Read A Fresh Start for Two Online
Authors: Keira Montclair
A Fresh Start for Two
Table of Contents
A bully, just what he hated most, even more so when the bully was picking on a woman. Officer Jake Ramsay jumped out of his police cruiser and flicked aside the toothpick he had been chewing.
“Take it easy, Ramsay. I know how you get in these situations,” Jake’s partner, Bill Wagner, yelled out as he slammed his car door shut.
“I’m fine,” Jake barked, flexing his fingers. It wasn’t true. A nerve had snapped the moment the call came in.
There they were in front of him, just outside the entrance to the restaurant—a hulking man and his tall, long-legged brunette companion. He’d guess early twenties, slender, but just the right amount of curves. Her shoulders were slumped, and no wonder, her partner was shouting at her, his face red and twisted with rage. There were two other older couples standing outside their cars watching, but no one came near the arguing couple.
“You have to embarrass me every time we go somewhere, don’t you, Julia? Every freaking time you have to embarrass me.” The bully raked his hands through his hair as he turned his back to her. Then he swiveled to look at her again—violence in the hard lines of his arms, his neck.
“I’m sorry, Vincent. I like White Zinfandel.” She said it in a small, cautious voice that told Jake this wasn’t an isolated incident.
“It’s not considered wine for serious wine drinkers, fool. You’re in wine country of New York State, for God’s sake. How many times do I have to tell you that? You’ll have to drink something else. Get a Riesling.”
Jake strode right up between the two of them, his six-foot-three frame a couple of inches taller than the bully’s.
“Feel better, big guy? You like bullying a tiny woman who can’t physically defend herself from you?” He planted his legs wide and used the slight difference in their heights to look down on the guy.
“Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me like that?” the bully ground out as he glared at Jake.
“Here’s my badge number.” He pointed to the badge on his uniform. “Name, asshole,” he barked.
“Vincent Nye, and you won’t have that badge much longer if you keep talking to me like that. Do you know who my father is?” He puffed out his chest and took a step toward Jake.
Jake laughed. “Oh, you think you’re going to bully me like you do her?” He jerked his head toward the woman, taking a moment to glance her way. Her beauty, which he hadn’t really noticed when he walked up, almost took his breath away, but he forced himself to ignore her for now. “Step away from the lady, Sir.”
“She’s my fiancée, I’ll do what I want with her.”
Bill Wagner, who must have gotten out of the cruiser while Jake’s attention was on the couple, stepped forward. “No, you won’t. You need to step back, or we’ll have to cuff you.” He took his cuffs out of his pocket as if to emphasize the seriousness of his threat.
Nye quickly changed his tune and held his hands up in front of him. “Officers, I don’t want any trouble. I was just talking to my fiancée about how she handled herself inside. A little disagreement, that’s all. Why are you here?”
“There was a complaint about a belligerent man scaring away potential customers,” Bill answered. “I suggest you get in your car and leave before we arrest you for harassment or public intoxication. You have anything to drink today?”
“Shit, I’m at a restaurant and you’re asking me if I’ve had anything to drink?” He leaned forward, his eyes losing focus.
“Then I suggest you call someone to drive you home. Get behind the wheel and we’ll have to arrest you.”
Satisfied that his partner had the situation well in hand, Jake turned his back on the scene and maneuvered the brunette back into the building, leaving the drunk outside with Bill. Once there, he spoke to someone inside the double doors, then returned to her side. There weren’t many customers standing about, most were seated for dinner. Apparently, Vincent Nye had scared a few away. Once he was able to get a better look at her, he realized his quick impression had been dead on—she was gorgeous. “Miss, what’s your name?” He forced himself to soften the tone of his voice. Her day had been hard enough.
“Julia Ross,” she whispered, her hands shaking as she spoke.
“Julia, is there someone you can call to pick you up? You shouldn’t go home with him right now. He’s drunk and angry, a recipe for something bad.”
She wrung her hands in front of her. “He’s not a bad guy. I said something I shouldn’t have. I’m so sorry that we created such a fuss. I’ll call my sister to come and get me.”
“You do that.” She took out her phone and Jake found himself staring into the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. Long lashes fell on high cheekbones. Tall and slender, she had long legs that had to make her at least five seven or eight. She glanced away too quickly, like a frightened animal.
When she finished her call, she tucked the phone into her pocket and looked back up at him. “My sister will be here in ten minutes, Officer.”
“Officer Jake Ramsay. You might want to reconsider your engagement, Ms. Ross,” he continued, his tone soft. “Men who enjoy bullying women rarely change.”
Her cheeks flushed. “He’ll be apologetic in the morning once he remembers everything. He has a temper that gets away from him sometimes, that’s all.”
Jake nodded, wishing she hadn’t said that. In his line of work, he saw the same thing over and over again. He gritted his teeth, wishing she wouldn’t be so naïve. “And a fiancée who makes excuses for him. That’s a bad combination, Ms. Ross.” The words were harsh, but he couldn’t regret them. She needed to hear the truth. He glanced out the door and watched as Vincent Nye climbed into a Beamer that had just pulled up. As soon as the door closed, her text alert went off. Jake motioned to her. “I bet I know who that is.”
She answered the text, but didn’t look him in the eye.
When she finished, he said, “Miss, you want to press any charges? Harassment…did he hurt you, hit you, anything?”
“No,” she peered at him, shocked. “No charges. I’ll be fine, Officer. Thanks for your help, but your concern is unnecessary.” She stepped back outside now that her fiancé was gone and waited on the curb for her ride.
Jake shook his head in wonder and followed her, then made his way over to stand next to his partner. He glanced at her as she stood there with her back to him, shoulders slumped, her left hand gripping her purse so hard her knuckles had turned white. He could tell she was close to falling apart, but what could he do about it? How he wished she would take his advice and walk away from the oaf. Finally, an old car that had seen its better days pulled up, and Julia Ross waved to the people in the car, then walked to the passenger door and climbed in, her lower lip trembling.
Heading back to his cruiser, he called out to his partner. “Why are people so clueless?”
Wagner shrugged his shoulders and kept moving toward the car.
A bully with money. A beauty who needed it. What a dangerous mix. How many days would pass before he found her with her face beaten to a pulp?
His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out another cellophane-wrapped toothpick, shredding the covering in an instant so he could pop it into his mouth and chew. Normally it gave him some comfort, but today his heart felt sick.
***
Julia Ross climbed into the back seat of the car with a heavy sigh. What a fiasco that had been. She and Vincent had gone to the restaurant to discuss a possible engagement party, and it had ended in disaster.
“What did you do to piss him off this time, Julia?” her mother, Patricia, asked from the passenger seat as she tucked a red hair back into her ponytail. She hadn’t bothered to change out of the clothing she wore as a cashier at the local grocery store. Her mother looked worn-out and was too thin.
“Mom, he’ll be fine. He just had a little too much to drink.”
“Don’t mess this up for us.” Her mother crossed her arms as she stared out the window. “This is our only chance for a few of the good things in life. This marriage has to take place.”
Her sister, Tiffany, glanced at her in the rearview mirror with a scowl on her face. Tiffany was just out of high school and thought she knew everything. She had just dyed her brown hair black, and it looked terrible. “Mom’s right. Why do you keep annoying him? Just hang in there until you get that ring on your finger, then you can argue.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I don’t have to do anything wrong for him to get angry?”
“Julia,” her mother said, swinging around to look at her, “all men have tempers. Take it from one who knows. If you give him what he wants, you’ll get whatever
you
want. I haven’t paid the mortgage in two months. My cashier job doesn’t pay much, and you girls haven’t been helping out enough.”
Julia glared back at her mother. “I’ve been giving you almost my entire paycheck plus most of my tips. If you haven’t paid the mortgage, where is it going?”
“I got lots of bills. I told you, it’s important for you to make this happen. We all need you to marry Vince.”
Julia leaned back and stared out the window, her eyes misting enough to show. She wouldn’t let either her sister or her mother see her cry. Yes, she knew her mother worked hard at the local supermarket, but was that reason enough for her to suffer for the rest of her life? Did they really want her to marry her fiancé even if she was starting to hate him? All she needed to do was look around at the busted interior of the car—at her mother and sister’s bad dye jobs—to get her answer.
Yep, probably. She had thought herself in love with Vincent a while ago, but things had quickly deteriorated. Lately, she seemed to prick his temper daily, and her frustration with the upcoming nuptials grew. Her sister and mother reaped the benefits of her boyfriend’s money, so they wouldn’t support her. He’d bought them each new phones and even gave them cash occasionally.
And Julia was caught between them and a potentially violent man. This brought new meaning to that old expression about a rock and a hard place.
***
Jake Ramsay strode down the sidewalk heading toward campus. He couldn’t believe he had actually signed up for a class at Summerhill College. After speaking with his dad, Ryan Ramsay, Jr., and his gramps, Ryan Ramsay, Sr., he had decided to go with a business class to see how he liked it. Accounting 101 fit his schedule best and the first class would be starting in about fifteen minutes.
After finishing his stint in the army, Jake had come home to attend the police academy. He’d worked for Summerhill Police for quite a while. At first it had been a great fit for him, but he’d wanted something more. Problem was, he wasn’t quite sure what that something was… And now he found himself in the position of searching for a fresh start. He’d earned one year of college credits from high school before joining the army with his brother and his brother’s friend.
At least this class would give him an opportunity to expand his horizons.
Before he opened the door to the Business building, he tossed the toothpick he’d been chewing into the garbage can. He ambled down the hallway, enjoying the feeling of being in a place of learning, with other people who were seeking out a new path just as he was. Once he found the classroom, he headed to the back of the room, glad to be a few minutes early so he could choose a seat that would give him a good view of everything. Better to stay out of the line of fire, he always said after spending time in Iraq.
The room filled with chattering students, and because it was community college, many of them were around Jake’s age. At one minute after seven p.m., the professor entered and headed to the podium at the front. There was only one open seat left in the room, right next to Jake’s place in the back. A dark-haired woman flew in behind the professor and stopped dead, surprised to see the room so full.
The professor waved her toward the back of the room. “There’s one seat left in the back, down this row. It’s a full class, but I expect several people will be dropping it after today.” His smug expression told Jake he spoke from experience. Jake vowed not to be one of the quitters.
The girl hid her face as she made her way to the back of the room. Jake noticed every set of male eyes in the room followed her. By the time she reached him, he understood why.
Julia Ross sat in the chair next to him with a huff, swishing her hair before she set her purse on the floor and grabbed her book and a notebook out of the bag. As soon as his gaze caught hers, she stopped what she was doing to stare at him. She smiled right before she blushed the deepest shade of red Jake had ever seen. She recognized him.
In that moment, he was certain it couldn’t be a coincidence. He had never believed in destiny before, but his brother convinced him that meeting his wife, Cait, had been just that.
Somehow, Jake thought he had just looked destiny in the eye.