Page 50 of Absolute Valor

Love is deaf…you can’t just tell someone you love them, you have to show it.

“Hey, man, is the baby okay?” Austin asked as I walked into the office. I’d been running late this morning. Last night, my meeting with my contractor ran way past dark, as I was heading to Audrey’s afterward, Daddy called and asked for me to stop by the house. Jackson had been able to get a meeting with the current Circuit Court Judge who was rumored to be tossing his hat into the ring for state senate. Jackson explained the situation about repeat offenders such as Amy Campbell and how this could be his platform. Judge Adams said we had his attention. My late night gave way for my oversleeping this morning, causing me to rush around.

With all of the evidence found inside the house Ginny lived in, the feds had moved in and taken over the case. According to Daddy’s friend in Washington, what was once a piggyback on a breach had become a nationwide scam. Where Ginny went after the information to ruin the Morgan name, she ditched the plan when she saw she could make more money by creating a fictitious online dating service. It had been geared toward bringing single men and women together with a soldier she created…well almost. She used a number of the names she came across with the information she had. Her mistake, besides getting caught, was using the internet to commit the crime, guaranteeing a life sentence. She would be headed to a federal holding facility in the near future.

By the time I finished with him, it was well past one in the morning. Audrey would be asleep and would skin me alive if I woke Grace, her teeth had been giving her a terrible time and sleep was a premium.

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about? What baby?” I pulled out my phone, my heart in my throat.

“How many babies you got, bro?” Austin rolls his eyes. “Grace, you stupid fuck. Audrey called in this morning and said the baby was running a fever and she wouldn’t be in today.”

I’m on the phone before he can say another word, fear and confusion filling my chest. I should have gone over there last night or stopped by this morning, but I assumed I would see them both at the shop.

“Hello?”

“Sweetness, what’s wrong with Grace? Austin said you called out. What can I bring you, Tylenol, soup? Is it her teeth? Or do we need to call the doctor? I can be there in five minutes, I’m leaving now”

“No!” Her raised voice froze me in my tracks and I shot a glance over at Dylan whose brows were raised. Audrey never lost her cool or shouted at anyone.

“It’s her teeth, but in case it is something else, I need you to stay away. Dylan and Claire’s wedding is in a few days and you need to stay healthy.” This may be Audrey’s voice, but I suspected something, or someone, was in her head. “I have plenty of food and medication for her. If it gets worse, I know where the doctor’s office is. I gotta go, Grace needs me.”

Dylan had his phone out and his arms crossed, a pissed off look on his face. His phone on speaker, the ringing tones echo in the shop. “Hello, handsome. Did you miss me, already?”

His face softens as he listens to her voice. “I did, but I do have a real problem on my hands.”

I leaned back against Audrey’s empty desk, the photo of the three of us on the porch from a few days ago, sitting beside her computer. Grace had discovered strawberries and instantly fell in love, her face was covered with the red fruit. She’d grabbed my face, sharing her sticky, messy hands. Audrey had her phone, snapping a photo I begged her to send to me.

“Didn’t you stop by Audrey’s last night?”

“I did, dropped off a bottle of numbing medicine one of my coworkers recommended. Why?”

“Well, she called out this morning, said the baby has a fever and she told Chase to stay away in case she is coming down with something contagious. Can you stop by there and check on them before you come home?”

“Fever is pretty common with teething, but I think the problem with Audrey isn’t the baby or the teething. My friend Kitty, you remember her?”

“Yes, the one who got married a few months ago. We went to the wedding, you got drunk and seduced me in the parking lot.”

“Yep, one in the same, except you were on top, so who seduced whom? Anyway, she was at the pharmacy last night, picking up a prescription for prenatal vitamins, when she saw Portia talking trash to a pretty girl with a baby in her cart. She said the baby had the most unique color of blue eyes, Portia alluded she should be glad the baby looked so much like Chase.”

“Sounds like Portia.”

“Portia was also at my dinner party the other night, she overheard your Momma telling the room how Chase had found Audrey and they had a baby together. Portia stayed in the corner mean mugging everyone. Until she grew a pair and tried to weasel her way into our bed. Now, I’m not saying this sudden change in Audrey is from Portia, but it seems a little too close for coincidence.”

I left the room, allowing Dylan some privacy to say goodbye to Claire. This was her last shift until after their honeymoon, although he had been trying to get her to quit all together.

“Chase Morgan.” The sound of the front door slamming and my mother’s sharp voice carried across the shop. “Mind telling me why I heard from Gloria Mercle, that my youngest son is shacking up with a porn star, when he has a family waiting at home?”

How much worse is this shit going to get? Gloria Mercle made a fortune from marrying well and out living her husband’s. She served on several boards alongside momma, although I don’t believe they would call each other friends.

“Calm down, Momma. Chase is doing no such thing.” Dylan wrapped his arms around a furious Priscilla. “Your mortal enemy, Gloria, is just spreading hate, discontent and pure lies. It was your oldest, not the youngest, who spent some time with a porn star.” He could get away with saying shit like that to her, which was evident by the smile she’s trying to hide.

“Dylan, I hope one day you have a son who acts the same way you do, giving you sleepless nights and graying hair.”

“Careful what you wish for, Nana Morgan, you’ll have to babysit the demon spawn, after all.”

Slipping away from the family planning, I tried Audrey’s phone, only to have it go to voicemail. Maybe she turned off the ringer so as not to wake Grace. I reasoned with myself, knowing the situation was more serious than this. Audrey came pre programmed to expect the other shoe to drop. She automatically went into protection mode, saving herself, and Grace, from any pain in any form.

It was my job to show her how solid we really are, how both shoes are welded on, and going nowhere. I could call the florist, or stop by a jewelry shop on my way over to her house, but Audrey was a country girl at heart. Flowers would sit on her kitchen table until they started to wilt, and then get tossed into the trash. Jewelry would set in a wooden box on her dresser, waiting for a special occasion or a tight situation and a trip to the pawnshop.

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