The Heart of Mine (5 page)

"Your granddaddy and I have spent our entire lives savin' for our child and then our grandchild. Your granddad made sure that if anything ever happened to either of us that you would be taken care of. When he started getting real sick, he had our lawyer come out and change our will. Everything that was supposed to go to your father was added to your half.

After your father was sent away, your granddad wanted to believe that he would get out a changed man, but I think deep down he knew better. Madison, you are about to inherit everything and more. You will have everything in a trust fund that we had set up for you, and the farm. It's yours now."

I shot up from my chair, catching myself on the railing as all the blood rushed to my head. I hunched over the banister trying to catch my breath. Everything she was sayin' was indicating that she wouldn't be around much longer and that scared the ever livin' shit out of me. I couldn't stand the thought of losin' her too. I turned around leanin' against the railing before I could find the words to respond.

"Gran, are you sayin' that you'll be "leaving" me soon too? Because all the money in the world wouldn't matter if I lost you too."

She quickly rose from her seat, wrapping her small frail arms around my waist. "Oh Madison, no that's not what I'm sayin' at all. I'm just preparin' ya. Your daddy isn’t too thrilled with the news and I reckon he may want a round two with ya. That's all, my sweet boy."

"Hey Gran?"

"Yes, love."

"I'm thinkin' of sellin' the house back home. Now that Kayla is here and given the current situation, I just feel like it's the right thing to do."

"Madison, are you sure? I know how much that house means to you."

"It used to mean a lot to me, but now it's just tainted with the sour memories of my dead beat father. My mom lives in my heart and I honestly think that she would want me to do what I felt was best for
my
family now."

"You're a smart man Madison, and I couldn't be more proud of you. You know that, right?"

"Always Gran, always."

I squeezed my gran tightly and then excused myself to go pick up Kayla from school. I could only imagine how hard it must be for her to be back there, given everything that had happened over the last little bit. There was just one place I needed to go first.

****

I pulled into the parking lot of the local seedy motel about twenty minutes later. I only had about a half hour before I had to pick up my girl, but I was hopin' this wouldn't take much longer than a few minutes.

I put my truck in park and rehearsed what it was that I needed to say to my father. Just as I was opening the door to my truck, I saw his grizzly figure walk out through the door of his room. I quietly closed the door to approach him, when I saw another guy follow out behind him. From this distance I couldn't quite make out the face, but from what pictures the authorities and Joey had shown me, there was no mistaking who it was.

What the fuck! How did these two even know each other and what in god's name were they doin' here with one another? I watched from behind the driver's side of my truck as they shook hands and then the other guy left in an unmarked vehicle. I watched as he drove past me, before I made my move in my father's direction.

"We need to talk." I shouted.

"I'm not so sure I have much to say to you." He growled.

"Well, you may not have anything to say to me, but I gotta a whole helluva lot to say to you. So listen up, because I'll only say it once. Leave town. Stay away from my family and me and that includes Kayla's family as well. There's nothin' left here for you."

He walked slowly in my direction and my hands balled into fists at my sides the closer he got.

"Listen here little boy. You don't get to tell me what to do. I'm here for one reason and one reason only, to get what's mine. Now you can either hand it over, or we can do this the hard way."

"What happened to you? How did you become such a heartless asshole in the time you've been gone?"

"Things change, Madison. I've always been this way, it was your momma who thought she could change me and well, the day she died was the day I was done with bein' something I wasn't."

At the mere mention of my mother, my fist went flyin' through the air, connecting with his nose. Blood spewed from the contact I had made and splattered across my shirt. "I said stay the fuck away. I
will
find out what you're up to and how you are involved with that low life you were just talkin' to. Make no mistake, I
will
end you and him if need be."

"Is that a threat, Madison?"

"You bet your sorry ass it is. One I intend on keepin'." I spat back.

I turned to walk towards my truck when he mumbled something intangible under his breath. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to know what it was he thought he could threaten me with, but I chose to be the bigger man this time, and walk away.

Kayla

I sat solemnly on the brick retaining wall, waiting for Madison to pick me up. It was only five minutes past since the last bell had rung, but I guess I assumed he would want to be here waiting for me. I watched as the parking lot slowly emptied out and eventually there was no one else left except for the football players cars. I was checking the clock on my cell phone, when I heard Joey's voice becoming increasingly louder. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him today, but I suppose I didn't have much of a choice.

"Hey KJ, whatcha doin' out here all by yourself?"

He sat down on the wall next to me, gently nudging my arm. "Hey Joey, just waitin' for Madison."

"Seems like you're always waitin' on him. How are you feelin'?"

Nobody knew about my pregnancy yet. I made it extremely clear to Madison and Cami not to say anything. I wasn't ready to deal with all of that on top of the accident. I hadn't spoken to Cami since she was released from the hospital and I was pretty sure her mother wanted it that way. The dynamic of our relationship had drastically changed, and I couldn't help but blame myself.

"I'm okay. Still a little bit sore, but nothin' too major. What have you been up to?" I really hated small talk, but I knew if I didn't do this now, he would just keep buggin' me until we finally talked.

"Glad to hear it. I was worried about you."

"I'm fine Jo. Where's your little girlfriend, Sarah, Jane, Carly or whatever her name is?" I let out a small chuckle. In the last few weeks since the show, Joey had literally switched girlfriends about three times.

"Ah, you mean Carrie. Nah, we're done. Nothin' too promising there."

"Oh my god Joey, you go through girls like you go through underwear. You better make sure you keep it wrapped up mister, or a new girlfriend won't be the only thing you catch." I laughed at my own joke as I caught sight of Joey laughing along with me. It felt amazing to laugh. It felt amazing just to feel something besides depressed. I had missed this. I had missed hanging out with Joey and being able to be myself again.

"There's the KJ I know and love."

And that's when the laughing abruptly stopped. “Look, Jo-"

Joey's head dropped in embarrassment and I felt bad for even insinuating that's how he still felt. "I didn't mean it like that, KJ. I just meant, well, you know I care for you, a lot. But only as a friend. I know how much you love Madison. I'm happy for you, I really am."

I placed my hand on Joey's denim covered thigh as a show of comfort and friendship. "I know Joey, I'm sorry. I love you too, as a friend. You mean a lot to me. I'm glad that we can still be friends after everything. Your friendship means a lot to me and no matter what happens, I need you to know that I need you in my life. Take that as you will, but I honestly do."

Joey snaked his fingers through mine, giving it a small squeeze.

"Hey Green, you wanna let go of my girl's hand?"

Joey pulled his hand from mine faster than imaginable and stood just as quickly. "I'll talk to you tomorrow KJ."

"Bye Joey."

I stood and smacked Madison hard on his arm. "Are you serious right now? You
need
to stop being so damn overprotective. You know I'm with you, Joey and I are just friends. If you can't understand that, then we are goin' to have some major issues, cowboy. You got me?"

He let out a loud sigh before pullin' me into a huge bear hug. "Yeah, I got it. How's my little girl doin' today?" His hand fell to my belly and I quickly pulled back from his touch.

"Madison, I haven't told anybody yet. You have to stop doing that in public?"

"Are you serious right now?" his deep voice vibrated off every close surface.

"Yes, I'm serious. I have enough to deal with, let's not add teenage pregnancy to the list of reasons people don't like me."

Madison stopped mid stride as we reached his truck. He turned and swept me up into his arms, then gently placed me in the cab. His deft fingers reached out and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind my ear, before lifting my chin up with his hand so I was looking directly at him. "Are you ashamed of me, pretty girl? Because I gotta say, I'm startin' to feel a little insecure here."

"Of course not." I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his face closer to mine so my breath was now skimming across his skin. "Madison Raine, I love you more than life itself. I could never be ashamed of you. I just need some time to let things sink in and settle down around here. For Christ’s sake, since I've come into town nothing but bad things have happened."

"And you blame me?"

I pulled back, dropping my hands to my side. "No Madison. Jesus, why can't you understand that not everything is about you? Take me home."

"Kayla, talk to me, please. I need you to talk to me."

"I will Madison, I promise, but please let's go somewhere else."

My intentions were not to hurt his feelings, but I could tell that's exactly what I did. I swear, lately everything I said or did led to unspeakable consequences. I was just thankful that I no longer had Wren or my mother to add to the ball of mess I was busy building. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of the two of them. I had done my best to keep both of them off of my mind, but every now and again, there they were.

I could feel the tension between Madison and I radiating off of him. I've learned that Madison didn't deal well with me not speaking to him and the thought of that made me sad. I never wanted Madison to feel unloved by me. I never wanted him to think that I didn't love him more than anything else in this world. I slid my hand across the bench seat grazing his fingertips with mine. The minute our skin made contact, a small jolt of electricity shot through me affecting every part of my body.

I could feel the excitement flowing through my veins and other places that I yearned for his touch. It had been far too long since I had felt him against me, in me, and I had an overwhelming need to have that. Here, now, regardless of where we were going.

Without second guessing myself, I made my way over to Madison, slowly sliding my leg onto the other side of him so I was now straddling him. My lips started at his collarbone and I trailed featherlike kisses all the way up to his earlobe.

I took the sensitive skin between my teeth and bit down hard enough to make him swerve.

"Ya know if you keep that up we may crash, and I'm not willing to lose you."

My lips parted as I let out a small sigh. My heated breath sending goose bumps across his exposed flesh. "Mmmmhhmmm." Was my only response, as I let my tongue lick from one side of his collarbone to the other. I could feel his excitement growing beneath me and it was taking everything in me not to free his erection so I could slide down on top of him.

My hands pushed back through his hair as I continued my assault on the other side of his neck. I gave it a small tug and his cock jumped in reaction. A smile spread wide across his face as I sat back taking in this gorgeous man in front of me. "Pull over."

"I can't Kayla. There's a lot of traffic and we are right by the market."

"So help me god Madison, if you don't pull over right here and now, I
will
find a way to have you inside of me."

And with that sentence, he slammed on his brakes and quickly put the truck in park. His hands flew to the back of my head, clutching a small handful of hair and giving it a tight tug. I let out a strangled moan as his lips sealed over mine. His tongue entered my mouth without question or hesitation. He tasted of mint and salt and of everything that made me want him more than any other man on the planet.

He made quick work of unbuttoning his pants and slipping them down past his hips.

"I see someone is going commando again." I whispered just below his ear.

"A little birdie told me that my girl liked it better this way."

"That bird would be correct."

I slid my hand down the front of my body, skimming my wet panties as I wrapped my fingers around his length. I stroked it a few times before leaning back against the steering wheel so he could take in the view in front of him. His eyes fluttered shut for a brief second and when he opened them, pure lust sat in his gaze. He wanted me just as much, if not more than I wanted him.

I slipped my thin lace panties to the side and slid my fingers between my wet folds. My fingernail caught my swollen numb and a small pleasurable moan escaped between my lips.