Chapter 5

Leslie looked at the newspaper that had been left at her door this morning. She was surprised to find her daughter’s name written in the headlines about some man, but she didn’t know much about what the article said. She could read her name and that of her daughters, but not much more than that.

She’d been a child when they told her that she’d have trouble with reading, and it was like a challenge for her to not learn to read at all. By the time she was sixteen and old enough to get out of going to school, she was in the sixth grade, having failed every class at least twice to get as far as she had been.

“Whatcha reading there, Less?” She didn’t know why Albert continued to call her that when she’d asked him several times not to do it. “It looks important. Want me to read it to you?”

“Yes.” She hated the man she was with. His name was Oliver, of all things, and she was sick of him treating her like a big dummy head. The way everyone did when they found out that she could only not read, but she didn’t know her numbers either. Not enough to tell people what kind of dollars they were handing her. “Just read the part where it talks about the man. He’s a good-looking fella, and I wonder what he is doing with her.”

“Let me see here.” It took him forever to get to the part where it explained who the man was. “His name is Stone Griffin. I’ve heard of them, I think. Well monied. It says here that he’s going to be marrying Sage Tigner. Hey, that’s your kid, isn’t it? She must not be a kid, I guess. I don’t remember the last time you even spoke about her.”

“We were supposed to meet her for Christmas, but you won all the money at the races, and we didn’t go there. I might well have went anyway if I’d known you were going to be selfish with the winnings you made.” He pointed out that it was his money that he’d won and she snatched the paper from him. “So you said. About a thousand times.”

They’d been at the airport, and Vegas, like a lot of little places around the town, had one armed bandits. She didn’t know what they were really called, but she knew that she didn’t play them as much as she used to. She did for a long time, but when she ran out of money for the hundredth time, she didn’t go back to them.

There was no way that she could afford them and eat as well. But while they were waiting to be boarded, he’d won some money. She knew that it sounded like a great deal to her, but she didn’t think that five grand went as far as he’d hoped it would. They were broke again by the following day.

She asked him how he knew that the Griffins had money. He said that it was in the newspaper all the time about this or that. How they were the saviors of the school system. Then he remembered how the principal of the little kid’s school had been arrested for trying to kill one of the teachers.

“He’s a Griffin, too, and some upstanding person. Anyway, after he got fired, I’m not sure of all the details like I was there, but he went and got him a gun and went after them and a lady friend of his. I’m betting now that it was your daughter. I wonder if she was hurt.” She didn’t know but asked him where it had happened. “It says here that it happened in Ohio. I had no idea that was where she lived. I thought you told me she lived in Chicago or someplace like that.”

“She did. She worked for a grocery store doing bagging or something. I didn’t know that she moved.” Not that there was any reason for her to know that her daughter had moved. She never kept in touch with her unless she contacted her. That was the only reason that she had a working cell phone so that Sage could get in touch with her when she wanted. And right now she wanted to talk to her about how she’d been engaged and not thought to tell her about it.

Leslie didn’t hate her daughter. Most of the people that she and Albert hung out with did hate their own kids. Sage had been a good kid, she supposed. Not that she had wanted her around all that much but she did make sure that they had a roof over their heads as well as money in the bank. That was all gone now that she’d gone off on her own when she’d turned eighteen years old. But that had been all right, too. She needed to sow her oats like her mom did. Whatever the hell that meant.

Waiting until Albert left the room, she pulled out her cell phone and called her daughter. A man answered the cell, and she was afraid that she’d pressed the wrong button that was there for her to simply call her kid. The man laughed when she said she had the wrong number.

“Are you looking for Sage? She’s right here but talking on the other phone right now. My name is Stone. Who might this be?” Leslie told him. “Her mom, I guess. She came here on business for the Danielson’s but that is turning out all wrong for her. Do you want me to have her call you back?”

“Yes, please do that.” She thought of asking him if it was true that he was marrying her daughter, but she didn’t know what else to say to him. Leslie hadn’t ever been good at small talk, either.

After hanging up with the man, she thought about what she was good at. There wasn’t much that she’d be able to say, she told herself. While not being able to read at all, she had gotten books from the library and listened to them with recordings. Leslie had had to do that without Albert around, or he’d just make fun of her. But she’d enjoyed it so much there were times when she would just go outside near the pool where they were staying and listen to them instead of sunning in the sun. Loving how the music would tell her when something was going to happen. Leslie thought that she could enjoy any book ever if she had the time to listen to them. That reminded her that she had a book to take back soon, and she decided to go out and get her something else to listen to for fun.

Her cell was ringing as soon as she was able to get to the library. Not wanting to air her phone call to others, she sat down on one of the few benches around the building that weren’t occupied by someone else. The first thing that she noticed about Sage was that she was upset about something. She told her to call her back when she was in a better mood.

“I’m sorry. Nothing is going right. The couple that I came here for has had a death in the family, and now I don’t know what to do.” She heard the noises in the background shut off when a door closed and figured that she was someplace where she could talk to her. “I was going to call you tonight anyway. Didn’t you say that boyfriend of yours goes out at night?”

“I’m headed to the library. They had books on tape, and I love listening to them.” She felt stupid for saying that and asked her about the family she was staying with. “That man, he sounded nice.”

“He is. We’re going to be getting married. I don’t know when. He’s not asked me yet, but Storm told me that it was a done deal. I’m not sure what that means, but I believe him.” Leslie asked her if she was pregnant and needed to get married. “No, nothing like that. But I was going to call you to see if you could make it out for summer. We just bought a nice house, and I’d like for you to see it. However, I understand that you might have other things to do.”

“I want out of this.” She only just realized that was what she wanted more than anything. “I don’t want to be around Albert anymore. He’s mean and cruel…he doesn’t beat me, but he’s not at all nice to me, and I want to get to know you.” She laughed just a little. “I know that sounds like I’m crazy and not what you called me about, but it only just occurred to me that I want out of anything with him.”

Sage didn’t say anything, so she just waited. The need to fill in the silence was nearly overwhelming but she didn’t know what she’d say if she did talk. The thought of her daughter turning her down after all this time hurt her heart. While she was rubbing the area where she knew her heart to be, Leslie still waited for her to fill in the quiet.

“Did you know about the money?” It was a fair enough question but it hurt her all the same. She explained to Sage how Albert had told her that they had money, but that’s not why she wanted to come home. “You wanted to come home before, and I had it all planned out, too, but you ditched me at the very last minute.”

“I wanted to still come but Albert won some money and didn’t want to leave. I should have come on my own, I wish with all my heart that I had, but he had it in his head that we needed to keep going on a sure thing. I don’t know why he ever thinks things are going to go his way. He loses more than he wins every time.” Sage asked her if she’d do the same thing again. “If you help me to get to you, I’ll not leave you again, Sage, honey. I’m getting to the point in my life where I want you around.”

“You’ve said that to me before.” She nodded and then remembered that she couldn’t see her and told her that. “I don’t know what to think, Mom. You’ve treated me like crap since I was a child. I want to see you. I want you to meet Stone, but I don’t know about the long term. Or is that the plan again. You come here, hang out for a few days then take off again on some adventure? I don’t know that I could take that again. You up and leaving me when I think that my life is settled.”

“I don’t want that either.” She realized then that she wanted to have a relationship with her daughter. One that meant them getting to know one another, too. “I know next to nothing about you. I know that it’s all my fault, too. I would love to meet your man and his family. Albert…well, he can be damned for all I care. Did I mention that when I asked him if it was too late for me to learn to read, he said it was too late for me to do anything but stick around the house, making it nice for him? I don’t want that. I want someone to make things nice to me, damn it. I want to see you, Sage. Even if you’ll only allow me to have ten minutes a day with you, it’s more than I think I deserve.”

She was crying then and hated herself for it. Talking to her daughter had never made her feel like it did this time. She found that she wanted to beg her daughter for another chance to get to know her and that she’d go to the ends of the earth to do so. As soon as she asked her to wait for a moment, Leslie just knew that she was going to hang up on her and never call back.

As soon as she got back on the line, she told her that there was a ticket going to be waiting for her at the closest airport. The same one as before. She told her three times that she wasn’t going to pay for Albert and that if she really did want to get away from him, now was her chance.

“If you leave me hanging, Mom, I’ll never speak to you again. As a matter of fact, the phone that you have now won’t work again either. I mean it.” She told her that she’d be there. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Stone said that there is a flight going out…hang on again.”

When she came back this time, she seemed happier. “Stone said that his brother has business out that way and will be coming in on the plane. I’ll not be with him as I have to get things going on this end for Hailey. But he and his brother will be there with a sign on them that says your name. Don’t bring Albert.” She told her that she’d not do that. That she’d get to the airport one way or another. “There will be a car…are you still at the library? If I send you a car there to take you to the airport, will you go with them?”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting. Oh, Sage, I can’t believe this is really happening. I don’t have squat at the apartment that we were living in. I have my purse and ID with me.” A picture showed up on her phone, and she nearly dropped it. “Oh my, is that your man?”

“Yes. His name is Stone Griffin. Be nice to him.” Leslie said that she would, she promised. “I need a picture of you so that I can give it to the driver that is coming for you. He’s a friend of Stones, so I don’t know him but be nice to him too.”

She deserved that, her own child telling her to be nice to people. And when she told her that she would be extra nice, they hung up the phone. Sitting on the little stone bench, she couldn’t believe her luck. And Albert wouldn’t have any idea where she’d gone, and that suited her just fine and dandy. She was going to see her daughter and her man.

Just as she was beginning to doubt anyone was coming for her, she was asked if she was Leslie Tigner. Once she was in the car with the woman, she told her that she owed her life to Stone Griffin.

“Nicest family you might ever meet. And they don’t talk down to you none either when they have something to say to you.” She asked her how long she’d known them. “Oh, since I was a little bitty thing. Stone, he’s a good deal older than he looks but the nicest man ever. And that daddy of his is something special, too.” She went on and on about the Griffin family and all that they’d done for her and Leslie hung on her every word. She wanted to know as much about her future son-in-law as she could get. When the cell phone rang again, she saw that it was Albert. Turning it off, she was nearly ready to toss it out of the window but was afraid that Sage would call again.

“I plum nearly forgot.” She was handed a bag from a telephone company that she’d seen on television. “Sage had me pick this up for you to give to you—that’s why I’m a bit late in getting here. She told me to remind you that Albert, whoever he is, wasn’t going to be able to contact her once she moved to Ohio. You hand me that other phone, honey and I’ll take care that he can’t get in touch with you. Sage is number one on the dialer.”

As soon as she got the phone out of the box, she was pushing the right button to talk to her daughter. Leslie was crying so hard that she almost didn’t understand Sage, so she must have handed it off to someone else. Someone by the name of Tony was on the phone.

“She’s been having a rough day, and I’m glad that this is turning out so well for her.” Again, the silence was harsh, but the man was still on the phone. His voice sounded hard as well, and she found herself thinking that he might be a wolf, like she’d been told was true. “You hurt her or my brother, and they’ll never find even a drop of your blood around so that you’d be identified later. Do you understand me?”

“Yes. I don’t want to hurt her anymore. I’ve never…she’s never asked me for a thing since she was five years old and wanted me help her glue cut-up paper with her. All I can think about now is how her little face looked when I told her to go away.” She started to cry again. “I didn’t ever get the chance to be with her as a momma does again. She never once asked me to help her with anything. And you know what? I’m the loser in all that. I fucked up badly, and I want so badly to be with her until I take my last breath.”

“It might well be if you hurt them.” She didn’t take offense when he said that to her. Nor did she get upset about it, either. He was a man that loved his family, she’d bet and he wasn’t going to tolerate her or anybody else messing with them. If only she had that sort of family when she’d been a child. She might well have turned out better herself. “I want you to remember this, too, Leslie, I can read your mind as well. If you even think of hurting them, then—”

“I’ll kill myself if I hurt them.” He didn’t say anything, and she nodded. “I promise you all I want is to get to know her like I should have a long time ago. I don’t want her money or anything that she has. I just want a chance like I’ve said. To get to know her like I should.”

After hanging up when he did, she handed the other phone to the driver. She might well have gotten her name, but she didn’t remember it. Her heart was hurting again, and she just wanted to talk to Sage again. Once she was at the airport, things were taken out of the trunk for her to use.

“There is a card for you to use, too, so you can have some supper. I wasn’t to give it to you until we got here. I guess your daughter didn’t want you changing your mind.” She was thankful for that. “My name is Smokey Ridge. You need anything from me, you just think about me. You and I, we have a connection just like them wolves do. If you get scared again, just think of me. But I think you’re going to be doing all right, Leslie Tigner.”

Since she had no idea where anyone would be coming from, she was going to get her some dinner at one of the fast food places. Almost as soon as she was in line, she decided that she’d go and find herself something more and was seated in the nice place when she realized she had no idea if she could afford it or not. It was Smokey who told her that she had plenty enough if she wanted to buy the restaurant but to enjoy herself.

“Thank you so much.” She said that she had her back and that she thought of her as her new friend. “I hope I have as many friends as I can get once I get to Ohio. I’m sort of afraid now.”

“Don’t be. Your daughter has thought of everything, and you’ll be just fine.” A woman came into the restaurant. It was hard not to notice her, but when she sat across from her, she nearly asked who she was but waited to be free of speaking to Smokey.

“My name is Storm Griffin.” She picked up a menu that was dropped off when she sat down. “We’ll have a nice dinner, the two of us, and I’ll decide if I have to kill you or not. I’m sure that you can understand that my sister and I are very protective of our family, and since Sage is going to marry Stone, she’s my family as well.”

“If it comes down to killing me, will you please tell my daughter something? Tell her that I love her more than I thought possible.” The woman stared at her before laughing. “I don’t know what you found to be so funny.”

“I know, but that’s all right. We’ll still get to know one another.” As she started asking questions about herself, it never occurred to Leslie to lie to her. Telling her that she’d been a terrible mother had the other woman laughing again. She was either first-rate insane, or she was funnier than she’d ever been before.

By the time their dinner plates were taken away, Leslie felt better. She didn’t let her guard down, however, because what the woman had shown her that she could do was scary. Even when the waiter got snippy with her when she said she didn’t know what to order, Storm slammed her hand down on the table and told him that if he didn’t want to lose his job, he’d better be nice to people he didn’t make fun of her again. Thankfully Storm ordered for her and was glad that she’d ordered her something that she wanted instead of what she thought that she needed.

“Albert did that all the time. He’d point out that I couldn’t read so he’d make fun of me until the waiter was laughing too. I never got what I wanted, just what Albert wanted. I’m not big on steaks or seafood, but I love pork chops. I want to thank you for ordering that for me.” She asked her why she couldn’t read. “I have dyslexia. When I was a kid, no one knew what was wrong with me, so I played around enough that it was something that I never wanted to do. It’s too late for me now.”

“It’s not really. I can fix that for you. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t read something. If you pick up that flyer there on the table, I think you’ll be able to read that as well as I would. If you don’t want it, just say so, and I’ll take it back.”

She picked up the little flyer talking about spring meals and was surprised that she could read it. Not only that, but she didn’t have to figure out the words that she knew were all messy for her. Taking out the recorder that she had gotten for herself a long time ago, she read the instructions on it that had been over her head when she’d purchased it.

“I take it you like it.” She nodded looking at the specials board that was just inside the restaurant. Reading each word, because it was a treat for her to be able to do so, she looked at Storm with tears falling down her cheeks.

“Please don’t take it back. I’ve never…I can read now, and I don’t know what to do with myself.” She said that she could do anything that she liked now. “I know that too. Oh my, what will Sage say when I see her. I hope she’ll be proud of me. And I was just thinking that if they have children, I can read to them too. Oh my, what a thing you have opened up for me.”

They both had dessert, Leslie reading off the choices for Storm. As they were getting finished up, two men joined them. She knew right away who was Stone as he looked just like his picture. The other man looked like him, he was his brother, after all, but she knew that the man sitting next to her was her daughter’s soon-to-be husband.

“Storm said that she was enjoying your company. Had I thought about it before, I would have asked her to bring Sage along. But there are things going on at home that she needs to take care of. The little girl that she came here to get has lost her great-grandparent, and it looks like her grandfather isn’t going to make it either. True love will do that to you, I suppose. I know that I love Sage.” She told him that was lovely. “Yes, it is. I hope that we can get along well, Leslie. I don’t want her hurt again.”

“By me, you mean.” He said that was right and she didn’t know if she liked his bluntness or not. “I’m just a man that is in love with his mate and I want to protect her as well. She’s had enough going on in her life right now without you hurting her too.” He smiled and put out his hand. “I’ll give you a chance if you’re willing to understand that she will forever come first in my life, and I won’t allow anyone to take advantage of her.”

“I only want what’s best for her as well.” The two of them shook hands. “Thank you for that, Stone. I really do thank you for giving me this chance.”

Since they had arrived so late, Harman had to take care of his plans in the morning. Stone told her that they’d go shopping for a little bit, then head to the airport again. She wasn’t just given a room but an empty bag as well. After Storm explained how it worked, all she could think about was a warm pair of pajamas and slippers. The rest could wait. Right now, she was mentally and physically exhausted and wanted to get home to her little girl.