Home Is Wherever You Are (16 page)

Chapter 27 - What We Don’t Know

I looked out my front window and saw Daniel’s squad car parked across the street. It had been there for three days now. When I talked to him, he told me George was following Tamera around and doing his best to keep an eye on her loser boyfriend, because he didn’t trust either of them. Frankly, neither did I for that matter.

We had kept this from Addy so far. However, I had a feeling that would all change today. It was my first day back to work. I hadn’t let Addy step foot outside of the house or out of our bedroom for days, except to go to the bathroom. She was mine.

We were newlyweds, and as we talked and made love, we discussed what we wanted out of our life together. I finally convinced her to take a couple of classes. Of course, when we discussed the future, we also discussed having children. She wanted one or two kids, she wasn’t sure. I was nervous about the whole “having babies” thing. Living on the streets was still very clear in my memory. To be on my own had been bad enough, but to be out there with my girl on the street would be worse. I couldn’t even consider doing it with a baby. I didn’t want to do it, and it scared the crap out of me.

I pushed that thought away. The only way she would agree to go to school was if we would try for a baby as well. I agreed, not wanting her to give up the chance to go. I just hoped that when she got pregnant, she wouldn’t use it as an excuse to drop out. I would have to talk to Daniel about that.

She had called him first thing this morning, asking if he could give her a ride into Livingston, so she could register for college, while I was at work. I watched him jump to attention, as his phone rang beside him. She hadn’t noticed he had been sitting outside, watching over us while her mother was in town.

I didn’t know what was going on with her mother, or what she wanted from her. I wanted her to leave. From the little snippets I had gathered in our short encounters, she wasn’t here to have a pleasant visit with her daughter. No, she wanted something, but we had nothing to give her.

Addy kissed my cheek smiling. “I’m off.” She looked out the front window. “Wow, dad is eager,” she giggled, oblivious to the real reason he was already here and waiting for her. “I’m sure he’s thrilled to be taking me to register.”

I grabbed her and kissed her one more time, because I loved her, and I hated seeing her walk out the door. I wondered if Daniel was going to let it slip that Tamera was in town. I didn’t know if Addy was going to be pissed at me for keeping it from her, but I needed her to enjoy her wedding and honeymoon. She smacked my butt, grinning widely. “I’ll see you tonight,” she said with a wink, and I knew I had made the right choice. She wouldn’t have been this happy right now, if she had known Tamera was looking for her.

I just hoped it didn’t blow up in my face.

I cleaned up after our breakfast and headed into my office, which had been moved to the upstairs room across from our bedroom, so my parents could have a downstairs room. My dad getting up the stairs would have been a challenge. After our talk, Addy wanted to turn this office into a nursery. She asked me if I thought I could get my desk into the room with my inventory that was stored in the other downstairs bedroom. When I said I didn’t know, she suggested shelves. I knew she was right. It would all fit with shelves, if I would just get off my butt and build them.

I looked over my schedule and penciled in building shelves, and then just for good measure, I penciled in painting the nursery. It was a dark red color now. It was alright for a den or a guestroom, but not for a baby’s room. I couldn’t help but wonder if we really would end up having a baby. It freaked me out, but I decided it was so far away that I shouldn’t worry about it. I just hoped she got through school first.

My phone rang, and I answered it, happy to get more work.

“Matthew, it’s Jason Watts,” Jason said with a bit of excitement.

“Hey, Jason, what’s up?”              

“Remember that couple I told you about? They know you somehow. When I told them you were the local builder and working with your buddy, Kyle, the guy sounded relieved and said he wouldn’t take anyone but you.”

“Who is he?” I asked confused. We did a lot of work, but I didn’t think we had made that lasting of an impression on anyone.

“His name is Christianson, Leon and Evette Christianson.”

“Really? Kyle did say they were moving out of town. So, they’re moving here to Woodville?” I asked.

“Yes, they’re buying a huge tract of land just outside of town to build on. How do you know this guy?”

“I used to work for him. He’s an awesome guy.”

“Well, he’s thrilled you and Kyle are working together. He was nearly in tears over it. I don’t know what you did for that guy, but he loves you.”

“Well, he was an awesome boss, and I know he and Kyle are really close. I think he’s just relieved Kyle will be working. When will we be getting together? I want to make sure Kyle is here as well before we start.”

“He was hoping for a meeting next week.” I heard rustling of paper and then he said, “Thursday was his best time. He plans on being up for the whole weekend, but he’d like to get the business stuff out of the way first.”

“Okay, I’ll let Kyle know.”

Once I was off the phone with Jason, I called Kyle. After a few bad jokes, I was able to get him to shut up, so I could tell him the good news, all of it. He was over the moon, when he heard Leon and Evette were moving to Woodville, and we would be building their house. He shouted over to his wife about it, and I could hear her clapping with excitement. It turned out Darlene was best friends with their daughter, Kelly, who was coming back from college to stay with them as well. I had a feeling there was something that Leon and Evette weren’t telling them. Leon had given up his company so readily, and now they were moving to a small town with his daughter in tow. I didn’t say anything to Kyle, though.

Daniel succeeded in keeping Addy blissfully unaware, and I discussed having Kyle’s family come stay with us, while they closed on their house in town. She was fine with it and was excited to meet Kyle’s little boy, David. She was really pushing this kid thing hard.

Kyle had put a bid on the two-bedroom, one-bath house that was available in town. He apparently looked at it before he had left after the wedding. He put a low bid in and was surprised when they took it. He was only paying forty thousand for his place, and it had a huge yard and a very large back patio he planned on expanding the little house out on. There was also talk of expanding up into the attic, like what had been done with our house, which had originally only had two bedrooms and one bath.  Two additional bedrooms and a second bath had been added upstairs into the high-pitched attic.

“Matthew?” Addy called to me, as I set aside the stuff I would need for tomorrow’s handyman calls.

“Yeah, honey, what do you need?” I asked.

She walked in and looked at the ground nervously. “I think I saw my mother in town today.”

I look up at her shocked. Daniel had said nothing. Had she seen her when she was alone? “Are you alright?” I asked. I didn’t know the story behind it all, but I knew there was one, and it was not pretty.

“She’s going to want to talk to me,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes.

I pulled her into my arms. “If you don’t want to talk to her, you don’t have to.”

She let out a deep breath and looked at me sadly. “I know, but I need to tell her I love her, but I just can’t have her in my life right now.”

I nodded. “Did you want to set up a time to meet with her?” I asked.

“Yeah, maybe somewhere public?” she suggested.

“The police station is public.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “What has my dad told you?”

“Nothing, really, just that she gave you money problems. Is there something you want to tell me?”

She shook her head. “There’s a lot, but I think my dad is most irked about her using my identity. He doesn’t know about the other stuff.” She rubbed her eyes, as if this topic was making her tired.

“We moved around a lot. We had lots of different addresses, but everything always stayed in my name.” She pulled her feet up on the couch and hugged her knees. “What I didn’t know was that she was moving around to keep from being caught.” She let out a huff. “We moved so much that I didn’t get to go to school often. It usually required too much information on mom to register, and she never wanted to be tracked. In the end, she was caught by truancy officers. I was taken away from her.”

She hid her face, and I pulled her into my lap. “They found my dad and sent me to live with him. I didn’t know what my mom had been doing, until I tried to buy the house and found I had all sorts of accounts open, and most were delinquent,” she said frowning.

“Dad blames her for messing up my credit, but in the end, it turned out okay. I was able to prove I had moved in with him, with the help of my social worker, and the delinquent accounts were closed.  Ms. Jordan was really wonderful. I wasn’t even legally under her anymore, since my dad had taken me in, and then I was over eighteen, but she kept in touch and really came through when it was needed. I wouldn’t have gotten that first house without her,” she said with a small smile. “I’m still friends with her.  I’d really like you to meet her someday.”

“Of course, baby, she sounds awesome.”

I held her for a moment, letting her sit silently, before I finally got up the nerve to ask, “So, do you have any idea what your mom would want?”

She frowned. “I want her to be here because she missed me, but I have a feeling she’s here because she needs money.”

“We don’t have any to give her,” I said, not willing to give a dime to that woman. She let out a sigh, resting her head in the crook of my neck. I knew she was thinking of giving her mother our savings. I had to put a stop to that right now, or her mother would keep coming back for more.

“We need to have some money for the baby. We don’t have any medical insurance. I’m sure it’ll cost a small fortune to have a kid. Don’t they need lots of stuff?” I asked.

She squeezed me tightly and let out a deep breath then smiled up at me. “You know, you’re right. Why don’t we go see if we can make one?” she asked, getting up and pulling me off the couch. I followed willingly, because she was my wife, she was beautiful, and I would do anything in the world to make her happy.  I also followed because I was not stupid. I didn’t know a lot of things, but I did know this: I would definitely love
trying
for a baby.

Chapter 28 – Scheme Foiling

The dinner meeting between Addy and Tamera was arranged for 6:00 PM at the diner. Daniel would just happen to be there at another booth, and Officer George would be keeping an eye on the creep who was with her mom. He would be dressed in plain clothes, so he didn’t draw attention to himself. Daniel concurred that Tamera wanted something from Addy, and he figured they might make a move, while they knew we wouldn’t be in the house.

I hated that I thought horrible things about my mother-in-law, but I was nowhere near trusting that woman. I dressed nicely in a button-up shirt and combed my hair as best I could. Addy found a summer dress that she had gotten in the free stuff and tied a ribbon around the waist to make it fit better. She looked beautiful. She had another matching ribbon in her hair, and I just wanted to pull it out and take her to bed. I still couldn’t get enough of her.

We pulled up to the diner, and I could tell immediately when Addy spotted Tamera. Her body went stiff, and she took a deep breath, as she squeezed my hand. We could feel someone watching us and looked behind us to see Daniel in his cruiser. He gave Addy a soft smile and hopped out of his car.

“Fancy seeing you here. You’re all dressed up and looking pretty as a June bug, Addy,” Daniel complimented, helping her out of the truck. She hugged him and then took his hand. The plan was for him to sit at another booth, but it looked like Addy was happy Daniel had shown up and was going to make him sit with us.

I held one hand, and Daniel held the other, when we entered the diner. Tamera looked annoyed, when she saw Addy was not alone. She sat back, crossing her arms, and she glared at us. “What is this? I wanted a quiet dinner with my daughter. There are private matters I want to discuss with her.”

I wrapped my arm around my wife. “Well, Tamera, she’s my wife, and I wish to be included in the discussion. She asked me to come, so I’m here for her.”

“I just showed up for dinner and saw my girl dressed up,” Daniel said and lifted their clasped hands, patting hers lightly. “From what I can tell, she wants me to stay.”

“This is ridiculous. Addy’s a grown woman. She doesn’t need you two putting your noses where they don’t belong.”

“Mom,” Addy spoke softly, looking at her mother with pleading eyes.

“Addy, I need to speak with you, and I don’t want your father hovering, ready to snap at the chance to put me in lockup again,” she said, practically growling at Daniel. “Your little boy here is no different,” she threw another glare at me. “I don’t know what Daniel told you, but it was all lies,” she hissed at me.

“Daniel never said a word to me about you.” It was the truth. He had talked to Reed about her, and I just had happened to overhear it.

Tamera shook her head. “We’ll just have to meet another time,” she said, sliding to the edge of her seat in the booth.

“No, Mom, wait,” Addy started to panic. “Dad, can you maybe go get some coffee or something at the counter?”

Daniel leaned over, kissing his daughter’s forehead. “Of course, Addy, you know where to find me if you need me.”

Daniel got up and walked away, and then Tamera glared at me expectantly, waiting for me to leave as well, but that wasn’t going to happen. No way would I leave my girl to fend for herself against Tamera. I would just have to play nice, so we could get the next scheme out of her.

“Mom, I’d like to introduce you to my husband, Matthew Martin. We’ve been together for over a year now and just married a little over a week ago,” Addy said with a hopeful smile.

I reached my hand across the table to shake Tamera’s hand, and she eyed it warily before taking it. “It’s good to finally meet you, Tamera. I understand you’ve been in town for a while,” I said, trying to make small talk. That was as friendly as I would get.

“Yes, well, Jennifer Staley called, letting me know my daughter was getting married. Why didn’t you call me, Addy?  It really hurt that I wasn’t invited.”

Addy took a deep breath. “Mom, you said you didn’t want to see me anymore. You told the social worker to just keep me and not to bother bringing me back.” Her words became soft, like she was fighting tears. I wanted to deck that woman. I knew my mother had raised me better, but I think she would have made an exception for Tamera. I squeezed my girl closer to my side.

Tamera let out a huff. “I didn’t mean it,” she snapped, sounding annoyed. “I just said that, so they’d get out of the apartment. I had shit I had to get done. Look, Addy, you’re my daughter. You’re my flesh and blood, so that means we always have each other’s backs, no matter where life takes us.” Tamera sounded like she was buttering Addy up. I hated that she was saying this crap to her.

“Really?” Addy asked hopefully, and Tamera reached a hand out and took Addy’s.

“Really, baby, you know I’ll always be there for you.”

When Tamera said those words, Addy’s face seemed to turn to stone. She pulled her hand back. “What do you need, Mom?”

“Look, I know we just reconnected and all, but I’m starting up a new business, and I wanted you to invest in it.”

“Stop,” Addy said, putting her hand up. “Don’t give me the bull crap you’re selling to everyone else. What do you really need?”

Tamera fidgeted, pulling up her sleeve a little to scratch a bump on her bruised arm. I realized she had track marks on her arm, along with some handprints. I wasn’t sure if that jerk she was with was beating her, but I didn’t think she was looking for help right now. Not the kind I would be willing to give her.

“Money’s tight, and the market is down. Dwayne can’t catch a break,” she said, shaking her head. “We came here as a last resort. I heard you sold your last house and bought a new one. I was hoping you had some money left from that sale, or maybe you got a good deal and could take out a second mortgage?”

“For what, Mom? Tell me what you want the money for,” Addy demanded.

Tamera looked down at her lap for a moment and then back up at us, her eyes landed on our hands. “Dwayne and I want to get married.”

“What’s the con? Why are you getting married?” Addy asked, not believing for a second that they would get married for love. Tamera must have noticed her tone.

“He loves me,” Tamera said defiantly.

“You don’t need money to get married, Mother,” she said sharply.

Tamera dropped her head again and scratched her arm some more. I didn’t know if it was an itch, or if she had a bad bug bite, either way, if she didn’t stop, it would probably get infected.

“He wants to buy life insurance.”

“No,” Addy said sharply. “I will not let him kill you.”

“He won’t, it’ll just look like…”

Addy was furious and stopped her before she could say anything more about “the plan.”

“I don’t trust him. I know you don’t love me, Mom, but I do care about what happens to you. I will not provide the means for some guy to make a quick buck off of killing you,” Addy said fiercely.

Our conversation was interrupted by Daniel. “Addy, honey, I’ve got to go.” Daniel gave me a meaningful look, “George called.” He looked over at Tamera, glancing at her itchy arm and frowned. I had a feeling Daniel had overheard the whole conversation. “Your friend has been taken in for breaking and entering.” He looked over at me and said, “He’s being charged with burglary as well.”

Tamera looked down at her lap, her face looked pained.

“George caught him breaking into your house. He busted out a back window. You might want to see if you have the means to patch that before it rains tonight.”

I nodded, thanking him, and he turned, walking out. He looked weary as he left.

“Addy,” I said softly.

She closed her eyes, and I could see she was fighting tears. What surprised me was Tamera was doing the same.

“He said he wouldn’t. I told him not your house.” Tamera looked up, and as messed up as she was, I could see some sincerity in her eyes. “Addy, I’m…”

Addy cut her off, putting her hand up. “No, I don’t want to hear I’m sorry from you one more time. You’re a mess, Tamera, you always have been. I’m sure he thought I wouldn’t press charges, but I am. I will. I don’t want him to kill you. I know you don’t see it or don’t want to see it, but Dwayne doesn’t love you, and he
will
kill you. I refuse to give you anything, until you’re ready to get clean and get away from him.”

Tamera frowned and shook her head. “I can’t, I need…”

Addy stopped her again. “You need the drugs he’s feeding you. Well, he’s going to jail. He won’t be feeding you anymore. You’re safe for now, Tamera.  Pull yourself together, and then maybe I’ll let you back into my life,” my girl said bravely. She slid out of the booth and waved over the waitress, handing her a twenty. “Let my mother get whatever she wants to eat and keep the rest as a tip.”

When we got to the truck, she climbed in, but once I was in, she grabbed me, holding on to me for dear life. I hugged her back, trying to comfort her, as she sobbed pitifully. I didn’t know how long we sat there, but Daniel eventually came back, and he saw me holding my crying girl and frowned. He glared at Tamera through the window. She was looking lost and confused at the moment. It was pathetic. He looked back at us, and I rolled the window down.

Addy was startled by the movement, but once she saw her dad there, she quickly wiped her tears away. “She needs help, Daddy, please,” Addy begged.

Daniel looked over at Tamera and rubbed his face. You could tell he really didn’t want to mess with his ex-wife, but he would do anything for his little girl. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

We watched as Daniel slid into the booth across from Tamera. She looked defensive at first, but then she suddenly burst into tears, crying into her hands. Daniel got up and moved next to her, wrapping his arm around her, letting her sob into his chest. He gave us a tight smile and nodded. We knew he had her and would do everything in his power to help her, to make Addy happy. Addy might have questioned her mother’s love, but at that moment, she knew her father loved her more than anything in the world.