Unexpected Chance (2 page)

She doesn’t answer, but her eyes go to the parking lot, answering for me. I reach for her hand, wrap my arm around her shoulder and lead her into the parking lot. She digs her heels in, and stands her ground.

“I’ve learned from the best, and I have no problem putting you over my shoulder. Dig your keys out of your purse like a good girl, or I’ll drag you kicking and screaming if I have to,” I tell her.

Her eyes go to the parking lot again as she cranes her neck like she’s looking for something. Then I get it. She’s looking for someone. Max took Reno that way.

“I saw Chase pull up in his Explorer. Reno is long gone, I promise,” I assure her. She nods her head, takes her keys out of her purse and hands them to me.

“Red car,” she says, pointing to the west side of the parking lot. Still holding her around the shoulder, we walk toward her car.

“Good God, are you kidding me?” I ask, disgusted.

“What?” she asks, confused.

“This car is older than you and I combined,” I say, pointing to a rust eaten, dilapidated looking, red Volkswagen Rabbit.

“It is not! It was born the same year I was born. And don’t say mean things to Ruby, you’ll hurt her feelings,” she replies, aggravated.

“Ruby?” I question, squinting at her like she’s the crazy one now.

“Yes, from Ruby and Max the television show. You know on Nickelodeon. What, do you live in a cave or something? It’s the perfect name for my car. She’s red, a ruby is red, see perfect,” she says, like she thinks I watch Nickelodeon all the time or something. She puts her hand on the passenger door and keeps talking, “Did you know that the Liberty Bell Ruby is the largest mined ruby in the world? It was found in East Africa in the 1950s. It weighs four pounds and it’s eight and a half thousand carats. Oh my God, could you imagine how big that is! It’s called the Liberty Bell because it’s carved into a miniature form of the Liberty Bell. It has fifty diamonds set in it and is valued at two million dollars. It was at a jewelry store in Delaware when it was stolen in 2011. They offered a reward for its return. On February 20, 2014, four men were arrested, but the ruby was never found. Sad, really,” she says, opening the door and getting in with a plop. She just told me all of that like she was some sort of museum tour guide.

I open the driver’s side door, shaking my head, and it creeks then lunges downward. Shit! I pull up on the door handle and hold it upward. I seriously thought the door was going to fall off the car and crash on the ground.

“I’m sorry to say this car is more of a brown color from all the rust, than red,” I say, getting into the seat.

“Shh,” she says, putting her hands on the dashboard. “It’s alright, Ruby, he didn’t mean that,” she says, patting the dashboard.

I roll my eyes, put the key in the ignition and pray it even starts. Unbelievably, it comes purring to life. I turn out of the parking lot in the direction of the hospital. She doesn’t say a word.

When I turn into the hospital parking lot, she turns to me and says, “Really, I don’t need to have anything looked at. I don’t need you to watch me either. You said it yourself, Reno is long gone. You can just take me home.”

I continue to drive around the parking lot and pull into a spot, then turn off the engine. I take the key out of the ignition and take a deep breath. I toss the keys in my hand as I look at her face. “That really does need stitches. I gave Max my word. And I’m not leaving you alone tonight,” I say, and get out of the car. I walk around to her side and hold open the door for her.

Savvy

Today has been one horrible disaster after another horrible disaster. I went into work to pick up my paycheck so I could go to the mall to buy Ava and Jax something nice for their wedding gift. When I walked into the bar, Reno was waiting for me, again. He first showed up a few weeks ago. He said that he owns me, and that I owed him. Can you believe that? I owe him. He’s the one who stole all of my stuff when he left town last time. He even stole all of my college school books. I had homework in those school books for crying out loud! He left me without one shred of clothing or my dignity. Chloe bought me a whole new set of books and a bunch of clothing, the rest of the clothing was also purchased new or given to me by the rest of the Wellington women. See, no dignity left.

After my mother died I moved in with my Aunt Molly, and she basically treated me like her personal maid. I couldn’t wait until I turned eighteen to move out of her house. The only thing that kept me there was my mother’s dying promise to be a good girl and listen to my Aunt Molly. I had to be a good girl and I had to do everything my Aunt Molly said. I thought in my naive little girl mind that my mother would end up in hell or something if I didn’t. I wasn’t going to put my mother’s eternal soul at risk by disobeying her.

I thought I finally had my life back on track. I live in a nice condo, again thanks to Chloe and Ava. I have some amazing new friends. I’m in school, to become a Hospice nurse, something I’ve always wanted to do since my mother died when I was ten. I had finally had a streak of good luck which included a full scholarship to nursing school. That kind of luck has never happened to me before. I chalked it up to a lifetime of shit and karma had finally caught up to me and decided that I deserved some good in my life.

The last part of my past that I needed to shake was Reno. And he was also gone thanks to Max. Up until a few weeks ago, that is. Reno was always possessive. I met him one night while working at Deuces. He was charming, good looking, had tattoos and George Clooney hair. It’s hard to believe back then that I thought he was the answer to all my prayers. He turned out to be my worst nightmare.

We dated for a week and then I moved in with him. That whole week we dated, he plastered me with flowers and compliments, both which I’d never received before. But about a week after I moved in with him is when he started being possessive and abusive.

I had been secretly stashing away tip money from the bar to get my own place. I dressed provocatively and said everything a man liked to hear, just to get better tips. Things had started to get really out of hand with Reno, and that’s when Chloe walked into the bar. I honestly think Chloe was a gift sent from my mother. Chloe herself was in a really bad place in her life; well, as bad as a doctor’s life can be. That poor girl, I can relate to how she must have felt when she was kidnapped, but in truth I really don’t. I was allowed to leave and come and go as I pleased as long as Reno knew exactly where I was, and I was at his beck and call.

Reno was drunk, and I’m sure high on something, when one night he went too far. Once he started hitting me, it was like he wasn’t in control of himself anymore and he just couldn’t stop.

After Reno passed out, I didn’t know who to call. Max was still dealing with Chloe when I thought about Levi. Max has two other employees that work for him, and when Max wasn’t following Chloe, one of his two men were. Thank God Levi gave me his phone number in case something happened while I was working in the bar with Chloe.

Levi didn’t hesitate to come get me when I called him. He took me back to Max’s PI firm, and then, even though I asked him not to, he called Max. I hated having Max and Chloe see me like that. Chloe slept on a little bed with me in the safe room the remainder of the night. Max offered me a job as his receptionist, I still had my scholarship. Chloe suggested to Ava that I move into the condo when Chloe moved out, because she and Max had gotten married. Max ran Reno out of town, and I finally had my life back. For the first time since I was ten, I felt free.

But Reno came back. I didn’t want to burden Max or Chloe again, or any of the Wellington’s. They’re all so happy and finally have their own lives all figured out, so I quit working for Max. I didn’t want to put any of them in jeopardy. I started picking up more shifts at the bar when I wasn’t in school to cover my rent to Ava. I withdrew myself as much as I could from the Wellington family, which hurt like a son of a bitch. I love that family more than my own life.

Reno started following me again, and when I went in to get my check, he stood by my side with a knife and said I needed to come with him. But I was supposed to be in Ava’s wedding, and that’s exactly what I told him. Then the tip of his knife went into my side and I knew he wasn’t messing around. I took my paycheck from Gary, and we left. Reno took me to the bank and made me cash my check. He took my money, purchased some drugs, and then he took me to some house that I’ve never been to before. After a few hours, he decided he needed a beer and he made me drive him back to Deuces. That’s when another possessive frenzy started. I had been passing Gary concerning looks all night, but the bar was slammed and he didn’t notice. Reno was about to pass out in his beer when I took the chance and tried to leave the bar. I quietly slid off my stool and headed toward the entrance. That’s when he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me downward and hit me in the eye with his palm. We got looks from people in the bar, but he told them that I was just drunk and he was taking me home. About a foot from the door, his grip tightened and he threw me into the heavy wooden door. That’s when I got the cut under my eye. He walked up behind me and shoved me against the door. I’d never seen him so out of control before. I was honestly scared for my life. He pulled me off the door, then opened it, and threw me out like I was trash.

And that leads me to sitting in my own car in the passenger seat with a busted cheek and a black eye. Aiden’s hand comes into my vision, and I place my hand in his as he helps me out of the car. He doesn’t let go of my hand the entire way into the emergency room. We stand in line at the registration window, and it’s then that I really need to tell him the truth.

“Um, Aiden, I don’t actually have medical insurance,” I whisper.

He looks down at me, and if I could I’d disappear into the floor. Where’s Alice in Wonderland when you need her?

“Aiden. Hey there my friend, what are you doing here? You and Kyle get out of hand or something?” A very handsome man wearing a doctor’s coat says, coming up to Aiden, shaking his hand.

“Spencer, hey man. No. Kyle and I are good. Amelia would kick my ass if I laid a hand on him. My friend here, Savvy, is in need of some medical assistance. We’re not going to be able to fill out any paperwork, but I can pay out of pocket,” he tells him.

“No . . .” I start to say, but Aiden takes my hand and threads his fingers in mine.

“Next,” a large, burly woman yells from behind the glass. That’s us.

Aiden’s friend looks at the woman and says, “That’s alright. I’ve got this one, Susan.”

We walk to a set of large doors, Spencer swipes his badge over a security box and they open. We walk to an open bed, and then he closes the curtain around us.

“Hi, I’m Spencer Matthews. I’m sorry I have to ask you this question, but did someone do this to you?” he asks, looking towards Aiden. Oh my God, he thinks Aiden hurt me.

“No, I, uh, I walked into a door,” I say.

Right, that has to be the dumbest clichéd excuse of all time. It’s partly true. I didn’t walk into a door. I was thrown. But six of one, half a dozen of the other, same thing, right? Dr. Matthews looks over at Aiden with a scowl.

“It was an altercation at the bar she works at. This is Chloe and Ava’s friend, Savvy. Are you seriously going to look at me like I could ever do this to a woman,” Aiden says, aggravated.

“I’m sorry, Aiden, I had to ask. I do know that you’d never do this, but I needed to hear it from her,” he says, looking at me.

“God, no, it wasn’t Aiden. It was just a patron at the bar. I’m not sure who it was, they threw him out of the bar before I could get a good look at him,” I partially lie again.

“Alright, we’ll just get you all cleaned up with a few stitches. The black eye doesn’t look like anything serious. You’ll have a nice shiner for about a week, though,” he says, getting out some supplies. “Was there anything else besides this cut and the eye?” he asks.

Actually, there is, but I’m not going to tell him about that.

“No, just those, that’s it,” I lie again. When did I become such a good liar? I’m the queen at lying to myself, but I don’t lie to others.

Dr. Matthews gets to work. He has such gentle hands, it didn’t hurt at all. In less than thirty minutes, and five stitches later, I’m back in the passenger seat of Ruby. Aiden is again driving, I’m assuming he’s being true to his word to Max, and he’s driving back to his house.

Chapter 2

Aiden

I pull into the driveway at my house, push the button to open the garage door, and pull in next to my car. I almost feel like I need to apologize to my own vehicle for pulling this disgrace of a clunker up next to her. I get out, walk around to the passenger side, and help Savvy out of her seat. She stands up, then whistles between her teeth looking at my car

“What kind of car is this?” she asks, wide-eyed.

“This is a Tesla Roadster. She’ll go zero to sixty in three point seven seconds,” I say with a proud smile.

“What’d you name her?” she asks.

“What did I what?” I ask, confused.

“What did you name her, the car, what did you name her?” she asks again.

“She doesn’t have a name. It’s just a Tesla,” I reply, hitting the garage door button on the wall so it’ll close.

“Just a car! Are you crazy? What’s the paint color called?” she asks.

“Lightning green,” I answer, not sure where she’s going with this.

“Let me think for a minute,” she says, following behind me. I open the door that leads into the hallway into my house. “Well, I can only think of The Green Lantern, and that’s a man. Your car’s a girl, so that just won’t work. Oh, I’ve got it! How about calling her Jade? That’s a pretty name, isn’t it?” she asks.

I flip on the kitchen lights and set my keys on the counter. “My car doesn’t have a name, and it’s staying that way,” I answer her.

“Well, maybe to you it doesn’t have a name, but to me and Ruby it does. I think Jade and Ruby will get along nicely in there, don’t you think?” she asks.