Almost Ordinary (The Song Wreckers Book 2) (6 page)

He sighed, and I cut him off from responding. “And what is it with all this refined sugar today anyways?”

“Princess—”

“And don’t even get me started about high fructose corn syrup. ‘Sugar is sugar, doesn’t matter whether it comes from, corn or not’ my ass!”

Another noisy exhale from Caleb.

Man, I kept going, knowing I was being a fucktard. “Seriously, it’s all sugars and artificial colors and chemicals. Then everyone’s bitching—complaining,” I corrected, since the kids were very nearby, “—that we’re this giant, obese nation. Well what do you expect, huh?”

Silence. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three—

“Are you done yet?”

I gave up. “Taylor’s a rat.” I couldn’t be mad at him. He was loyal to Caleb, but still. He ratted me out.

“That’s why I like him.”

“Are you mad at me?” He should be, and I hoped he’d also understand, at least a little bit.

“Yup.”

I sat down on the couch and plunked my feet on the coffee table. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I . . .” What? I thought I would force answers out of Cooper? Thought he would apologize to me? “I have no idea what I expected. I just felt like I had to go. He got himself shot—protecting
you
I find out later—helping bring down the man that could’ve killed me. I wanted to thank him.”

“Listen, I gotta go. It’s a shit storm around here. We can talk about this later.”

“No need,” I insisted. “I said I was sorry.”

“No you didn’t.”

Oops. “Well with all your blabbering I couldn’t squeak a word in edgewise. Take a breather next time, will ya? I’m sorry, okay? And tell Taylor I’m sorry for kicking his ass.”

“What?” he choked.

“I’m exaggerating. I gave him a gentle nudge out of my way. No big deal. So we’re good?” God, why did I keep digging my hole deeper? “Good. Katie’s coming over for dinner. Love you, bye.” I hung up and gave myself a forehead slap. I ticked off my husband, and hung up without asking him why the hell Adam’s capture and Nord’s murder weren’t headline news.

Chapter 7

“Wow.”

That word said it all. It came via phone, from Alan. Katie may be my best friend, but Alan was my oldest friend. Alan and I have been friends since our ages were still in the single digits. We danced for the same dance studio and he used me as his guinea pig when he decided to start choreographing. He helped make me the kick ass dancer that I was throughout my youth.

I wanted someone comfortable to talk to, so I called Alan and told him about Adam’s capture. Katie had come over a few minutes into the conversation.

Emotion bubbled up while rehashing the whole, sordid mess. Every time I thought about Belinda Nord dead, it pissed me off. Yes, I was distraught about what happened to her, and disgusted with the ordeal she’d suffered. I couldn’t even imagine how her family must feel. It wasn’t fair that Adam still lived after taking her life. He tried to kill me, succeeded at killing Belinda, shot Cooper, and he sat alive and well in a jail cell only miles away. Not fair.

“Are you going to the funeral?” Alan asked.

“No.” I searched online earlier, and found out visitation was Tuesday, and the funeral the following day. I read how she was survived by both parents and a brother. Her picture showed a pretty young woman. When I thought about her, I only saw the ugly expressions she wore as she came at me in the back alley of Brett’s. She was obviously manipulated by Adam. Going to her funeral didn’t feel appropriate. Especially considering a couple of years ago I beat the living shit out of her until she passed out, unconscious. My presence there could upset her family—not that they’d recognize me—and I didn’t think anything should detract from Belinda being remembered as the good person she probably had been without Adam. She deserved better.

I needed to stir dinner and prepare the salads and bread, so I left Katie with both boys to talk about wedding plans with Alan. He loved that crap. His boyfriend did too.

Katie’s humming got louder as she entered the kitchen minutes later. “Perfect timing,” I said. “Will you pull up the highchairs?”

Everyone settled around the table. Alex and Zander didn’t eat people food yet, but I liked them at the table with me whenever I ate.

I gawked at Katie. “Oh my God, you’re going to eat the bowl too, aren’t you?” She dug in as if she hadn’t eaten in days instead of hours.

“Uh-up,” she said with a mouth crammed with food.

I was about to make fun of her some more when Caleb walked through the door, distracting me. The boys and I turned to look at him. “Hey,” I greeted.

“Hey.” Caleb reached to the boys for a head rub and kiss. Katie stood and threw her arms around him. “Ram, I’m so sorry.”

Caleb awkwardly patted her while shooting me a
What the hell?
look. I shrugged and mouthed,
PMS.

“Thanks, Katie,” Caleb said.

She allowed Caleb to pat her back until she was comforted. Or hungry, since she hurried to her chair and resumed stuffing her face.

We kept the conversation light for the rest of dinner. Caleb and I listened to Katie tell us about Bob-See—pronounced Bobsy—her half-brother by her father. His real name was Robert Seeten, Jr. I had met him once when Katie and I visited Mama in Mississippi. His girlfriend, Deena, aspired to be a famous singer and actress. We found out during the visit that she couldn’t sing her way out of a paper bag. She was horrible. They say love is blind. In Bob-See’s case, love was deaf too.

In our respite from all things Adam and Cooper, we learned that Deena just couldn’t catch a break. She wasn’t landing any acting gigs beyond the local community theatre, and singing karaoke in bars led nowhere.

Katie finished scarfing and storytelling, claiming she had to lay out clothes for work tomorrow and finalize song choices for the varsity choir’s graduation program. She was the choir director at Riverwood High School.

She said good-bye and hugged Caleb again. It wouldn’t have been so awkward if he hadn’t been mid-bite. I rolled my eyes, but it was sweet. I smiled. Until she threw out, “Oh, by the way, Mama told Deena all about your songwriting for Gina Swinger and how you know people at Crystal Records. Bye!” She ran out the front door all the way to her car, hopped in, and burned rubber down the driveway.

No. No, no, no, no! I pinched the bridge of my nose like Caleb often did, and closed my eyes tight while I counted to ten. Deena was not only tone deaf, but she turned nasty when she felt she’d been bested. Katie and I found that out the hard way one night during karaoke when more people told me and Katie “good job” than her. She had the nerve to shoulder check Katie, and I almost punched her stupid face in. Okay, my emotions were still raw only several months after I’d been attacked, and I was in the push-my-buttons-and-I’ll-get-irate-on-your-ass frame of mind, but still.

I let it go. In the grand scheme of things this was no big deal. I shook my head to clear it and sat down while Caleb finished eating.

Besides, now that we were alone I wanted to gauge how mad I’d made Caleb when I visited Cooper. I freed the boys from their high chairs and set them on blankets in the family room, then joined Caleb in the kitchen.

“So,” I started, “how was work today?”

Scooping himself seconds, he said, “Well, fine until I caught wind from Taylor that you went to see Cooper.”

I didn’t defend my actions, just let him voice his anger. “I chewed his ass out good,” he continued.

I cringed. If Caleb cursed with the boys in earshot, he was not as calm as he sounded.

“Called him a bunch of names he didn’t deserve. Threatened to fire him. It wasn’t until you informed me that you pushed him—oh excuse me,
gently nudged
him—and I pressed him for details that he told me what I’m assuming really happened.”

I leaned against the counter to watch Caleb eat. There were new creases on his forehead. His posture was off; shoulders tensed, the veins in his neck bulging. And, it was hard to tell because he was so blond, but was that a gray streak on the right side? Behind him, I set my hands on his shoulders. When he finished his last couple of bites I worked my thumbs in circles up and down his neck. His muscles relaxed under my hands. He leaned his head onto my chest so I switched to massaging his shoulders. We didn’t talk. A few moans escaped him. I alternated between his neck and shoulders, placing kisses to his temples.

“Go lay down on the couch and wait for me,” I directed, and grabbed the bottle of hand lotion from the bathroom. Caleb covered the entire couch lying on his stomach. I straddled his butt and worked his shirt up and over his head. Then I squirted a big glob of lotion on, and gave him a full back, scalp, arm, and shoulder rub down.

When my hands felt like they were about to fall off, I leaned forward and laid down; my chest to his back. I kissed the side of his neck and breathed him in. I truly was sorry. Not that I saw Cooper, because I’d upset Caleb.

Alex and Zander made “hold me” noises, so I lifted them onto Caleb and held them steady while I climbed off and kneeled on the floor. “I love— Whoa. Ouch.” Little hands found my ponytail and yanked. “Come here, you stinkers.” I extracted their hands from my hair and sat on the edge of the couch. “Oh my God, it’s a Ramsey mountain.” I bent forward to give them kisses. “Ooh, they have my hair again.” I again untangled chubby little hands out of my hair.

Caleb started laughing which caused me to laugh. I held the boys and Caleb flipped onto his stomach. He played with them, looking as if his past stress had eased. I left to start their bath water, hoping I was forgiven.

Kiddos in bed for the night, I met Caleb in his office, also known as our dining room. He talked on the phone so I collapsed into an extra chair and listened to his half of the conversation.

“Good . . . Yeah, the one time him being a narcissistic asshole worked in our favor . . . I appreciate the heads up . . . I owe ya one, thanks. Yup, bye.” He hung up.

“Is Adam the narcissistic asshole and how is that in our favor?” I sat forward, on alert for any information.

He relaxed into his chair, or tried to. I could tell the dining room chair wasn’t comfortable for him. “He is. It seems we have good news and bad news. Adam wouldn’t talk at first. The judge denied him bail which seemed to piss him off and make him clam up even more. Lucky for the detectives, he’s such a textbook case of narcissism that all it took was insulting his intelligence a couple of times and he started singing. Told them everything in exchange for a plea deal.”

“So the plea deal is where the bad news comes in?”

He nodded. “They worked out a deal for him to plead guilty to second degree murder for Belinda Nord, and attempted murder for shooting Cooper. The number of months to be served is still being discussed, but it’s pretty much a done deal. If he doesn’t plead guilty he’ll also get charged for fleeing police and his attack on you.”

I jerked my head back in surprise. “He’s not being charged with his attack on me as long as he pleads guilty?” I blinked several times, my head buzzing. I didn’t remember standing, but found myself on my feet with my hands on the desk, staring into Caleb’s eyes. “This psycho tries to kill me and so what? He’s not going to be held responsible for that?”

He grasped one of my hands, leading me around the table to sit on his lap. “He wouldn’t admit to the attack on you. With his disguise on camera and Nord dead, the prosecutors didn’t feel they could win a case against him for his role in your attack. There were no other witnesses. Katie or Brett didn’t get a good look at him.”

“And the charge of being a fugitive?” Why wouldn’t they nail this guy with everything they could?

Caleb wrapped his arms around me. “He’ll be removed from society for decades and save the taxpayers the burden of paying for a trial. I’m glad you don’t have to sit on the stand where he can see you. I don’t want you anywhere near him ever again.”

I didn’t want to be near him ever again, nor did I want the publicity a trial might bring. I saw the prosecutor’s point, but I hated that he’d skate responsibility for stalking me, stabbing me, and hiding out from the law.

“So who were you talking to when I came in?” I found it hard to believe the police would consider keeping Caleb informed a priority.

“One of my contacts at the Tipton P.D.” Belinda’s apartment was in Tipton, where Adam was captured and Cooper was shot. “I don’t have Adam’s side of the story yet. Seems it’s being kept under wraps for some reason. I’ll get it, though. He should be arraigned in the next few weeks.”

I slumped when the fight left my body. I could stop looking over my shoulder. Stop having nightmares. Stop worrying for my children, the band, Franny, and my husband. That would have to be good enough.

I let it go with a deep breath. “Do you want to talk about me going to visit Cooper?” I refused to let this sit between us, unresolved.

He shook his head. “Not really. Can we leave it where it is, and you promise not go see him again?”

I sat up to look at him. “I can’t promise to not see him again, I promise to tell you about it before I do.” That was the best bargain I had.

“Let’s go to bed,” he said, ignoring my compromise.

I wasn’t going to push the issue. I was in no mood to argue and I’m sure he wasn’t either.

With Cooper in the hospital, Caleb worked more than ever. At home, Caleb wanted family time, not Cooper or Adam drama. So we didn’t talk about the unpleasant stuff.

Franny returned to work on Wednesday, and what a relief. I remembered the promise I made to let her know how much I appreciated her. “Franny.” I yelled. “You’re always on time and make excellent sandwiches.”

A few seconds later, she sidled up next to me. “Something wrong?”

I shrugged. “No, why?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re being weird.”

I shrugged again. “I don’t want you to break up with us. Leave us, whatever. I want you to know you’re respected, and I understand you’re probably bored sometimes.”

She tossed her purse and some textbooks on the counter. “Molly, I’m able to study while I work, and you pay me quite well. I’m not breaking up with you or Ram until I graduate and find a job.”

Franny told me she’d married a total loser just after she turned nineteen. He didn’t abuse her or anything; he was just a lazy bum who stopped doing anything for himself as soon as they married. In order to pay the bills she dropped out of college to work full time because he never kept a job for very long. She started cleaning houses, not wanting to work at her parents’ restaurant full time. Once she made enough money to support herself she divorced her husband and moved out. Now twenty-five, she had an excellent work ethic. I pay her well enough that she was able to take night classes to finish her paralegal degree. Between working part-time at the restaurant, and for us, plus attending college, she had no social life. Her uncle worked for Ryder security, the company that 3D uses to install alarm systems, which was how Caleb found her.

“Okay.” I spread my arms out. “Should I hug you or something?”

With a snort, she declined my hug offer.

I pointed to the boys in their high chairs. “Look, I’m trying baby food for the first time.” Most of it covered their faces and hands, with a little bit in their mouth. “When we’re done I’m going shopping for Katie’s bridal shower present. Shouldn’t take me too long.”

I didn’t care for anything on Katie’s registry, so I bought her and Brett a two-day all-inclusive getaway for her bridal shower. I thought they could de-stress before the wedding for a couple days. They couldn’t do a weekend since Brett would be busy at the bar, but surely he could swing a Monday and Tuesday.

Plus, I purchased it from Groupon at a heck of a good price.