Page 61 of Saving You

“You too,” I say, and he makes his way out the front door. I make sure Charlie and I have everything, and we make our way to the car. I drop her off at school and make my way to the office.

When Charlie and I get home that night, I work on her homework with her as we wait for Caleb to come home. He walks through the front door and straight into the kitchen, kissing me and then Charlie’s forehead before he goes upstairs to change. Charlie and I clean up and meet him in the entryway. Once everyone is bundled up with jackets, scarves, gloves, and boots, we head out to his truck. The winter weather is rolling through now. We’ve had a few days with a little dusting of snow, but nothing major yet. We’ve mainly had to deal with ice.

Charlie asks for Christmas music as we drive to the tree farm, and Caleb agrees. She is so excited when we get there. Caleb unbuckles her, and she jumps in place as she stares at all the trees. Making our way inside, Caleb directs us straight to a little kiosk and buys us each a hot chocolate.

He hands them to Charlie and me. “You can’t shop for a Christmas tree without hot chocolate.”

We wander around a few trees nearby, Charlie using both her hands on her cup. I stick my nose near a few trees, inhaling the scent. I love the smell of Christmas trees. When I pull my nose out of one, I turn and see Caleb watching me with a smile. I blush and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. I know it’s a little weird to just shove my face in the trees, but I missed this. I miss the house smelling like the tree during Christmas. I miss being in a house that truly feels like Christmas during the holidays.

He tosses his cup into a nearby garbage can and comes up to me, whispering in my ear, “You’re fucking adorable.” His lips brush my cheek, and he grabs my hand.

As soon as Charlie finishes her hot chocolate, she asks to hold Caleb’s hand too, and the three of us walk through the trees. After twenty minutes of wandering, I find the perfect tree. I stop in my tracks and stare at it. It’s the perfect height and is uniform all around, with a nice wide base.

Caleb looks at me, a smile lighting his face. “That’s it, huh?”

I nod, and he squeezes my hand. I walk up to it, running my hand lightly over the branches while Charlie and Caleb go find an attendant to get the tree shaken and loaded in the bed of the truck. They return, and Caleb and the attendant chat, figuring out logistics before the guy grabs the tree and we follow him to the shaker.

We wait nearby. Charlie is in Caleb’s arms when a familiar voice calls my name. I freeze. My back stiffens, and my blood runs cold. I see Caleb stiffen too, prepared for whatever may be coming.

I turn and come face to face with Derek. He smiles and takes a step towards me. I retreat backwards. His smile drops and a look of frustration crosses his face.

“You’ve been ignoring my texts,” he says, and the energy in the air changes.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”

“I would like to see you.” He looks over at Charlie before he adds, “and my daughter.”

I can see he’s holding back his anger. His cheek is twitching the same way it would before he grabbed or hit me.

“I will contact you when I can find an appropriate time and place. Right now, we are out and this is not the place. I would like you to leave us alone.” My words come out stronger than I thought they would, but I think that’s because I can feel Caleb’s presence behind me.

“I work here,” he says before looking back at Caleb.

“Why are you holding my daughter?” he asks, venom lacing his voice.

“Because she asked me to. Now, I believe Bailey just asked you to leave her alone, so why don’t you move somewhere else on the lot while we finish up here.”

Derek stares daggers at Caleb and grips his hands into fists. “I would like to see my daughter.”

I turn and look at Charlie cuddled in Caleb’s arms. She’s hiding herself. She has half her face covered and is only looking at Derek with one eye. Derek takes a step closer to us and holds his arms out for Charlie.

“Hey, Char, why don’t you come see your dad?”

She shakes her head and snuggles deeper into Caleb’s chest. Caleb, being the protective man he is, brings a hand to her back and rubs it while adjusting his position so that Charlie is further away from Derek.

“She said no, I think we’re just going to take her home,” he says as he moves towards the truck where the attendant is securing the tree.

“You can’t keep my daughter from me,” Derek calls.

The anger in his voice is evident, and I’m on high alert. I move to catch up with Caleb as he begins to buckle her into the backseat. I don’t even make it two steps before a painful sting radiates up my arm. I look down and see Derek gripping my forearm. I try to pull my arm away, but his grip is too tight. He yanks me closer and gets in my face.

“You can’t keep her from me. You can’t replace me with that loser. Soon enough, both of you will be back with me, where you belong.” He steps so close I can feel his breath on my cheek as he says, “And when you’re back with me, I plan to fuck your pussy hard and fast. So, you better be keeping your legs closed because you don’t want to know the consequences if you’ve opened them for someone else.”

I want to puke. Tears gather behind my eyes, and I blink, trying to stop them from falling. I know he means it. He’ll follow through with his threats if he ever gets me alone. I’m scared not just for me, but for Charlie. I feel the world around me closing in. My hand goes up to my throat, and I take deep breaths, trying to centre myself.

Derek is ripped away from me as Caleb shoves him away. “You keep your hands off of her. You don’t contact her until she contacts you.”

Derek’s entire face is dark red as he stares up at Caleb. Their height difference is so noticeable like this; Caleb has a good four inches on Derek.

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