Broken (3 page)

“
S
o
, that’s a decaf, no foam, Irish Creme latte with chocolate sprinkles?” Bella asked the teenager at her cash register.

“Yeah,” the teen said while staring at her cell phone and texting.

Bella was finally getting into the swing of her new job. She and Roslyn had really bonded, and Bella considered asking her to keep Ethan for a week so she could finish up the movie. She knew she’d have to make up some elaborate story, but getting Nathan off her back was job one. As much as she hated the thought of taking her clothes off and having sex with multiple people on camera, she could at least get that last jolt of money and be done with her seedy life in California.

“Bella, is that your phone ringing?” Roslyn called from the other end of the work area.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Let me grab that,” she said running over to her purse. “Hello?”

“Is this Bella Clay?” a man’s voice asked.

“Yes, it is.”

“You’re Ethan’s guardian?” he asked.

“Who wants to know?” she responded with her hand on her hip. Bella was always on guard. It was just part of who she was.

“My name is Grant Brady. Ethan is in my P.E. class and my history class,” he said. His voice was full of Southern drawl mixed with what sounded like raw sex appeal. Although she couldn’t be sure, Bella had become a great judge of how sexy a man was even over the phone.

“Oh, sorry…” she said apologizing for her snappiness. Sometimes she had to remind herself that this was “small town USA” and not the big city. Being wary and defensive was not going to make her popular there.

“No problem. I understand that you’ve been under a lot of stress recently with your sister’s passing,” he said. His voice was comforting in a strange way. She waved her hand at Roslyn and stepped outside into the crisp Fall air so she could hear him better.

“Is everything okay with Ethan?” she asked as she sat down at one of the bistro tables outside of the coffee house.

“Well, no. Apparently some kid named Jake has been making fun of Ethan’s mom passing away…”

“Yeah, Jake told me last night. I told him to ignore the kid,” she said rolling her eyes.

“He tried that, but apparently Jake was persistent. And so, at recess today, Ethan punched him in the eye.”

“What?” Bella shouted into the phone. “Little Ethan clocked him?” she asked trying to stifle a smile.

“Yes, he did. And now both boys are in Principal Dalton’s office,” he said. She could have sworn she heard a smile on his face, too. “She asked me to call you and see if you can come down here.”

“Oh, sure… Let me tell my boss, and I’ll be right over,” Bella said, already starting to remove her apron as she walked back into the coffee shop. She hung up the phone and quickly explained what was going on to Roslyn. She found it pretty funny, too, and that just reaffirmed to Bella why she liked Roslyn so much.

About fifteen minutes later, Bella found herself walking through the doors of the old elementary school building. She believed that every elementary school was the same. They were all filled with long hallways and what seemed to be short ceilings. They smelled of ink and Salisbury steak and old books.

As she rounded the corner to the office, she could see Ethan and another boy sitting with their feet dangling in front of the Principal’s desk. She couldn’t help but stifle a giggle as she thought of shy little Ethan cold-cocking that kid for making fun of his mother. Good for him, she thought.

“Miss Clay?” a woman said from behind her. The woman, who seemed to be about six feet tall, was wearing a dark navy suit with a skirt and had red hair that looked like it came from a really old bottle… in the 1960s.

“Yes?” Bella said.

“I’m Principal Dalton. I’m glad you could come down here. I’m quite worried about Ethan,” she said in her high pitched, squeaky voice.

“Worried?” Bella asked as if she had no idea what she meant.

“Can we chat for a moment? We can sit over here in the cafeteria,” she said pointing to the big eating area. It had those long rectangular tables with chairs that were attached. Bella’s memories of elementary school were mixed. She’d loved it until she was eight years old. She’d loved a lot of things until she was eight years old.

“Mrs. Dalton, before we get started, I just want to say that Ethan is in a transitional period right now. I mean, his mother just died. I’m sure he will hit some rough patches along the way…”

“Miss Clay, he punched another child in the eye. That is not tolerated here,” she said.

“Believe me, I understand that. However, this child said something very horrible to Ethan just the other day. He is bullying a boy who just lost his mother…” Bella was already starting to get aggravated at the Principal’s seeming lack of empathy. She reminded her of some of the social workers she’d encountered during her years in foster care.

“I am aware of what Jake said to Ethan, but those are merely words, Miss Clay. Ethan took it to another level with his fist. That is not okay.”

“And I will have a long talk with him about it, of course,” Bella said trying to sound “parental”.

“Well, you will have that opportunity for the next week, Miss Clay,” she said pursing her lips and standing up.

“Excuse me?”

“Ethan is being suspended for a week. We have a zero tolerance policy for violence at this school, and the first occurrence results in suspension.”

“Are you kidding me? That sounds like a huge over-reaction to this, Mrs. Dalton. I would think there was some room for understanding that this child has been through so much in the last couple of weeks…” Bella stood and tried to keep her own fists down by her sides. “Besides, he is seven years old and pretty scrawny, so what kind of damage could he possibly do?”

“This is a strict county policy, Miss Clay. My hands are tied,” she insisted, but Bella knew better. She knew rules were made to bend and even be broken in appropriate cases. Livid inside, she attempted to hold in her anger and remain calm, knowing that showing her temper would only make matters worse.

“He’s seven years old, Mrs. Dalton. He’s hardly a threat to anyone. And what is being done about Jake?” she asked pointing toward the office.

“He will be getting detention for the week.”

“Detention? Are you freaking serious?” Bella asked unable to hide her anger.

“He didn’t hit Ethan. He only used his words.”

“Let me tell you something, lady. Words are usually way worse than fists or spankings or anything else. Words never heal, they never get out of your head,” Bella said before suddenly realizing that she was revealing a little too much about her own past.

“I’m sorry, but I have a meeting to attend, Miss Clay. You can collect Ethan in the office, and he is welcome back to school in one week. Again, I’m sorry it came to this, but this will not affect his personal record as it’s his first offense,” she said as if that mattered one bit to Bella. With that, Mrs. Dalton walked down the hallway, leaving the irritating noise of her 1980s-looking pumps clicking on the floor.

Bella looked over at the office and tried to figure out what she was going to do. She had one week to settle up with Nathan and the movie contract. She had one week to keep Ethan at home. She had no idea how she could or would accomplish both.

“Bella Clay?” she heard a man’s voice behind her.

“Yes?” she said as she turned around. Before her was one of the most rugged and handsome men she’d ever seen in her life. With thick, dark brown hair that waved in the sexiest of ways and light copper colored eyes, she had to check herself so she didn’t allow her legs to buckle. She’d seen her share of sexy men in California, but this one was different. The stubble on his jawline did things to her, but those full lips were almost more than she could take.

“Grant Brady. I’m the one who called you,” he said reaching out to shake her hand with a smile. His teeth were so perfect that she was sure he could be in one of those teeth whitening commercials. As she touched his hand, she felt a strength that only came along with rugged men who worked with their hands. She briefly wondered to herself what else those hands might be able to do.

“Nice to meet you,” was all she could muster up to say. Something about this guy was undoing her a bit, and she had to contain it. She was Ethan’s mom now, and she desperately needed to make a good impression with his teachers.

“I overheard your conversation with Mrs. Dalton,” he said with a look of “I’m sorry” on his face.

“Ah, yes. That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” she said forcing a smile.

“Personally, I don’t blame the kid for clocking Jake. He had it coming. Now, if you ask me as a teacher in this school, I will deny I ever said that,” he whispered before chuckling.

“I don’t blame him either, but I’m not your typical mother. Well, I guess I’m not a mother at all…”

“You are now,” he said softly. His eyes pierced through her. It was as if he knew her inside and out, but they’d never met.

“True. Unfortunate for Ethan,” she said cutting her eyes toward the office.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Something tells me that Ethan will be as protected as any kid can be with you as his guardian,” he said with a wink. “Listen, I’ve got to get back to my kids, but it was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll see Ethan in a week,” he said shaking his head.

“Yes. And thanks for calling me… and commiserating with me,” she said with a smile before walking toward the office to pick up Ethan.

“
I
’m so sorry
, Aunt Bella,” Ethan said as he held Bella’s hand on the way to her car. After spending over thirty minutes doing paperwork in the office, she’d finally been able to leave with Ethan.

“I know you are, buddy,” she said, waiting until they got far enough out of earshot for her to really talk to him. Once they were beside the car, she turned to him and knelt down. “Now, what did he say to you that caused you to punch him?” she asked, trying to hold back a smile.

“He said my mother must have been trailer trash since the garbage truck hit her. I didn’t mean to, but I just wanted to hit him. So I did. I’m really sorry,” he said looking down at the pavement. Ethan didn’t have a mean bone in his body, and it pained her that he was so guilty about it. In her life, she’d decked many people over the years, usually in protection of Lori.

“I know he upset you, buddy, but you’ve got to keep your hands to yourself from now on, okay? If he says something mean to you again, tell your teacher.” She hated to give that advice, but she knew at her core that it was the most sensible thing to say at the time.

“Yes, ma’m,” he said wiping away a stray tear.

“Okay, so let’s go home now,” she said standing up and opening his door. The old 1999 car that she'd purchased when she got into town was on its last leg, but it did the job. It wasn’t the prettiest one in the parking lot, either, but it got her from point A to point B. The one redeeming factor about finishing the movie would be an influx of cash to buy a new car and put some away for a couple of months of bills, but it was quickly becoming apparent that she may not get back to California at all.

Ethan climbed into the back seat, and Bella closed his door behind him. As she walked around to her side, she realized she’d forgotten her coat, and it was starting to get cold. Getting used to the new temperatures in the north Georgia mountains was going to take some time after living in California for two years.

Bella turned the key, but nothing happened. She kept turning it over and over but to no avail. She leaned into the steering wheel and put her head down. How much more could go wrong today?

“What’s wrong, Aunt Bella?” Ethan asked from the back seat.

“The car won’t start, buddy,” she said, sitting up. Freaking out wouldn’t help right now, she decided, so she reached into her purse to find her phone. Unfortunately, the battery had died while she was inside the school, and her charger hadn’t yet made it into the car with her.

“What are we going to do? It’s kind of cold,” he said. Bundled up in his Spiderman coat, he looked so small and helpless. It tugged at her heart when she thought of everything Lori would miss in his life. His first car. His first girlfriend. His first heartbreak. His first prom. His first job. Marriage. Kids. She had to stop thinking about it before she got emotional, so she stepped out of the car and popped the hood. Bella was not well versed with cars, but it seemed like the natural thing to do. At the very least, raising her hood was like putting up a white flag to the public and saying “HELP!”

G
rant Brady sat
at his desk trying to concentrate on grading papers. The early darkness that accompanied October days in Georgia was causing him to lose focus, or at least that was what he was telling himself today. It couldn’t be the beautiful blond that happened to be Ethan’s new guardian.

At twenty-eight years old, Grant had been through the ringer in the last few years. Against his parents’ advice, he’d married Allison Treadwell at twenty-two years old. Married for three years, he was waiting for his white picket fence life to appear, but Allison had other ideas. Her ideas centered around his best friend, Travis, and Travis’s naked body. When he walked in to find them doing the deed in his marriage bed, he’d done some damage to Travis’s nose.

Now, three years later, he was still having trouble trusting women. Especially a sexy, hot blond who just flew in from California. But, although his head was telling him one thing, his libido was doing cartwheels the whole time he talked to her, which is why he had to lie about having a class to get back to. Now, as he sat in his old, musty office grading history papers, he wondered what she was all about.

As he graded his twentieth and final paper, Grant looked out the window and noticed an open hood on a car. It was starting to get dark, and his Southern chivalrousness wouldn’t allow him to ignore anyone having car trouble in his own school parking lot.

He closed down his computer, turned off his lights, and locked the door behind him. As he walked out into the parking lot, the sun was just going down, and the pinks and blues of the Georgia sky reminded him of summer evenings as a kid.

“Need some help?” he called out toward the car just in time to see that it was Bella leaning over looking at the engine and cocking her head to the side.

She turned around and struggled not to cry when she saw who it was. Although she didn’t know him very well… yet… she was happy to see a friendly face offering assistance.

“Oh, hi… We never quite made it out of here. Car won’t start,” she said with a sigh.

“Mind if I take a look?” he asked as he removed his coat.

“That’d be great,” she said.

“Here, take this. You’re shaking,” he said as he handed her his coat.

“I can’t take your coat.”

“Yes, you can, Miss Clay. Southern gentlemen require it,” he said as he winked at her and nodded toward the coat.

“Thank you. And please call me Bella,” she responded as she slid into his heavenly cologne-scented black leather coat.

“Alright then. Bella…” he said softly as he started looking under the hood. She watched him intently as he fiddled with this and that under the hood and then attempted to crank the car again. Unfortunately, it was all to no avail.

“Well, what’s the prognosis?”

“I think it could be your starter or maybe your alternator. Either way, you aren’t going anywhere in this car for today.”

“Crap. I’ve got to get Ethan home, and I have no way to work tomorrow,” she said.

“I can give you guys a lift home, so that solves one problem,” he said with a smile that made her a bit calmer.

“I appreciate it. Ethan said he’s freezing,” she said pointing toward the car.

“Come on, bud,” Grant called to Ethan, who made sure he grabbed his backpack. Bella reached in, picked up her purse, and locked the car.

As they all climbed into Grant’s big red pickup truck, she was thankful to have someone helping them out.

“We live about two miles from here, right down off Sycamore,” she started to explain.

“Yeah, I know where you live,” he said with a laugh as he and Ethan shared an inside joke.

“What’s so funny?” she asked looking over at Grant and then back at Ethan who was sitting in the extended cab.

“Mr. Brady is our neighbor, Aunt Bella,” Ethan said giggling.

“He is?” she asked and then looked back at Grant. “How close of a neighbor are you exactly?”

“I live two doors down from you,” he said with a grin.

“Really? How did I not notice that?”

“You’ve kind of had your hands full,” he said.

“True.”

“What are you guys doing for dinner?” Grant asked.

“Oh, crap… I don’t know now. I was going to run and pick up some subs from the deli.”

“No biggie. I have a nice pot of chili in the slow cooker at home. Care to join me? It’s way more than one man can eat safely,” he said laughing. She loved hearing his laugh. It was deep and masculine… and a little bit sexy, too.

“Sure. Ethan, you like chili?” she asked.

“With cheese and crackers?” Ethan asked.

“Of course, bud.” Grant said.

Minutes later, they were pulling into Grant’s driveway. He lived just two doors down from Bella, and she wondered what kind of trouble she might get herself into knowing that information.