At Peace (The 'Burg #2)(74)

I took a sip of my wine thinking that my world, not too long ago, even when Tim would come home and talk about some of the shit he’d seen, was a little bubble of goodness. Now the stuff that kept pricking it without Tim to keep that bubble strong and resilient was scary crazy.

“Buddy?”

“Yeah?”

“You all right? She say anything else to you?”

Yes, she did. She told me Joe belonged to me.

But I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“No, just flicked her cigarette butt in my yard and left.”

“Fuck, what a bitch,” he muttered.

“That’s okay, Colt got it.”

He sighed then said, “Good man.”

“Joe?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Would you have called Marco?”

He didn’t hesitate before he answered, “Yeah.”

This shocked me and it also disappointed me. “Really?”

“Really.”

“But –”

“Baby, she was callin’ you and the girls were pickin’ up, gettin’ freaked out. It had to be stopped, that was my last option. She forced my hand.”

“Joe –”

“She forced my hand, Vi. She did it to herself with this crazy shit. You back a man in a corner, you gotta bear the consequences when he does what he has to do to fight his way out.”

He was being a sage again.

And it hit me then that she didn’t back Joe into a corner. She tossed the girls and me there. Joe hadn’t threatened that Marco business when she was doing her thing to catch his attention. He thought he could deal with it and he didn’t want to scare her like he just did. But he pulled out the big guns for me and the girls.

I didn’t want to make this into a big thing, I didn’t want to make the same mistake and start to believe but he was giving me no choice.

I took another sip of my wine then changed the subject because this kind of subject you didn’t talk about over the phone.

“Well, thanks for dealing with it all the way from LA.”

“Don’t thank me, I’m the reason she was there.”

“She was here because she has the hots for you. It isn’t your fault you’re hot.”

I heard his soft laughter again, I decided I liked it again then he said, “Baby, you’re killin’ me.”

“How am I killin’ you?”

“You can be sweet and hilarious when I’m close enough to give payback.”

My stomach dipped and I pulled in breath to control my fluttering heart.

“What’s payback?” I whispered.

“Be sweet and hilarious in my bed, I’ll show you.”

“Joe –”

He cut me off. “What’re you doin’ now?”

“Drinking cheap white wine on my deck. What are you doing?”

“I gotta go get food.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll let you go.”

“All right, buddy.”

“You’re back on Saturday?”

“Yeah.”

“See you then.”

“Absolutely.”

I sighed and it was a happy sigh because I would see him, he wanted me to and Saturday was only one-ish day away.

“Bye, Joe,” I said softly.

“Later, buddy,” he replied back softly.

I slid my phone closed and then tapped my forehead with it.

I had, of course, called him to end things but instead we talked, we had phone sex and he gave me about a dozen reasons to believe in him. Then, through various other phone calls, he gave me more reasons to believe.

I put the phone on the table and took another sip of wine.

I needed to call Cheryl or I needed to talk to Feb or I needed to call one of my friends in Chicago.

But it was late and it was rude to call late, especially when the conversation I needed to have would likely take hours.

So I put my feet up in the chair, looked at my gorgeous grass and my pretty flower pots and, as I sipped my wine, I decided to see what Saturday might bring.

Chapter Ten

Talks

Cal turned his truck into his drive but he’d seen Vi as he drove down the street.

She was working in her front yard wearing a pair of very short shorts that showed off her tanned legs, a dark purple tank top that showed more tan skin and her hair was in a ponytail at the back of her head. He’d have been pissed she was working in her yard without him at home next door but he also saw Colt mowing his lawn, so he knew she was safe.

After he pulled into his drive, he turned his head to her and saw she’d straightened from whatever she was doing and looked his way. She swiped the back of her arm against her forehead, she had something in her hand and she was wearing garden gloves.

He grabbed his bag and got out of the truck. After he slammed the door, his eyes went back to her and she was walking toward him. She’d made it across her drive, was in his yard and she’d lost the garden tool and the gloves.

He headed to his front door and waited for her to arrive.

She did, stopping not a foot away and tipping her head back to look up at him, her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun.

“Hi,” she said softly.

“Where’re the girls?” Cal asked.