One Day at a Time (Starting Over Series Book 4) (13 page)

It irritated her slightly that he didn’t trust her to be smart about this. She knew what she felt for Cash, and she was pretty sure he felt the same way, or at least she hoped he did. He made her feel safe, special, and loved. “I know you’re just looking out for me, but I know how I feel. I promise you, Jonathon, he treats me with nothing but respect and kindness.” She could feel herself starting to get upset.

“Hey, don’t get mad. You know I love you and I’m just looking out for you. I’ll trust your judgment, I promise.” Sometimes it was hard to look at Jonathon. He looked a lot like their dad. Thankfully, he was the complete opposite of the man. She wondered if he saw it and chose to ignore it.

“Please don’t ruin this for me,” she pleaded. She walked past him to her room, emptying her bag while singing to herself.

***

Jonathon stood in the doorway watching his sister sing quietly to herself while she unpacked her bags. Over the last nine years he’s watched his sister change into this amazing woman. He remembered the night he went and rescued her from their piece of shit dad.

Alex had arranged for their neighbor to watch Josie while they went across town to get his sister. In ten minutes she was going to be eighteen. They were finally going to bring her home. He grabbed his wife’s hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss before he squeezed it and let it go. She spent all day getting Tessa’s room ready. It wasn’t anything special, but he and Alex tried to make it as pretty as they could. Alex made curtains and a blanket that matched for the twin size bed they bought for her. The dresser was one Alex had found, sanded it down, and refinished it. It looked brand new. They went and got her some clothes from a consignment shop, at least to get her started.

“Baby, thanks for everything you’ve done to help make this happen.” He’d be forever grateful to his bride for all of this.

“Well of course, babe. I love Tessa like she was my own flesh and blood. Our daughter adores her aunt. I’m going to start paying her to watch Josie rather than sending her to daycare. It’s cheaper, and I’ll know our baby will be in good hands.”

They were both silent as they pulled up in front of his father’s house. The place looked tired and worn. “You stay in the car just in case he’s home. I don’t want him touching you.” His dad was a mean fucker and he didn’t want Alex near him.

For the past six months he’d been working on taking his sister out of there. He knew his dad had hit Tessa before, but most of the time she denied it. That’s why he couldn’t pull her out any sooner; she never told a soul about the beatings or the severity of them. It made him sick that it was possibly worse than he imagined. But, unless he wanted to be charged with kidnapping, he had to bide his time.

He walked up to the front door and found it unlocked. Walking inside, he found his dad passed out on the couch in a dirty white t-shirt and a stretched out pair of boxers. The man who gave them life looked old and haggard. If he was honest, even before their mom got sick the man was never a big ball of warm fuzzies, but after she died he became a monster.

Walking down the hall, all of the good memories flooded his mind and he couldn’t help the sadness that crept in. He used to chase Tessa down the hall, pretending to be a monster, or he was her knight in shining armor coming to rescue her from the evil king who held her captive. When he reached her door he noticed a latch on the outside of the door. Was their dad locking her in her room? He felt his stomach turn at the thought.

He opened the door and felt his heart melt. She was curled up and looked so much younger than her eighteen years. She reminded him of a newborn foal. She was all arms and legs and was clumsy. Sitting down on the side of her bed he reached out to wake her. “Tessa, come on, birthday girl. Time to wake up.”

He watched her eyes flutter open, close, and then open wide. “Jonathon? Are Alex and Josie okay?” She tried to jump out of the bed but he stopped her.

“They’re fine, baby girl. Can you grab a bag and pack all of the stuff you can’t live without? I’m here to take you home with me. Now that you’re eighteen you don’t have to stay here anymore. I want you to come live with me, Alex, and Josie.” His heart melted when she began to silently cry into his neck. “Come on, I’ll help you get your stuff together.”

It only took them five minutes to grab the important stuff, and then they were quietly walking out of the house and away from that life forever.

As he watched her unpack he could still remember the way she cried when she saw her bedroom at their first apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was more than their dad ever did for her. Alex had held his baby sister through most of the night. After Tessa finally went to sleep, his wife told him that his sister suffered a lot more than what they thought at the hands of their father and decided to get her some counseling.

His sister was a beauty, not just because of her outward appearance but because of what was on the inside as well. She looked just like what he remembered of their mom. Josie looked a lot like her too, but with long brown hair, and instead of Tessa’s unique brown eye color, Josie had hazel eyes like her mother. Not a day went by that he didn’t think of her. He was never going to have that kind of love again. You only got one true love, and he’d already found and lost his. He was okay with that. He had his daughter to focus on. He knew where to go when he had an itch to scratch, but other than that he didn’t need another woman.

He hoped to god Cash never hurt his sister because he didn’t really feel like being arrested for murder. Plus, he was afraid it would break her.

Backing out of her room on silent feet he went into his bedroom to get dressed for work.

Chapter Nine

Tessa was ringing up a customer when she saw Cash’s sister walk into the store. She had her youngest boy in a stroller and had an adorable waddle as she came toward the counter. “Hi, Tessa. I hope it’s okay that we stopped by?”

“Sure, what are y’all out doing today?” Journey was positively glowing. She made a very pretty pregnant person. She came around the counter and hugged the other woman, which was a first for her. She wasn’t one to normally initiate physical contact.

“We’re out shopping for the baby. We have some girl stuff but need more. Dylan’s going to go crazy when he sees the back of the minivan. I may or may not have gone a little wild.” Cash’s sister was certainly a talker, but it was nice.

“It’s fun shopping for little girls. After my sister-in-law passed, I took over shopping for my niece so my brother didn’t have to do it. I love shopping for her.”

She knelt down in front of Parker in the stroller. “Hi, handsome. Are you being good for your mommy?” He gave her a big toothy grin and shook his head. “Oh no. You’re being naughty, huh?”

“Yessss!” he shouted. She stood back up smiling at Journey.

“You’re very good with kids. Do you want kids?” Wow, that was a little forward, but she wasn’t going to deny that she couldn’t wait to be a mother and that’s what she told Journey. Of course she could see it more now that she’d met Cash. She was going to keep that little tidbit to herself. She didn’t need to scare him off.

Tessa ended up buying a book for each of Journey’s kids, even though she tried to stop Tessa from spending her money. She grabbed one for her niece too. They only stayed a few more minutes before she said goodbye to them. The girl running the register was back from lunch so she went to grab a book and take lunch herself.

At three o’clock she was done for the day. She said goodbye to the staff and went to pick up her niece. Pulling up in front of the school she watched Josie run toward her Jeep. Her niece climbed in. “Hey, Aunt Tessa!”

“Hi, sweetheart. How was your day?” The whole way home Josie talked her ear off. She had career day coming up and her daddy promised he’d come and give a speech and she wanted her aunt to make some homemade Rice Krispies Treats to pass out that day.

They stopped by the grocery store to pick up stuff to make homemade pizzas. Cash was coming over to eat with them and she was excited for him to meet Josie.

When they got back to the apartment Jonathon was in his uniform walking down the stairs. She smiled when her niece jumped out of the Jeep and ran toward her dad. Tessa could hear her talk a mile a minute about her day. Her brother’s eyes were filled with so much love for his little girl. The man had a lot of love to give, and any woman would be lucky to be on the receiving end if he’d just open himself up to that.

She went to him when he held out an arm to her, hugging her to his chest and kissing the top of her head. “I’ve got to get to the station early for a meeting, but I’ll try to stop by before Josie goes to bed.” He turned to look down at his daughter. “Be good for your aunt, be in bed by nine.”

They told him to be safe and that they loved him. Once they got the groceries inside she sent Cash a quick text asking him to come over around six for dinner. They worked on Josie’s homework and then Tessa changed her clothes. She came out to find her niece lining everything up on the counter. Her little assistant was looking forward to helping her. They were going to make the dough first. That way, when he got there, they could top the pizza with whatever they wanted.

“Is Cash your boyfriend?” Josie asked as Tessa was making the pizza dough.

“He is.” She placed the dough back in the bowl to rise.

“Are you going to marry him and have his babies?” Tessa felt her cheeks burn as she turned her face away from her niece.

“Well, it’s a little too soon to know, but I promise I’ll tell you when I do.”

“I wouldn’t mind if Daddy wanted to get married again. I’d love to have a baby brother or sister.”

She didn’t know what to say to the little girl. That was something she often wondered about. What if Jonathon fell in love and got married again? Would they make sure they included Josie so she wouldn’t feel left out? “That’s very sweet. I’m sure your daddy would be happy to know that you’d be okay with it.”

Before they could finish talking there was a knock at the door. She wiped her hands off. “That’s him. Don’t touch that dough.”

Rushing to the door, she threw it open, smiling. “I’ve missed you. Does that sound weird?” She knew she was babbling but she didn’t care. Throwing her arms around his neck she accepted the kiss he placed on her lips.

“I’m glad because I’ve missed you too.”

She led him inside and made the introductions. Josie was smitten already. He charmed them both as they made their pizza. They sang and laughed as they topped their pizzas and played the Wii while the pizzas baked in the oven.

“Aunt Tessa says you play guitar, did you bring it? Will you play us some songs?” She was bouncing up and down, her excitement palpable.

Of course he had it. He kissed Tessa’s forehead before he and Josie went out to his truck to get it. While they did that, she wrapped up the leftover pizza for Jonathon and Hunter. She even wrapped some up for her man. He and Josie returned a minute later, carrying his guitar case.

Josie came and sat between Tessa’s legs while she watched Cash pull his guitar out. She finger combed her niece’s hair as he began to play. His voice was so smooth and silky as he sang “Across the Universe.” He even surprised her and pleased Josie when he played some Justin Timberlake. Why wasn’t he famous? He was so talented and she didn’t think that just because she loved him. She’d seen and heard some of his original pieces and they were really good.

His songs were filled with a lot of pain and regret. You could feel every emotion that poured out of him. She knew there were things that she still didn’t know about him, but there were also things that she hadn’t told him yet. She stopped thinking about that, she was planning on telling him soon.

He stopped playing and she looked at him with eyebrows raised. “I think my biggest fan passed out.” She looked down and Josie was asleep with her head on Tessa’s knee.

It took a little coaxing to get her up. Josie went over and to Tessa’s surprise gave Cash a hug goodnight. Tessa told him she’d be right back. While Josie got ready for bed she told her aunt how much she liked her boyfriend and if she wasn’t going to marry him, could she. She decided she wasn’t going to share that with her brother. She didn’t really want him shooting Cash. Tucking the princess in she kissed her forehead, promising to send her dad in when he stopped in at home for dinner.

As she stepped into the hall she could hear talking out in the living room and hustled out there.

“So you didn’t say, what’s your last name?”

“Jonathon, leave him alone. I know what you’re trying to do. Now quit it.” She grabbed Cash’s hand, but turned back to her brother. “There’s pizza in the refrigerator and Josie would like you to go in and see her before you leave.”

Pulling Cash into her room she shut the door behind them. “I’m so sorry. He still treats me like I’m a little girl. He didn’t make you uncomfortable, did he? He’s a big guy but he’s a total softie.”

Instead of answering her he pulled her toward him, taking her lips in a mind-altering kiss. The man’s kisses were like the world’s best chocolate, sweet and addicting. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she plastered her body as close to his as she could get. She wanted nothing more than to pull him down on her bed and make love with him again since she was no longer sore, but she couldn’t do it there, especially since her brother was still out in the living room. Maybe it was time to look for her own apartment. She was twenty-seven and should be out on her own, but for so long she felt like her brother needed her to help with Josie.

He pulled his lips away, smoothing the hair out of her eyes. She didn’t know why, but the simple gesture always made her insides melt. “Your brother was fine, baby. He loves you and is just looking out for you.”