Page 61 of Storm

My question is soft and I don’t mean to sound self-deprecating. He’s quick to back pedal.“That’s not what I meant, Miri. Not even a little.”Blowing out a breath, he continues.“Ezra’s life wasn’t easy from the start, but mine was for a bit… until it wasn’t.”

“Do you want to share or just leave it open-ended?”

“I don’t mind, but it’s part of Ez’s story too.” He waits for me to stop him and when I don’t, he shares. “So, I said we were neighbors. Long story short, his parents were drug addicts and alcoholics since before he was born. What he went through, I’ll leave to him, but when we were just barely teenagers, his dad overdosed and died. His mom, who’d never been alone in her life, started relying on my family for support.”

I close my eyes, hurting for Ezra. It must have been a horrible time for him, but I know this is going to get worse because Tatum hasn’t shared his part yet.

“After a while, my dad became the one who assisted his mom. She drew him into the world of drugs and my dad became angry, abusive, and unfaithful to my mother. Shit got bad real quick. My mom became a shell of herself, and both Ez and I suffered from all of their mistakes. That’s why we left when we did. The moment I turned eighteen, we were gone.”

Taking a deep breath, I roll to my side and cradle my head with my arm. “I’m sorry your story took a bad turn, Tate.”

“I found my way again. It took a bit, but here we are. Also, I was serious about lunch, Miri. I know we haven’t moved past the issues from before, but I truly think spending time talking it out and getting to know each other is the way to work on that. I’d also like to get to know you more.”

“Because I might be having your baby.”

He chuckles. “Sure, we can use that excuse for now.”

I shake my head, not really believing we’d be having this conversation if it weren’t for Ezra dragging me to that cabin again with news of my pregnancy. “I challenge you to prove me wrong. I’m not sure when lunch would work, to be honest. Freetime is hard to come by these days. Maybe dinner at some point, but those are typically rushed.”

“What about when you have your next appointment? You’ll have to take time from work then. Just put in for the afternoon that day. I’ll feed you and we can go window shopping at the mall and walk off our meals.”

Chewing on my lip, I express what I’m most concerned about. “It’s not a date, Tatum.”

I can hear the smile he’s sporting as he teases, “Sure, we can use that excuse for now.”

“You sound like a parrot.”

“So, we are settled for our not-really-a-date date?”

Laughing, I nod, then say, “Fine. I’ll let you know if something changes. I’m going to go and figure out where to put all this stuff. Would you tell him I really do appreciate the thoughtfulness of his shopping spree?”

“I’ll let him know. Get some sleep, Miri. Bye for now.” Tatum hangs up before I can say goodbye. Setting my phone down, I continue to lie on the bed for a bit longer until my nervous energy gets the best of me.

Climbing to my feet, I stack all the boxes in the closet, then grab my apartment keys and head out the door. Giving Susanna a quick call, I ask if she’s free for a visit. Thankfully, she’s bored out of her mind because tonight’s her night off at the piano bar she performs at. All of her guys work there as well; Chester and Theo own it together. While on the phone as I rush outside, I freeze when I come face to face with Richard.

“Let me call you back, Susu,” I say without looking away from him, then hang up and frown. “Did you all move to my town and not let me know?”

He tilts his head to the side in confusion. “Of course not. I tried calling, but it kept going to voicemail and I needed to talk to you. Do you have some time?”

“I was going to visit a friend.” I don’t miss the way his face turns to irritation, but he schools himself quickly.

“Would you accept a ride so we can talk?”

“No, but you can walk to the bus stop with me.” Without giving him a chance to disagree, I start walking the four blocks to my stop and after a moment of hesitation, he jogs to catch up. We walk silently for the entire first two blocks before I can’t stand the silence anymore. “Richard, talk.”

“Sorry. I’ve been thinking a lot since your appointment and I have a few concerns I’d like to address.” He’s all business and serious. As much as I want to poke at him, after my unexpected visit from Ezra and Tatum, I’m pretty done with confrontation.

I peek at him and ask, “What’s your biggest concern?”

“The long distance. You’re living close to two hours away from all of us. No matter who the father is, it’s going to create problems, particularly because you don’t have reliable transportation.” Without giving me a chance to interject, he keeps going as if he’s prepared his entire speech. “I’m aware that you’re only recently pregnant, but have you considered how you’ll get around once the baby is born? The bus is hardly a safe way to travel with an infant. Not just because of dangerous people who could be lurking around, but germs are a real concern.”

“Richard, I’ve—” I don’t get a chance to say anything else because he keeps going with all the reasons I shouldn’t use public transportation.

“What if there’s an emergency? Not one which would require you to call emergency services, but if you need to go to a walk-in clinic late at night or you run out of something for the baby. The bus doesn’t run all hours of the night here. I checked. It stops at ten in the evening. I also calculated bus fare and how much you’re presumably spending every day between jobs and school. If you put that money into a reliable vehicle, and I helped with adown payment, it shouldn’t be too much more of an expense for you to maintain in the long run.”

Not ready to discuss my finances with a man who thinks I’m dirt, I clench my jaw and grit out, “What’s your other concern?”

He’s been staring straight ahead the entire time he gave me his speech, but finally he turns to look down at me. “It comes back to the first thing I said. The long distance. I know you have a full-time job here and you’re going to school, but have you…”

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