Page 3 of Rescued Hearts
Except, instead of mangled cars, the wreckage was whatever sense of safety I’d managed to scrounge up for the day. And I knew exactly how it happened. I was young, dumb, and fell in love with someone I thought I could trust. Someone who wielded charm, good looks, and every insecurity I’d ever had like a finely tuned weapon.
“Listen here, you bitch,” Jeremy hissed into the phone. I flinched, my eyes squeezing shut. “You’ve got a lot of nerve thinking you can take my son from me. You better believe I’mgonna make you pay when I hunt you down. I’ll make you regret ever thinking you could take what’s mine. You belong to me, Tess. Just like Luke.”
The phone slid out of my hand, my fingers numb. Quickly, I turned and dry-heaved into the sink. Flashes of Jeremy’s rage-filled face blew through my mind, his eyes such a dark brown they looked like black tar.
Funny how I used to think they looked warm and inviting, like melted dark chocolate or a cup of steaming, rich coffee.
I was such a fool to fall for the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Cupping my hands under the faucet, I rinsed my mouth out even though nothing came up, and splashed some water on my face. I glanced over my shoulder towards the stairs. There weren’t any lights on or signs of movement upstairs, thankfully. Claire was probably next door at Beau’s, since she practically lived there now. Savannah slept like the dead with the amount of melatonin she took. And if Emmett was awake, he didn’t show any signs of it.
It was Luke I was worried about anyway, not my older siblings. He was such a fitful sleeper. Both of us were, really. I figured it was only a matter of time before he woke up in a panic, calling out for me.
I bent down to grab my phone off the floor, my stomach turning at the row after row of Jeremy’s name in bold red letters on the screen. I tossed it onto the counter, unable to look at it anymore. It hit with a smack that had me looking over my shoulder again, wondering if that was too loud.
“I can’t keep living like this,” I murmured, leaning against the kitchen counter, rubbing my temples. More importantly, I couldn’t haveLukeliving like this anymore. He was the center of my universe, my heart outside of my body. He was too young to be having the issues he was, too pure to have seen and heardthe things he had. It was my responsibility to take care of him, to shield him from all the bad in this world.
Before I could talk myself out of it for the tenth time, I pulled up the number Colt McLeod sent me after Mama’s funeral three weeks ago and clicked on it. I cracked my knuckles as the phone rang, planning the message I’d leave for Levi Hollis’s office.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a raspy, groggy voice answered. “Hello?” It was the wrong number. I ran a hand over my forehead.Stupid, stupid, stupid,I scolded myself. “Hello?” the man said again, his voice clearer now.
“H-Hi, is this not Wild Creek Law?”
“Technically, yes.” He cleared his throat. “This is Levi Hollis.”
I straightened off the counter, looking at the stove. The clock read 6:37a.m.. “I’msosorry. I didn’t know this was your personal number. Colt gave it to me, and I just assumed this was your office. I wouldn’t have called so early if I’d known.” My face screwed tight, realizing I was rambling. Jeremy always told me I never knew how to keep my mouth shut. “I’ll call back later.”
“It’s alright. What can I do for you?” I froze. His reply had been instant. His voice was calm, smooth. Nothing that indicated irritation or impatience.
“Really. I can call back later. It’s early.”
“I didn’t catch your name.”
I winced. That might’ve been a good place to start instead of waking the man up first thing in the morning, blabbing nonsense. “Tess. Tess Hayes.”
There wasn’t any doubt he knew who I was; Wild Creek was just that small. He didn’t say anything about me coming back into town after vanishing for eight years. Didn’t bring up the fact that my mom just died. He didn’t even mention that his grandfather just chewed out Claire and his cousin, Beau, in front of most of the town, not even a week ago.
Instead, he said, “What can I do for you, Tess?”
Something about it had me shifting on my feet. Shouldn’t he have been mad? Telling me to call back later? I knew I’d at least have been a little bit frustrated.
“I…I need help,” I said, my voice quiet. It felt like an admission of failure. Like something you whispered in a confessional booth because the shame was just that great.
There was a pause. “Help with what, exactly?”
I scanned the room as if Jeremy had somehow been in the walls, listening. “I want to get full custody of my son.” I chewed on my bottom lip, my heart going a mile a minute. “And a restraining order,” I added, quieter.
“Okay. Can you come by the office this afternoon?”
My lips parted, surprised. I half expected him to ask for all the gritty details on the spot. “Yes.”
“My afternoon is open, so just drop by whenever you have the time.”
I blinked quickly, not used to plans being in my control. “O-Okay. See you then,” I said and hung up, half dazed.
That wasn’t what I expected.
Levi didn’t seem intimidating or cold like his grandfather, Sterling, had been when he showed up to the groundbreaking for Golden Circle last week. Instead, he was calm, and that was so refreshing. Maybe Colt and Beau were right. Maybe we could trust him.
