Good Wood (37 page)

“Are you blind? It seems to me like half of Austin is trying to look out for you. Molly, the only thing stopping you from going over to that boy’s house right now is
you
.”

Chastised, I looked away and my eyes slowly crept back to him. Dan’s advice had always been solid, and had I listened to him ages ago, I’d have been in far better circumstances.

“Give Joe the benefit of the doubt, Molly. He deserves it, doesn’t he? Quit acting like you aren’t a catch, sweetie. It’s not becoming. And give yourself room to mess up. There’s no instruction guide for how to handle someone who’s been through what Joe has. You’ll just have to take it one day at a time.” He glanced at his watch and rolled his eyes. “I gotta go, sugar. Please think this through?”

I nodded and hugged him goodbye. As I climbed the stairs to my apartment, my phone vibrated. I yanked it out of my pocket, hoping it was Joe. At that moment I just really needed to hear his voice. Sadly, it was Draven instead. I turned the phone completely off without reading the message and made up my mind to change my number the following day. At that precise moment, I just wanted a hot bath and to sleep.

The next morning I was scheduled to do penance on SoCo with two newbies to make up for Dirty S saving my ass the day before. Fortunately since it was December 23
rd
, damp, and chilly, we were pretty slow. I’d used my alarm clock the night before, so it was nine thirty when I finally remembered to turn my cell phone back on and saw a missed call from Joe. My heart clenched when I listened to Joe’s message. The familiar cadence of his deep voice comforted me like a plush blanket. I wanted to gasp when he said he loved me, but there was already no breath in my lungs. I immediately played the message a second time. I melted at the catch in his voice when he said he wasn’t ready to leave things. Though a lot had changed about him over the years, Joe had always been honest to a fault. He never said things he didn’t mean. Beaming, I went to dial his number when I saw Draven’s missed text.

Meet me for lunch tomorrow?

My already pounding heart rate tripled as I scrambled to text him. I hated to see the response, but I had to know.

Where are you?

I set the phone aside and tried to get back to work but it beeped almost immediately. I picked it back up with a growing sense of dread.

I had some business in Austin and figured I might as well bring you your proceeds from our house sale.

My hammering heart leapt into my throat and I felt myself teetering on the edge of a full blown panic attack.
Of all the days to be working with the newbies.
I wished I had Sanchez here, or at least Stacy, who was no nonsense and would call 911 at the first sign of trouble. I tried to calm myself down, but it was a futile exercise. Picking up my phone I tried to keep the next text neutral.

No. Just send it through the lawyer. I am busy with work, I don’t have any time today.

He must have been holding his phone because my phone beeped before I had a chance to think.

Doll, it is no big deal. Really. I’ll just stop by and drop it off.

Fat chance you fucking prick. No way am I telling you where I am.

Taking a few minutes to get my nerves in check, I went back to my prep. I put Draven out of my mind and threw myself into my work. Just after our lunch rush began to wind down, the vapid window girl, called back to me.

“Hey Molly? Got a guy that wants to talk to you.”

I headed to the front of the truck expecting a customer with a comment or a friend wanting to say hello. Instead, there stood Draven, dressed in his navy Armani with a satisfied smirk on his face. I waited for the last customer to leave the window before I moved my cashier aside. I had no intention of my new workplace becoming the site of another scene with Draven. Taking a deep breath I tried to be as civil as possible.

“What are you doing here, Drae?”

He gave me the sly smile I used to find so alluring and sauntered forward. His cool mannerisms that I used to find sexy now struck me as creepy. He leaned on the window and brought his face as close to mine as he could. I inched back from him keeping out of arms reach.

“Didn’t you get my text? You didn’t reply so I figured you didn’t care if I came by.”

“I told you I was busy. How did you even find me?” A flash of anger marred his grey eyes before his charming smile locked back into place.

“Hey, I don’t want to fight. There’s an app that shows everyone in Austin where your food truck is. I just followed the icon and here you are. You look great, Doll.”

Fuck. Stacy had us linked on the Austin Food Trucks map. Who would have thought that advertising my business would lead my worst nightmare right to me.

I wanted to make sure you had the money as soon as possible. The thought of you being short on funds makes me worry. You know how much I hate worrying about you.”

He was really pouring it on.

I used to buy this bullshit? How fucking brain dead can one girl be.

“I’m not yours to worry about. If you want to drop off the check, fine. Leave it and go. From what I hear you have a new wife and baby you should be worrying about.”

The dig hit home and the look of anger stayed on his face. It held an air of warning that melted away to that smile. A chill went up my back. If I had ever doubted that Draven would hurt me, I didn’t anymore. The control freak was getting pissed that he wasn’t making any headway.

“Molly, you should be a little more grateful. I’m just trying to be nice. You used to like it when I was nice.” The suggestive way he said it made my skin crawl.

“The past is past. I’ve moved on and I don’t want you in my life anymore. Please go.” I somehow kept the fear out of my voice. Rage flared up in his eyes and the truck creaked where his hands were gripping it so hard his knuckles were white. Then he released the truck and relaxed giving me an ominous smile.

“I’m sure you don’t mean that. You should be careful, Molly. Remember what happened the last time you were disrespectful to me.” The smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes. He stared at me for a full minute then turned and walked back to his car.

Only after his car had disappeared from sight did I let myself feel what had just happened. I turned the truck over to the newbies to handle the stragglers and went to take a break. When I was safely hidden behind the truck, screened by a privacy fence that separated the parking lot from the next property, I let myself lose it.

I smothered quiet sobs in my hands and could not stop shaking. All the safety I had felt from being away from that monster was slipping through my fingers like water. Panic swelled inside me. What if he kept stalking me? He was smart, he could probably keep after me until I either lost my mind or he killed me. The one thing I was sure of was that he would never get me back. It would be better to die than to be with that fucking psycho ever again.

Ten minutes later I had decided two things. There was no way we were going to make enough money for it to be worth staying for the rest of the day. The second was that I should never have let Stacy have the day off. Being out here without her or Sanchez was like being naked and defenseless in a jungle.

I went back into the truck and gave the crew the good news: an early day with full pay. Clean up the truck, park it, and lock up. They high fived and swore to make the counters sparkle before they left. Trying to keep my hands from shaking I grabbed my keys and headed for my car.

I thought about calling Dan, but he would be neck deep in helping his brother by now. I was striding down SoCo trying to think of my next move when I saw Draven. He’d parked his luxury rental a bit further down the street. We saw each other at the same time and he gave me a cutesy little wave. Terror shot through me and I sprinted for my car. He reached it just after I started the engine and smacked the roof as I screeched away. Tearing out of the parking lot, I sped off checking my rearview mirror every couple of seconds. I didn’t see him behind me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t done with me yet.

I picked up my phone and dialed Joe.

“Hey.” He sounded surprised and happy.

“Joe.” I worked to control the terror in my voice. “It’s Draven. He’s here.”

“Where are you?” His voice was calm with a deadly undertone.

“Driving.”

“Don’t go home Molly.” The words came out as a rapid order.

“Okay. Where should I go?”

“My place. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Get inside and lock the deadbolt.”

When I finally pulled into a parking spot my feet led me quickly from my car to his door. I pulled out my keys and opened the door.

Closing it behind me I shot the dead bolt. My phone rang and I looked at it and saw Draven’s number. Dropping it on the floor like it was a poisonous snake I retreated to the couch. I knew I should call someone, but my brain was not cooperating when I tried to think. I heard tires screech outside and rushed to the window.

Below in the street I saw Draven step out of his car. He looked so pissed and instead of fear, I found myself forming fists so tight I dug my fingernails into my palms. His phone was in his hand and he turned in a circle before turning and looking right at Joe’s building. That’s when I knew for certain how he always found me.

That bastard. He was tracking my IPhone!

He spotted me in the window and a sinister smirk twisted his handsome face. A second later he was strolling toward the front door of the building.

I dropped to the floor as if hiding would do any good. Scrambling on all fours, I snatched my phone from the floor. I flipped through to Joe’s number and was getting ready to press the call icon when Draven banged on the door. The door was heavy wood but it rattled hard when he struck it. It startled me enough to make me drop my phone. This time it broke and no amount of messing with it would bring the screen up

“Molly…you’d better open this door.”

Anger blossomed in my chest and I found myself screaming at him.

“Fuck you, you psycho prick! Leave me alone! I’m calling the cops!”

“And what are you going to tell them? That your ex showed up to give you a big fat check? Oh, the humanity. You know as well as I do that anything you say I can spin to my advantage. You might as well just open the door. You’re going to come back to me, Doll. You belong to me. And we aren’t done until
I tell you
that we’re done. Now quit being disrespectful and open this door.”

He emphasized each word of his final sentence. Part of me quailed that what he was saying was true, that I would never be able to get away from him. But then my anger came back. I’d worked too hard to have him come back into my life and dictate how I was going to live.

“I’ll use small words so that you can understand me, Draven. Go the fuck away. We’re done. I hope you rot in hell!”

“You fucking little bitch! I’ll rip your cunt head off for disrespecting me! When I get done with you, you’ll be begging me for forgiveness! Do you hear me? Begging!”

His kicks had gotten heavier and more frequent while his voice rose. I’d never heard Draven this out of control and I wondered if Joe’s door would be enough to keep me safe. After his last word, there was a long moment of silence from outside the door and I heard another voice. Joe’s voice.

“You must be Draven.” His deep voice sounded collected and I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs.

“That’s right.” Draven’s voice had a troubling pleasantness about it. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Joe. I’m the new man in Molly’s life. You’re on my property and it’s time for you to go.”

There was the sound of a struggle and then the heavy sounds of a body tumbling down the stairs. In horror, I started towards the door to see if it was Draven or Joe that had fallen. I paused, afraid to open it. Instead, I ran to the window trying to see if I could spot anything from there. Time seemed to drag out into an agonizing eternity. It felt like my entire world became the area I could see just outside the door of the building.

A figure came flying out the door and down into the street. Draven didn’t look so suave now. His suit was tattered and dirty from his fall down the stairs and blood ran down his face from a cut near his eye and lip. As I watched Joe came into view, stalking purposefully toward Draven. Dread gripped me when I recalled Graham’s story and the part about Joe’s legal troubles for fighting. I wanted to run down the stairs but fear held me in place.

As I watched, Draven bounced to his feet. Even without hearing what he was saying I could see the rage painted on his face. Joe kept his hands at his sides, his posture relaxed. Draven seemed to calm down and that repulsive smile slid onto his face. Just when I began to worry that he might work his magic on Joe, something changed. Joe made a shooing motion with his hands and Draven’s smile disappeared, replaced by an angry glare. Draven swung his left arm at Joe. It was the same crushing punch I had seen him throw several times at others. His opponent always ended up flat on their back, bleeding. Instead of falling down Joe moved sideways and stepped into the punch. Twisting his arm he captured Draven’s fist in between his arm and body.