Folding Hearts (6 page)

“Who are you and what have you done with my asshole cousin?” She joked.

Sometimes I hated that she thought of me as her family. This day had been one of those times. “Stop making fun of me. Can’t I be nice? I was never mean to Van. Even she will tell you that.”

“Sor
ry. It is keeping me from
losin
’
it again. He said he never wanted her and that I should
have got
an abortion.”

Before she could say anymore I lost it. “HE SAID WHAT?” I yelled. “Tell me where I can find his little ass. I will fucking kill him.”

“Ty, please just leave it alone. I told him to stay away from us.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “If I see him, I will hurt him.”

“I don’t want the family to know Ty. Please keep this between us. They can’t know.”

“Are you afraid of him?”

She shrugged. “I am not afraid
of him right now, but i
f you or my brother go after him, there is no tellin’ what he will do. I can’t worry about that. I need to keep my focus on Bella. Please promise me.”

I shook my head. “Fine. If I hear about him hurting you, it’s on.”

“Thank you for carin’. Sometimes I feel like I can’t talk to anyone about him. I know you hate him too, but at least you made me feel better. Safe even.”

I walked out of her room and gave her a high wave as I walked away. One day I would find that fucker and kick the shit out of him. It would be on my bucket list.

Chapter 7

Miranda

Even after I told Ty I was fine, I still cried myself to sleep. I kept replaying the night in my head. I saw Tucker’s lips and tongue kissing that girl over and over. I wanted to throw up. He told me he loved me. He said we would be a family. How could he take it all back? How could he not love Bella?

That was the part that upset me the most. She was the most perfect little baby. How could someone not love her
?
For goodness sakes, Ty was infatuated with her. He video chatted with a baby because he was so crazy about her. Sometimes he would tell me to put the computer next to the crib while I got a shower
or had to get changed
.
They would play peek-a-boo.
He would keep her occupied through the screen of a laptop and her own father wanted nothing to do with her.
When Tucker was with her, he would play on his phone while she cried or crawled at his feet.

I should have known he was no good, but I wanted to believe he would change.
I had been so stupid, so
infatuated
with
the idea of us being a family.

The next morning I woke to sounds coming from Bella’s bedroom. After the shocking revelations the night before and the lack of sleep, it didn’t register that it could be Ty. I entered the doorway and froze as I saw him bent
over the changing table, singin
g
to Bella, while changing her diaper.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…you make me happy, when skies are gray…..

I folded my arms across my chest and smiled from cheek to cheek.
It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.
“Again, I have to ask…who are you and what have you done with my cousin?”

He picked up Bella and turned to face me. His grin was huge. Bella grabbed a chu
n
k of his shabby hair and got his attention. “Ouch, gentle Iz!”

I couldn’t help but giggle at the two of them. I was so thankful that she was too young to see what I was going through and Ty being here was a godsend. Had I come home last night and been alone, it would have been horrible.

“I like your hair in the morning. The eighties look really appeals to you.” Ty joked.

“Give me my child smart ass,
” I said while reaching out for her.
I hadn’t even considered that I looked terrible.

I have no idea why she did it, but instead of reaching out for me like she always did, she put her head down on his chest. “Ah, you see. She wants to be with her uncle Ty.”

I looked at Ty shocked. “There is no way she wants you over me. You haven’t even seen her that much.”

He rocked her around in his close grip. “I was the second person she ever laid eyes on. She won’t forget me. She loves me.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe you changed her diaper.”

“She was wet. I didn’t want her to
get a rash on her little hiney,
” He said in a baby voice.

Feeling defeated, I told Ty I would meet him downstairs after I got changed. When I made it into my room and caught a glance of myself in the mirror, I wanted to scream. I had black mascara smudges in lines down my face. My hair was a giant matted mess and my eyes were blood shot from crying.

I grabbed some clothes and ran into the bathroom to grab a quick shower. It amazed me that I could shower and get ready in seven minutes flat, since having a child.
When the beads of water started trickling down my body it felt so refreshing. I leaned back against the shower and tried not to think about anything going on in my life.

I didn’t know whether to be more mad at myself or Tucker. I had been such a freaking fool to not consider that everyone in my family had been right about him from the beginning. I should have done things so differently. I let my love for him blind the truth about the kind of person he really was.

After an extra ten minutes, I c
limbed out of the shower feelin
g
determined that things were going to change for Bella and I. She was my life now and I would
do
everything I could so that she would have a good life
as well
.

I threw on
a pair of yoga pants and a sweat jacket and headed downstairs. Ty was leaning against the kitchen counter while Lucy was sitting in
front of the high chair feedin
g
Bella. “You guys didn’t have to do that. Go on about your day. We can manage from here.”

We heard the front door shut and all of us turned to see my brother walking into the room. “The douche bag just pulled in. I told him he couldn’t come inside, but he is insistin’ on seein’ you Miranda.”

“I have nothin’ to say to him.”

Before I could give Ty a warning look, he threw me a wink. I appreciated that he
wasn’t
going to tell Conner.
My brother hated Tucker and his temper would get the best of him.

Conner
grabbed
an
orange off of the counter and started walking out of the kitchen. “I’d be happy to tell him that.”

I followed him
to the front door and noticed that Ty had caught up to him. “Conner wait up. I want to hear what this dumb ass has to say.”

Great now I had the two of them to worry about.

They walked out the front door and headed in the direction of the driveway. I spotted Tucker’
s car and him leaning
agains
t it.  My heart started pounding
when I saw what was in his hand.

A baseball bat.

I went runnin
g
out of the house trying to reach my brother and Ty before Tucker had any opportunity to hurt them. “Guys wait!”

They turned around to see me runnin
g
toward them, but doin
g
that caused Tucker to have th
e upper hand. He started walking
toward them pointin
g
his bat. “Your little bitch siste
r keyed my car last night. I want
her to fuckin’ pay for what she done to it.”

Ty stood in front of me, shelterin
g
me from bein
g
able to see Tucker.

“Don’t you dare threaten my sister you common freak!” Conner shouted.

“Fuck you Conner. I ain
’
t scared of you. Walk a little closer and I will prove it.” Tucker threatened.

“STOP IT!” I screamed. “Just go wait inside while I talk to him.”

Conner and Ty just stood there staring at me like I had three heads.

“Just go. I don’t need you both gettin’ into my business any more than you already are. I can handle this myself.”

“I ain
’
t leavin’
you out here alone with this
scum
bag,
” Conner said, not budging from his stance.

I looked over to Ty. “Please help me here.”

“I’m not okay with this asshole being around you with that bat
,
” He admitted.

I grabbed them both by the arm and pulled them in the direction of the front door. “Seriously you two, get a grip please. I can handle him. Go wait inside before things get ugly.” I said in a whisper.

They carried on about it, but finally went inside. I could feel them staring from inside of the house as I walked back in the direction of Tucker and his car.

I stood about a foot away from him and tried to really study his body language.
He was pissed. “I know you keyed my car you bitch.”

“I am not sayin’ whether I did it, but you probably did deserve it.” I stared him right in the eye.

He scrunch
ed
up his face and walked toward me. “Let me tell you somethin’. There ain
’
t no way I am leavin’ here without getting paid for the damage you did to my car. Go inside and get your damn aunt’s checkbook.”

“I am not givin’ you shit! Do you know how much it costs to raise a baby?”

“GIVE ME THE MONEY DAMMIT!” His eyes got big and I actually felt scared.

“Back away from me before my brother comes out her
e and beats the shit out of you,
” I threatened.

I took a step back trying to keep a good distance from him. His hand clenched the bat and he kept hitting it against his boot, to remind me that he had it.

“I ain
’
t scared of your brother, or that punk ass cousin of yours.”

“So you just came here for the money? What about apologizin’ for what you did? I will never forgive you Tucker.”

He looked down to
the ground and started laughing
. “You catchin’ me was the best thing that could have happened. She and I are together now.” He waited a moment to let his hurtful words sink in. “You should have never had that kid Miranda. I told you it wasn’t goin’ to work, but you just couldn’t get
it through that thick head of yours. Look, I don’t have time for this. Just go get me my money so we can just be done.”

I was fuming. He called my daughter
that kid.
“You will not get a
penny from my family. Get the h
ell off of my property before I call the police
and tell them where to find you,
” I threatened.

“You want to play it like that? Okay. You will pay for this you little whore.” He started to climb into his car and I backed away.

While hanging his head out of the window he spit at my feet. “You were never more than an easy fuck. Tell your family that what comes next is all your fault. See you soon bitch.”

I watched him drive past me and then heard a loud crashing. He had taken the bat and smashed the passenger mirror on Ty’s parked Jeep. I heard the guys come running out toward me.

“What the hell? He busted out my
mirror dude,
” Ty said to Conner
.

“You need to call the police Miranda. Get a restrainin’ order before he does worse. We can’t afford to have him messin’ with this ranch. You should have never been with a guy like that in the first place. We warned you this would happen.
How could you be so
irresponsible
?
”
My brother’s words were like daggers. I should have known better.

“Where is Bella?” I asked in a panic.

“She is with Lucy. Are you okay? Did he threaten you?” Ty asked
while grabbin
g
my arm
.

I just
pulled away from him and shook my head while I
ran into the house without answerin
g
. Tucker’s words hurt me. How could I have been so blind? They were together now?

By the time that my brother and Ty came back into the house, I had already heard enough Spanish from Lucy to sing the LaBamba forty times. She only did that when she got really mad, so I knew she had had enough of my boyfriend drama. What everyone didn’t realize was that behind the anger, I was devastated. I opened my heart to this guy whether he was a bad person or not, I still loved him, or I thought I did.

Van and Colt came walkin
g
in the door about ten minutes later. I c
ould hear the loud voices comin
g
from the foyer as Ty and Conner explained everything that had just happened. Because Tucker threatened the ranch, Colt was goin
g
all hog shit over it.
I took
Bella and carried her up to my
room. I just wanted to be alone with my baby. She was all that I needed in my life. I couldn’t regret her for a second.