Withholding Secrets (14 page)

As I went through the rows, I picked out the basics that I could turn into meals, cheap items, and if it had an off-brand, that was what I grabbed. A little seasoning and everything would be fine. Each time I put something in the cart, Kane’s existence hovered around and the grunt was loud enough for me to hear, allowing the shame to completely fill through my whole body. I didn’t have to worry about eating for a month. Not with how my stomach was revolting with each item I placed into the cart.

Stopping at the final aisle with the feminine products, the hesitation stumped me as Jordan’s little tidbit of information popped into my mind. A grown man thought that Sky was up for the taking all because she started her womanly processes. Telling Kane that the products were for Sky brought the water up from my stomach to burn in my mouth. “Kane, I need to grab some…”

Shrugging, he turned the cart and started following me as if heading down the woman aisle was an everyday occurrence. It was nature, and only a select few girls didn’t have to deal with the monstrosities of that life. But I was twenty-five and no man had ever escorted me down that aisle. And I didn’t want to start today.

“Let’s get what you need.”

Heat blistered my cheeks as I swallowed hard. I didn’t want him to know. He didn’t need to know. And why was he comfortable with heading down that aisle, anyway? Men did not want anything to do with the female row of products. Joe screamed and pitched a fit if anything of the sort even came near him. But, Kane was just … different, and I was not sure if it was in a good way or bad. “I just…”

A loud huff of air shot out of him as he shook his head and turned his interest to the cooler section across from us. Waving his hand behind him, the colorful playfulness thickened in his body and his muscles were finally relaxing. “So go get what you need. I’ll be right here.”

Taking the opportunity, I walked away heading for another aisle like he hadn’t known what I needed. How was I going to get them past him, though? He would see them. He would know. Maybe he thought they were for me.

He could think they were for me! He didn’t need to know they were for Sky. I grabbed a package of the items I figured Sky would use and headed back. When I looked at the cart that I had left being half full, he crammed so much in there that some items were almost falling out. I wasn’t even gone that long. And the meat. There was enough meat in there for two weeks.

Holding the product in my hand, I followed him to the checkout lines and he started emptying the cart onto the conveyor belt. As the cashier went through scanning each item, Kane slipped a card into my hand as he brushed past to put the bags in. When everything was tallied and the bags were filled and placed into the cart, I slid the card through. Seeing the total, a huge, thick, and sticky lump packed into my throat and the weight of a salty water explosion was shoving my heart down into my stomach. Pressing my lips together, I punched in the numbers Kane rattled off in the parking lot and accepted the sales receipt. Being reminded of the amount that was spent, my stomach lifted insisting my heart fly into my throat. There would be no way I could pay this back with my next paycheck and all of the bills.

Walking out with Kane just ahead of me, my heart violated my chest and pulverized my lungs to the point where I wasn’t sure if they would be able to hold any air. With a big smile on his face and jumping in to create small talk about Saturday’s game, he put the bags of groceries in the back seat, one by one, not bringing any attention to the fact I used his card for our groceries.

“It’s been quite a pleasure seeing you again.”

“Thank you, Kane.” The warmth settled into my cheeks and even my forehead, so I must have been bright red with all the droplets of crimson humiliation rushing to the surface. Humiliation was known to color you a nice shade, with a touch of gloomy disgust to really enhance the disappointment.

Still holding his card, I was shocked when he wrapped his arms around me as a few people walked past. Slipping the card back into his pocket, I noticed the tightness the denim had on what it was hiding underneath. It was a lot nicer than I imagined it to be. And hard. So hard … to the point where I could actually feel the muscle instead of any spot of cushion. If he had an ounce of fat on him, I would be surprised. Just the hint of his backside told me there wasn’t going to be any form of fat through his whole body. “Thank you so much for your help with the groceries.”

“My pleasure. And tell Jordan that there’s no practice Tuesday. I have a few appointments.”

“Sure. I’ll let him know.” When he pulled back, the warmth and comfort disappeared, allowing the crisp, cool loneliness to fill into the same spot.

I watched him walk away without saying anything, not being about to say anything because of the thick, heavy lump of tears that were on the verge of busting open. Just as I managed to open my mouth to thank him again, a woman who had to be in her late twenties ran over to him with her chest bouncing up and down in her tight light sweater. He laughed a little and stepped back when she went to throw her arms around his neck. She still managed to get in for a little hug, but he shied back. Her body began to stiffen in the tight, painted on black spandex and the top that was a size too small, realizing she wasn’t going to get the undivided attention she was craving with me in the vicinity just after the tight, body pressing hug he just gave me.

Pulling my mesmerized eyes away from him, I slid into the driver’s seat, started the car, and headed out of the parking lot, passing him a smile and a curt little wave and getting the daggers thrown at me by the woman. A green jitter entered into my blood and my leg bobbed up and down as I tried to control the amount of gas I was giving to the car. When I reached forty in the twenty-five zone, I pressed down on the brakes. But he was with that other woman. What was he doing with her now? Was he giving into going home with her? Why couldn’t I be the one he wanted to take home for the night?

Taking my eyes off the road as the trees passed by faster, my teeth grinded together and a hammer beat on my head, seeing that I was up to fifty miles per hour. Stomping on the brakes, my car jerked hard and I came to a fast stop, the seatbelt clinging to me, holding onto me for dear life. What in the hell was I just thinking?

Thursday, and nothing was solved with the bank. It didn’t help that being in my new position, I walked into a huge mess that wasn’t uncovered until I took over. When I did get a few minutes to call the bank, someone else popped into my cubicle and I had to wait until later to try them back. When I did get someone on the line, I was just placed on hold until another person stopped by and I had to cease my investigation.

Taking a seat at my desk for the hundredth time that day, I looked at the clock, my heart jumping into my throat. It was three, and Ben left me a message on my work phone earlier about having some business to take care of and he wouldn’t be there to let the girls practice their basketball. Instead, Jordan was going to meet up with Kane out from of the school like planned and the kids would go to the rink until I was able to get there and pick them up.

Just as I reached for the black phone in the cradle on the back corner of my cleared off work station, the light flashed and the ring blasted through the airways into my chest. Jitter bugs scattered over my skin leaving little prickles that brought an arctic chill to scathe my body.

When I brought up a ball of courage from the pit of my sinking stomach, I didn’t get a call from the bank like I figured it was, but the school notifying me of Jordan getting involved in a fight. Presenting the findings to my boss, he rushed me out the door and I drove as fast as I could to the school and parked beside Kane’s truck.

By the time I reached the principal’s office, Ben was seated on the bench beside his two children—Andrew, who was colored with the dark cherry all over his face, and Alicia, who had her arm around Sky, comforting her the best she could.

Sky stood, pressing the white ice pack to her cheek that was already burned red and had a light shade of purple coming through already. Her forearms were brazed by concrete, the knees of her jeans were shredded, and the beads of blood were soaking through the tan band aid.

My blood turned into an instant boil as it gushed through my heart, urging the rhythm into a mad dash for some answers. Anger pulsated through my limbs, and my hands began to tremble from the nerves that began to skitter scatter. “What in the hell happened?”  

Jordan pushed off the wall and dropped his guarding arms from his chest, and his eyes burned with the deep hatred he once had for me. This time, he wasn’t backing down from the anger and I needed to get him under control before someone did get their nose up our
shit creek
. “That asshole—” 

“Language!” Cupping her chin, I tilted Sky’s head back to get a better look at her cheek, but with the ice being pressed to it for a while now, it looked to be calming down. Still, I wanted to know who was messing with the little girl, and why wasn’t there anyone else stepping in to stop the bullying against her? Not knowing and not being there was beginning to fill my mouth with a layer of guilt ridden bile. “Who did this?”

“He … I said … and they … and I told … He won’t…” She sobbed breathlessly and fell right into my arms, burying her head in the chest of my simple black button down dress shirt. Spreading my hands over the back of her teal sweater, I let her cry a little more, cooing at her to get her calmed down enough to tell me what happened.

The heavy footsteps came down the hall as Kane’s raging body came closer and closer. The fear and the anger thrummed through my veins as I glared at him.

“I hate him. He’s … he’s so mean to me…” Pulling back just enough to look at me, the tears were already staining her innocent face and her chin was quivering with the next explosion of cries. “Jordan and Andrew came out and went after him … and now they are in trouble.”

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” With her petite body leaning in for more comfort, I blocked her and pulled her back so I could get a look at her concrete bite marks on her arms. From what it looked like, she was pushed from behind and tried catching herself. But if that was the case, then why were her arms chewed on and not her hands? “
What happened
?”

“He was messing with her again!” Jordan swung around on the heels of his dull, white sneakers and balled his fists while the rage was turning into an uncontrollable inferno that I wasn’t sure I could extinguish. When he raised his fist and took a cheap-shot at the freshly painted white wall, Kane’s hand shot up to catch the flying fist before Jordan had a mess of bones.

Stepping forward, I had a body slam into mine, a set of trembling arms wrapping around my waist stopping me from battling the raging bull. Luckily, Kane must have been right around the corner to step into the family wealth of undivided anger.

“You need to settle down right now.” The hiss came through a set of clenched teeth, and the muscle in Kane’s jaw tightened. “I will get you two out of this, but you better not say a damn word unless it is calm and rational. Do you understand me?”

“He won’t stop—” Jordan pulled away from Kane, and the rage slithered up to an anger I’d never witnessed in someone before. Both fists were ready to go, his knuckles a ghastly white, and his muscles were rigid and that of a tiger’s, ready to pounce and take down the elephant in the room.

“Jordan.” Ben cleared his throat and stood towering over the kid by a foot or more. His red and black plaid shirt was molded over his belly to prove that he did put on a few age induced pounds, but the snugness through his shoulders screamed that it was harder to find him some items that fit his burly size. This time, there wasn’t any blush in those chubbier cheeks of his, nor the glisten of happiness in his cornflower blue eyes. “I know what he did was wrong, but
we
need to stop this. Not you.”

I looked at Andrew and the slight blood stain in the corner of his lips. His shirt was torn and his nice blue jeans had grass stains on the knees and the backside of them. “What happened?”

Turning my look back to Ben and Kane, rage started to poison my system, and if someone didn’t start talking, I would jump right into the basket with Jordan’s temper.

“I just pulled up when the fight broke out. I was able to break it up before any more damage could be done.” Ben glanced over at his son with the anger darkening his cheeks.

“He was messing with her again, and I came out when he grabbed her hair and shoved her down. I tried to catch her, but I couldn’t get there in time.” Andrew stood, his shoulders dropping even more from the watchful eye of his fuming father. “So I went after him instead.”

“Thank you for stepping in to stand up for her, but fighting is wrong. You should have told someone.” I put my arm around Sky, holding her to me as her body just vibrated with the cries.

“They said she was constantly provoking it, Keri!” Jordan anger eased back a bit, but still, his fists were clenched tightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me that this was going on?” I forced a deep breath while I took a gander over to the red-faced heated man and Kane with the fire deep in his eyes.

“Because, every time that we turn around…” The pain hit Jordan’s face hard as he pressed his lips tight together and the glass sheened over his dark eyes.

“Kane, would you sit here with her for a second?” I passed Sky over to Kane’s willing arms as he held her close to him, letting her cry. Taking Jordan by the arm, I walked him down the hall to what looked to be another hall of vacated classrooms. “Now … what is going on?”

“Every time we turn around, people are saying crap about us, Keri. Her teacher is being nasty to her and treating her like crap that makes her feel even worse about herself. There are rumors that we will be taken away from you, and that you are going to give us up because we are too much for you.” The anger swooshed from his golden skin, and the hurt flushed away. Drawing in his bottom lip, his eyes focused on the wall with the students’ artwork that was being displayed.

“Who said that?” Folding my arms across my chest, the rapid beating of my heart was hitting the thin sleeves of my shirt and the nausea began to brew in my belly. There was no way I would ever give those two kids up, and if he was thinking I would, then we would have another problem on our hands. I would have to stand up to whoever was the rumor starter and straighten them out myself.

“Her teacher, her math teacher, and he’s failing her, too. He sits there and makes comments about her being stupid and how slow she is and how she shouldn’t be in regular classes. Keri … she’s not stupid.” Terror flashed in his eyes as they began to fill with water. “He’s going to get us taken away from you.”

“That is the sort of thing that I need to know, Jordan. You should have told me what’s going on, so that I can take care of them.” I put my arm around him and swallowed hard as the anxiety was urging my heart rate to pick up and my stomach to clench tightly. Why was everyone so against me trying to give the kids a better life than what they had, or what they could have if they were to be split up?

“I’m sick of
him
bullying her because of what that fat prick is saying in class.” I raised my eyebrows at his language, and he pulled back the anger once again, allowing the tears to come back to the surface. “Sorry. But I tried talking to the kid, I talked to the teacher, and I talked to my teacher about it, and no one is doing a damn thing about it. Taking it into my own hands is the only way I can get it taken care of.”

“You should have told me what was going on. You can’t be fighting or you will get kicked off the team. It’s in the rules.”

“I know. Andrew went after him before I could, but she’s my sister. I’m supposed to protect her.” His eyes shot down to the floor as the shame pressed heavily on his shoulders. “It’s my job, too, because I am supposed to take care of her.”

“It’s my job to take care of you both. That is what makes us a family, and I don’t give a shit who tells us different. But, I can’t have the secrets and all this going on behind my back or someone will split us up.” Releasing my breath, pain gripped a hold of my chest and squeezed hard, not giving me the opportunity to take in some fresh air. “I’m not going to be upset over this, but you
have
to come to me if there are problems like this, or they will take you away from me. I can’t let that happen, Jordan. We have a lot of people watching us, and we can’t afford this to happen. You both are all that I have, and I can’t lose either one of you.”

“I’ve always had to protect her. Nobody else has ever cared.”

“I care, Jordan.” I gave him a quick hug and pulled him back to check him over, looking for any rips or holes in his clothing, and my chest finally loosened enough for me to take in some much needed air. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Hell no. That kid wouldn’t have stood a chance with me.” He smirked a little as he looked down at his red knuckles. “I was only able to get two hits in before Ben separated us.”

“Good. But don’t you dare let it happen again.” Sucking in the laugh, I walked him back to the bench and looked at Sky’s bloody knees and torn jeans. This was the second pair of jeans that the kid ruined, and I was about to let him have it myself. After taking care of the kid, I would have to confront the teacher and find out why he was singling out Sky and spreading lies about her, not to count, allowing her to be bullied in the classroom.

Kane brushed his fingers against my arm, sending a pool of warmth right to my center. “When you go in there, be calm and don’t just attack.
You
can’t afford to lose your temper either.”

I nodded, glancing at Ben with his brows pinched together and the scowl still in his cornflower eyes. All I needed was for him to hate me also. He was the first parent who actually spoke to me, or even shared a conversation with me. Our kids seemed to get along very well, and I didn’t want that to change either. Sky and Jordan needed good people in their lives.

The heavy door opened and a red-headed, freckle faced boy walked out with two professionally dressed parents behind him. His smirk danced across his ashen face as he passed Jordan, and the laugh bubbled out when he saw the tears running down Sky’s face. Both his eyes were already coloring with a deep purple hue, and the blood was stained on his upper lip and chin.

The mother, who was wearing an elite, top of the line white business suit, glared at me. Her plastic nose was flared, and the disgust was painted heavily over her face along with the makeup. “I suggest you keep your filthy kids away from mine, or else.”

“You should tell your son to keep his hands off my daughter,
or else.”
The snap of the words blasted out, and both Ben and Kane stiffened their stances. The anger started to pulsate through my body again as I caught a little tormenting drifting toward Sky from the mean boy. “I hear that he puts his hands on her again and I will get the authorities involved.” My eyes shifted over to the dad. “Shame on you for letting your son bully a little girl. You want to look down at me for my parenting? Look in the mirror before you throw stones.”

“This coming from a girl who had a kid at … what?
Ten
? You have no ground to stand on when it comes to talking to us.” She snorted a laugh as she started to walk away.

“You know nothing about my kids! Don’t you ever, ever talk about them again! I see your son bullying my girl again and you will be sorry!” Just as I went to follow behind them to voice my thoughts, an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back. Looking up, my heart jumped into my throat, seeing that it was Ben and not Kane who picked me up. I was tiny by their means, but them both insisting on picking me up was starting to annoy me. All they had to do was just hold me back.