Shameless (34 page)

“Um, Mr. E?” came a muffled voice.

John straightened. “Brian?”

“Yeah.” His voice sounded strange.

“Who’s Brian?” Dusty called from across the room. “Why’s he calling so late?”

John waved her silent. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

Again, a brief pause. “Um, you said I could call you any time, and, um…” His voice trailed off.

“John?” Dusty stepped beside him and rubbed her scantily clad body against his.

“Is that your girlfriend?” Brian asked. “I’m bothering you, aren’t I? Sorry, I’ll just—”

“Wait, Brian! Don’t hang up.” With his free hand, John nudged Dusty away from him. Couldn’t the woman see he was dealing with something more important than sex? She flounced away in a huff and dropped onto the couch, glaring at him.

“It’s okay,” he told the boy. “What happened?”

He thought he heard Brian sniff. “I’m, uh, kind of, um—”

“Did that jack-ass Earl beat you again?” John’s breathing quickened with fury.

There was a brief pause on the line. “I think I broke my arm. But if Earl finds me, I think he’ll hurt me some more. His friends are here and they’re really wasted.”

John’s stomach roiled at the thought. “Where are you calling from?”

“The neighbor’s house next door. She’s at Earl’s party so I snuck inside to use her phone. But someone will find me here, I know they will. And I have nowhere else to go, and my arm’s busted, and—”

“Brian,” John said calmly, cutting off the boy’s panic. “It’s okay. Relax. I’m coming to get you, buddy. You’ll be okay. I’m coming to get you.”

Brian didn’t really believe it until he saw John’s BMW pull up in front of Carla Perfilli’s house, where he was hiding out. The relief covered him like a warm blanket and for a moment he forgot his pain. John had actually come for him. If he’d known someone actually cared about him, he wouldn’t have— Fresh tears threatened to fall.

John pounded on the front door. “Brian? It’s John.” The door swung slowly open. He took one look at Brian’s swollen and bleeding face and spit out a stream of expletives, concluding with, “Son of a bitch!” Brian shrank away but John reached out and pulled him into his arms. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” Brian’s thin body tensed a few moments, then he sagged against the bigger man, all his strength gone.

“Come on,” John said, wrapping his arm around Brian’s shoulders and leading him outside.

Alex climbed out of another car as they headed toward the street.

“What’s Mr. D doing here?” Brian asked.

“I asked him to meet me here.” John led Brian to the BMW and unlocked it. “Lay down in the back seat and I’ll lock the doors. We’ll be right back.”

Brian looked back and forth between the two men, both of whom scowled ferociously. “Wh-where are you going?”

John rubbed the kid’s head. “Don’t worry.” He tossed the boy his cell phone. “If we’re not back in ten minutes though, dial 911.”

It was the longest ten minutes of Brian’s life. He peeked out the window toward Earl’s house a few times, but saw nothing.

Ten minutes came and went. He was about to punch in the emergency call when the alarm beeped off and John knocked on the window.

“You okay?” John asked, opening the door and peering inside.

“Wh-what happened?” Brian asked, his heart racing.

“Just got some of your things.” He tossed in a pile of clothes and Brian’s school backpack. “You’re coming home with me for a while.”

“I-I am? But my mom and Earl.”

“I told your mom where you’d be and Earl, the way I see it, doesn’t have a say in the decision.” He smirked at Alex.

Alex leaned in and clamped a hand on Brian’s shoulder. “You take care of yourself, guy. Okay?” And he left.

When John climbed into the car and pulled away from the curb, Brian saw blood on his knuckles. “Mr. E? Your hands! Are you hurt?”

John glanced at his hands gripping the steering wheel and shrugged. He met Brian’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Nope, but your buddy Earl is going to wake up with a mighty sore jaw tomorrow.”

A part of Brian knew he should feel guilty about that, but it wasn’t like he’d really
lied
to John. He’d never specifically said that
Earl
was the one who’d beat him up. And Earl
had
beat him up on plenty of occasions in the past, so his getting knocked around by John and Alex was nothing the jack-ass didn’t deserve. He glanced at the back of John’s head then to his bloodied fingers around the steering wheel, and wondered if he should come clean with what had really happened tonight. How Boyo and Razor had come upon him in a weak moment, when he’d thought no one cared, and they’d promised him something he’d had so little of in his pathetic life: respect. His gut turned inside out at the thought. Mr. E would hate him if he ever found out, he was sure of it. Mr. E would think he was a major-ass loser.

He couldn’t tell the truth. Keeping silent was his only option.

Chapter 19

The shade beneath the covered walkways of Pike Place Market was a welcome respite to the warm August sun beating down on Seattle. At one of the many flower booths, Sam chose a bouquet and brought it to her nose.

“Hey there, beautiful,” said a deep voice in her ear.

She turned her head and smiled. “John! What are you doing here?”

He cocked his head toward the fish market. “Fishing.” Her protruding belly drew his gaze downward. Her loose-fitting cotton dress skimmed over the slight swelling beneath her breasts.

“Look at you,” he said, meeting her eyes again. “You’re about halfway done now, aren’t you?”

She smiled and rubbed her tummy. “As of today, actually. Twenty weeks to go — ooh!” It kicked inside her. “The little guy is active today.”

“‘Little guy’? You’re having a boy?”

“I don’t know. I want it to be a surprise. But I
think
it’s a boy, for whatever that’s worth.”

A strange expression crossed John’s face. “It’s moving?”

She nodded. “All of a sudden he’s going nuts. It’s like he knows who you—” She cut herself off, glancing away. When she peered back up at him, she saw something in his eyes that made her ask, “Do you want to feel it?”

“Um, okay. If you, uh, don’t mind.” His hand reached toward her and Sam moved it to where she’d last felt the baby move. She was getting used to people feeling her tummy, but this felt decidedly different with John’s warm fingers splayed across her belly. This felt decidedly… intimate. She waited until she felt the fluttery movement and positioned his hand there.

“Oh. There,” she said, glancing at him. “Did you feel it?”

“Wait. That was—” The baby moved again. “That’s the baby? It feels like little bubbles bursting against my fingers.”

“That’s how it feels to me, too.”

John’s expression was incredulous as the baby kicked again. “Oh, my God, Sam. This is—” His voice caught. “Amazing.”

His eyes were smoky in the shade of the awning. His gaze held hers as his hand gently pressed against the life inside her. Some type of primitive current connected the three of them — mother, father, baby. And for a moment, Sam felt a sense of wholeness she’d never felt before.

Someone in the crowd jostled them and John’s hand fell away. “So, what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” he asked with a lazy grin.

God, it was good to see him, she thought with the same inner yearning she’d felt these past months every time she pictured him in her mind. “I’m headed to a dinner party later and needed to pick up some flowers.” She held up her bouquet. “What about you? Picking up something for dinner?”

He nodded. “Are you in a hurry, or can you walk with me to the fish counter?”

A few minutes later, they’d pushed their way through the crowded outdoor aisles and John studied the whole salmon stacked on ice. He pointed to one of the smaller fish and requested it be cut into steaks.

The young man behind the counter lifted the fish in both hands and tossed it high into the air over his shoulder, where a worker at least six feet away caught it. A smattering of applause erupted from the people mingling nearby, waiting for just this sight. The flash of a camera popped. Fish tossing at the Market was a huge tourist draw.

As the fish was cut and wrapped, Sam asked, “How is everything progressing with the center?”

“It’s coming along. We’re hoping to open in January.”

She smiled, happy for him and proud of him. “And the kids, how are they doing?”

“Fine. A few have dropped out, but most are still coming to the program.”

“And Brian?” She was interested in knowing these things, but what she
really
wanted to ask was, “Do you miss me as much as I miss you?”

“Brian’s doing great. In fact, he’s living with me now.”

“Really? How’d that happen?”

He told her how Brian called him for help one night after getting beat up by his mom’s boyfriend. “After he was examined by the hospital, Social Services was brought in. They sent someone out to talk to his mother, Earl was arrested, and… it just sort of happened that Brian moved in with me.”

“Wow. Is this a temporary thing or—”

He nodded. “I have guardianship of him while his mom goes through rehab. Despite what a crappy job she’s done as a mother, the kid still loves her. I make sure he gets over to visit her on a regular basis.”

Tears welled in Sam’s eyes. She figured John was probably footing the bill for Mrs. Carsten’s rehab. He was such a nice man.

“What’s wrong?”

She sniffed and waved her hands. “Oh, I get emotional pretty easily these days. Must be my maternal side.”

The young man behind the counter tossed John the paper-wrapped bundle of salmon steaks.

“Did you walk here from your office?” John asked as they left the covered aisles and stepped into the sunlight. When she nodded, he said, “You want company for the walk back?”

“I would, except I’m meeting a girlfriend down here — the one who’s hosting the party tonight. She’s giving me a ride.” She pulled her sunglasses from the top of her head, but before putting them on, asked, “Would— would you like to come along? I know Nina and Zach wouldn’t mind. In fact, they told me to bring a date, but it’s kind of hard to find one looking like this.” She thrust her stomach forward and pulled her dress taut over it, giggling.

He lifted the black sunglasses that hung against his chest and positioned them on his tanned face. “I’d love to, Sam, but… I can’t. I have other plans tonight.”

It dawned on her what those plans were. The vegetables, the fresh salmon. She swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. “You have a date, don’t you? You’re making dinner for her.”

He looked embarrassed. “Well, I—”

“John, it’s okay,” she said, glad she sounded unruffled. She slipped her sunglasses onto the bridge of her nose. “It’s no big deal, I didn’t really expect you’d be free.” She forced a friendly smile, but her lips trembled at the corners.

“Thanks for asking though.” His voice sounded stiff.

“Rusty? Was that her name?” Sam asked, upset she couldn’t just drop the matter. His love life was his business. She and John hadn’t even spoken since the fundraiser; what right did she have to be jealous? None. Absolutely none. It was these hormones causing the Little Green Monster to rear its ugly head.

His brows furrowed. “Who? Oh, you mean ‘Dusty.’ No, she and I aren’t seeing each other any more.”

She cheered inside. The cheering faded. He still had a date tonight. Okay, dammit, she was jealous.

She forced a teasing grin onto her face. “Boy, you’re just a regular Don Juan, aren’t you, Mr. Everest?”

He grimaced. “Hardly. It’s not—”

“Well, I’m jealous.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise. “You are?” he asked.

“Yes. My social life has been nil lately. I’m sure you can imagine I don’t get asked out on many dates these days. It’s only going to get worse, too. I mean, look at me. I’m already four pounds ahead of where I should be. I’ll be a moose by the time this baby is born. I really should start walking or taking a pregnancy exercise class or something. I just hate formal exercise. I’d rather go hiking in the mountains or water ski, both of which are difficult when you’re pregnant. Of course, it would help if I didn’t eat for two at every opportunity.” She forced another giggle.