For His Forever (5 page)

Erica’s lips pursed, but she kept quiet.

“Hello?” Nicole answered. There was no reply. Maybe it had been an accident—

maybe Kallie hadn’t meant to call her at all.

“Hello?” she asked one more time.

And then she heard crying. Faintly, someone tried to speak.

“I can’t hear you,” Nicole said, putting a hand over her ear and turning away from Erica, as if trying to block out the woman’s presence entirely.

“Ni…Nicole?” the girl stuttered on the other end.

“Kallie, is that you?”

“Ye—yes.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Suddenly her heart was pounding. She could tell something awful had happened, but couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was.

“I…I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”

“I had to leave the house. I ran…I’m…I’m on the corner of Burk and Hawthorne.”

Nicole wasn’t sure where that was, but she could use the GPS to find her. “Are you safe right now?”

“I…I don’t know. I think so.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

“No.” The girl’s voice grew louder, more insistent. “Please, please don’t call the police.”

“Are you hurt in any way?”

There was a long pause. “I’m not hurt.”

“Listen, I’m coming right now—I’m on my way, Kallie. Tell me the address again? Give me a house number.”

Kallie told her an address and then Nicole got off the phone and looked over to Erica, who was watching her with an anxious and somewhat mistrustful expression. “Is something wrong, Nicole?”

“I’m so sorry, Erica, but something’s come up. An emergency situation.”

“Tell me what’s happened.”

“I’m not even sure, but I have to go. I’m sorry.”

Erica came towards her. “Well, let me come help with whatever’s going on.

You’re in no position to deal with any intense stress right now—“

Nicole shook her head. “I need to go by myself, Erica. I’ll call you and…” she started for her car. “We’ll talk, okay? Thank you so much for the baby clothes!” she yelled, getting in the front seat.

Red’s mother stared after her, and Nicole couldn’t help but be grimly satisfied that their little date had been unceremoniously been cut short. She didn’t want to spend another millisecond with that woman, and now she didn’t have to. And she wasn’t feeling guilty about it, either.

She drove out of the lot and watched her rearview mirror as Erica Jameson grew smaller and smaller and then faded entirely from view.

***

The sky had darkened soon after Kallie had hung up after speaking to Nicole, and the clouds had rolled in. Then it had begun to spit and drizzle and now it was a drenching downpour.

Kallie stood by the side of the road and shivered in her shorts and thin halter top, water dripping into her eyes. She felt like a wet poodle.

When Nicole finally drove up alongside her and stopped, Kallie burst into fresh tears, she was so relieved.

She opened the passenger side door and got inside, ashamed to even look at the kind woman who’d known her for all of five minutes, and yet she’d driven out here to pick her up upon request. “I’m really sorry about this,” she said through chattering teeth.

The pregnant woman (who didn’t even look a day over twenty-one) just gazed at her with concern. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Kallie nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just kind of shaken up from everything.”

“Where do you want to go?”

Kallie sat there. “I guess I don’t have anywhere to go. And I don’t know anyone around here. That’s why I called you.”

“Well do you want to come home with me for now? We can figure it out from there. But either way, it’s up to you.”

“I don’t want to put you out.”

“It’s no trouble,” Nicole said. “Come on, we’ll get you warm and dry and give you a meal and then you can decide what’s next.”

Kallie nodded with relief and gratitude. “Thank you, Nicole.”

“No problem.” Nicole started to drive.

Kallie couldn’t help but watch the woman from the corner of her eye. Something about Nicole was so unique, so different from anyone else Kallie had met around here.

She was clearly young, but at the same time, possessed a self-assuredness that was very rare. Kallie could tell that Nicole wasn’t afraid to stand up and do the right thing, to take chances. This woman wouldn’t have let Brad and Trina treat her so poorly.

And the other thing that was totally different about her: most people would have been peppering Kallie with all sorts of questions right now, but Nicole was just driving and staying quiet. It was obvious that she’d be open to talking if Kallie felt up to it, but she wasn’t forcing the conversation.

After a few minutes, Kallie was relaxing and her shaking had subsided a little.

“This must seem kind of strange to you. I mean, getting a frantic call like that out of nowhere, from a girl you just met.”

Nicole smiled. “Actually, given where I was when you called—it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

“Where were you?”

“I was in the clutches of an evil witch. Literally.”

Kallie grinned. “There are a lot of those around The Hamptons.”

Nicole laughed. “Us human girls have to stick together.”

Kallie found that she liked Nicole more and more with each passing second. It felt like she could have been her sister, which was nice, since Kallie’s siblings were all brothers. She’d missed having a sister her age to talk to about life and school and boys.

“There aren’t just witches here. There are nasty rabid dogs, too,” Kallie said, thinking back to the laundry room—the smell of detergent and Brad’s alcohol-laced breath as he pushed his erection against her, his hands squeezing her buttocks.

Nicole glanced worriedly over. “You can tell me what happened if you want. Or not. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s okay. I can talk about it.” Kallie laughed and wiped tears from her eyes.

“I’m just being stupid. I mean, he didn’t even really
do
anything to me.”

“Who didn’t?”

“Brad Danvers. I nanny for him and Trina.”

Nicole nodded as if this all made sense. “Did he try and make you do something you didn’t want to do?”

Kallie nodded. “It started out mostly normal, although I guess there was a little part of me that sensed something was off from the beginning.”

And then Kallie proceeded to tell Nicole everything, even more than she’d intended. How she’d started working for Danvers family and wanted nothing more than to make a good impression. That she’d assumed all of these rich, educated, powerful people would also be fair and decent and trustworthy. How quickly her perceptions had changed when they’d begun treating her rudely, insulting her, berating her, telling her that she was no good at the job.

Finally she made her way to telling Nicole about that very morning, when Brad had started to insinuate that he was attracted to her, refusing to listen to her polite rebuffs, following her into the laundry room, and finally forcing himself on her at the end.

“I ran out of the house and just kept running,” Kallie said, catching her up to the most recent moments. “After awhile, I realized that I didn’t know where I was and I had no money and nowhere to go. All I had was my phone, and somehow when I saw your number—I thought I should call you. I don’t even know why, really.”

Nicole didn’t say anything for a while. And then she said, “I’m glad you called me, Kallie.”

“Thanks for saying that.”

They arrived at what Kallie assumed was Nicole’s house, and she was frankly stunned at what she was seeing. However nice the Danvers’s home was, this place must have been twenty times bigger and nicer and more expensive. If the Danvers family was rich, than this woman was practically royalty.

“You live here?” she squeaked.

Nicole chuckled. “We’re just renting.”

“It’s amazing.”

“Thanks. I’m still getting used to it myself.”

Kallie didn’t know what she meant, but decided to keep her questions to herself for now. The last thing she wanted was to get on this kind woman’s nerves and make her regret helping out a virtual stranger.

Before they went inside, Nicole turned to her. “My husband’s home, and although I told him I was picking you up—and likely bringing you back here—he doesn’t really have a clue what’s going on. So, I just wanted you to be aware that he’s probably curious and maybe a little confused.”

“I understand totally,” Kallie said. She looked down at her soaked shirt and tiny shorts and felt more vulnerable than ever.

Nicole saw her expression. “We’ll get you right upstairs and I’ll find something for you to change into, okay?”

“Thank you.”

When they walked inside, Nicole announced they were home. From somewhere in the enormous house, Kallie heard a man call back. “I’ll be right there!”

And then he was coming into the foyer with a big smile on his face and Kallie was instantly at ease. Even though he was gorgeous—dark hair, dark eyes, a strong jaw and muscular frame—she instantly saw how connected he was to his wife.

“Everything okay?” he said, more concerned for his wife than anything else.

“Yeah, we’re all fine. I’m just going to bring Kallie up and give her some clothes and stuff.”

He nodded. “Of course, of course.” Then he turned to Kallie and smiled reassuringly. “I’m Red Jameson, by the way.”

“I’m Kallie. Nice to meet you.”

“Please feel free to just relax and let us know if there’s anything at all that you need.”

“I appreciate that.”

“And, let me ask something. Do you like steak?”

“I do.” She laughed.

“Good, because I was planning on cooking up a few steaks—“

“I thought you only knew how to do spaghetti and meatballs,” Nicole said.

“I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that you haven’t seen yet. Don’t you worry.”

“Come on, Kallie, he’s just showing off now.” Nicole led her up a long staircase to the second floor, and then to an enormous guest room with a beautiful skylight and a gorgeous balcony that looked out onto the ocean.

“What a view!” Kallie cried out.

“You can hang here tonight, if you like,” Nicole said softly. “And then tomorrow we can discuss next steps, okay?”

Kallie wanted to cry but kept her tears in, nodding and pressing her lips together.

Nicole walked to the door. “Give me a quick sec while I try and wrangle up a change of clothes for you.”

And then she left the room and Kallie sat down on the king sized bed, heaving a sigh of relief.

***

Nicole left the guest room and made her way back to the master bedroom, where she rummaged through her clothes. So many of them were just gigantic articles of clothing tailored for seven-month pregnant women, and not at all suitable for a small girl with tiny hips and normal boobs.

Eventually she came across a slightly smaller t-shirt and sweatpants. They would likely still be too large, but would do the trick for now. She carried the clothes back to the guest room and knocked before going inside.

Kallie was staring out the sliding door that led to the balcony. She turned and smiled guiltily. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. This view is just breathtaking.”

“You don’t need to apologize for looking out a window,” Nicole said softly. She put the clothes on the bed. As she straightened, she was hit by a surprising wave of dizziness, a sensation of vertigo.

“Are you all right?” Kallie said nervously.

“What?” Nicole replied, sweating suddenly.

“You just got a weird look on your face. I didn’t know…”

The sensation passed and Nicole waved it off. Just a little spell—they happened from time to time. “Anyway, here’s something to change into. You won’t win any fashion awards, but at least the clothes are dry.”

“Oh, I’m so thankful. Really.”

“You have a shower and bath adjoining the room,” Nicole said, pointing to the bathroom door. “Feel free to use the shower for as long as you like. There are towels and soap and shampoo in there, too.”

Kallie nodded. “Okay.”

“When you’re ready, come downstairs and we can talk a little more about things.”

The girl nodded and Nicole smiled once more, and then walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Slowly, Nicole made her way downstairs. She could feel that she was a little out of breath, probably from the stress of everything. Yet she put her hand on her stomach and felt a reassuring kick through her belly.

She’s still in there, happy and healthy. Stay positive. Remember, everything is
fine. The doctor’s done all the tests, and the baby is perfectly normal.

Smiling to prove to herself just how fine it all was, Nicole finished going downstairs and saw Red was waiting for her in the great room.

“So, what’s going on?” he asked, and she could see the signs of tension in his face now.

Nicole did her best to give him the quick but accurate version of events as Kallie had told them to her.

By the end, Red was almost furious. “These goddamn people think that because they have a couple of extra bucks that other people don’t have, it make them impervious to rules. They think they can treat people with less money like garbage. As if a nanny is equivalent to a prostitute!”

Nicole nodded. She was feeling really tired suddenly, and decided to sit down.

So she did sit down, and Red was immediately by her side. “You look a little pale.

Everything okay, babe?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, trying to catch her breath. “I’m just thirsty.”

“Let me get you some water.” He leapt off the couch and went into the kitchen, where she heard him clanking and clinking around in the cabinet. Next, the sound of the faucet running, ice cubes plopping, and then he was on his way back to give her a cold glass of water.

Nicole drank deeply, sighing. “That hit the spot. Thanks.”

He kissed her cheek and then sat down by her feet, picking one foot up and slowly massaging it.

“Oh god, that’s amazing.” She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes.

Red grabbed her other foot and began massaging that one as well. “So what do we do with her now?” he asked. “Does she have any family in the area?”