Family Ties (Hidden Secrets) (22 page)

“
Damn,” Scott and Joel said together.

“
Tobey, I’m so sorry.” I turned to see Mary coming in with tears streaming down her face.

Walking
over, I wrapped her in my arms. “Don’t baby. I have you now. Please stop crying.”

She
wrapped her arms around me tightly, sobbing into my chest. I had forgotten she was listening. Hell I’d forgotten the plan. Once she stopped crying, I pulled back and dried her tears and kissed her softly.

“
I’d do it all again, if it brought me to this moment again.” I smiled at her.

“
Whoa wait a second. You’ve been with Mary this whole time?”

She
started laughing. “Yes. My family concocted a plan to bring us back together. I didn’t want to make their heads big so I told Tobey to keep this our little secret for a while. Then you guys had to ruin it.” She teased.

“
Fuck man,” Scott starts.

“
Wait a minute. I want to know why you turned on Tobey when he needed you guys the most? You’ve known me for a week and him for a long time. Why would you do that?”

They
went to defend their actions, but she cut them off at the pass.

“
There is no reasoning you could give me to make it okay. He views you guys as brothers. Then he’s in trouble and you turn from him. That just isn’t right and it certainly isn’t the actions of the men I’ve grown to add to my ever growing brother pile.” She smirked.

We
all talked for a little while before Joel and Scott finally left. We walked back to the bedroom when Mary’s phone went off. She looked down at the screen confused.

“
What? What’s wrong?”

“
I don’t recognize this number.”

Before
I could protest for her to not take the call, she answered her phone.

“
Hello? … Can I ask who’s calling? … Oh my God! … Where are you? … Give me about an hour and I’ll be there. … No it’s okay. I’ll be there soon.”

She
left the room and I could hear her gathering her clothes. Walking out to the living room, She had her jeans on and was now putting on her shoes.

“
Where are you going?”

“
A friend of mine needs me. She’s at my house. I need to be there for her.” She says standing.

“
You want me to come with you?”

“
No, I’ll be okay but you can come over and get me in a couple hours if you want. If not we can try again tomorrow.”

“
I’ll let you spend time with your friend. If you’re okay with it, I’ll come by and get you early in the morning so you can see Harry and John. They will be excited to see you.” I smiled at her.

“
Okay. Thank you for not getting mad. I’ll see you in the morning.” She kissed me. “Love you.”

Placing
my hand on her belly, “Promise me you’ll take it easy.”

“
I promise.” She smiled at me. Then leaves.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Mary

I
hurried to our meeting spot and hopped on my horse and took off toward my house. Putting Spitfire in the barn, I headed toward the house. There was a chill in the air. It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. It was cool enough that I was glad I kept Tobey’s flannel shirt on. When I looked around, I didn’t see her car anywhere.

What
the hell?

Walking
inside is when it hit me, she didn’t know where I lived. Freezing in mid step, just as I was about to retreat, the door smacked right into me knocking me to the floor of the porch. Looking up, I watched as Kyle walked toward me. The dark dangerous eyes boring into mine. That chill, I should have known by that something wasn’t right.

“
I told you that you couldn’t get away from me.”

Trying
to back away without him noticing, it didn’t work. Kyle kicked my legs out from under me, and then slammed his foot down on my stomach knocking the breath out of me and causing me to scream out. He raised something over his head. I could only make out the outline but knew immediately what it was.

Kyle
slammed it down on my neck, chest, and stomach splintering into pieces with a deep sound just before the guitar broke around me.

“You don’t like music anymore. Figured you didn’t need that guitar right?”

There
was no time for me to say or do anything before he kicked me in my side. I curled into a ball trying to protect myself. His fists rained down on me like hail in a thunderstorm. Each pelting me with hard stinging hits left after each connection with my body.

Stopping
the assault he dragged me inside pulling me into the living room. Picking my head up by my bangs, he slams my head to the floor. My vision blurs and bursts of bright lights fill my vision. Groaning in pain, I try to turn over to my side. The pain increased as I moved. Just as I was about to make it to my side he kicks me again, knocking me to my back. Again I screamed.

I
’m not sure how long this went on before I could feel no more. The house was silent. No sounds at all. After hearing a ringing, everything fell quiet. I took my time to open my eyes, afraid of what I would find. After what seemed like the longest minutes of my life, I was pretty positive he wasn’t around. Rolling to my side, whimpering in pain as I did.

Dragging
myself toward the front door, stopping every pull to both catch my breath and listen for sounds. It was hard to hear much of anything over the sound of my heartbeat pounding as loud as a drum in my ears. My head throbbed, my whole body hurt.

The
door stood open. I was grateful for that because I wasn’t sure I could stand to open it. There was only one thought going through my head at this point: Get to your phone before you pass out.

When
Kyle had slammed the door in my face, I had reached in my pocket to call Tobey. My phone fell from my hands. The problem I have is I don’t know where it fell. Getting out on the porch, it took a moment for me to see the phone in the corner near the steps. Using the last of my strength, I pulled myself over there and grabbed the phone. My vision was blurring and I struggled to see the screen clearly. Pressing a few buttons, I hoped I was calling Tobey and not anyone else. The phone rang and rang. With each ring a panic built inside of me, worried that he wouldn’t hear his phone. Finally he answered.

“
Hello?” Tobey answered groggily.

“
Help me,” I squeaked out.

“
Hello?” a pause. “Mary? Baby I can’t hear you.”

“
Help. Me.” I tried to force out louder.

“
What’s wrong, baby?”

Deep
breathe. “Kyle…”

“
Fuck! I’m on my way baby. I’ll be there soon. Stay on the line with me okay?”

Everything
around me started fading, “I. Love. You.”

“
Mary? Mary! Mary!”

That
was the last thing I heard before everything around me went black.

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Tobey

It
seemed like I had just fallen asleep when I was awaken by the ringing of my phone. My eyes hadn’t even focused yet when I answered the phone. My heart sank when I saw it was Mary and what time it was. Then pure panic took over me when I heard her weakly ask for help. Then rage hit when I heard her say Kyle’s name.

“
I. Love. You.” She slurred.

“
Mary?” She didn’t answer. “Mary!” I screamed, still no answer. “Mary!” I screamed louder, still nothing.

Quickly,
I grabbed my clothes throwing them on. I rushed out the door to see Scott headed up the drive. Not wanting to take a second to stop, I yelled at him.

“
Take over the ranch today. Mary’s hurt.” I yelled hurrying to my truck.

I
was in my truck and taking off before Scott could answer or at least before I heard his reply. I had the pedal to the metal the whole way to Mary’s, I almost wrecked several times on some of the curves.

It
seemed like an eternity to get to Mary’s, which on a normal day would have taken between five to ten minutes. My heart hammered in my chest unsure of what I was going to find. My imagination was running wild with images. No matter how graphic of an image my mind conjured up, nothing could prepare me for the sight I saw the minute her house came into view.

There
was the love of my life sprawled on the porch unmoving. Even from this distance, I could see blood and a lot of it. Barely taking the time to put the truck in park, I jumped out and ran to the porch.

“
Mary!” I screamed.

She
didn’t move. With shaking hands, I scooped her up in my arms and hurried back to the truck. Laying her across the seat, I got in and took off toward the hospital. It would take too long to wait for the ambulance to get out here. I worried moving her, but there was no other option. Placing my phone in the hands free holder, I called Jackson.

Just
as Jackson picked up, I yelled ‘Fuck!’ almost losing control going around a curve.

“
There better be a good reason that you are calling me this morning. If you’re drunk calling me…”

I
cut him off yelling. “Get to the hospital now! I’m on my way there. Should be arriving in about twenty minutes.”

“
What’s going on?” He asked suddenly alert.

“
He got her. Damn it he got her!”

“
Who got who? Tobey, have you been drinking? Are you okay?”

“
Shit!” I cursed almost missing my turn onto the main road that will take me straight to the hospital. “No I’m not drunk!” I roared. “Kyle got to Mary. She’s hurt badly. I’m about ten minutes out. Please get to the hospital. Someone. Anyone. Get to the hospital!”

Hanging
up, I focused on the road. Being on paved road now, I took one hand off the wheel and cupped Mary’s face. There was blood everywhere.

“
Damn it!” I roared punching the steering wheel. “Hang in there baby. We’re almost there. Stay with me please.”

Skidding
to a stop in front of the emergency room entrance, I jumped out of my truck carefully pulling her out. I carried her inside.

“
Help! Someone please help!”

A
nurse rushed over. “What happened Sir?” The nurse asked ushering me over to an empty bed.

“
My girlfriend was attacked tonight. I don’t know what happened. She called me barely got out help me before she stopped responding to me on the phone.”

Soon
the little curtain filled room was full of nurses and doctors, everyone talking fast and I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. Every person leaving and entering, I kept asking what was going on, if she was going to be okay but no one was answering. A nurse walked up then trying to pull me from the room.

“
Sir, we have to move her to surgery. You need to wait in the waiting area.”

“
I’m not leaving her.” I hissed.

“
Sir, there is nothing you can do right now other than wait and let the doctors do what they do.”

With
a security guard with her, I was led to the waiting room. I paced up and down, running my hands through my hair. Flashes of her beautiful smile, her laughing, singing. My heart ached with each image. Then images of her bloodied body, her limp in my arms ran before my eyes. Rage burned inside of me. I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed the door to the waiting room open.

“
Tobey!”

My
head snapped up to see Jackson, Colt, Kylee, Jake and Mr. and Mrs. Williams standing there. Standing, I ran my hands through my hair again. Kylee and Mrs. Williams both gasped.

“
Is that from Mary?”

Looking
down following their eyes, I realized for the first time that I had Mary’s blood on me. Nodding meekly, I met their eyes again.

“
What happened?” Mr. Williams asked.

“
She was going to stay at my house last night, but she got a phone call. She said it was an old friend that needed her. I had planned on going by in the morning and picking her up, but she called me barely being able to hear her. All she got out was ‘Help me’ and ‘Kyle’. I rushed over to her house and found her unresponsive on her porch. They’ve kicked me out. I don’t know what’s going on.”

Just
as I finished, a nurse came in. She was asking a bunch of questions about her health and what not. Just as the nurse was about to leave, I stood quickly yelling for her to wait. She turned around and looked at me questioningly.

“
She’s…She’s pregnant.” I forced myself to say.

A
sad look crossed the nurse’s face before she nodded and exited the room. Sinking back down to the chair I had just risen from, I put my head in my hands. I was desperately clinging to my control here.

“
I’m going to kill him.” I kept mumbling over and over again. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up to see Mrs. Williams standing in front of me.

“
My daughter and you are expecting a child?” She asked quietly.

I
could only nod my head. Kylee sat next to me taking my hand. “When did you find that out?”

“
A week ago when we got back together. She’d known for a couple weeks before that.”

Jackson
cracked a small smile. “I knew our plan would work.”

I
laughed despite myself. “Yeah she said y’all would get a big head so we were keeping it a secret for a little bit.”

They
all smiled. “So, you’ve been back together since the wedding?”

“
Well technically it wasn’t until almost the next day when she showed up, but yeah. I’d been staying at her house. Last night was going to be the first night we were going to try at my house. Then that phone call came in. I don’t know what happened.” Shaking my head sadly. “I promised her that I’d never let anything happen to her again.”

“
Oh honey there was nothing you could do. She’s a stubborn woman. You got her here that is what’s important right now.” Mrs. Williams said.

I
nodded my head not believing anything they were saying. Again, I had let her down. He attacked her right under my nose. I let her walk out of my house last night. Let her walk right into a set up.

Seconds
turned to minutes and minutes to hours before someone finally came in to inform us that Mary was stable and resting. We could see her soon. My breath left my lungs and I sagged into my seat.

Mr.
and Mrs. Williams left to go see her. I wasn’t immediate family so I had to wait until she was moved to a room. Closing my eyes, I thanked God for saving her.

“
Tobey?”

Opening
my eyes, I was shocked to find Mrs. Williams standing in the doorway.  “She’s asking for you.”

Saying
nothing, I just stood and walked silently behind Mrs. Williams to Mary’s room. Walking into the room, she was facing away from the door listening to her dad. When Mr. Williams saw me he stood.

“
We’ll give you guys a minute.” Before leaving the room, he stopped next to me extending his hand. “Thank you for saving my daughter and not just tonight.”

“
I didn’t save her.” Turning and meeting her eyes, “She saved me.”

Mr.
Williams patted my shoulder then left with Mrs. Williams. I walked around and took the seat that Mr. Williams just vacated. Taking her hand in mine, I just looked at her.

She
had another bandage on her head, one arm was in a cast. Even through her hospital gown, I could see the bruising and the outline of another bandage. My chest tightened painfully.

“
Hey,” I looked up at her. “I’m okay,” but I could see sadness in her eyes.

“
I never should have let you leave last night.” I whispered.

“
Hey, neither of us knew. I realized too late that no one really knew where I lived. By the time I remembered it was too late. Tobey?” I heard her voice break.

Standing
I sat on the edge of her bed holding her hand in mine. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

She
started crying then. Tenderly and carefully, I reached down and gathered her in my arms and held her while she cried. Her body shook and shuddered in my arms, I didn’t know what to do to help her.

Pulling
back I looked at her, “Mary can I ask you something?”

“
Wait before,” she swallowed hard. “before you ask me. I need to tell you something.” Tears fell down her cheeks. “There was a lot of trauma from the attack,” she started.

“
I know baby. I saw you there. It’s an image I will never get out of my head.”

“
No, Tobey listen to me!” She yelled, tears falling faster.

“
Okay I’m sorry.” I said softly.

“
We lost the baby,” she sobbed and I pulled her into my arms.

Sorrow
like I’ve never felt before filled me to the core. A cold settled deep and loss overwhelmed me. We lost our baby. It killed me that we lost our newest joy. I let them both down.

“
I’m so sorry.” It was all I could say and I repeated it over and over again.

She
pulled back looking at me confused and almost angry. “This was your child too you know?”

Taken
aback by her anger. “I know. I wasn’t apologizing for that. I was apologizing for not protecting you like I should and costing us our child.” I hung my head in shame.

She
cupped my face in her hand. “Tobey, this was no one’s fault. It doesn’t mean we aren’t going to blame ourselves. Believe me, I’m blaming myself for this,” when I started to protest she stopped me. “Dad and mom already gave me that lecture. It won’t make me stop blaming myself any more than you will stop blaming yourself.”

I
laughed sadly. “Okay,” I choked out. Looking her in the eyes, “Does this change us?”

Her
face contorted in confusion before what I was asking dawned on her. “No, Tobey. I told you I didn’t come back because I was pregnant. I came back because I couldn’t be without you anymore.”

I
just nodded my head and pulled her back into my arms. She’s right though. I will never stop blaming myself for not only losing our baby, but for what happened to her. If I’d only stood my ground more firmly she’d have been in my bed rather than getting the shit beat out of her.

“
What was your question?” She asked after a moment.

“
Huh? Oh. Right. I know you just bought your property and you really love your house and independence, but um,” I looked down nervous then back to meet her eyes. “Will you consider moving in with me? I mean I know we talked about it before we broke up but now you have your own property and house-”

She
put her hand over my mouth. “Yes Tobey. I’ll move in with you.” She smiled sadly. “I really wanted the baby. I had pictured what it would have looked like. Your hair, my eyes,” she sighed sadly.

“
I pictured her with your talent and brains. Her hair was curly and she had your smile.” I finished sadly.

“
She? You thought about our baby too,” she asked shocked.

“
Baby I was picturing our children before you were even pregnant.”

“
Children?”

“
Oh yes. We’re going to have a lot of them.”

She
smiled sadly. “I love you, Tobey.”

“
I love you more.”