Trent (Redemption Romance Book 4) (22 page)

"It's so much," I started but stopped when his mouth found mine.

Cali showed us around the rest of the property. There were stables, a fenced off garden, and a beautiful outdoor kitchen set on a large patio poured just steps down from the deck. The bedrooms were nice and spacious, though not huge. The kitchen was somewhat outdated but clean. The master bedroom was perfection. It had an amazing walk-in closet, and a beautiful bathroom with a deep tub, big enough for four. The French doors opened to a veranda overlooking the back of the property and the pond, giving an even better view from the second story.

It took everything I had to remember the price and not scream out, "We'll take it." Trent and I seriously needed to talk about the money thing. I knew things wouldn't be fifty-fifty for us, but I didn't want to feel like a leech either.

After viewing the other homes Cali had selected for us, all nice, beautiful even, that first one stayed in my mind. Trent had been right, I could see it. The image in my mind was so perfect, I wasn't sure I could do it. I remembered back to the scene in
Steel Magnolias
when Julia Roberts talks about sitting on the porch being covered in grandchildren. That was the image I had too. That had been my mother's dream and because of the horrendous acts of others, her dream had been stripped from her. Could I still give her a piece of it? Could I risk it, could I try and give Trent and me the dream of a family that we shared?

Feeling my anxiety level increase as Cali extolled the virtues of this last house, a bead of cold sweat ran down my spine, and my stomach tightened. Slipping my hand from Trent's, but trying to act casual, I moved toward another sprawling lawn. I needed a little space, to find my control and to center myself once more.

Watching Amber walk away from me, a creeping feeling of dread flowed down my spine. I felt her hand grow cold and had noticed a slight tremble just before she pulled away and moved off. Her friend Cali was still droning on, seemingly not noticing Amber's retreat, so I broke in to stop her.

"Give me a minute."

She responded, but I wasn't listening. My gaze was wholly focused on Amber, the love of my life. She was faltering, and I didn't know why. I didn't think I had pushed her too soon, we were committed, and I knew it. She would have an issue with the money, but that wouldn't cause a reaction like this. She would just fight me, get in my face and yell, this was something different.

"Shit," I muttered, wondering if she had already put it together about her car. It had been purposely tampered with, I had no doubt. The problem was, I assumed it was my father, but it could have been any number of other people. With my job and the current animosity, to outright hatred of police in general, someone could have targeted her because of me. Either way, whoever had removed the cap and wedged the valve open, it was my fault. Sure, it was just a flat tire, I knew that. I also understood that it was likely just the beginning.

"Hey," walking up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her middle and pulled her slight body into mine, her back to my front. She was trembling but silent, so I moved us so my back shielded us from Cali's view and turned her in my arms to look down into her red-rimmed and damp blue eyes.

"What's this?" I asked, brushing a tear from her cheek. Leaning down, I kissed the single trail of dampness and held her tight in my arms.

Shaking her head, she didn't answer but burrowed deeper into me. I wanted to shake her, to force her to tell me what the fuck was going on, but I couldn't do that. I wouldn't, no matter how frustrating the entire situation was. I hated seeing her upset. Her tears about broke my heart. Having no idea what had upset her, I waited. I was holding the most precious woman I'd ever met in my arms.

"I'm fine," Amber declared, pushing back from me. Instead of letting her go, I grasped her biceps and looked down at her. It was obvious that she was trying to straighten her back and move past whatever had sent to reeling, but I wasn't going to have it.

"Tell me."

Letting out a deep sigh, her shoulders relaxed, and she looked down at her feet. With a single finger, I guided her chin back until her eyes met mine.

"I'm afraid."

"Of?"

Our voices were quiet, soft with the intimacy of the moment. I hoped that Cali took the hint and gave us the privacy we needed.

"All this," she explained on a sign, stretching out her arm and indicating the house and grounds surrounding us.

"You don't like this house?"

"It's fine, but that isn't what I meant. When we were at the first house, I saw it. I knew what you were trying to say, and I did, I saw it. I could imagine us there, but I'm afraid to try."

I felt my body stiffen, and my blood run cold. I waited for what she was about to say.

"After talking to Mom, I've been thinking about trying again. Tt scares the shit out of me, though. I want it so much, the life we talked about, but I'm afraid of what will happen to me if -"

"Shh, I know." Pulling her back to me, I held her and kissed her soft pink lips and let myself imagine. I was glad that I pushed, that I knew what had her in such a state, but if anyone could overcome that fear, the fear we both shared, it was her.

"I'm afraid too, sweetness. Afraid that if the worst happens, you'll cut me out of your life again. I can't live without you."

We spent a few more minutes holding on to one another, kissing and caressing, before we turned to find Cali.

A few hours later, after a quick dinner at a local Mexican dive, we pulled up in front of Amber's house. It was five minutes past seven and Gavin was already there looking at Amber's tire and scanning the area for clues.

"What is it?" Her soft voice asked from the passenger seat.

"Your tire was deflated intentionally," I explained, keeping my voice devoid of emotion, or the gut clenching fear I held just below the surface all day.

A sharp intake of air from Amber had me turning to face her. Her skin paled as I watched her put the puzzle pieces together.

"You think it's your father's doing?" She wasn't really asking, and I didn't know what to say, so I shrugged.

An hour went by after Amber walked inside the house, as Gavin and I talked, fingerprinted and did a thorough search of the outside of the house for any indication that someone had been there. The thing was, she'd been parked on the far side of the driveway. My truck had been nearest the camera, blocking its view of her car. If someone had parked down a ways and walked up from that side, it may not have spotted the person. We confirmed that nothing had tripped it, aside from a neighbor's dog in the yard and an older lady walking by on the sidewalk.

"You know, the way it's jimmied, it was a slow leak, so it could have been done somewhere else too. She might have driven home on it, and it went the rest of the way flat overnight." Gavin suggested, then replied, "maybe not," as I pointed down to the cap that had been left on the ground.

After we had talked a little more, Gavin left to spend his evening with Dawn, and I went inside to tell Amber everything I didn't know.

Sunday afternoon, I called to check in with my mom, who was getting suspicious with my constant hovering.

"You've called me at least once a day all week. What's going on?"

"Mom, I just want to make sure everything is fine with you."

"Bull crap, Trent, tell me." She demanded. My mother wasn't a fool, and she could read me like a book, so I explained what had happened to Amber's tire and my concern that Daddy-dearest was stepping up his game. My concern was that he'd show his presence again, even though he'd been incognito for a while. I was concerned about Amber's safety. I knew that he would use that emotion against me. He thought that if he created more fear that I would eventually capitulate to his ridiculous demands. He wanted my trust fund - not all of it, but a lot. He also wanted his position reinstated as president of Harper Oil. I had no say over that. My mom was on the board, not me. My concern for mom that he would try to bully her was justified.

"I don't know, honey, that doesn't sound like your father. He wanted power and prestige. I don't see him messing with Amber's car, I think he'd try to approach her, or you to get his message across more effectively."

Shit, I hadn't told her everything, so now was the time. She was pissed right the hell off at me for keeping everything that had already happened from her. I told her about the rose bushes at her house too. She noticed, of course, but hadn't seen him anywhere around.

After disconnecting the call, I needed to talk to Amber. I wanted to see her, even if it was just for a few minutes. I needed to ease my mind that she was safe. Since she was at work, I decided to drive to Indulgence and pay her a visit.

Walking through the front doors of the store, I stopped dead at what I saw. Amber was standing in another man's arms, holding him and smiling wide, just seconds before he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I'm so glad you're here, I've missed you like crazy." She giggled and pulled him in for another hug. Rage colored my vision as I looked on in stunned horror. Aside from her family and our friends, I had never seen her in another man's arms, and I didn't like it one little fucking bit.

As the pair pulled apart, a woman I hadn't noticed, walked, or rather waddled over and the man pulled her possessively into his side. She was hugely pregnant, and when she beamed up at him, he rubbed her stomach with obvious pride. Letting out a relieved breath, I walked toward the trio.

"Hey, sweetness," I grumbled, somewhat sheepishly, though she would hopefully never know the things that had just crossed my mind. I felt like shit for thinking she could do something like that for even a second. Amber was honest to a fault. There was no way she would even think about messing around. The entire thing was ridiculous - now - that she wasn't in another man's arms.

A light brightened Amber's beautiful face as I made it to her side and she stretched up on tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on my lips.

"Trent, I wasn't expecting you, I'm glad you stopped by, this is my cousin Drew and his beautiful wife, Tiffany." She introduced, indicating the couple watching us with open curiosity.

Jesus, her cousin? I was an ass. Reaching out, I shook each of their hands and after settling my ridiculous heart learned that they lived in Plano and were out here visiting some other friends and decided to stop in to see Amber.

Once Amber's family left, she turned her radiant smile on me again and informed me that I was taking her to lunch. Dawn was off, but Aurora was in the shop, so we headed out, promising to bring her back something.

The following day, Gavin and I worked on trying to find my father. His parole was over, so there wasn't a record of his current residence. He didn't have family in the area, nor friends that I knew about. If he was living close by, he was doing under the radar.

Amber decided that I was over protective with my phone calls and texts every few hours, though I didn't care. She was my world, and I had already let my dad get away with too much shit with the women in my life.

Mom felt the same as Amber did since I called her a lot too. Natalie hung up on me earlier in the day when I called to ask if she noticed anything or had heard from our father. She texted me later and told me that she would let me know if she came across anything, but until then, I needed to settle. That was one thing I couldn't do. There was something coming, I could feel it. I couldn't control it, and I didn't know what else I could do to stop it. I wanted to wrap all three of those women in bubble wrap and keep them with me. In some recess of my deranged mind, I knew that I was behaving irrationally.

"Do you want to make an offer on that first house?" I asked Amber as we ate dinner Thursday night. I relaxed on the calls a little, much to her relief but I had started obsessing with monitoring the security systems instead.

Amber's head shot up, and she sat completely still for a minute, mouth open wide with obvious surprise.

"Um, I don't know. It's a hell of a lot of money. The one we saw Friday was probably more in our price range, don't you think?"

Shrugging, I took another bite of the linguine she made and tried to figure out how to navigate the situation.

"I want you to have the perfect home, honey. I don't want you to settle for something that is just okay, or to pick something to live in for a while."

"But the money, Trent. I don't have that kind of cash."

"Amber, did your parents split the cost of their house, or did they pool their resources and buy the best thing they could for the future they wanted?" I knew the answer to that already. Amber's mom had stayed home with her, doing volunteer work, but mostly devoting her time and attention to Amber and her dad.

"They were married. I was five when they bought that house."

"Yeah, and if I thought you were ready, I'd have you at the church so fast your head would spin." The shocked look on her face made me chuckle. She had to know, my intentions, and what I said was absolutely true.

"I - what?" She stammered, completely unsure of how to respond to my overly blunt statement.

"Come on, sweets. You know I love you. You're the one for me. We're buying a home together, not a house, but our home. Let's buy the one we both love, the one that we can grow old and gray together in, okay?" To my own ears, the pleading tone to my voice was grating, but as I watched Amber's face soften, I knew she didn't mind it.

By the end of the following week, we had negotiated for the home, we both wanted, had gotten the price I wanted, though Amber thought it was still too high and had begun the process of buying our new home. My father was still MIA, and all suspicious activity had stopped. The phone ringing on my desk drew me out of my contemplative mood, and I answered.

"Son, you need to listen to me. It's high time I take back my rightful place in the family business."

"Where are you, father?" I asked, moving my eyes up to meet Gavin's.

"That's not relevant. Look, the night I was arrested, things got out of hand. I went too far. I'll admit my mistakes. That isn't a good reason for me to lose everything I worked so hard for. I am still the head of this family, and you'd do well to remember that. We all make mistakes, Trent."

Anger boiled in my blood as I listened to the ludicrous nonsense spewing from his mouth. It was the first time he ever admitted any wrongdoing, sadly, I knew it was only to encourage my agreement. I wondered if he was so far up his own ass that he believed that shit, or if he was just insane.

"You call abusing your wife and daughter for years was just a mistake? I think you've lost your grip on reality. You need to leave all of us alone. For whatever reason, Mom didn't go after you for anything. That means you have the proceeds from the house, your retirement, investments and any savings you had from then. You're certainly not broke."

"It's my job, Trent. To take control as the man of this family. You need to fall in line, just like you always did. You certainly enjoyed plenty of the benefits of my position, and you will again. You'll quit that ridiculous job of yours and join me in running the corporation, just like you always should have."