Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (10 page)

Then something flitted through his mind. “Have you met someone?” José whispered, not really wanting to know.

Braden looked away. “Yeah. I have. And I still care about you, but I don’t love you and I’m not in love with you.”

José’s heart sank. Well, that was it. Relationship over. “Fine. I’ll be out by tomorrow.”
Where the hell will I go?
, he thought. He’d call Vivica; maybe she knew someone who needed a roommate. But he didn’t have a job, so how could he make rent?

He packed all of his stuff and put it in his van.
I wish I’d taken better care of this van; I might have to live in it
, he thought, looking at the dust and rust.

A call to Vivica took care of his housing dilemma. “I don’t have anybody in my extra bedroom. Come on over and crash until you can find something. Don’t worry about rent; we can take it out in trade!” she laughed. Until José met Braden, he and Viv had been sleeping together on a regular basis. She was pretty and fun, a great fuck buddy, and she didn’t want a commitment. He’d never expected to fall for Braden, but when he fell, he really fell. He and Viv had continued to talk frequently, but they’d stopped being each other’s booty calls. Looked like that was about to change.

Once he’d settled in at Viv’s, he set out to really look for a job, but it wasn’t easy. Unemployment was high and everyone was looking for work, and most of them had more experience, training, or education than he did. Cage fighting didn’t translate too well in the work world either. He’d just about given up when his mother called; his cousin Diego was in town for a visit and was hoping to see him.

When he got to his mom’s house, the party was in full swing. He walked in to see relatives he hadn’t laid eyes on in years. It had been fifteen years since he’d seen Diego, and José had trouble picking him out of the crowd, but finally found him near the beer tub. They exchanged a bro hug.

“So, I hear you’re the big name in cage fighting now!” Diego shouted over the noise. “That’s great! I’m surprised I haven’t seen your name on the schedule for the federation. When’s your next fight?”

“No more fighting,” José told him. When Diego realized what he’d said, he grabbed José by the arm and dragged him outside.

“Whaddya mean, no more fighting? You’re the champ!”

“Yeah, and I hurt somebody real bad. I’m done, man. That’s not my style.”

Diego stood for a moment with a strange look on his face. “Man, I can’t believe that. What are you going to do now?”

“I have no idea. I can’t find a job. It’s brutal out there, and I don’t really have any skills. I had some money from the win, but it’s been a year and I’ve pretty much gone through that. I don’t even have any prospects, and I don’t have any income. I lost my place, and I’m living with a friend. Times are hard, man.”

Diego smiled. “Do you want a job?”

“More than just about anything.”
Well, except for Braden
, José thought, but that was never going to happen.

“The guy I work for would love to get his hands on you. But you’d have to move to Louisville.”

“Hell, I’ve got no reason to stay here. What exactly does he do?” José asked.

“He’s an attorney and I work for him as a paralegal, but he’s started a security company and he’s looking for people who can handle themselves, if you know what I mean. You interested?”

“Hell yeah! Could I stay with you until . . .

“Of course,” Diego smiled again. “That’s what family’s for,
mi primo
!”

“What do I do?”

“I’ll talk to him when I get back, and I’ll give you a call,” Diego promised.

“I appreciate this, man. I really do.”

“Hang in there, cuz. I think he’ll jump to get you.”

Two weeks later, Steve McCoy called José and talked to him over the phone. The next day, he and his van full of belongings were headed to Louisville.

June 2002

“W
here’s your dad?” Molly was tired of chauffeuring both boys around. Even though she was glad to have them home from college for the summer, Freddie insisted that their cars be parked unless they had jobs and money for gas. Problem was, he never seemed to be around when they wanted or needed to go somewhere, even when he wasn’t at work, and Molly wound up taking them everywhere. And she was tired of it.

“I dunno,” Todd, their twenty year old, mumbled through a mouthful of potato chips. “Last time I saw him he was in the yard.”

“I saw him going next door,” Jeff, the nineteen year old, told her. “I don’t know what he was doing, but he was headed that way.”

That same sick feeling came over Molly again. She’d thought it was her imagination, but now she wasn’t so sure. Ever since the Morgans next door had hired that sixteen-year-old babysitter, Felicity, Molly’s husband of almost thirty years was nowhere to be found. Molly didn’t want to think that Freddie was sniffing around an underage girl, but it seemed odd to her that he was always turning that direction.

“Okay, get your stuff. Now where am I going?” she asked the boys. They were just about to tell her when Freddie walked in the back door.

“Where are you guys going?” Freddie picked up an apple from the fruit basket on the counter and bit into it.

Just as she started to answer him, Molly noticed something that made her pulse slam in her temples. “Could you please go and wait in the car for me?” She wasn’t asking; she was telling them. Both boys skulked out the door and let it close behind them. When she was sure they were out of earshot, she turned on Freddie with well-deserved vengeance.

“You know, if you’re going to screw the next-door-neighbor’s babysitter, you could at least hide the fact from our kids,” she spat at him.

His look of astonishment didn’t fool her for one minute. “How can you say something like that to me?” he cried. “What would make you think a thing like that?”

“Oh, gee, I don’t know, maybe because they saw you sneaking over there. And, oh, yeah, there’s the fact that your damn shirt is on wrong-side out!” she screamed at him.

Freddie’s face turned bright red, and he took his shirt off and turned it right-side out. That was when she saw them – love bites. “My god, don’t you have any shame?” she shrieked and headed out the door.

When Freddie looked down to see what had finally given him away, he felt faint. There was no denying what the marks were, or where he’d gotten them. But Felicity was so cute, and her breasts were so big and perky, and she was so hot and tight, and . . . he felt a stirring below his waist just thinking about her. Problem was, if Molly gave him away, he could go to jail for having sex with a minor. And just how would Freddie Walters explain that? The legal system was the least of his worries; two of his brothers would knock the bejesus out of him, and the other two would do the same if they lived there in Louisville.

As Molly drove the boys to friends’ houses, she stewed. She was screwed; the only place she’d worked since the kids were born was the boutique Freddie had bought there in town and given to her to run. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure if she left him she wouldn’t get the boutique. Then she’d have no job. And she had no other way to make herself a living. She could ask her brothers-in-law, Bart and Tony, if either of their businesses had an opening, but it would be weird to work for her husband’s family if she was divorcing him.

Divorce. That was the first time Molly had really given it a thought. Sure, things between them hadn’t been perfect, but they’d had a pretty good run. They had four kids, four good kids, with the oldest two, the girls, grown and out of the house, and the two boys almost in the same situation. Regardless what he was dipping his wick into, the kids loved their dad. Problem was, she did too. But she knew she couldn’t compete with a piece of high-school-aged ass. She and Freddie had been together since she was seventeen, married at eighteen, and she really didn’t know anything else but being his wife. What would she do?

She’d stick it out, that’s what she’d do. Eventually he’d tire of being with a kid and he’d come back to be with her. She wouldn’t make it easy on him. If he wanted out, he’d have to come right out and ask.

November 2012

Molly pulled the pins and elastic out of her long, dark hair, then took off her dress and threw it across the chair. Freddie was undressing and getting ready for bed too. It had been a long day. She’d always found Thanksgiving to be a tiresome, thankless holiday, especially for the women in the family.

“I still can’t believe the announcement my brother made today. That was a shock.”

“Looks like the big family Christmas is going to be quite the celebration.” Molly hated the Walters family gatherings. Everybody was always so happy, except for her.
If they had any idea what Freddie was up to, they wouldn’t be quite so happy, now would they?
, she thought, fuming. “That’s all anybody wanted to talk about today, how wonderful it would be and how happy they are. Blah, blah, blah,” she added, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“No, do you want to know what everyone was really talking about today? They were talking about what a bitch you were. Are. Will be – forever. Why do you have to be such a bitch?”

“Why do you have to be such a pedophile?” she slung back at him.

“Oh, shut up. I’m tired of your barbs, tired of trying to please you, tired of being made to feel like I’m not doing enough. Don’t I give you everything you want or need?”

Molly mocked him with a sarcastic grin. “Yeah, everything except a stable relationship.”

“What’s not stable about it? I mean, we have a good life. We have a home, cars, money, good kids, and you can’t say I’ve ever denied you in bed.”

“And your kiddie girlfriend, don’t forget her,” Molly sniped.

“She’s not a kid. She’s twenty-six,” Freddie shot back.

“Verbage. She was a kid when you first started screwing her!” Molly climbed into bed. “And since she’s working with you, I assume you’re still screwing her?”

“Oh, come on, Molly, let’s not talk about that. I want something from you, and I want to give you something too,” Freddie offered, sliding into bed and slipping his hand up Molly’s leg to the juncture of her thighs. She didn’t tell him not to touch her, and within minutes the deed was in full swing. Her thinking was that if she gave him whatever he wanted, maybe he would leave Felicity alone and recommit to her. But who was she kidding? It had been going on too long, with no end in sight.

When they were finished, Molly lay staring at the ceiling. She had finally decided to let her anger go for the night and get to sleep when Freddie announced, out of the blue, “Molly, I want a divorce.”

It took all she had not to lean over and choke him to death. They’d just had sex, and he’d asked her for a divorce. Talk about poor timing, or maybe he was just more of a bastard than she’d already thought; now, on top of everything else, she felt like a whore. A tear welled in the corner of her eye, but she was determined that he’d never see her cry, especially over him.

“I’m going to hire myself a really good attorney.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it coming, just hadn’t seen it coming in the last ten minutes. She’d already been thinking about an attorney, just in case. It looked like “just in case” had finally come around.

“I’m not going to fight you over stuff. I’ll give you whatever you want, but Felicity and I want to be together.” Freddie rolled over with his back to her. “Do you know what you want? I mean, of our property and such?”

“Yeah,” Molly answered, “I want the boutique. I’ve built it into what it is, and I at least deserve that.”

“Sorry. Of all the things you could ask for, I’m not giving you that one. I’ve already promised it to Felicity.”

A scorching wave of rage consumed her. The one thing she would want, and it was the one thing he wouldn’t give her, that he was going to give to that . . . Yeah, that figured. She wanted that boutique, but she’d need a good attorney to do it, and she didn’t know how she’d pay anyone for their legal services. Unless something changed, she’d be destitute.

“So when do you plan to tell your family? You know, we’re going over there for Christmas. What am I supposed to do, pretend that everything is fine?”

“That’s exactly what you’ll do,” Freddie told her, “if you want anything at all. Of course, you’re always such a bitch to everyone, they won’t know anything’s up.”

That seems to be where I live
, Molly thought,
between a rock and a hard place
. Her mind went wild. What would she do? She hadn’t worked anywhere but the boutique since the kids were born. There was nothing else that she knew how to do. How would she make herself a living? Molly’s heart nearly stopped when she realized that all of the things she enjoyed were about to be a thing of the past.

“So do you want the house?” Freddie asked. “You can have it if you want it. We want to find somewhere else to live anyway, a place that you and I haven’t lived in.”

“No, I can’t take the house.” Molly tossed the last shred of her dignity to the wind. “I won’t be able to afford to take care of it or pay the taxes or insurance. I won’t have much of anything.”