbing his jaw. “Get in the truck Isabelle.”
Clearly he was upset with me and I hesitated. Glancing back in the direction of home, I considered making a run for it, but then I remembered Darryl passed out in the bed of the truck and I deflated. Jimmy had already taken off, and I was stuck with the scary but hot Sergeant McAllister.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” His tone was soft, but he’d stiffened and was studying me in a way that made me feel as if I could hide nothing from him.
I guessed that he was either offended or frustrated that I wasn’t jumping into the truck, and I knew enough about men to be wary. “How will you get home?” I asked suspiciously.
“I’ll walk back and get my truck. Or I can call a unit to pick me up.” He spoke carefully, his eyes never leaving mine.
I liked that he looked me in the eyes and his gaze never skated down my body like most men’s. “I live over a mile away.” My tone was almost challenging, but he didn’t seem fazed.
“Isabelle,” McAllister said gently. “Would like me to call a female officer?”
At first I wasn’t sure what he’d meant because I’d been too busy looking at him, but then his words registered. Isn’t that what they did with rape victims on TV shows, called female officers to deal with them?
He’d already pulled his cell from his pocket. “No, I just want to go home,” I told him. It was after two in the morning and Reed would be home from his job hauling grain by now and wondering where I was.
“Okay.” His expression was guarded, as if he thought I might suddenly freak out. “You sure?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” I opened the truck door and hopped in.
McAllister slid in the driver’s seat, cranked the engine and put the truck in gear. He drove slowly, probably because of Darryl passed out cold in the bed of the truck, but we reached our trailer much sooner than I’d hoped. I clasped my hands tightly together so that they wouldn’t shake, and sent up a prayer to heaven asking that Darryl stay passed out for the rest of the night.
As soon as we got out of the truck, Reed charged out the door, heading straight for us. “Isabelle, you alright?” He glanced worriedly at me before turning his hard gaze to McAllister.
“I’m fine. Sergeant McAllister helped me take Darryl home.”
Reed’s eyes widened at McAllister’s title, and I knew my brother wasn’t impressed. “Don’t expect us to thank you,” he snarled with the belligerence only a fourteen-year-old boy could manage.
“Reed,” I warned.
“We barely get by as it is. I’m tired of him drinking our money.”
“That’s enough,” I said sharply, and my brother looked chagrined.
McAllister looked between Reed and I, glanced at our pitiful trailer and seemed to reach some conclusion about us. “Is your mom home?”
Reed and I looked at one another, and I caught the flash of pain in his eyes before he quickly hid it behind a mask of indifference. My own mask was firmly in place and it never faltered. I lifted my chin and met Sgt. McAllister’s knowing gaze. “She’s dead.”
McAllister sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Reed’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t feel sorry for us or act like you understand because you don’t.”
McAllister glanced at Reed before turning his attention back to me. “I told you I had a daughter. She’s ten. Her mother died of leukemia when she was six.” His gaze slid to Reed. “No. I don’t understand your situation, but if you need some help I’ll do what I can to make you and your sister’s situation better.”
“Foster care is what he means by better,” I told Reed, but my eyes never left McAllister. “Our situation isn’t perfect, and we’re sure as hell not making it worse. My brother and I are together, and that’s all that matters.”