Sunday Morning: A Damaged Novella (8 page)

V
iolence never bothered me, but I wasn’t one of
those guys that got off on it. Hurting someone was a means to an end. If I
needed money, and I had to take it by force, I used force. If someone
threatened me, I defended myself. I never giggled about it afterward, but I got
the job done.

With the moonshiners in Ellsberg, the violence
wasn’t personal. I wanted their territory. They didn’t want me to have it. I
offered them an easy way out. They laughed because they didn’t know how much I
wanted the town for my woman and kid. That part was personal. Killing the
moonshiners wasn’t, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over their deaths.

While burying one of the moonshiners, I stumbled
upon one of the most fucking beautiful places I’d seen in my life. Standing at
the end of gentle drop-off, I drank in the sight of the thick green trees and a
lazy river.

After I was done with the body, I walked around for
hours and imagined what I could do with this land. I’d seen a “for sale” sign
on the nearby road.

The land wasn’t cheap, but I talked down the owner.
He was looking to retire with the money he made from the sale. The property sat
for a long time without any interest, and I figured he would either take my
offer or not. I wasn’t going to beg, not even for that view. There were other
beautiful places around Ellsberg where I could build a life with Jodi.

The guy backed down like I suspected he would. He
wanted out of Kentucky as much as I was looking to set up roots.

Despite getting closer to my goals, I missed the
shit out of Jodi and hated not spending every day rubbing her belly. Bringing
her to Ellsberg couldn’t happen until I had control of the town.

The moonshiners were gone, but I still needed to
scare their customers into doing business with my club. The local cops remained
dicey. They seemed willing to play ball as long as we didn’t cause too much
trouble. I figured they’d soon enjoy their bribes too much to give them up, and
I’d own them.

Too many damn weeks passed without Jodi. I called
her every day, and she sounded as lonely as I felt.

“What’d you do today?” I asked one night when the
baby had cooked for six months.

“I was so hot today that I walked around naked in
the apartment. I read naked. Slept naked. Even ate naked.”

“Are you naked now?” I asked, grinning.

“No. I got a little chilly, and now I’m wearing one
of your flannel shirts.”

“Just the flannel?”

Jodi laughed quietly. “Yeah, baby. I need you to
come home.”

“I will soon. I gotta get our home together here.”

“I’ll live anywhere as long as I’m with you.”

Every night, we had the same conversation. I’d be
frustrated by the repetition if I didn’t picture her sitting alone in the
apartment all day every day. She had nowhere to go. She was alone and hormonal,
and I kept telling her to be patient. Jodi was too young to be patient.

“Once I come for you, we won’t be apart again. I’ll
bring you here, and this will be our home. We’ll be new people here. No one
will know our secrets except us. Our boy will have anything he wants. The world
will be at his fucking feet.”

Jodi was quiet for nearly a minute before asking in
a small voice, “You are coming back, right?”

I hated how she now asked me this same question
every night. At first, she trusted me enough to avoid worrying. Too long apart
left her thinking I might ditch her and our baby. I didn’t understand how she
believed I could start a new life without her.

“What did I have before you?” I asked, counting the
days before I would drive back to Chesterfield. “I was nothing, and I had
nothing. My life didn’t mean shit. Now I have everything. Would I really walk
away from everything, Jodi?”

“No.”

“Would I want to live in this quiet town if I
wasn’t building a life for my family?”

“No,” she said with more confidence.

“I love you and our boy. You need to believe
everything I do is for you.”

“I do,” she said, and I heard the smile in her
voice. “I know you’re doing what you think is right.”

“But?” I asked when she stopped speaking for too
long.

“But I need you to come back here or bring me to
you. I can’t be alone much longer. I don’t care if you stick me in a dump in
Ellsberg until things are in order. I just need to be with you.”

Logic said I shouldn’t move her until everything
was perfect. My heart said otherwise.

“I’ll come get you this weekend.”

“Really?” she asked, and her excitement was
obvious.

“I want you happy, and this is what you want.”

“Is it what you want?”

“Hell, I’ve wanted to bring you since day one. Now
I’ll get what I want.”

Jodi burst into happy tears. I wasn’t sure why that
night I gave into her request rather than the many other evenings. Knowing how
much she needed me, I couldn’t keep telling her no.

In reality, I probably agreed because I couldn’t
tolerate life without her anymore. Waking up each day, I reached for her warm
body and found the empty side of the bed. I’d been fucking dying to show her
everything I saw when I drove around Ellsberg.

No more playing shit logical, I knew the time had
come to make our home a reality.

M
y heart hurt without Kirk nearby. I couldn’t deal
with anything beyond eating, sleeping, and reading. The only people I talked to
most days were Kirk and the baby.

The longer Kirk was gone, the more emotionally
stunted I felt. I grew more paranoid about someone breaking into the apartment.
I also thought every thunderstorm would turn into a tornado, and I’d die
without seeing Kirk again.

I refused to buy maternity clothes even though my
belly was huge by six months along. Spending money on stuff I couldn’t wear for
long seemed stupid. Though Kirk left me plenty of cash to buy what I needed,
I’d been broke for too long to feel comfortable.

Instead, I bought a few sweatpants and shorts and
wore Kirk’s shirts when mine got too small. I looked like a mess, but no one
was around to care. Hell, I didn’t even brush my hair most days, leaving it
wild.

Once Kirk decided to return to Chesterfield to get
me, I cleaned myself up. Brushed my hair, found one decent fitting outfit, and
even shaved my legs. I was ready to see my man again.

For an hour, I waited in front of the apartment
building before I saw Kirk appear down the road. Bouncing on my heels, I was
nearly crying in excitement. Kirk didn’t cry or squeal the way I did. No, he
was too fucking manly for that shit. After he got off his Harley, he only
casually hugged and kissed me.

Once we were in the apartment, Kirk dropped the
act. He smothered me with kisses, leaving me breathless. Then he dropped to his
knees and kissed my belly.

My fingers slid into his sweaty hair as he stared
up at me.

“I saw a little white church near the Kentucky border,” he said and kissed my belly again. “I got it in my head that we need to
stop there and get married on our way to Ellsberg.”

I couldn’t respond. So desperate for him to be
home, I hadn’t imagined anything beyond our reunion. Now I was beginning to
realize how Kirk was a man with plans. He hadn’t acted on his big ideas until
meeting me. Once I got him started, he couldn’t stop.

“It won’t be legal,” he said when I only stared at
him. “Not unless we get a license or some shit, but I don’t care about the law.
You’re my woman already.”

“I just want you,” were the only words I managed.

Kirk studied me with his dark eyes, and I felt all
of my fears disappear.

“I missed you,” he said, standing and lifting me
into his arms. “Let me show you.”

Kirk and I remained locked in the apartment for the
entire weekend. We ordered pizza and packed his belongings, not that he had
many. Between us, we didn’t fill up my car with boxes.

“Jodi Johansson sounds really sexy,” Kirk said on
our last evening in the apartment.

Nibbling on cold pizza crust, I leaned against
Kirk’s chest. “I can’t decide on a name for our son.”

His fingers teased my back, and I felt him thinking
again.

“The day I ran off like a bitch, I stopped in a
little town. I had wanted to keep going, but I saw the sign and suddenly felt
exhausted and needed to stop. The next day, I knew I had to come back even if I
was still feeling like a bitch.”

No doubt Kirk worried I wouldn’t like the name he
had in mind. I worried too, but I was thoroughly stuck in my search for the
right name.

“Coopertown was the town. It’s stuck in my head,
and I was thinking about Cooper for our boy’s name.”

The name didn’t sing to me immediately. Something
about it bothered me, but I couldn’t figure out what I didn’t like until I
stood in the little white church with Kirk.

Staring up at him, I asked, “What if people make
fun of him and turn his name into Pooper?”

Kirk cupped my face and stroked my cheeks with his
thumbs.

“No one would dare mock our boy like that.”

“Because he’ll be tough like his daddy.”

Kirk kissed me softly. All of those months without
him, I often forget how tender he could be. I only imagined him hurting people
in Ellsberg and claiming what he wanted. I never thought of him being gentle.

As we stood in the church, Kirk revealed the kind
of tenderness I dreamed he would show me for the rest of our years together.

I
never worried Jodi wouldn’t like Ellsberg. This
was a woman who could find something good about Chesterfield. Our new home was
going to blow her mind.

We arrived at the rental house around three in the
afternoon. Jodi parked the car behind my Harley in the driveway and then
climbed out. I knew from her expression that she was dazed by all of the
changes. Her wide eyes focused on me, and she gave me a smile that made me feel
like a fucking man. I’d done right for my family, and deep inside that was the
best accomplishment I could hope for.

“A dishwasher,” Jodi said twenty minutes after we
arrived.

Her tone cut me deep, and I feel primal. Caveman
shit where I needed to mark my woman.

Jodi gasped when I picked her up and started
walking to the bedroom. Rebounding, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Is the bed comfy?” she asked, wearing a grin.

“Oh, it’s a solid bed. Only the best for my woman.”

Jodi laughed. “I love you.”

Resting her on the bed, I yanked off my t-shirt.
“Do you like it here?” I asked, needing to hear what I already knew.

“I love it nearly as much as I love you.”

Grinning, I nipped at her bottom lip. “I’m feeling
a little threatened now. I better make you love me more.”

Jodi laughed again. In Ellsberg, she laughed often.
Everywhere we went, she smiled. Hell, even the grocery store made her happy.

She could have easily enjoyed her new life without
worrying about my new club, The Reapers. Jodi viewed us as a team. I might do
the heavy lifting, but she was my sounding board.

Jodi came up with the idea to make backyard parties
a regular thing. Neither of us is the friendly sort, but she knew building
loyalty was more than wearing the same patches. The fact was we’d be perfectly
happy to spend our time alone. Now we were part of something larger, and I was
in charge.

Most of the guys in the club came with old ladies
and kids. Grilling on the weekends made our business situation into something
built on trust and loyalty. If one of the guys got in a bind, he wasn’t on his
own. He had a team of men willing to kill and die to have his back. Thanks to
Jodi, I’d create a crew worth spilling blood over.

The guys and I got into a habit of taking long
rides while checking out our expanding territory in Kentucky. We’d stop for
lunch and bullshit.

The men were solid, but I was happy to settle in at
home with Jodi. By Thanksgiving, she couldn’t get out of bed or chairs on her
own. Jodi was all belly and sexy as hell.

A month after her eighteenth birthday and a week
before her due date, Jodi woke up at three and said she was either in labor or
dying. An hour later, she managed to give birth to my ten-pound son.

“My woman is a tough bitch,” I said, kissing her
forehead as she held a red-faced Cooper.

“I think he got smooshed on the way out.”

“He’s tough like his mama,” I said, kissing her
again and nearly crawling into bed next to her. “He’ll rebound.”

A tired and sweaty Jodi looked at me and smiled. “I
could do this again.”

“Hell yeah, you could.”

“Cooper needs a little brother or sister to give
him shit,” she said, caressing the quiet baby’s lips. “He’s too perfect.
Without someone hassling him, life will be too damn easy.”

“Can’t have that,” I whispered, finally giving in
and sliding next to her on the bed.

Jodi studied my face. “You look scared.”

“You just shoved a ten-pound kid out of you. I’m
feeling more than a little guilty.”

“For helping me make a gorgeous kid?” she teased.

“That was impressive.”

“It was fast. My biggest fear wasn’t the pain, but
it taking all fucking day and night.”

Cooper whined and shivered before falling silent.
We watched him, and I struggled not to cry like a baby myself. Jodi and Cooper
were more than I could have ever dreamed for, yet they were mine.