Love Me ~ Like That (20 page)

He wants to help me now? “Hendrix, thank you for your help with my grandparents, but we are still going to see other people, right? I’ve met someone that I’m seeing.”

He comes to sit beside me again. “Bailey, I know it will take some time to build your trust back, but I love you and I can’t live without you. Besides, with around the clock nurses, you can move in here with me. I don’t want you seeing anyone else. You are mine. We can work through this, Bailey. We have been together so long.”

He rubs my leg soothingly and all I can do is sit here. This day has been too much, and he’s taken away my breath with this change in behavior and his generous offer. “I’ve got to think about all of this, Hendrix. I’ve opened my eyes to how you treated me like shit our whole relationship. A few presents aren’t going to change that, but paying for my grandparents’ healthcare gives me something to think about.”

He pulls me to him and tries to kiss me.

I pull away from him. I need to leave so I can think. Him kissing and hugging me is clouding my judgment. It always does. “Let me go so I can think about this.” I stand up.

“I’m apologizing for all of that, Bailey. Give me another chance. At least promise me you won’t see anyone else until you decide.”

“I can’t make promises like that.”

“Why?” Hendrix pops up from the sofa. “Who are you seeing? Who did you meet?”

“His name is Cash. He’s our new neighbor.”

He bends over laughing. “Oh, that’s a good one, Bailey. A redneck. No, really, who are you seeing?”

See, him looking down on people is what has gotten us into this mess in the first place. “I have to go,” I pick up my Target purse and leave the gifts. “I’ll call you tomorrow about your offer, but I’m going to see Cash. I owe him for getting my Granny to the hospital.”

I move to walk away and Hendrix pulls me back into his embrace. He isn’t happy about this decision.

“Bailey, maybe you don’t understand. I love you and I want to make a life with you.”

My emotions are on overload.

“Now kiss me, Baby, before you leave me. I will have someone out paving your drive tomorrow, and I will have a full staff ready for your grandfather in the morning. It’s time for us now, Bailey. Our future will be perfect. I can provide for you and take care of your grandparents.”

He is talking to me so sweetly and running his hand softy over my hair. I turn and give him the tiniest smile ever then let him kiss me.

“That’s better. That’s my girl. You can’t replace me with a redneck. How can he take care of you like I can? We belong together, Babe. You know this, right?”

I nod and kiss him back.

He pushes me against the wall and presses his body hard into mine.

“You’re right, Hendrix. We have been together for a long time.”

I kiss him hard.

“I knew you would come around to my way of thinking, Baby. This is our destiny.” He insists on walking me to my Jeep, buckling my seatbelt for me. “I think we need to get you something decent to drive too. Pick out anything you want. It’s yours. Whatever you want, Bailey. I can give you the world.”

I give him a little nod. “Bye, Hendrix, I will call you later. You are so kind for helping out my family. I love you, but this is all a little sudden and I need time to think.” I close my door and back out of his driveway. He stands there with his arms crossed. What the shit am I going to do now? I need his help more than I need anything else in this world, but something tells me he isn’t being genuine.

I need help from a higher power. Why does life have to be so complicated? My mind whirls a hundred miles an hour. What would Granny tell me to do? If I were to ask my dad, he would say make a pro’s and con’s list. Mom would probably tell me to follow my heart. But I really want to know what Granny would say, and she is the one person who I can’t bother with this. Oh brother, what am I going to do now? Decisions… Decisions.

Today has been a crazy day. I have a lot to process. My mental state has gone haywire. Mom has finally calmed down with a call into her psychiatrist who she’s seeing first thing in the morning. We knew my dad had cheated on my mom occasionally, but with Clay’s arrival we discovered my dad had been a cheater their whole marriage. He has a whole other family. We hadn’t a clue about Clay or his seventeen-year-old sister, Oakley. Mom is devastated over the news of dad’s death more than the news of this additional family.

Apparently, dad was a lot better at hiding his cheating ways from wife number two than he was from mom because when Ann, Clay and Oakley’s mom, found out about us, things got ugly. That is why he filed for divorce from Mom, although Ann still wasn’t happy about all his years of deceit.

Even though Ann and Dad had been arguing non-stop since she found out about us, they made things work for a few months. Dad was away on a gig for a week, but when he returned, Ann was suspicious of every move he made. Clay said that things escalated quickly, that Dad was trying to get a gun away from Ann when he was accidentally shot. The mess the impact of the bullet made sent them all into shock. Ann couldn’t live with herself over what happened and ended up turning the gun on herself. All of this happened in front of Clay and Oakley.

Oakley is having a difficult time dealing with the death of both of her parents, and Clay, who is only twenty himself, has no idea what to do for Oakley. He came here to inform us about dad, but if the truth be told, he is here for some guidance. Both sets of his grandparents have passed away. Overnight, he is the legal guardian of his younger sister. Heck, I wouldn’t know how to raise a teenager either.

When mom finally calms down and comes to her senses somewhat, she wants to meet Oakley and get to know her and Clayton. Mom has always had a big heart, and she hates they are now parentless. She insists Clay and I go pick Oakley up from the hotel.

We pick up Oakley, who looks nothing like me or Clay. She must be the spitting image of her mother. We bring her back to the house, and when Mom sees her in so much pain, something inside of her must click because she pulls Oakley in for a big hug. That’s when the poor girl breaks down.

Mom says, “Look at me, Oakley. I know nothing I will say or do will make you feel any better, but I know you will feel better after you talk about it. I’m here for that, and for both of you boys too. Why don’t we sit down and express our feelings.”

I love that woman. She is hurting herself, probably dying on the inside, but her motherly instincts have taken over.

Oakley nods, and mom leads her to the sofa then sits beside her. Clay and I follow suit.

“The best thing we can do is talk about our loved ones. That will help us get over our grief and keep them alive in our hearts,” Mom says, kicking off the conversation.

“I’m going to miss them so much, I can’t believe they’re gone.” Oakley cries.

“There, there, baby girl. You cry as much as you want. Tears help heal your heart. It’s okay to cry,” Mom says.

As I watch Mom comfort Oakley, I wonder how she puts her own grief aside to attend to ours?

“Oakley, remember when Mom played that April Fool’s joke on Dad last year telling him I got a girl preggers?” Clay asks.

He looks deep in thought.

“She kept him going for days until he started coming down on you and wouldn’t let you go out. He was going to protect your virtue from guys like me.”

Clay gives a half-hearted laugh.

“Yeah, I had got invited to prom and he wasn’t going to let me go. Then he relented, but made me get a dress that looked like it was for a nun.” She wipes her eyes.

“Sounds like Dad was playful with you guys,” I say. “I wish he’d been more playful here. I hate to even say it, but he only brought misery to us.”

“Cash, you don’t remember but when you were younger, we went out on the road with him,” Mom says. “He was so proud of you, showing you off. He would bring you on stage and get you to sing a little song that he taught you.”

“Really?” I don’t remember that, but I do remember him asking me to go out with him some as a teenager. I was dead set against doing anything with him by that time.

“Clay, will you take me back to the hotel? I’m tired,” Oakley says.

“There’s no reason for you guys to stay in that hotel. You’re family, and you’ll be staying with us. We have an extra room for Oakley, and Clay, we have a cot you can put anywhere you like. I’ll even sleep on the couch, and you can have my bed.” Mom says, holding onto Oakley and soothing her.

“Mrs. Wilson…” Clay says.

“Margie.” Mom shakes a finger at him. “There won’t be any of that formal stuff, and I won’t take no for an answer.” She has said her piece.

“Yes, ma’am, but there won’t be any of this you sleeping on the couch business and I’ll be picking up dinner for everyone. I insist on that. Deal?” Clay extends his hand to confirm the agreement.

“You drive a hard bargain, Clay, but it’s a fair one. Deal.” Mom shakes Clay’s hand. Mom has a way of making you feel better even in horrible circumstances.

Clay and Oakley leave to check out of the hotel and grab their stuff. I try to wrap my head around having siblings. I reckon I need to get to know them, too. Our father being a fucking asshole is not their fault. They were in the dark as much as we were. They both seem like good people, and if mom can come to terms with all of this, I can too.

They return and Mom helps Oakley get settled in the guest bedroom then let’s her have some alone time. Mom probably needs her own time to process all of this too, so I motion for Clay to follow me outside.

“Man, I’m sorry about hitting you like that.” I look at the ground, a little embarrassed at the way I reacted. “All I could see was my momma hurting.”

“No hard feelings, Cash, it would have been the same way with my mom. The way I look at it, if we grew up together as brothers, we would have been throwing punches for years.”

He gets quiet on me, in his own thoughts, I guess.

“So, he did it to you too, huh?” Clay asks.

Am I missing something? “Excuse me?” He has lost me.

“I’m assuming you are named after Johnny Cash, am I right?”

Well that isn’t hard to figure out. “Yeah, so he named you after Clay Walker?” That would be just like my dad to do something like that. He thought he was God’s gift to country music and wanted me to have the name of one of his idols.

“No, I’m named after Clayton Moore.”

I guess he can see I’m still confused.

“The Lone Ranger,” he says. “Clayton was the original Lone Ranger.”

I bust out laughing. This is even better than being named after Johnny Cash. I hum the theme song, “I bet you never get that. Wait, don’t tell me. Your bike is named Silver.”

I hop off the porch, and we walk over to his bike.

“I didn’t even think about that when I bought my bike.” He says, running a hand along the leather of the seat. “I just fell in love with it and dude, it’s a Harley, who wouldn’t love it.”

“You know this is cause for endless harassment from me, right?” Hey, isn’t that what a big brother is for? Giving the little brother hell? “I do agree it is a badass bike. I like how you’ve got it all chromed out.”

“Yeah, but it’s hell to keep it all polished. My bars are custom drags, but they’re the easiest to keep up. My wheels are a pain in my ass to keep clean. When I bought them, all those intricate details were the deal. Now, they are the bane of my existence. They don’t call them the Reaper for nothing. See all those sharp edges, yeah, they get me every time.” He examines his hands.

“What kind of Harley is this? Soft-tail, Roadster?” I bend down to take a closer look at the motor.

“It’s a Fat-boy Soft-tail custom. Definitely a piece of art, if I do say so myself. Yeah, you go right ahead, Johnny. At least I’m Moore Wilson than you.”

I’m glad he can joke around with me. Maybe I can help him forget this hell for a few minutes. “At least Oakley has a cool name.” I tell him before it hits me that dad wasn’t very original on names.

“She is glad it’s not Annie.” He leans up against the post on the porch.

“Is she good with a gun?” He shakes his head and grimaces.

Me and my big mouth. I need to start thinking before I speak. Guns are a touchy subject right now. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about it.”