She was the first girl I’d ever pursued. Before her the idea of a relationship made me cringe. My model for marriage was my parents.
What always irked me was how Mom easily walked all over my father. She was always making demands and wanting more. Still, he loved her, making me promise to make sure she would always be taken care of.
I have no doubt Kennedy will never be like that. She dreams of babies and white picket fences and a family of her own. I wanted those things too once I heard her saying it was her dream. Most men would have bolted if a girl was talking so early about those things, but I asked. It didn’t scare me one bit. If anything, it gave me a path to keep Kennedy for myself.
My phone goes off, vibrating on the nightstand. I grab it and see it’s my brother calling. I slowly inch out of bed, not wanting to wake my wife up. I pull the blankets back up making sure she’s tucked in before I call my brother back from the other room.
“How are things going?” he asks.
“Good so far. I think things are coming back to her slowly. Something wrong? It’s a bit late.” It’s almost midnight.
“Mom is blowing up my fucking phone about you.”
“Don’t give a shit. What’s done is done. Kennedy is my wife now so Mom should watch herself.” God forbid something ever happened to me everything in the trust would go to Kennedy and our baby boy. She’s not greedy. I know she’ll do what needs to be done. I have faith in her. I don’t care what anyone else has to say about it. It’s my money at this point. My father was almost bankrupt when he handed over the company to me. I rebuilt it and now I have my own family to take care of.
“You married her? Shit man. Have you lost your mind? She's the freaking maid.” Until now Ryan hadn't had much to say about my relationship with Kennedy.
“Watch it,” I warn.
“Mom is going to lose her mind.” He groans.
“Not my problem.”
“It’s going to be everyone’s problem.”
I pull my phone away from my ear to look at the screen when another call comes in. “Listen, I gotta go. You can tell Mom I’m done with her opinions. She can either get on board or she’ll never be a part of my life.”
“Holy shit, bro.”
“I’ll talk to you later.” I end the call, clicking over. The area code on the phone number is a local one.
“Oz here,” I answer.
“It’s Taylor. I know it’s late, but is Kennedy up?”
“She’s already in bed.”
“Damn. Okay. Have her call when she wakes up.”
“Is this about Faith?” I ask. The line goes quiet for a moment.
“Yes, she's back, and her mother is nowhere to be found.”
“I’ll wake her. She’d want to be woken up.” This little girl has worked her way into Kennedy’s heart. She’s important to her, which makes her important to me as I like to keep my wife happy.
“I’ll see you soon,” she says before ending the call. I head back into the bedroom, flipping on the lamp.
“Sweetheart.” I sit down on the side of the bed, brushing some of her hair out of her face. Even in sleep she’s breathtaking. A sweet innocence clings to her. It’s not surprising she fell in love with the shelter and was offered a permanent job there.
“Yeah?” She yawns, rolling to her side and cuddling deeper into the blankets.
“Faith is back, and her mom is nowhere to be found.”
Her eyes spring open. “She’s at the shelter?” she asks, sitting up.
“Yes.” She jumps out of the bed in a hurry. I get up too and pull clothes on. Kennedy has us out the door in five minutes. When we get to the shelter, Taylor lets us in.
“Kennedy, before you go in, I want you to know she has a bruise on her jaw.” Taylor gives us a heads up.
“How? How did she get here?” Kennedy’s voice wobbles with emotion.
“She said she walked.” My whole body goes tight. A young girl walking alone at night. So many things could have happened to her.
“Okay.” She nods before turning back to me. I can tell she’s fighting tears.
“You got this.” She gives me a half-smile that doesn’t meet her eyes. “I’ll come with you, but I’ll hang back at first. I’m a big guy.”
“That’s a good idea,” Taylor says as she opens another door to let us into the main part of the shelter. “She went straight to your old bed.”
I follow Kennedy back, stopping when I see what door she’s heading toward. “Go be with her. I’m going to make some calls and find out what the hell is going on.”
“Really?” I can see the hope in her eyes.