Second Chances (18 page)

He decided to man up and call where she worked. If she would talk to him, Journey might forgive him for being a dick. He pulled out his phone and looked up Cabana’s, the restaurant where she worked. Dylan dialed the number and waited for someone to answer.

“Cabana’s, this is Gina. Can I help you?”

“Hi, is Journey available?” Dylan felt more nervous than before he joined the Marines.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but Journey quit this afternoon.”

“She quit?” Dylan couldn’t hide the shock in his voice.

“Yep, she came in when I did. She looked like she’d been crying. I probably shouldn’t have told you that, but she said she was moving and that’s all I know.”

“Okay, uh, thanks.” Dylan hung up the phone and just stared at it. “What did I do?”

He slammed his phone down on the table, picked up his beer bottle and then chucked it across the yard.

***

Dustin finished getting ready and went out to living room, waiting for his brother. He’d watched from the kitchen the night before as Dylan tried to find Journey, but learned that she’d up and moved. His brother had taken it hard. After Dylan had thrown his beer bottle across the yard, he’d walked silently into the house, and went into his room, shutting the door behind him.

He’d gotten up long before Dylan even came out of his room. The guy had looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. Dustin hurt for his brother. He didn’t say anything to him when he came out, pretending that it was just a normal day and nothing was wrong. It seemed to have worked because they hung out and had a good night together watching baseball and shooting the shit.

As soon as Dylan was ready, they were going to pick up Stacy and then head to their parents’ house for dinner. He’d talked to Stacy the night before after Dylan had escaped to his room. Dustin told her about Journey and what happened when Dylan tried to call her. She just listened to him as he voiced his concern for his brother, for which he was grateful. Stacy told him about her day at the spa and that she had a surprise for him.

The sound of a door opening brought Dustin out of his thoughts. Dylan walked into the living room dressed in a pair of jeans and a navy blue t-shirt. “You about ready?” Dustin asked as he stood up to grab his keys.

“Yep. Are we picking up Stacy?”

Dustin nodded as they headed out the door. They rode in silence to Stacy’s house. Once they pulled up into the driveway, Dylan jumped out to go get her. Dustin watched out of the front window as Dylan walked up to her front door. When it opened, Dustin wanted to swallow his tongue. Her skin was glowing and she looked tanner. She stepped out onto the porch and he noticed her hair was longer, too. It fell in big curls down past the middle of her back. She was wearing that damn jean skirt he loved and the form fitting white t-shirt she wore hugged her gorgeous tits.

Stacy threw her arms around Dylan’s neck and hugged him tight. Dustin couldn’t tell what she said, but he watched her whisper in Dylan’s ear. He gave her a genuine smile and led her to the truck. She hopped into the back and wrapped her arms around Dustin from behind. Her scent enveloped the cab of his truck and caused his dick to respond. Dustin turned his head and kissed her good and hard. “Hi, baby. You look fucking beautiful.”

“Thanks, handsome.”

“Oh Jesus, you two. Am I going to have to watch you two play kissy-face all night?” Dylan said as Dustin pulled out of Stacy’s driveway.

“Shut up, ass,” Dustin said with a laugh.

The three of them made small talk as they took off to their parents’ place. The conversation flowed easily between Dylan and Stacy, which made Dustin happy. The three of them would be together a lot now that Dylan was home, so it was important that Dylan and Stacy got along.

They pulled into their parents’ driveway and saw that Bellamy and Luke were already there. Before Dylan was even out of the truck, Bellamy and their mom came tearing out of the house. Bellamy reached Dylan first, throwing herself into his waiting arms. They were quickly joined by their mom. Dustin smiled, seeing the joy on his mom and sister’s faces as they embraced Dylan. Stacy joined Dustin, wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her close as they watched the reunion.

Luke and their dad came out to see what the holdup was. His dad had Carrington on his shoulder, who was oblivious to the goings on around her. They all made their way into the house. Stacy kissed Dustin quick, and he watched as she walked away to join his mom and sister. The men all retreated to the deck.

“So how was your vacation?” Luke asked as he handed Dylan the baby.

“It was good. Glad to be home, though. It’s a little weird to be a civilian now, but I’m sure I’ll get used to being just a regular guy sooner or later.”

Dustin laughed at the look of horror on Dylan’s face when Carrington made the most god awful sound and then the most toxic smell came from her diapered butt.

“Luke, your daughter smells worse than you. What have you been feeding her?” Dylan said, handing the baby back to her dad.

Luke laughed and held her close. “Breast milk is all she gets right now. Dude, you haven’t seen anything until it’s coming out the top of her diaper all of the way up her back. I still gag when I change those diapers. She just smiles at me and I swear she smirks at me, too. Don’t you, my little princess?” The baby just gurgled and smiled at Luke. Dustin watched his best friend take the baby into the house.

Dustin laughed with his brother as they were sharing stories from their childhood during dinner. It was amazing how much stuff they thought they got away with when they were younger, but their parents had been very aware of their shenanigans.

“You boys always thought you were so clever. Not a day went by that your momma and I didn’t know what you were up to,” his dad stated from the head of the table.

“Well, why didn’t you ever punish us for it?” Dylan asked.

“Because, son, it wasn’t anything illegal. You were just typical boys, and as long as you were good to your sister and didn’t intentionally hurt anyone, we didn’t see any problem with letting you boys be.”

Bellamy, of course, had to put in her two cents. “Yeah, that is so not fair. You guys always got away with everything.” She crossed her arms and stuck her lip out just like when she was younger.

Dustin smiled because Stacy burst out laughing at his sister’s theatrics. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side and kissing her temple. Dustin looked up to see his mom smiling at him. He was almost thirty-two and his mom made him blush. Dustin returned her smile and joined back in the conversation.

Everyone was getting up to leave when Dustin looked over at Stacy, who was staring at her phone. “What is it, sugar?”

“Well, I kept my phone on vibrate during dinner and I’ve missed five calls from home. Do you mind if I call them quick before we leave?”

“Not at all. I’ll meet you outside in a couple of minutes.” Dustin kissed her forehead and hated to see the worry in her eyes. “Don’t worry, baby, I’m sure everything is okay.”

Stacy nodded her head and Dustin watched her as she hurriedly walked outside. He felt a nudge at his side and looked down to see his sister standing there. Dustin wrapped her in a hug.

“Is Stacy okay?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. She missed a bunch of calls from her parents, so she’s calling to find out what’s going on.” Dustin hoped he hadn’t lied when he told her everything was probably okay.

“I just want you to know that you guys are great together and I’m happy for you, Dustin.” He kissed Bellamy’s head just as the front door opened and Stacy came running towards him.

“Dustin, can I borrow your truck?”

***

Stacy stood in front of Dustin, waiting for his answer.

“Baby, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I just talked to my dad and Garrett and Ian are there. It has to do with Chloe. They want to see me, so I need to go,” Stacy pleaded.

Her dad had sounded weird on the phone and it was scaring her. What if Chloe was sick and because Stacy was so close to her, they wanted to tell her in person? What if it was some weird situation and Chloe’s biological mom wanted her back? She had to stop thinking that way. It was only going to make her crazy if she didn’t.

“Hey, y’all, Stacy and I need to leave. It’s kind of urgent. I’ll call you tomorrow, Mom,” Dustin shouted. “Bell, can you guys take Dylan home?”

“Of course. Stacy, call me later if you need to.” Stacy accepted Bellamy’s hug and said a quick goodbye to everyone.

“You really didn’t need to come with me,” Stacy said as she climbed into Dustin’s truck.

“Stacy, would you just stop? I know I don’t need to, but I want to…okay?”

All she could do was nod as Dustin backed out of the driveway and they took off to her parents’ house. Stacy twisted her hands nervously in her lap the whole way there. Dustin, bless his heart, tried to distract her, but it wasn’t working. He did lay a comforting hand on her thigh and it helped calm her a little.

As soon as they pulled into her parents’ driveway, Stacy jumped out of the truck and bolted for the front door. Her mom greeted them with a grim look on her face. “Mom, what’s going on? Y’all are scaring me.”

“Come with me,
Minha filha.
Your dad and Ian are trying to calm your uncle down.”

Stacy made her way slowly to the dining room where she could hear her dad’s voice. She took a deep breath and rounded the corner. Before she could even react, Garrett was up from the table in her face. “How could you? We trusted you to watch over her when she stayed with you!”

“Gar-Garrett what are you talking about?” The only other time Stacy had ever seen Garrett that angry was the night Chad had humiliated her in front of his friends. “What’s going on with Chloe, Garrett?”

“Who’s the guy with the tattoos on his arms, Stacy?” His voice had gone eerily quiet.

“Tattoos?” She closed her eyes when she knew right away who had tattoos on his arms. “What does this have to do with Mark?” Stacy felt her face heat up with embarrassment. She felt Dustin’s hand grip her shoulder in support.

“Tell me what really happened with Mark?” her dad asked from next to Garrett.

Dustin squeezed her shoulder as she began going through the whole blow up she had with him. With every word she spoke, Stacy could see her dad’s face getting redder and redder. She told him how he pushed her against the wall and everything that followed; he turned away from her. When he turned back towards her, he looked ready to kill.

“What else, Stacy?” her mom asked.

“He keeps calling me. He showed up at the party after you left with Grandma and the kids. He’s sent me flowers and he’s threatened me.”

“Why didn’t you tell anybody? Dustin, did you know about this?” her mom asked him.

“I knew about some stuff. I didn’t know he showed up at the party.”

“Will someone please tell me what this has to do with Chloe?” Stacy pleaded.

Garrett stepped forward but Ian stayed him with a hand on his shoulder. Her dad did the same thing on the other side.

“Stacy, what happened the night Chloe stayed with you?” Ian asked

She told them about playing dress up and that Bellamy came over with the baby. Stacy shared that Dustin stopped by, but left shortly after Chloe fell asleep on the couch. She told them how she tucked her into bed and got in with her, and then waking to find Chloe standing in the hallway crying because she had an accident. “She was extremely clingy after that.”

“Stacy, we found out from Chloe what happened that night. She says that when she got out of your bed and went to the bathroom, a man was standing in your hallway.” Stacy couldn’t hide the shock in her expression. “She said that he started asking her questions about you. Chloe knew right away that it wasn’t Dustin.” Ian looked at Dustin when he said it. “Stacy, he told Chloe that if she told anyone that he was there that he’d hurt you.”

Stacy covered her mouth with a shaky hand. That poor baby; no wonder she was so clingy all of a sudden. She was probably scared something would happen to Stacy. That explained the night Chloe told Dustin to protect her. “Ho-how did he get in? I never, ever gave him a key to my place.”

“I don’t know, but if I were you, I’d change your locks immediately,” Ian said. He was handling this so much better than Garrett, who hadn’t said anything for a while.

“I will,” Stacy promised. “I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am that this has happened. If you want, I can call and talk to Chloe and assure her that I’m okay and she doesn’t have to worry about me.”

Finally Garret spoke. “No, you will not call my daughter. We’ll take care of telling her you’re fine. How could you be so stupid and selfish, Stacy? Didn’t you even think that your family might want to know some fucker is stalking you? If I would’ve known, there would’ve been no way in hell that I would’ve let her stay with you. What if he would’ve hurt her, Stacy? Did you ever stop to think that this guy wouldn’t have any problem hurting your family to get to you? I don’t want you calling her anymore. You stay the fuck away from my family, because it’s obvious that you don’t make very good decisions. If, and it’s a big
if
, I ever let you near Chloe again, it’ll be here under the watchful eye of your parents.” Garrett turned and walked towards the kitchen with Ian following behind.

Stacy’s parents were both silently watching her. She was getting ready to walk in there to get Garrett to listen to her when she heard him shout. “I don’t care, Ian! That stupid bitch could’ve gotten our daughter hurt or worse!”

She felt all of the blood drain from her face. Stacy’s hands went numb and her body was trembling. She had to get out of there. It hurt because her parents weren’t even defending her to Garrett; they just stood there staring at her. Stacy whispered that she was sorry and bolted for the door. She hopped in Dustin’s truck, thankful he left the keys in it, and peeled out of the driveway.

It didn’t take her long to get home. She let herself in, not bothering to close the door because obviously if Mark wanted in bad enough, he found a way. Stacy left the house completely engulfed in darkness and went to crawl into her bed. It wasn’t until a short time later that she felt Dustin wrap his arms around her that the dam broke. She sobbed so hard she started gagging herself. The tremors that racked her body hurt, but she welcomed the pain. After all, she did deserve it. Stacy deserved Garrett’s hatred. She was going to miss her little Chloe and Carter, but maybe her parents would get pictures for her so she could see them as they grew up.