29. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

C annon had been happy to get out of the house today, even if it meant going to therapy. Clara had taken him this time. She'd decided that after the stress of his appointment that he deserved a snack at the diner. He was happy to just not have to go back home. When she'd picked him up, she'd had one of the vehicles from the bail bonds. He'd worried that she'd have to help lift him into the vehicle. Instead, she'd shown him some modifications Jesse had made to the vehicle so he could lift himself and slide across a flat board into the vehicle.

He'd actually grinned when he didn't have to have someone lift him in and out. Clara had just needed to have his wheelchair there with the brakes on. He'd easily gotten himself out at the diner. Bear had smiled at him when he'd held the door open to have Clara push him in.

Cannon waited until their food had been delivered, then stared at Clara with his eyebrow arched. He knew she was dying to ask him about his therapy, Jesse, and everything.

"You are entirely too cocky with the hat, the scruff on the face, and your eyebrow raised. But I look at you as a son, so it's not going to distract me. How is it going?" Clara asked, then picked up her sandwich.

"How's what going?"

Just to see what she'd do, he took a huge bite of his burger, so there was no way he could talk.

She shook her head. "It won't work. I drove you here. I can keep you here for hours until you share something."

Cannon finished chewing, wiped his mouth, then grinned at the woman who he adored. She reminded him so much of how he felt around his grandma. He imagined this is what War and Roam felt for their mom. Cannon wouldn't know because he'd never had a mom. All his dad had ever said was she didn't want him.

"Therapy is going well. Some of the stuff sucks, but I know I need it. For Jesse. For the girls and for myself."

Clara smiled at him. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I'm proud of you. You saw what Jesse and the girls needed, and you're working to be that man for them. I'm sad you were hurt, but if it was the catalyst for your change, then so be it."

Clara saying she was proud of him wasn't ever a reason for him to get upset.

"I'm not taking it the wrong way. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're proud of me. I'm glad you followed Sprite and the kids here. You're a special woman, Clara."

Cannon felt like he'd been through so many emotions in the last couple of weeks after pushing all emotions to the side for years. He just wished he could do more for Jesse. With his arm and leg out of commission, there wasn't a lot he could do besides shop online. Maybe Clara could take him by the garage on the way back. He'd love to see if there were other items Jesse might like there. He was quite good at buying stuff and he had plenty of money from saving for years. After the way he'd grown up, he'd promised himself he'd never do without. Now with Jesse and the girls, he wanted to make sure they had everything they needed.

"So am I, Cannon. Now let's finish lunch, then I'll help you hide some more of those notes. I think it is the sweetest thing ever."

"Umm, I was thinking maybe we could drop by Jesse's garage on the way. I haven't seen the chair I got her and wanted to see if there were other things she might like. Then we could go hide the notes, if you have time."

At his words, Clara looked at him with a look he'd only ever seen his grandmother have for him. He guessed it was probably love, but he didn't have a lot of experience judging the look. All he knew was her looking at him like that gave him something he'd been missing. A sense of family. Not that he was denigrating the brotherhood and family he'd found with the MC. They'd become his family, but something about Clara made him feel closer to her.

Clara pulled the SUV up as close to the garage as she could and parked. A vehicle was parked close to the building. Clara parked so Cannon's wheelchair could be on the cement, but the vehicle could still leave.

As soon as she came around and opened his door, he could hear yelling. Clara grabbed his chair, and he hurriedly dropped himself down into the chair, jarring his leg. He didn't care. He needed to be in there where Jesse was. Clara pushed him at almost a jog into the garage, where Cannon could hear yelling. As Clara pushed him toward the office, he snagged a crowbar with his good hand.

"As soon as you get me there, send a Code Ross to everyone in our emergency text thread. Tell them we're at Jesse's garage," Cannon whispered to Clara. Clara pushed him into Jesse's office, where his pregnant woman was facing down a man at least eight inches taller than her. He also outweighed her by a good one hundred pounds.

"Listen, I told you. I don't know what you're talking about or where your wife is. Now, I've asked you to leave multiple times. You are now trespassing at a private business. My next step is to call the sheriff's office."

"NO, you listen, cunt. Where is my wife?" the man yelled.

"Hey, she already said that she doesn't know what you're talking about. You need to leave now." Cannon said, waving his crowbar. He wasn't sure how much damage he could do from a sitting position, but hopefully the threat of someone else here would make a difference.

"Who are you?" the man yelled.

"I'm the guy that is angry you're yelling at my pregnant woman. Now leave. We don't know what you're talking about," Cannon stated, keeping his voice stern but calm. He didn't want to escalate the situation, knowing Jesse and Clara might get hurt. If the man didn't want to leave, then Cannon could at least stall him until backup arrived.

It killed him that Jesse still looked petrified. Her face was flushing. He didn't know if it was from anger or something else. It seemed like he'd been with the guy forever, but depending on how far away everyone was, he might need to stall longer.

"I know you know where my wife is," the man yelled.

The guy screaming worried Cannon. Nothing they'd done had changed the guy's story.

"Okay, so your wife is missing. Do we need to help you file a missing person report with law enforcement, or do you mean something happened while you were driving and your wife is missing?"

The man finally turned away from Jesse, and Cannon relaxed a little. A text came through, and Cannon slyly glanced at it.

Code Chandler, Jesse, go in the bathroom and lock the door.

Thank goodness, help was coming. Jesse glanced at the message, then slowly started backing up to the bathroom off her office. Cannon was glad someone had directed her to go because until she moved, she was behind the man. There was nothing to stop him from grabbing her and using her as a hostage, though he hadn't seen a weapon yet. The click and lock of Jesse's bathroom door had the man turning to look that way.

Remington and Beth ran by him with Remington tackling the man to the floor. Before he could throw her off, Beth had grabbed his wrist and handcuffed it to his other.

"What the hell!"

"Are you Grant Moore?"

The man tried to get up and knock his shoulder into Remi, but her knee was in his back.

"Grant Moore, you failed to appear for your court appointed hearing. We'll be taking you in," Remington said.

"I know you know where my wife is."

"Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about, but right now, you need to worry about yourself. You have a warrant out for your arrest."

Remi and Beth helped him to his feet and then got him out the door. Cannon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jesse, it's safe to come out."

She opened the door and ran to him. He dropped the crowbar and opened his arm for her. She leaned as close to him as she could, slipping her arm around his neck. Clara came up behind her and wrapped her arms around both of them.

"Oh my. I'm so glad you're both okay."

For a couple minutes, he just held Jess against him. He kept repeating to himself Jesse is safe. The babies are safe. Over and over again. He pulled away when Locks and Sarah ran in.

"Are you okay?" Locks asked.

Jesse went into his arms and nodded.

Sarah held her hand up to Jesse's face. "Your face and neck are really flushed. Is it from the excitement or was it like that before?"

Cannon looked closer. Jesse was still flushed like he'd noticed earlier.

"I don't know. I'm not going to stay here anyway. Everything can wait and there's no way I can concentrate," Jesse said.

Cannon reached for her hand. He needed to remind himself she was okay. "Let's head for the house. You can ride with Clara and me. Let's give it half an hour of relaxing back at the house. If you still look or feel off, I think we need to have Stella come by or go there."

Jesse nodded. "Okay."

Jesse was kicked back in the recliner with a glass of iced tea. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She'd cut her caffeine, but she needed a cold drink that she enjoyed. It wasn't even sweetened since she'd also cut back on some of her sugar intake.

She thought about how she'd felt when Cannon had rolled into her office brandishing a crowbar. All of a sudden, she wasn't alone. She'd been so mad at herself because she'd completely spaced sending a code for help. Pregnancy brain was real, and she was mired in the middle of it. She reached for the book she'd grabbed. It had been days since she read it. She and Cannon had been busy in the evenings watching movies or someone was dropping by. And after the lights went out, she didn't read by her booklight because that's when Cannon opened up to her.

Each thing he shared with her made her want to hunt down his dad and end him. Last night, when he'd shared why he was scared of spiders and snakes, she couldn't keep from crying. What type of parent deliberately put their child in a place with spiders everywhere and left them alone? When Cannon had described not being able to get away from them, she'd vacillated between anger and heartbreak. Hearing Cannon's voice choke when he said he'd never watch the show Fear Factor because he'd lived it growing up. Cannon had said he hadn't seen his dad in years and didn't know if he was alive or dead.

Jesse debated if she was going to have Sarah do a little digging. Cannon talking about the excruciating pain he'd had in his ear until his dad took him to the emergency room had her wanting to get up last night and scream. How did a parent live with themselves when they saw their child in pain and told them to be quiet when the doctor removed a spider that had burrowed into Cannon's ear canal? The fact he still had his hearing in that ear was a miracle.

She needed to get her mind on something else. She opened her book, and a purple note was on the page she was on.

She sniffed and then couldn't stop the sobs. This man and his capacity for love. She'd thought he was a cold-hearted bastard, but he'd been this sweet, soft man inside just waiting to open up to someone. Once she started, she couldn't stop crying. She felt a hand patting her shoulder and smelled Cannon's scent, which used to make her mad. After sleeping beside him and coming to know him better, it now said home to her.

"Hey, it's okay. What's wrong? Does something hurt?"

She looked up at his petrified voice, asking her questions. She shook her head and turned the opened book toward him. She didn't say anything because she didn't know what to say. She'd been so mad, but now she was seeing a different side of him. And she felt guilty for not telling him about the pregnancy earlier, but she wanted the love story. She wanted it all and she wanted it with Cannon.

"My note made you cry? I'm so sorry. I wanted you to know how I feel and make up for everything I've done."

Jesse took his hand and laid it on her chest, over her heart.

"I'm crying because I love you. And I'm so scared that you love me because of the babies. I want you to love me for me."

Cannon swallowed as she looked at him and pulled his chair closer. Jesse heard the door quietly close. Clara must have decided to give them some privacy.

"I told you I wouldn't apologize until I knew what I was apologizing for. With everything I've been learning, I'm ready. I'm so incredibly sorry I didn't tell you what being with you last Christmas Eve meant to me. I had my heart locked tight and didn't think I would ever have a relationship. I'm sorry I ignored you and didn't tell you how special it had been. I was doing everything I could to keep my heart safe. I apologize for yelling at you at lunch when I found out about the pregnancy. The only excuse I have is a deep-seated fear of being a father like I'd had, but it isn't really an excuse."

Cannon brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her fingertips. "I am sorry for telling the guys you were immature, and I'd never consider a serious relationship. I know you didn't know I said that, but I need to come clean about everything. They were teasing me, saying my eyes followed you everywhere months ago. Their words hit too close to the truth. I know that all the sorries can't ever take away the pain you felt. I hope that you'll let me spend the rest of my life making it up to you because, Jesse, when I'm with you, I'm not cold anymore. You melted the ice around my heart and for the first time in a very long time, I love someone. It scares me loving you and the girls. So many things could happen and losing you would rip my heart out of my chest. But my therapist has reminded me, there are no guarantees. Only the possibility of a beautiful love with you. Yes, I love the babies. But I loved you first. You're my first, my last, and my always. And I was so scared I was going to lose you today before I told you."

Jesse leaned toward Cannon, trying to reach him. Between her belly and his casts, she gave up and flipped the recliner down so she could drop to her knees beside him. She slid her arms around his waist and laid her head on his lap.

"I was petrified, and I love you so much."

She sat there for a little bit, letting Cannon run his fingers through her hair as she basked in the knowledge his note was right. Theirs was going to be the greatest love story ever written.