Page 5 of Colby
“Drink your tea, Emma.It’ll make you feel better.”She eyed the tea and then looked at Bailee when she laughed again.“I promise you there is nothing in it other than a bit of sugar.The cookies are just that.Cookies.Just have a few sips, and you’ll see, you’ll feel much better.”
“The police are going to send me to the hospital.They’re afraid that I’ve had a bit of trauma.They don’t know that half of it.I feel like I’ve been put into a large rabbit hole and can’t find my way out.You’re not helping.”She told her that she was trying her best.“Yeah?Well, it’s not working.I don’t even know…I’m freaked the fuck out right now.”
“No, you’re just still wondering how you can be alive when he shot you.He did, you know.Shot you twice in the head.But as you said, Crumble saved you, and you’re going to be just fine.Nothing happened that you can explain to the police.You understand that, don’t you?”She said that they’d lock her away.“More than likely just put you in the hospital for a few weeks, but we can’t have that, now can we?You have a good job, and it keeps you from getting hurt.I told you several times that we take care of those that we love.”
She was, in the end, taken to the hospital.The man who had come in with Crumble when she was at the police station was hanging around a lot.Twice, the nurse had to ask him to move so that she could do something for her, but other than that, he didn’t say much.He did look like he was pissed off, but she had enough on her mind right now not to be fucking with a stranger.
At two in the morning, she was released to go home.Where that was from where she was, Emma didn’t know, but she wanted a good night’s sleep and some food in her belly before she started driving again.She knew that she could do it, even after the scare, because it was something that she needed to do.Her mom had found them a home that she loved.
Emma didn’t really care for the house that her mom had found for them.It wasn’t ugly or anything, but it was too big.Three bedrooms wasn’t all that large, but after living in the rig for the past five years, it seemed huge to her.It was the yard that she loved, she told her mom, and she was already putting a garden in so that she could have some fresh veggies when she wanted them.Another perk was that she could park her rig in the driveway, and it would not be in the way of her mom’s car, which she’d gotten.
Someone had parked her rig in the parking lot of the truck stop.She wasn’t too far out that she couldn’t get to it without going through a lot of darkness, but it was safe as far as she could see.No bullet holes or anything that she could see, either.
“Do you have an extra blanket?”she asked the man, whose name was Colby, if he needed a pillow, too, not having any idea why he’d need a blanket.“I’m going to stay out here in my car to make sure that you’re all right.”
“I’m fine.It’s stupid for you to sleep in your car when you have a home somewhere around here.”He told her he had a boat, too, that he could sleep in, but wanted to be close to her.“I don’t want you to waste your time sleeping around here.I’m going to get into my rig, lock the door, sleep for about forty hours, and get up and start again.”
“All right then.”She tossed a pillow and a blanket at him.She was disappointed when he was able to catch them both, but went into her rig and decided to forget all about him.He was an idiot if he thought that she was going to invite him into her place, especially after what happened that evening.
The bed was cozy and warm.Large enough for her to stretch out in, too.After getting herself situated, she thought a little about what Bailee had told her about lion shifters.And when she’d not believed her, she had her husband shift into his and lay across her lap.Emma had nearly wet herself when he did that.
But he had been beautiful.Never being this close to a large lion, she was told that because he was the leader of a leap, he was larger than his brothers, even the older one.His mane was wonderfully soft, and his fur along his face and nose wasn’t anything like she thought it would be.The entire experiencewith him had been telling and a lot nerve-wracking.
Waking at some time in the middle of the morning, she could hear voices and didn’t bother with getting up.It was Crumble, and he was talking to one of his friends, she supposed.The little man had saved her life.The very least that she could do was to allow him to have company when he wanted it.Rolling to her side again, enjoying the comforts of her rig, Emma closed her eyes and went right back to sleep.
At noon, her alarm clock buzzed, and she got up.It still boggled her mind that she had enough room in her rig to have a stand-up shower along with all the other things.Washing her hair twice, she was ready to face the day and to see how many more miles she could get under her belt before she wasn’t allowed to drive again.
“Hi.”She looked at the man before it occurred to her that it was the guy who had wanted to sleep out in his car.Not that she would have allowed him to sleep in her rig, but she did let him come into her space when he told her that he’d gotten coffee and donuts.“I got a variety because I didn’t know what kind you’d eat.”
“They’re donuts.What’s not to like about them?”She did get herself a glass of juice, not caring for coffee at all.When she was settled into her seat across from the man, she finally remembered his name.“Colby Tucker.Crumble got you when I asked him to get one of the Tuckers.I guess I could have handled it myself, but I was freaked a little out.”
“You were a lot freaked out, not that I blame you.It was a close call for you.I’m glad that you’re all right.”She nodded, finishing off her second donut in favor of conversation.“I was wondering if I could follow you to your next stop.Taylor suggested it, telling me that you might need a second pair of hands when you get to the last stop.I guess you’re picking up bags for the grocery stores.”
“Im not sure what I’m supposed to do with them.I thought I was bringing them back to the warehouse.”Colby explained to her that they were going to break them down so that no one store would have too many to deal with.“I guess that makes sense.Yeah, I suppose it’s all right if you follow me.Or you can just ride in the rig with me.I’m used to having my mom around, so you being there all the time won’t be too bad.”
“Gee, thanks.”She finished up her breakfast and told him that she had to get some supplies.As soon as she got out of the rig, he followed her.Whatever floated his boat, she supposed.But she wasn’t going to allow him to bother her too much.She really did have a lot to do today.
Chapter 1
Taylor was spending the day with her grandma and Jack.Her mother’s trial was going on, and as soon as she was given a date for her sentencing, she was going to have herself a little party and enjoy her mother being out of her life for a bit.She’d been driving her crazy since they’d moved in with her grandma and Jack in the family home.Well, it had been all her life, but it had been especially hard since she’d moved in with her husband and Grandma.
She supposed that her mother had been getting on her last nerve for some time now.It had been a long time in coming, this separation from her mother and her demands.And now that it was nearly over, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d been given amnesty in the form of not having to put up with her anymore.And she’d decided that her mother’s demands had more to do with her than Taylor anyway.At least that’s the way she felt about it.
Gilda Jane had always been selfish about her time.Taylor was to be at her beck and call all the time, or she’d throw a fit about it.And it wasn’t that she just wanted to hang out with her, but demanded, literally, all her attention on her.She still felt the hurt from her mother telling her that she’d never wanted her at all and was glad that she’d been able to care for all her needs when she got older.She actually said that everything was about her and nothing about Taylor.
Taylor hadn’t been able to date, never marry, and she’d told her that if she’d had kids, she would make sure they never made it to term with her.That babies would demand all her attention, and her mother didn’t want to be second in her life.She needed to be first and foremost in her mind at all times.Catering to her needs was all Taylor was good for; she’d told her as well.
It wasn’t until she met Jack that she realized what she’d been missing in all her life.Someone for her to love and to be loved by, too.She and Jack had been married at the courthouse a few days prior to her mother getting arrested, and they’d been able to keep it a secret until she was put in jail for threatening the judge to kill him when she got out of jail.She had a feeling that was going to play a large part in her jail time, and she was not listening to anything anyone said about her.Again, it had to be all about her and nothing or no one else.Well, she supposed it was all about her now, but not in the way that she was craving.
At three, she heard from one of the jailers that her mother wanted to see her.She’d not go, of course.It would just be more of the same, and she couldn’t take it anymore.Telling him to tell her mother that she was finished with her had felt good, though she knew it would be hard on the man who had called her.Her mother didn’t ever like to be told no under any circumstances.
Just as they were sitting down to dinner that evening, she heard again from the jailer.Her mother had been sentenced to twenty-two years without any chance for parole.That suited her just fine, as she’d be well on her way to having the children that she never wanted her to have and so madly in love with Jack that things would be perfect for her.Not that it wasn’t already, she reminded herself.With her mom behind bars, it had been wonderful to wake up every morning and not have to be dragged away from other things just to cater to her mother’s needs.
“She wanted you to be locked up, too, so that she could keep an eye on you.Saying that you were ‘fornicating with that man’ and that you needed to be catering to her only, even if people were too stupid to realize that she should be first in everyone’s thoughts.”She asked him what she’d said when she was sentenced.“The woman actually said that she was going to get out and kill every one of the people in the courtroom.Then she did that thing where she looked around the room like she was memorizing everyone there.Scared a few people, too.I’m not going to lie, Missus, she scared me a bit, too, the way she kept staring at the lot of us.”
“Perhaps she’ll be too old to remember when she gets out.”No she wouldn’t, she thought toherself.Her mother would remember every bad deed that was put against her in the courtroom and beyond.It would be like her to remember their faces until she died, too.“We can only hope that she learns something while in prison.Even if it’s only that the world doesn’t revolve around her all the time.”
She’d not learn that either, and she had a feeling that would be something that would get her killed, too.Taylor could well imagine her mother trying to get everyone to do her bidding until someone took exception to her and killed her where she stood.It wouldn’t matter if they’d been told that she was like that.People didn’t like doing everything that someone told them, no matter what was going on around them.Her mother wouldn’t last a month, she didn’t think, and it was hard for her to think of that as a bad thing.It hurt her heart that she was so over her mother that she would think of her being killed as a blessing.
