Page 45 of Redemption

“No, please. I just want to lie here and sleep.” Another shiver wracked her and I pulled her closer, keeping the can nearby and tilted the glass of water towards her dry lips again. She sipped slowly and I rubbed her back and arms, tugging the blanket around her to keep her warm. She snuggled against me, fitting right into the crook of my arm, my chin resting on her head.

“Tell me about prison?” she asked quietly.

I swallowed thickly. I didn’t like talking about it for obvious reasons, but she needed distracting and I’d never deny her anything. I stayed away from the darker parts and focused on the good.

“My first year was tough, just like you’d expect. It’s lonely. I didn’t want to make friends and guilt was eating me alive. Charlie visited me every month in that first year and I refused to see him. I didn’t think I couldlook him in the eye, and I figured he just wanted to abuse me. I’d taken away his love and the mother of his kids,” I began. She trembled beside me, and I thought this might be tough for her to hear but she was staring at me with rapt attention, sleep forgotten.

“I finally gave in and the first time I saw him, he said to me, ‘Hey son’,and I just burst into tears like a big baby. How was it possible to feel more affection from him in those two words than from my own parents?”

“Did your parents ever visit you?” she asked.

“Nope, I’ve not seen them since I was sentenced.”

“I’m sorry,” she said sadly, and it hit me right in the chest thatshewas sorry forme.That I hadn’t seen my parents when I’d taken one of hers away.

“Don’t be. Anyway, it became obvious that Charlie wanted to keep coming back and at first, the visits were hard. I think I cried almost every time, and some visits were tough on him too. He was a good man and wanted to forgive but sometimes it was hard for him.”

“I don’t know how he did it…”

Her words were another punch to the gut. It reminded me that she would never forgive me. But she didn’t have to, she didn’t owe me anything.

“Then we built a relationship, he became a surrogate father figure. We talked about the outside world, he kept me up to date on current events and talked about you girls. I know all about Casper,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

She groaned and covered her face. “Jesus, he told you about my imaginary boyfriend from when I was a kid?”

I laughed and she pinched me in the rib. “Hey, it’s not my fault you watched Casper the movie and then immediately made up a boyfriend.”

“Well I had to, none of the other boys would go outwith me. I wastoo tall,” she mimicked and huffed.

“No such thing,” I replied. She stifled a yawn. “Come on, sweetheart, enough about this. Get some sleep, you’ve had one hell of a night.”

“But I like hearing the stories about my dad, he had a whole life with you that I know nothing about,” she complained.

“I’ll tell you whenever you ask me. But your body needs rest,” I soothed. I was reluctant to encourage her to sleep because I was enjoying our time far too much. I knew that tomorrow, when the drugs were all flushed out of her system, we wouldn’t talk like this. I wanted to savor this moment but I wanted her to be well, too.

She fidgeted next to me and snuggled in closer, like she couldn’t burrow in deep enough. After a while her breathing slowed and just before she fell asleep, she said something that slayed me:

“I like it when you call me sweetheart.”

*

Kat was gone when I awoke in the morning. The blankets tucked up around me, Teddy had resumed his position on the bed and the trash can was clean and dry next to me.

I tugged my phone out of the pocket of my jeans, a fifth hand iPhone that had cost most of the money I had. Seeing it was late morning, I stretched lazily and relaxed back into the bed. I didn’t need to do anything until later tonight when I had another shift at the bar. Teddy ended up kicking me in the back which made me grumble and decide to get out of bed.

I showered and dressed before going outside to take a deep breath of crisp mountain air. I’d been cooped up in a stuffy prison for too long and breathing the fresh air in, feeling it hit my lungs, was such a high.

The longer I stood there, breathing deep and sun shining, the more I felt rejuvenated. It had nothing to do with the stunning leggy blonde I’d spent all night watching until I finally slipped off to sleep. Nothing to do with being needed by someone and feeling a physical closeness to a woman for the first time ever. Definitely nothing to do with being touched by another. Nope, my happy mood today had nothing to do with that.

I remembered that I’d been so busy getting Kat out of the bar last night that I hadn’t collected my tips, which I needed today to buy some basic tools and wood. I went back inside and said goodbye to Teddy who hadn’t moved from the bed and began the walk to town.

Swinging by the bar, I had a quick chat with Max before grabbing my tips, amazed to see there was more than I expected. Then I found the local hardware store and managed to get the most basic toolkit available: it consisted of one hammer, two screwdrivers and a drill. Not much but it was the best I could do right now. I picked up a saw, a box of miscellaneous screws and nails before checking out all the sexy timber they had. The smell of the wood seduced me more than the feel of those natural grooves.

There were suddenly loads of things I wanted to try building. I just wanted to grab a huge chunk of wood and see what I could make with it. Instead I settled for a couple of sheets of plywood.

I was at the checkout, getting eyeballed hard by the clerk, when I spotted a hand planer in the clearance bin. I grabbed it, mentally counting out how much this was going to cost.

“You need help carrying this out to your vehicle?” theclerk offered reluctantly.

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