Page 6 of His Valentine

“A few more weeks. I’ve got enough for a down payment. I wanted to be free and clear of a car payment plus add a little bit more to my savings for a rainy day,” I admit my game plan. During the drive home last night, I started running down the numbers, coming up with what I thought would be good. A decent used car should cost me around fifteen thousand. Since I’ve started stripping, I’ve managed to save about ten thousand. Did I mention this job is lucrative? Five dances a night at three times a week for two weeks, and I’ve managed to save a lot of fucking cake. No wonder women turn this into a career instead of doing it as a side hustle.

“Damn, you’re making that much?” he asks.

“Tips are amazing, though taxes will probably kill me. I think it’ll outweigh the cons, and who knows, maybe Chris will file, and the department of revenue will catch up with him.” I have court mandated child support. That doesn’t mean I get any type of money when he doesn’t have a job. The rare occurrence he does, I’ll see a deposit for a couple of weeks before it dies off.

“Fuckin’ deadbeat. Should’ve never told you to keep his name on the birth certificate. He doesn’t do dick for Briar. Never has, never will. Proud of you, Kenny. Real fuckin’ proud. Still wish you’d let me help more. Lennie tells me to bite my tongue, but I’m finding that hard to do when giving you a bit of cash will alleviate your pain.” I lay my head on his shoulder, looking up at my big brother.

“It’s not your fault, you know that. I could have pushed back, and while I love your need to fix my problems, you shouldn’thave to.” Asher admitting what he did about Chris says a lot. He’s been thinking hard and heavy about that.

“Anytime you change your mind, the money is yours. Loan or no loan.” He presses a kiss on the top of my head. “Got one more thing I wanna run by you. The guys will be here tomorrow. We’re grilling burgers, chicken, corn on the cob, and whatever other sides they decide to make or purchase on their way over here. Want you and Briar here, take a load off. Don’t want you cooking. A whole lot of relaxing before you start your week again. Okay?” My mind is at war about coming over. Trent will undoubtedly be here. He’ll more than likely try to play nice like nothing happened. I’ll bury it deep down yet again and attempt to stay away. The only problem with that is I’ve tried that before; Trent also turned me down back then, and what did my dumbass self decide to do? I ran to the wrong man, into a relationship with Chris. The only good thing that came out of the situation is my pretty baby girl. I take a moment when realization hits that I’m never going to be able to avoid Trent. He’ll always be around. I’m just going to have to pull my head out of my ass and move on.

“Fine, since you asked me so nicely and had me at relaxing. I’ll grab Briar from Mom’s, start a load of laundry, and then come over.”

“Good, now let’s chow down.” Asher ends the conversation, moves to Lennie, and takes his seat. I do the same, except I’m beside Briar. She looks up at me with her big hazel eyes, a chocolatey smile, and happiness written on her face. We tuck into our breakfast of fruit and sugary food, not even a scrap of bacon, which is odd considering Asher always eats a protein of some kind. Lennon must not like the smell. I remember that all too well. Anyone frying up hamburger meat would send me straight to the bathroom. In between the bites of food, laughter and chatter fill the room, making me realize once again how lucky I am to have my family.

4

TRENT

“Fuck.” I run my fingers through my hair, tugging at the tendrils at the news Dad delivered to me. We’re sitting on the back porch at my parents’ house. Everyone is asleep, and the sun is barely rising off in the distance. After heading back to the station last night, we went over a game plan, got it locked down solid, sent another team to keep their eyes on our guy, and then I went home. A few hours of sleep, and I knew I’d need to head back to work, but not before stopping at my parents’ house.

“That’s about the size of it,” Dad says with a deep and heavy sigh.

“Gran’s sure she doesn’t want to try to beat it?” I get it. She’s lived a long and healthy life thus far. I’m thirty-nine, Dad is sixty-two, and Gran is eighty-one. Still, this a hard pill to swallow.

“Yeah, bub. She’s sure. I asked her, Mom asked her, and Uncle Andy asked, too. We all sat down with the doctor. He told her what they could do, and she shut them down immediately. Said chemotherapy and radiation weren’t going on her schedule. Instead, she’d rather explore a few more places she hasn’t seenyet and go her own way.” Breast cancer, metastatic. Already spreading to other parts of her body. Leave it to Gran to know exactly what she wants.

“Still doesn’t seem fair.” I tilt my head back, allowing it to rest on the back of the patio chair. I know this shit is a part of life, I know I’ve been lucky enough to have Gran this long, and I know this is what she wants. It doesn’t make it any easier. I close my eyes, swallow down my emotion, and take a deep fucking breath. The next however long is going to be hard, there’s no doubt about it.

“Life isn’t always fair.” He’s more than right about that. I’ve seen and heard a lot of shit with my job. I came out of the academy, did additional training, the police department I worked at assigned me to a shit patrol, and I slowly moved up as much I could. It took me ten years to land where I am, and I’ve yet to look back. Being a detective is what I’ve been born to do. I like the thrill of the chase, to be able to crack a case that’s been sitting on my desk, and tonight, this next one should be signed, sealed, and delivered.

“No, it really isn’t.” I open my eyes. The clogging of emotion has eased some, and I’m able to look at my dad without having to blink the pain away in the form of tears.

“Which leads me to the other reason I asked you over. Gran wants to sell the car. Whatever she makes from it is yours to keep. She is also giving you her and Gramp’s wedding rings. Whatever you choose to do with them is yours.” I do a double take, unsure of why she’s doing this right out of the gate. “You’re the only grandkid, Trent, you’ve known this. I’ve got no use for either of those items. Neither does your uncle.”

“Yeah, but the money from selling her car, Dad, that’s screwed. It’s her car, her money, and doesn’t she want to do a few things before shit goes sideways?” Before I left the precinct last night, I pulled the captain off to the side to let him know I’dbe in a later than anticipated. He told me to take all the time I needed when I gave him the gist of the story. I assumed it’d be bad, but not this bad.

“Son, she’s got money. I’ve got money, your uncle has money. Whatever Gran wants, she’s going to get. Don’t worry about that. You do what she asks, she’ll be happy, and that’s all we can ask for,” Dad says. The sliding glass door opens. I look over my shoulder and see Mom stepping out with a cup of coffee in one hand and the pot in the other. Dad hops out of the chair to help her out, and I watch as they say their good morning to one another.

They’re night and day different with their sleep patterns. Dad goes to bed early and rises early. Mom stays up late and tends to sleep in. She gets sucked into a television show, and there’s no way to get her up and moving. Especially if it’s one of the documentaries about a serial killer. You’d think with the line of work I do, she’d steer clear. Nope, she likes to know the case inside and out.

“Good morning, Mom. You’re up earlier than normal,” I tease once they’re done kissing and doing their usual morning deal.

“Good morning, son. Yeah, well, between the garage door going up, the coffee pot spitting and sputtering, and the television out here on the deck talking about this plague and that crime, it’s impossible to sleep soundly.” Dad took everything out of her hands, and she hugs me from behind, laying a soft kiss on the side of my head.

“Sorry about that. Work’s been a bitch lately, and this is the only time I’m able to get away.”

“I understand. You okay with everything?” she asks the ominous question.

“Is anyone ever okay with watching someone they love slowly slip away from them?” Mom laid to rest both of her parentswithout any help from her siblings. They disappeared when shit got rough and only reappeared when they left this earth and the will needed to be read. I’ll never forget how pissed Dad got, red face, clenched jaw, and closed fists. I thought he’d for sure knock some heads together in the form of Mom’s brothers. He refrained, barely, probably because when the lawyer did his reading of what they left, it wasn’t to the brothers. They put some money into a trust for my cousins, and Mom’s brothers didn’t get dick. Mom got what they put into the house for the mother-in-law suite plus some. I got the same amount as my cousins, and everything else was to be doled out via Mom’s discretion. They still hold a grudge, which means family functions barely happen, and while it hurts Mom, there isn’t a damn bit of good it would do to talk to my uncles.

“No, not at all. I love you, son.” She moves away, but Dad doesn’t let her sit in her own seat, bringing her into his lap instead. This is how I was raised, the two of them always being loving and affectionate with one another. In the kitchen, in the living room, saying hello, sayingI love you. Their actions and words to one another did and still do speak volumes.

“Love you, Mom. You think Gran would be upset if I said hello before heading to the station?” Whereas Mom and Dad have a pretty set schedule, Gran is completely different, on her own schedule and does her own thing. When my parents built the addition, they made it so it had a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. The only thing it’s missing is a laundry area for a washer and dryer.

“I think you’d get a loaf of bread thrown at you if you tried to sneak out of the house without at least peeking your head through the door. You know how she sleeps.”

“With one eye open.” I stand up and down the rest of the contents of my black coffee. One of these days, all the caffeine isgoing to catch up with me and do the exact opposite of what I need it to do, and that’s keep me awake.

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