Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Hadley

“He’s doing it again,” Lucy muttered while staring out the window.

I knew who she was talking about, but I still placed my textbooks on the coffee table, taking a study break, and sat down beside her so I could spy too.

It had been a few days since the rude man had moved into the house, and a routine had started between him and the neighborhood kids. I frowned as I watched him yell at them messing around in his yard. “He’s only making it worse.”

Seeing him deal with the punks that aggravated me all the time made me glad I didn’t get a chance to buy the house. I wanted far, far away from this building the second I could get us out of there.

I winced as a Braxton Hicks contraction hit me. I laid my head against the cushion and closed my eyes until the cramp passed.

“Are you okay, Mommy?” Lucy asked.

I smiled and took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s just getting close for Bubby to be here and he’s letting me know it.”

She placed her head on my belly. “Tell him to kick me!”

“He’s stubborn like you. You ask him yourself,” I told her. So cute watching her talk to my belly.

“Kick me, Eli!” When he didn’t move at all, Lucy looked up with a pouty face. “He’s stupid.”

“Lucy,” I warned. “That’s not nice.”

“Mom.” I could tell by the sound of her tiny voice that there was a question coming.

“What is it?”

“Can we go play on the swing set while we wait on Daddy?” she asked while batting her eyes. She was too smart for her age. It terrified me. She was far too observant for a child that was only about to turn four. I couldn’t remember my younger cousin’s toddler being like Lucy at her age. It made me proud but also wary. I couldn’t keep those little ears of hers from listening and trying to figure things out she shouldn’t worry over.

I peeked out the window again. The older kids were still there, and I hated going outside with them around. I normally didn’t take her down on the weekends. I knew they’d be there. Her play time was early morning—around two—after I’d picked her up from my parents or right before I tried to get some sleep. I rested while she watched TV. I had no other way of getting rest unless I let her stay with my parents and that would only mean that I’d see her less. A couple of hours here and there always got me through. I simply kept reminding myself, only four more months. I had a deadbolt on the door so Lucy couldn’t sneak out on me. She had tried once before while I dozed off.

My actions wouldn’t earn me any Mother of the Year awards, but I hoped when Lucy looked back on these days, she realized I worked so hard so we could have more. The idea of my daughter hating me one day because I was too tired to play with her scared me most of all. Between nursing school in the morning and my nights spent working, I knew my daughter missed me. I missed her.

Thankfully, it was March. The chill of winter still hung in the air and that was reason enough for telling her no. “It’s too cold. It’ll be summer soon enough, and then I’ll take you to play.”

“But they are.” She pointed toward the kids through the window.

“Kids who will get sick.”

She crossed her arms and sulked—bottom lip puckered. Even though she was the cutest thing ever, it wouldn’t work on me. I rubbed her head and pulled her in for a hug. “Look at it this way, when summer comes, not only will we get to play outside, Eli will be here and Mommy will have a new job.”

The words weren’t a lie. When I set out to do something, I was entirely different from my ex—I worked for what I wanted. Nursing positions were always opening up at the hospital. If anything, the hospital in Redford was only a thirty-minute drive and their hospital was huge and always needing workers. I could work there. Heck, we could move there.

“Will you still be working nights?” she asked, still pouting.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Would you rather I work a different shift?” She nodded, and my heart broke. I considered the possibility of me getting to pick a shift and sighed. “Hopefully I can then,” was all I told her.

“Why do you want a new job for?” she asked.

“Um… It’s something Mommy wants to do and…” I grabbed her tiny waist and grinned. “They’ll give me more money. More money means more food in the house!”

“Really?” That perked her up.

“Yep! So this summer, how about you, Eli, and me make a plan to buy all the food we want when I get my first paycheck at the new job?”

“Yes!” She thrust her hands in the air.

I laughed, wincing as another false contraction hit me. Maybe it wasn’t Braxton Hicks anymore. They were happening more often. I probably should stop in at the hospital in case they were real contractions. I was so used to feeling tired and hurt that I honestly couldn’t tell on my own. “Not right now though. I have to get the job first. We still have a few months, but when summer comes, so will Mommy’s new job.”

“Okay!”

____

Hadley: Please tell me you’re coming. I have to leave for work in an hour.

Scott: I’ll get her tomorrow.

Hadley: At least call and talk to her.

Scott: Tell her I’ll get her in the morning.

I stared down at my phone, almost wanting to text the words, She barely talks about you, anymore! But I didn’t want to fight with him, even through text messages so I placed my phone down and watched Lucy while she played with her toy ponies.

“Lucy…” I waited until she turned her head. I watched her smile up at me from the floor, and I couldn’t tell her that her dad wasn’t coming after all. “Ready to go to Papaw and Mamaw’s?” I asked, and silently, my child grabbed her toys, and got up from the floor.

“I’m going to bring my ponies tonight.” Lucy didn’t ask about her dad. I didn’t know if she already forgot that he was supposed to show, or worse, that she knew he wouldn’t. Six months ago she asked about him every night. When is Daddy coming home? Why isn’t he here? Every month that ticked by without Scott coming to see her, it was like Lucy was forgetting him. Or maybe my daughter realized that she no longer had him in her life. I wiped my eyes as I took her hand and walked toward the front door.

“Do you need to pee before we get to the car?” I asked, and she shook her head. “Want to call and talk to Aunt Liv on the drive there?”

She nodded vigorously. “Yes, call her now, please.” I handed her my phone after I found Olivia’s name and hit call.

It was so cold outside, the air so bitter and unwelcoming. I pulled Lucy’s hoody over her head as we made our way down the steps, and I paused to look at the sky. “Please don’t snow,” I whispered.

“Liv!” Lucy yelled so Olivia must have finally answered. My Lucy! I heard my sister’s loud mouth yell back. “I’m going to Mamaw and Papaw’s right now…” And so she talked her head off while we walked.

No kids were out lurking now, and I was happy about that as I pulled Lucy along toward the car.

“Oh no,” Lucy sighed dramatically. “The demon worshipper is home.”

“Lucy!” I hissed. “How many times have I told you to stop saying that? God bless America where do you learn these things?”

I glanced up frantically toward his home and was relieved to see that he was pulling in, but it was too cold for his windows to be down. He hadn’t heard her.

“Here. Liv wants to speak to you.” Lucy pushed the phone up to my face as I hauled her into her car seat and buckled her in.

“Yeah?” I answered.

“Demon worshipper?” Olivia snorted.

“The Piggly Wiggly incident, remember?” I told her quietly, peeking between the seats to see him getting out of his truck.

She cackled in my ear. “I still can’t believe he moved next door—only you.”

“Don’t remind me of my luck.”

“You never told me if he was hot or not.”

My cheeks heated. “It doesn’t matter what he looks like because he’s an a-hole,” I told her as I stood and shut the door. “I can’t wait to have this baby,” I whined as I grabbed my back. Standing was better than sitting or laying down at this point.

“So, he is hot,” she assumed.

I glanced over into our neighbor’s yard again despite myself. He was lingering by his truck. I couldn’t really make out his face since the streetlights didn’t really reach over into his yard, but I had the creeping suspicion that he was dissecting me with his evil glare. The situation had become unbearable. Was he really going to come home every single evening I left for the nursing home? I couldn’t handle these weird confrontations with a male that glowered at me and Lucy like we were a lost cause. But I was too bashful, too soft as Dad would say to do something about it.

But…

It didn’t mean I hadn’t noticed that he was a very handsome man. I just wasn’t attracted to the bad boy types, and he was definitely one. From his almost black hair, long enough to run frustrated hands through, to his hooded dark eyes. This intense guy had more tattoos than skin giving him a dangerous vibe. From where I stood, I could see one tattoo peeking over his collar. And that neck… It was big and corded like someone who worked out all the dang time. He was scary and made me feel uncomfortable.

Yeah… No. He frightened me from even this distance.

“He’s scary,” I mumbled to her. “And he yells at kids.”

I rushed around to the driver’s side and got in.