Keeping Hope (Broken Girl Series) (12 page)

My body and mind are still exhausted from the restless sleep and all the prior nights. Every noise had caused me to jump when I was with Christopher, my mind refusing to shut off so I could get some damn sleep.

“It’s eight-thirty AM precisely,” she says proudly. “And I’m starved.”

I chuckle, pulling back the sheets before climbing out of bed, and padding across to the toilet.

“Okay, madam, let’s get ready and go get some breakfast, shall we?”

Cole groans loudly. I look over at him stretching out on the bed. He places his hands under his head, as though he’s about to do sit ups. “Damn, you girls are loud,” he moans.

“Well aren’t you a grumpy pants this morning,” Hope snarls.

I laugh. Loudly. Cole’s eyes go wide, his mouth twisting ruefully at the corners as he contemplates his next move. He jumps off of the bed and strides toward Hope. Throwing her over his shoulder, he begins tickling her ribcage as she frantically kicks and giggles.

“So, who’s grumpy?” he laughs.

“Ppppuuut me down,” Hope stutters, trying to speak through her fit of giggles. I lean against the door frame, admiring Cole as he continues tormenting little Hope. It surprises me just how good he is with her. A smile spreads across my face. The sound of her laughter warms my heart.

Cole stares across at me, his brow lifting. “What you smiling like a Cheshire cat for? Don’t you know you’re next?” he warns. His eyes widen as he takes a small step toward me.

“Oh no you don’t, mister. Don’t you even dare!” I warn, holding up a finger. I shake it at him as I slowly step backward. I turn and dash into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind me. I hear the two of them giggling out there as if they are planning together.

Dammit!

All three of us make our way downstairs. We are the first there and Hope heads straight over to the food, helping herself to the cereal. She also grabs a large glass of orange juice to wash it down with.

Damn this little girl can eat!

I pour a steaming mug of much needed coffee. My shattered body aches and the exhaustion has not yet worn off.

Baby girl is super active this morning. My hand flies down, taking in every movement and loving the feeling of the life growing inside of me. Cole places his hand over mine, intertwining them.

He’s standing behind me as he leans his head on my shoulder. “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world waking up with you and this little one.” He kisses the side of my face before reaching out and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

The sound of a wolf whistle causes my head to whip back, looking at the source of the noise.

I see Pete and his muscles swaggering into the room. “How’s my beautiful girl this morning?” he sings looking me dead in the eyes.

My stomach drops and I feel my face flush. I narrow my gaze in warning. He better not say anything.

His face becomes smug as he waltzes right past me toward Hope. My shoulders drop as I relax, realizing he was talking to Hope. I know I haven’t done anything wrong, but I can’t help to have this uneasy feeling, as if Cole will sense something is going on here.

The tension grows as Pete’s eyes flit to me intermittently. I walk toward Cole who is positioned on a stool at the side of the bar. I wiggle myself in between his legs, needing to be close. I glance back over to Pete. His eyes have narrowed and darkened. He looks away, concentrating his efforts on Hope.

“Can I get any of you some warm breakfast?” asks the woman who just entered. She’s not the same lady from last night, but she wears the logo of the motel on her shirt. She has a pad and pen in her hand, ready to take our order.

Cole’s eyes go wide at the mention of a warm breakfast. The fair haired lady, adorning an old fashioned style apron, jots down our orders. The four biker guys enter just in time to also place an order.

We all sit down together at the huge old fashioned table. I have Hope to my left and Cole to my right. Pete decides to sit himself opposite me, catching my foot under the table. I retract my leg quickly, lifting my gaze, but avoiding his.

The chatter of everyone around the table fills the room. Cole leans into me, his arm around my shoulders. His thumb caresses the top of my arm.

My eyes dart up, feeling Pete’s fired stare. His impenetrable gaze causes me to swallow down hard. I shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny.

I turn my head to pay attention to Hope. She smiles at me, wiggling her fingers, indicating she wants me to lean in closer. I slouch down to her height.

She holds her hands on either side of her mouth as she starts to whisper in my ear. “That man has a lot of tattoos.”

“He does.” I nod in response.

“He has S-A-R-A on his hand.”

“So he does.”

“Why does he have Sara on his knuckles?” she quizzes. I see the intrigue written over her face.

“I think that’s his daughter’s name,” I reply honestly. What else could I say?

“My mommy’s name is Sara. You know, she is very pretty. Just like you.” Her shoulders slump and her head drops. I see the sadness written across her face. I slide off the chair, kneeling beside her. I recognize the pain and fear in her eyes. Despite her loud, chatty outer appearance, I see this girl is lost.

I take her in my arms, holding her tightly. “I will never be your mom, Hope, because no one can ever replace her. But I’d like to think we can be best friends. Would you like that?”

She squeezes me back tightly. “And you won’t leave me?” she asks, her voice frail.

“As long as you want me, Hope, I’ll be here.”

“And me,” declares Pete, shouting across the table.

I twist my head, glaring at him. What the hell is he playing at? I feel a hand on my shoulder and quickly whip my head in the opposite direction to see Cole standing beside me. Blood thuds through my veins.

I need to have this out with Pete. This can’t continue. I feel like he’s playing some sort of cat and mouse game and I’m the mouse.

“Ken’s right, Hope. You will always have a special place in our hearts,” Cole beams.

I look back at Hope’s face, her expression a mixture of sadness, joy, and a little confusion. She raises her brow, putting a finger over her lip in contemplation. “What’s wrong, honey?” I ask.

“Does this mean I get to live with you?”

I look at Cole, not really sure what to say to Hope. I don’t think there’s any chance that child protection services will let her stay, but how can I tell her no? It will break her heart.

“It’s not really up to me, but wherever you stay, I will try my best to keep you close.” I wink at her.

Right then, the waitress brings a tray of food. Perfect distraction.

“Oh look, your food is here. Let’s eat,” I say, trying to distract Hope’s attention.

Cole takes his seat back beside me. Reaching for my hand, he takes it in his tightly, leaning toward me. “Did you hear Hope say that her mom’s name is Sara?”

I nod, acknowledging his words.

“Coincidence?” he asked suspiciously. “Or do you think they could really be related? Chuck did say Hope looked just like his Sara.”

I shrug and shake my head from side to side. “Let’s keep this between us for now. We don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Who knows what he’ll do if he gets wind of this. He could try and snatch her or cause a scene, and quite frankly, she’s been through so much. We need to let the police do their job and find out.”

We all sit around eating our breakfast, the whole room full of chatter. The door behind us slams loudly, causing me to jump out of my skin. I place a hand on my chest hoping it will help to steady my erratic heartbeat. I twist in my seat, trying to see who has entered the room. I hear the chair beside me scrape on the floor as Cole stands and runs over to his mom who has just entered.

Cole embraces Jocelyn. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m so pleased to see you, mom.”

“You’re a stupid boy.” She taps him lightly on the arm. “But I’m so glad you found her. I still can’t believe you found her, Cole.”

Holding back the tears, she walks toward me, arms open wide. I walk quickly to her and enter her embrace.

“Oh, Kennedy, my beautiful girl. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She pushes back, looking frantically at my face. “You are okay, aren’t you?”

“I’m fine,” I explain.

She pulls me back in her arms, squeezing me tightly. I feel the wet of her tears against my cheek as she starts to cry, quietly sobbing.

“I thought we had lost you. I would never have forgiven myself if anything happened to you.”

“Please don’t cry,” I plead, holding back my own emotions. I want to remain strong, not only for myself, but for Cole, Hope, and of course, Jocelyn.

She pulls back, retrieving a tissue out of her pocket and starts to wipe her face, sniffling.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. You don’t need to see me like this.” I see her visibly shaking herself off.

“Thank you for all you have done, Jocelyn. Cole told me how hard you and Mr. Peterson have worked with the police and the authorities.”

She pushes her shoulders back, straightening herself in front of me. “Damn straight we have. I wasn’t going to rest until that evil scumbag was caught.” She takes a deep breath. “But you know we need to go to the station and make statements, right?” She looks at me tentatively, dropping her head to meet my eye. “I will be with you every step of the way,” she says, kindness lacing her every word.

“I can do this, Jocelyn. I know I can.”

I feel a little hand tugging at the back of my top. I turn my head to see Hope grinning at me widely.

“I think someone wants to say hello.” I smile at Jocelyn.

“Hi.” Hope waves, peeking from behind me.

“Well this must be Hope. I’ve heard so many lovely things about you, my girl.”

“You have?” she questions, stepping to the side of me and taking my hand.

“I heard you’re the bravest little girl in the whole wide world.”

“Hmm hmm,” she answers coyly.

“Have you come to take me away? Because I really want to stay with Kennedy.” She clings even tighter to my side.

“You do? Well you know Kennedy lives with me and Cole, don’t you?”

“She does?” she asks, her voice full of confusion. Hope looks up at me as I nod slowly.

Jocelyn drops down on to one knee in front of Hope. “You really need someone who can take care of you, honey. Kennedy and Cole have to go to school and I will be out at work all day, so will my husband. As much as we would love to have you, I’m really sorry, sweetie. It just isn’t possible. But, I’ll tell you what…”

“What?” Hope sniffles.

“We will arrange for you to come to us for sleepovers. How does that sound?”

“Okay, I guess.”

Jocelyn holds out her hand to Hope. “Deal?” she muses.

“Deal.” Hope smiles back at Jocelyn.

I see her look behind me at the noise coming from the table.

“Scary looking dudes, aren’t they,” she whispers to Cole, pointing over to Chuck and the others.

“If it wasn’t for them we would never have found Ken. We’ve a lot to thank them for.”