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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HAVEN
I can’t tell if Reese is the hero or the villain.
When I saw him coming up behind Mr. McGee, I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn’t think that it would end up being this bad. Reese knocked that man flat on his ass. Even though I’m grateful I didn’t have to fight the man himself, I spent so long trying to teach the children here at the community center that violence isn’t the way of the world.
They all look up to him, and there were more than a few kids looking on during the fight. I’m just disappointed that Reese’s first course of action is to put his hands on someone.
“Ms. Callahan, did you hear me?” the officer in front of me asks, and I have to shake myself out of my daydream.
“Hmm? I’m sorry. I didn’t.”
“I asked you if Mr. McGee has ever come here and threatened his son before. Is this the first that you’re hearing of something like this happening?”
Nerves vibrate up and down my arms as I stand by the door of my office to give my statement to the police. Once the actual action of the fight was done, the cops made sure to separate Reese and me, so they could find out exactly what was going on.
Yet one more reason I didn’t approve of people using violence as a tactic. Now, I have to worry about saying something that could possibly get Reese in trouble with the law. He didn’t look particularly excited to see that the police had been called to the scene. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, he called his lawyer right away to be with him.
I answer the only way I know how. Honestly.
“No, he’s never come here and threatened his son before, at least that I’ve seen. There’s been a few stories in the community center about there being issues at Benny’s house. I don’t think his father has been treating that little boy and his mother right.”
The officer nods and writes down at least part of what I’ve said on the small pad he’s holding. “I understand. Is that why you ran out to get between them today? You know of a history of violence?”
I furrow my eyebrows and cross my arms over my chest. He’s making it seem like I instigated this fight. “No. I ran out there to get between them because I saw a grown man beating on a small child. I don’t care if I’d never heard anything about Mr. McGee before, I still wouldn’t have just stood by and let him hit Benny. I don’t care who he is or who he knows. What he was doing was wrong.”
The cop squints his eyes at me before he shoots a quick glance over his shoulder and then back to me. “Is that why you called Mr. Dyer to come here?”
“I didn’t call him. He was already on his way over here to visit with me.” My nervousness is quickly shifting to aggravation. What does any of this have to do with keeping Benny away from his father?
“Visiting with you? Does he do that often?”
“As of late, yes. Mr. Dyer and I are in a relationship.” I grit between clenched teeth.
“Relationship?” His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “Wow . . . I mean, I guess I see the draw. Still, I wouldn’t have pegged you as one of his groupies.” With a half-shrug, he glances back at his notepad.
“Excuse me? His groupies?”
The cop’s eyes flick back up to mine, and he gives me a half smirk. “Well, yeah. It’s no secret the man has women in every state. It’s just how he is. He never stays with anyone very long . . .” He sighs and moves in a little closer to me with a sympathetic look on his face. “Haven, I like you. You’re good for this town and this little community center, but I’ve known Reese my entire life. He’s a good guy, but he’s got baggage, and most of it is filled with ladies’ hearts and thongs. I hope you know what you’re doing with him.”
I stare at the man in front of me, slack jawed, grappling for something to say. “Thanks for the heads-up. Are we done here?”
“Yeah, I’ve got everything I need. Just so you know, we’re going to be taking Mr. McGee out of his home, so you don’t have to worry about the little guy being in any trouble. I’m happy you were here to sort things out.” The cop nods and turns on his heel to walk away.
I’m relieved to hear that Benny is going to be safe, but my mind is not focused on that. All I can think about is what he said about Reese being with other women.
Before now, I’d never even thought about him cheating on me, but I can’t help but think of all the small red flags that have been coming up since we’ve been together. All the times that he’s had to leave the room to talk on the phone. The mysterious text messages he doesn’t want to tell me about, and then, to top it off, I’m not blind to the fact that he has dozens of women throwing themselves at him all the time.
I don’t want to think that Reese would hurt me like that, but then I didn’t think he’d come here and act a fool by beating Benny’s dad up either.
“Haven, I need some help here.” Luke walks up to me, his face slightly flushed and his button-down shirt opened at the collar.
“What’s up?”
“We need to close up the center early today. I don’t want any of the parents to get wind of the incident and find out we weren’t up front about it. We can’t afford to lose the trust of the community.” He runs a hand through his salt and pepper hair before handing me a clipboard with the list of children that are here today.
“You’re right. Let’s get these kids home and, hopefully, tomorrow everything will be back to normal.” I let out a sigh and scan down the list of names.
