The Fighter's Block (33 page)

Dani left the couch and entered the kitchen. She knew that he never liked talking about his dad, so she didn’t ask. She only
slid her arms around
his waist to give him
a hug and said, “I love you, Van. Just let it
go
, okay?”

He took a deep breath
and as he exhaled, imagined all of the negativity
slip away
. He held his wife for another minute and then said, “How do you feel about moving?”

Dani pulled back to look at him and automatically asked, “What?”

“He’s moving to Edison;
I know he will.”

“But I thought you said he’d probably be going back to Monroe.
You
r family
moved up here when you were fifteen, right?
”

“Yeah, but h
e’ll be working here;
eight
blocks from here to be exact.”

Dani considered that for a few seconds but it didn’t take long to come to a conclusion. It would
make Van’s life a living hell. A
nd that, combined with Brian, was going to be way too much to deal with.

“I’ll do whatever you think is best,” she told him.

“If we move, t
here are so many things
to think about, though.”

“I know, but it’s your choice, Van, and I’ll do whatever we need to make it work.
As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where we live.
”

He
exhaled, but it didn’t relax him one bit. His mind was running a million miles a second and he couldn’t pin down a solid thought.

“Is it the only job he could get?” Dani eventually asked. “What if we could find him a dif
ferent one. Somewhere else.
”

Van hadn’t considered that, but she could be on to something. He nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ll have to think about that. Maybe I could do some bargaining.”

“What kind of bargaining?” she asked warily.

“Well, all he wants is for me to be there when he’s released. If I do that, maybe he’ll do something for me. Maybe I could get him to return to Monroe with the rest of his
shitty
family.”

Dani wasn’t sure seeing his father would be the best thing for Van. She felt it was something best left alone. “Can’t you just put the request in to his lawyer? Maybe he’ll take the chance to do something for you without expecting anything in return.”

Van was doubtful, but she was right in thinking that’s how he should approach it first. But honestly, if it meant
keeping
him out of Edison, Van would see his father no matter how difficult it was.

He
spent the next
two
days juggling his workouts at the Divehouse, inquiring about new apartments in different cities, phone calls with Gus, and searching for Brian’s whereabouts. He especially stressed over the fact that he didn’t know what Brian’s next move was, and even though he’d destroyed the video that was sent,
Van
knew it wasn’t the only one. Brian could do some serious damage to Dani’s life if it ever went public, which is why they
chose to keep
the police out of it.

“Donovan Kemp?” a female voice asked when he answered his phone. He was just about to head home from fueling up his truck.

“Yeah, that’s me,” he replied as he got into the driver’s seat.

“This is Ariel Mitchell. I’m returning your call from earlier about my apartment?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said excitedly. She wouldn’t be calling him back if it was already rented out, and it was the only one that he really got a good feeling about when he researched it online.

“Well I’m sorry, but I just found a new tenant last night,” she said. His heart dropped, but before he could question why she would call to tell him that, she added, “But how do you feel about houses?”

“Excuse me?”

“I have a house that will be vacant in a few weeks; I was wondering if you’d b
e interested in that. It’s four
hundred more, but you’ll have more room and it’s only a few blocks from where the apartment
is
.”

Houses. He hadn’t thought of that. Growing up he’d never lived in a house, not once. He’d been a career apartment dweller. But the idea of a house with Dani… “Can you email me the link?” he asked.

“I already did, but I figured I’d call you too.”

“Thank you. Yeah, I’ll definitely check it out when I get home.”

“Okay, just let me know as soon as you have a decision.”

“Sure. And thanks again.”

He hung up, feeling a little lighter than he’d felt earlier that day. At least something might be looking up.

But Dani didn’t seem as enthused with the idea like he was. He tried not to judge her reaction right away, so he gave her some time to sort it out.

“Scranton?” she finally asked.

Van slightly shrugged and then said, “Well what city do you prefer? I asked and you said you didn’t care.”

“Well… I mean I don’t really, but what about work?”

“Wo
rk? I’ve got s
ome good connections over there and
I’ll have
a gym
. And you said leaving Flegal wasn’t a concern of yours.”
She didn’t say anything at first, but she didn’t have to when Van
got
the picture
. “Ah, you mean you’
ll be further from New York and all the endless modeling jobs you have to choose from.”

She felt slightly hurt that he made it sound so fickle, but
she shrugged and said, “Well if you want us to have an income, I’ll need to be in New York at least two weekends a month. I mean that’s probably at least a two hour drive, so I
guess I could make it work but—
”

“No, you’re right. That’s too far. I’ll keep looking, it’s no big deal.”

“
I don’t plan on getting into that scene, Van. It was just an option if we need money. I’ll do whatever is best for us. I don’t want a career,
baby,
I just don’t want you to worry about finances. I know how that feels. It’s just an idea. Maybe once a month would be perfect and that won’t be a big deal to travel for.”

He slightly nodded. “Okay. So…you think it might be okay?”

“Anything with you will be okay,” she smiled.

He returned the smile, feeling relieved. Damn, this marriage stuff and decisions and shit were tough.
It
was going to be hard for him
to change his life from the only things he knew, but he realized it was because of him they had to be in the position they were in. Had he moved away from Edison long ago, he wouldn’t have had to face
the
possible return of his father. But even though he’d considered it
at the time
, he had Mickey and the boys at the Divehouse. His dad was gone, locked up out of his sight, so he took Mickey’s invitation to stay
and hadn’t regretted it.

Until now.
But who’s to say it didn’t work out that way for a reason? He’d met Dani, but would they have crossed paths anyway? She’d ended up in Edison because of her sister
and a job she’d applied for
, and had she not been on the outs with her parents, she would have
been living in New York instead
.

Finally Van said, “What if we just take it a week at a time? Why don’t we go look
at
a few places next week, after your birthday weekend, and we’ll go from
there.
If we have a good feeling about it, we’ll keep pursuing it. If we don’t, we won’t make any decisions.”

“But what about your dad?”

“He’d bette
r stay far away because I don’t
have the tolerance for him.”

“And Brian?”

“He’d better stay far
the fuck
away so I don’t kill him.”

“Van.”

“I’m just saying…”

“But what happens
if
he does something else? I mean who knows what he has planned.
I really hope that he’s disappeared for good and all this is in the past, but what if he does something else?
”

He looked at her for a few seconds and slowly shook his head. “He’d better pray that he doesn’t.”

She sighed, still burdened with the fact that she’d brought a lot into their marriage because of her past choices. She didn’t care why people thought mist
akes were meant to learn from—w
hy you wouldn’t change your past if you could. Some people believed that those mistakes
shaped them for the better.

Not Dani. She wished that she’d never met Brian.

Thursday was a day that Van was looking forward to. He was going to put in half a day at the Divehouse, and then he and Dani were heading out for Philadelphia. Dani was so excited, and Van couldn’t wait to spend four days
out of town with
his wife.

He avoided calls from Gus, even though he knew the calls were about his father. Donny Kemp was going to be released sometime that morning, according to
the
first (and only) message that Van
had
listened to at six
a.m
. Any calls after that were ignored. Van had only one request, and Gus wouldn’t make it happen.

They could both kiss his ass.

Twelve o’clock found him back at the apartment. He knew Dani was down the hall at Marnie’s so he
first helped Scotty move a couch into an apartment downstairs that needed it. Then he
grabbed a quick shower
and began packing his things for the weekend. His wife had been completely
astonished
that he hadn’t packed for their trip yet; she’d been packed since Sunday.

Dani already had her matching travel bags waiting by the front door, so Van dropped his duffel bag next to them. She almost nailed his head with the door when she entered the apartment
at the same time
.

“Whoa, I don’t want to go out that way,” he joked, stopping the door with his hands.

It scared Dani for a second and then she laughed. “No death by door?”

“Never. When I go it will be in the
cage
.”

“Don’t even say that,” she scowled, truly bothered by the statement. She knew he was joking, but it hit too close to home.

“I’m kidding,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her close. He leaned his head against hers for a few seconds and then softly kissed he
r lips. “I’m sorry. First we’ll live a long and happy life together, and then when it’s time for me to croak, I’m gonna find me the closest
octagon
and let it happen.”

That made her chuckle, just thinking of an old man on his metaphorical deathbed. “So is that after I croak, or will I still need to croak?”

It was his turn to laugh but he honestly answered, “I don’t know, but hope
fully we won’t be too far apart
.
For selfish reasons, I hope I croak before you.
Or the same time.
I couldn’t survive long without you.
”

Dani felt the same way, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. “Me neither.”

She liked the way he smelled, and while she breathed him in
as
he held her close, she tilted her face to his and let him kiss her. She was anxious to get to Philly
,
but at the moment, her husband—and the desire she had for him—was
more important
.

S
he
savored the heat from his mouth and tongue against hers, and she
let him strip her naked and have her right there on the living room floor
.
The way he kissed her and moved inside of her, the amount of love she could see in his eyes, sent an electrical current through
every ounce of
her. She loved the feel of his body as she wrapped him up in her limbs, and she treasured every word he spoke to her.

They left an hour later, Van carrying all three bags and Dani carrying her purse and a few things for the car. Just as the bags had been set in the back seat of the Honda, two police cars pulled up to them on the street, one
a
patrol car and
the other an unmarked. T
hey
watched
a plain clothed detective approach
Van and
ask
, “Donovan
Tyler Kemp?
”

Van eyed him for a moment, as well as the three other
cops, but nodded
his head and replied, “Yes
. What’s going on?”