“I don’t know your family, but your mom.She’s really fun, isn’t she?”He grinned then, and she knew that he loved his mom.“I haven’t been here in a long time.Mary Beth and Bash moved here from Zanesville some time ago and had two kids.I worry about them, and now that I find out that Bash has been treating them poorly, it bothers me to no end that my sister stays with him.But she does too.”
“The police have arrested him several times for drinking while driving.I don’t think he has a car, but he has one he borrowed, that man ended up in jail too for his part in the kids riding around in the car with them.Now he just ties them to random cars when he wants to go play cards with his buddies.But he’s in jail this time because he missed a court date.I know for a fact that it was something to do with robbing homes in the pack nearby.Dallas has been helping them out with what was stolen.”
“I didn’t know that he’d been tying the kids to cars for some time.I thought it was a one-time deal with him.But I guess I should have known that it wasn’t.Mary Beth complained that you had caught him this time and got him into trouble.Hopefully, the courts will bring up how he treats his kids.They live in those subsidized homes out near Shelly’s.”He asked if she’d been to the house.“Yes.It’s a mess if you can believe it.She said they have to give her a week’s notice before they come in and inspect things.I don’t know how she can do that, get it cleaned up in a week.It would take a week just to get the kitchen cleaned up, and they eat in there.”
“I can’t stand a mess.”She told him that she couldn’t either.“Everything has a place, and itshould be put back in place when you’re finished with it.I don’t like clutter either.It gets on my nerves to see too much junk lying around when it should be put away.My brothers’ houses are all decorated nicely and without too much clutter.I think that has to do with my mom.The only time she has a lot of stuff out where you can see it is at Christmas time.Then I think that it’s just pretty.In small doses.Otherwise, I have to go outside and get some fresh air.”
“I’m the same way.”The two of them laughed.“I usually have to go to the bathroom so that I’m not rude, but I can see that your family is used to you going outside when you need a breather.I don’t even like a cluttered tree.I want an ornament on each branch, and that’s about all.I’m silly like that.”He laughed again, and she thought that she could hear him laugh for the rest of her days.It was very masculine and gentle at the same time.She also thought that he didn’t do it much.She found that she wanted to make him laugh, even if it was at her.It gave her warm and fuzzy feelings in her belly to have him do it.He took her to his house, and she could see that he was extremely proud of his home.
“I love how the dining room table fits in here.”He’d shown her the dining room first, as it had the most furniture in it that she’d seen at the auction.He told her that his mom was going to give him dishes that she had that she’d never used yet.“That’ll fill up the cabinets well.And I love these glasses.Did you get them there, too?”
“Mom did.She said that I’d need some glasses first because I could always use paper plates if I needed to eat here.So far, I’ve not yet, but I can see myself having a huge meal in this room with my family.”She sat on one of the chairs.“I did that too to see if they’re as comfortable as they look.I could sit in them during a meal, but not for a long conversation.They’re sort of stiff.”
“They are, but they fit well.”She got up and took his hand into hers.“Show me the rest of your house.I’m excited about seeing it.”He took her all over the house, and he was right, it was a house that suited them both.It had rooms that a person like them could go into and chill a bit.Also, there were rooms, like the library, that seemed to be the perfect place to unwind at the end of the day.
I don’t have any linens for the house yet.Mom said she had some sheets, but then said that I should have new ones.I’m ordering them online so I don’t have to mess with them.Also, things in the kitchen.I don’t drink coffee, but I do love a good glass of iced tea.I’ll get a coffee machine if it’s something you drink.”She told him that she liked an occasional cup of tea, but not often enough to warrant getting a tea maker.“I’m also hiring a cook for the house.With us both working, we don’t want to have to mess with cooking all the time when we don’t have to.”
“I’ve never had a cook.Which shows since I usually eat out when I have to have a meal.It’s just easier.I’m taking the kids out for fast food tomorrow night with a movie.You should come with us.”He said that it was her time to get to know the kids.“You need to get to know them, too, don’t you?I mean, they’re going to be your niece and nephew if this goes anyplace between us.”
“Do you want it to go anyplace between us?”She nodded and said that she really did.“I do as well.But I can’t tell you enough that I’m not a good person.”
“Why would you say that?Just because you have nightmares doesn’t make you a bad person.It only makes you someone who has seen a great deal that bothers them.And for all we know, you could become as calm as me when we’re together.”He asked what if he were to hurt her.“It might happen, but we don’t know that either.And if you do, it’s all right because you won’t mean to hurt me.I’m not one of those fainting flower types.I can take you if you need me to.”
“You’re missing the point.”She told him he was just trying to wiggle out of being her mate.“Never that.But you might get hurt.I would die rather than hurt you mentally or physically.I’m falling in love with you.”
“I knew it would happen fast, but not this fast, but I’m falling for you, too.You’re like the other half of me sometimes.Does that make sense?”He told her how he was thinking of her as his other half all the time.“You calm me in ways I’ve never felt before.And you make me not think about my sister so much.I feel sorry for her kids.They seem to not know any better than to have parents who treat them poorly.”
“Beth is going to be tough to crack.When I found them tied up to the car that night, she steppedin front of her brother like I was going to hurt him.I wondered if she had to protect him a lot.”She asked if he thought that they beat their kids.“I don’t know, that’s the point.I know that Marshall is the most tender-hearted one.Beth is harder to know.That night, she seemed to be pissed off that someone caught them where they were.Like they might get into trouble for being caught there.”
“I’m going to find out what sort of home life they have tomorrow night.I’m not going to drill them or anything, but just see what they’ll tell me.I never knew them until this visit.I pay for their school supplies and all their fees when they come due, but I’ve never met them until the other day.They’ve been kind of standoffish to me.I’m assuming that their parents have told them what a monster I am because I won’t give them money.”Cullen said that was sad.“It is, isn’t it?I mean, why am I the bad guy when all I’ve ever wanted was for them to have what they needed for their lives to be better?I thought that when Mary Beth got her house, things would straighten up for them.But all it did, as far as I’m concerned, was make things worse for them.They have a roof over their heads, but a dirty place to live.”
“I’ve seen what housing can look like when there is no money coming in or a lazy partner that drinks all the time.”She asked him if he had seen it a great deal around here.“More than I’d like to admit.That’s what my brothers and I do when we can is to make things better for the people living around here.Sometimes it works, but most of the time, people don’t want you to bother them when they feel that they’re getting enough help from the state.Then there are people who work the system so hard that they feel like they’re owed something from them.”
“I can see that.You should hear about how Mary Beth goes on about the holiday season.I guess the kids get all kinds of clothing and toys from the holiday trees that are put out.She signs them up for all kinds of stuff like that.”He asked if the kids got it or if she sold it off for cash.“I never thought of her doing that.You know, you might be right in her doing that to them.I don’t send them much for Christmas anymore because she told me that it gets lost in the things that the state gives them.I wonder now if that’s what she’s doing.I wouldn’t put anything past the two of them when it comes to working the system in their favor.”
It was nearly midnight when he took her back to the bed and breakfast.She was so tired yet wanted to spend more time with Cullen than she had.As soon as she got into bed, she thought of all the things that could happen between the two of them and hoped that it would come about.She really liked the man and could see herself spending extra time with him while she was here.But tomorrow she was going to see the kids and was looking forward to that even more.
Chapter 4
Cullen ordered everything that he needed online.He did it because he didn’t want to be in crowds of people and figured that he could get everything delivered at one time and not have to worry about interacting with anyone.His mom went over his list for him and told him of a couple of things more that he was going to need, and he put them on the list.Just as he hit send, she told him that he could have picked up things locally and not had to bother with shipping.
“For as much as I ordered, I got free shipping.”She huffed a little at him.“You of all people understand why I don’t want to go shopping.And so you know, Emmie is the same way.She doesn’t like being around people any more than I do.”
“Oh my.What am I going to do with the two of you when it comes to visiting during the holidays?I hope you can at least see us during that time.”He said that he’d make the effort just for her.“I love you, Cullen.You’re the best last son that I’ve ever had.”
“Thanks, Mom.You’re the best mother I’ve ever had, too.”They teased one another like that all the time, and he found that he was enjoying talking to her.As they were sitting down to have lunch at their new home, he asked about the auction that was going on next weekend.“I thought I’d go.I have one bedroom that needs a bed in it.I can’t believe how much I got with everyone working together.The only thing that I have to buy myself is dishes and silverware.But I do need that last bedroom filled out.Then I’ll be set up to live here without any issues.”
“What does Emmie think about your house.You’ve told her about it, haven’t you?”He told her how he’d taken her there last night.“And?Did she run screaming into the night?I should hope not.”
“She loved the library as much as I did.Said that she could see us relaxing there in the evening when the rest of the world was watching television.She doesn’t even own one.I haven’t gotten one either, for that matter.”Mom told him he’d need it for football season.“I’ll just hang out with the others who have a television.That way, I don’t have to clean up after them when they leave.They’re very messy, aren’t they?”
“They can be, but they usually stick around to clean up.You know that.”He kissed his mom on the cheek.“Not that I mind, but what was that for?”
“Because you know what sort of person I am, yet you try to get me with the other normal ones.”She laughed like it caught her off guard.“You know as well as I do that I’m far from having much in common with the others.”
“I know that, but you try, and that’s all I can hope for.”His cell phone rang, and he stepped away to answer the call from Emmie.“Is she all right?Does she need us?”
“I’ve broken down.The car service for the rental place is supposed to bring me a car, but it won’t be for another four hours.I can’t sit here in this car with two kids for that long.Can you come and rescue us?I promise that we can go to a place that isn’t overcrowded with kids.”He said he’d be right there.“I hoped you’d say that.I don’t know why they think four hours is a reasonable time, but it’s not.I even signed up for the roadside service so that I’d not have to worry about tires or anything like that.Stupid people.”
