Wild Ride (21 page)

The
judge looked thoughtful for a minute and then said, “So you didn’t pay JC the money you owed him and he came after
my
family?  Why?  Help me to understand, Mr. Reynolds… is there something I’m missing?”

“I think JC had been following me for a while.  When you want to put the pressure on someone, you go after the stuff that person cares about.  He was waiting inside my new apartment the other night when I came home and when I couldn’t pay up…
his boys gave me a little incentive.  They didn’t kill me because JC knew that all he had to do was threaten to hurt the Johnsons and I’d cave… come back and be his bitch again,” he said, disgusted with how easily JC had played him. 

If not for Dickie…
JC would have gotten what he wanted.  He would have died before allowing Meredith or Carla to be hurt or killed.  JC knew that and had obviously come prepared to negotiate the terms of his reinstatement into the gang. 

It should bother him that he was so relieved over someone’s death but he was…
God forgive him because he was not only relieved but happy about it.  JC was the closest thing to
hate
he’d ever known.

“You’re telling me that you’ve come to care enough for my family in the month you’ve known them that you would have gone back into th
e gang to keep them safe?” the judge asked.

“Yea…
I’d do
anything
to keep them safe.  You might not want me anywhere near them now and they may never want to see me again for that matter, and I get that… but I love her…
them,
” he corrected. 

“
I’m not real sure why you would let someone like me anywhere near your family in the first place… I mean they are like a
real
family.   I wasn’t very happy when I first found out about the community service thing, but now I… I just wanted to say thanks,” he replied with unshed tears burning his eyes and throat. 

After collecting himself he said
, “I spent more time with them than I did in some of my foster homes.  So, yea, JC managed to find one of the few things I care enough about and, yea, I would have gone back.”

“Well, now that JC is out of the picture, are you planning to step in and fill his shoes?”
Judge Patterson asked.

“Hell no! Are you fucking crazy?  This is my chance to finally be
free
of them,” he shouted standing up and shaking his head in disbelief. “I know you don’t expect anything less from a loser like me but that is the dumbest and
last
thing on earth I would do,” he finished a little quieter but with no less passion.

Judge Patterson stared at him for several seconds before saying
, “I just wanted to be sure.  Do you have swimming trunks as well as a suit and tie, Mr. Reynolds?”

Absurd confusion set in and
Chuck sat back down in the chair and after a few seconds said,
“What?”

He was trying not to stare at Judge Patterson out of the corner of his eye but his attempts were an epic failure.  He was riding in Judge Patterson’s car, in the nicest clothes he owned complete with a tie, heading toward Meredith’s house. 

He wore his swim trunks under his pants and was still a little fuzzy on how he went from waiting for the
judge to pass down his sentence and demand he stay as far from his family as possible, to heading to the Johnson’s cookout.

When he’d finally answered the
judge and told him that he had swim trunks but no suit and the nicest clothes he owned were the ones he’d worn to Bobby and Lilly’s wedding.

T
he old man had surprised him by saying, “Head on home and change into that then.  I’m going to lock up here and let the night watch officer know I am leaving.  I’ll pick you up in less than an hour.”

“Where are we going?”
he’d asked in confusion.

“To a cookout at the Johnson’s who
m you profess to care so much about.  There will be lots of suits and ties and also some very judgmental people there.  I’d like to see you prove that you would do anything for my family,” Judge Patterson had responded.

Now here he sat feeling way under dressed and they weren’t even at the party yet.  He couldn’t wrap his head around the
judge wanting
him
to go to a party full of rich people.  The judge sat stone faced in the driver’s seat and didn’t appear to be worried about Chuck embarrassing him or his family.

“Don’t worry
, Judge… I’ll be on my best behavior,” he said in an effort to convince himself.

“Just be yourself
, Mr. Reynolds,” the judge replied without looking at him.

After a few more minutes of silence he said
, “Why do you call me Mr. Reynolds instead of Chuck?”

“It’s a sign of respect.  Until you give me permission to address you as Chuck
, I will address you formally as Mr. Reynolds,” he replied.

The Judge respected
him?
  He again found himself staring and had to force himself to face forward again.  “You can call me Chuck… that’s fine.”

“Outside of the courtroom you may call me Nathan
,” the judge said in return.

“Well
, Nathan, I’m not sure what exactly you
expect
me to do but I’ll do my very best at whatever it is” he said, rolling his eyes as he stared out the side window. 

This was like the game where you stuck your hand in a bag and tried to guess an item based on feeling it.  It was unknown and felt weird.

He felt a small band of sweat break out on his forehead when they pulled up outside of Meredith’s house and he got a load of all the high dollar wheels parked out front and in the driveway.  Yep, rich people… lots and lots of rich people. 

He got out of the car and could hear the sounds of talking and laughter and splashing come from the back of the house.

“Shall we go around to the back?” Nathan asked.

Chuck followed him around to the back of the house where a large lawn tent was set
up along with several four seat tables spread out around the shelter.  Inside the tent appeared to be a buffet with a bar off to one side. 

Lights were strung all around both the inside and outside of the tent and several Tiki
-Torches were scattered throughout the yard.  The deck and pool lights were all on as well, providing a warm glow to the yard.

He briefly scanned the yard for a sign of Meredith.  He spotted her and Carla across the
lawn just as a nice looking guy in a suit wrapped Meredith in a warm embrace.  A couple around the same age as Carla stood next to the guy.  The man’s posture showed clear interest in Meredith and he felt his temperature rising.

“Chuck!”
he heard Ben shout from the opposite direction.

The little guy was so loud that it caused nearly the entire party to stop talking at once and turn to stare at the commotion.  Upon seeing him there a near hush fell over the crowd.  Meredith gave him a look he couldn’t read because in the next second Ben had plowed into his side
with his best tackle yet.

He fell over into the grass and Ben piled on top of him.

“I sacked you… I sacked you,” Ben sang as he stood back up.  Then he stopped and began to dance around like a chicken. 

He heard Matt laugh and looked over to see a huge grin spread across the boy’s face and expectation in his eyes.  It had only been three days since he’d seen them but it felt like a year.

“Nice hit, boy!” he yelled holding up his fist.  Ben squealed with laughter and then bumped his fist.

“Your brother’s got a mean hit…
help me up, man,” he said to Matt.

Matt came over and held out his hand.  He stood up and brushed off his pants.

“Will you go swimming with us, Chuck?  Mom says we have to have adult supervision to be in the pool,” Matt said.

Looking over to the pool he could see several young adults near his own age watching his every move.

“Go get your swim trunks on while I say hi to your mom and then I’ll get in with you,” he said.  A few of the people in the pool looked at each other as though unsure whether they should stay in or get out. 
He wasn’t diseased… just poor.

Ben and Matt took off
toward the house at a run with another little boy following close behind.  Chuck turned back to where Meredith and Carla stood.  Carla was looking at her feet and Meredith was looking at him.

“Lead the way
, Chuck,” Nathan said from beside him.

He was here!
  Her heart felt like it might possibly beat right out of her chest.  He looked so hot!  He wasn’t really dressed for the party but wow… he wore black jeans with a white button up shirt which he’d left un-tucked and a tie.  She had missed just being able to look at him.  He was fine… that’s all there was to it…
fine.
 

His gaze locked with hers and the closer he walked
toward her the more heat she could see in his eyes… and
feel
.  She stepped a few paces toward him and away from Carla, Josh, and his parents. 

He approached
, paused in front of her and leaning down he said, “Up for a swim, princess?  You look like you need a little cooling off.  God knows I do.”  His eyes raked over her and her body actually responded just to his gaze.

Then he moved past her to where her mother stood and stopped.

“Anything I can do to help, Carla?” he asked.

“Umm…
no, Chuck… everything is being taken care of by the caterers,” she said looking first at him and then at the couple next to her. “Chuck, I’d like you to meet Steven and Nancy DeHart and their son Josh.  This is Chuck Reynolds.”

Josh simply stared at Chuck
.  His parents held out their hands first and the discomfort or dislike they felt for him was written all over their faces.  She wanted to shout at them that Chuck was a good person, funny, talented and demand them not to judge him. 

Chuck shook hands with Josh’s parents
, said hello and then eyed Josh before turning back to her.

“Well then…
how about that swim?” he asked. 
Was he serious?
  She couldn’t swim in front of these people… they would see her foot… or lack thereof.

“I don’t think so
, Chuck,” she said quietly, looking around at those who stood nearby watching them.

“Why not?”
he asked.

Awkward silence filled the yard for about
a full minute as people’s gazes looked anywhere but at her.

She finally
glared up at him “Why do you think?” she hissed through her teeth.

“Are you worried about all the ladies
, and maybe even some of the guys, scoping out my smokin’ hot body?” he said, looking pointedly at Josh and then back to her.

“Chuck…”
she warned trying to stop any more wildly inappropriate words from escaping his sexy mouth.

“You know it’s pretty…
it’s like a piece of art… meant to be shared.  Don’t be jealous now, babe,” he said with a sexy grin.

Carla
giggled and then tried to cover it up with a cough.  Looking over toward her mother she could see that her eyes were so full of humor that they appeared glassy as she tried to contain her mirth. 

A giggle escaped her as well and before she was able to contain it they were both laughing as were a couple of other ladies standing nearby.

“Yea, Meredith… art is meant to be shared,” her friend Ashley yelled from near the pool. 

Ashley and her two other friends
, Caitlyn and Sara, laughed and began making cat calls at Chuck.  Glancing over at them she could see genuine interest in their eyes.

Before she could respond
to them, Chuck began to bump and grind her as he unbuttoned his shirt from the bottom up.

“Fine…”
she began, hoping he would stop making a scene.  Much like the first time she’d slept with him, he had no shame.  He continued to dance and unbutton his shirt.  Her friends laughed, whistled and clapped for him. 
As if he needed encouragement.

“Stop
, Chuck… please, I’ll go swimming,” she offered and then leaning closer she whispered, “You’re so going to pay for this later.”

“Make me pay for it now
, princess… I
dare
you,” he whispered back.

He had already become the life of the party as many of her mother’s friends and all of hers looked on with interest, clapping out a beat for him.  He was wild…
untamed and could not be controlled. 
Or could he?

Turning to him
, she noticed his shirt was completely unbuttoned except for the top button which required the removal of his tie first.