Page 46 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
"I will." It’s clear she wants to hide this information from us but I’m sure my brothers will be even more interested in finding out the asshole's name than I am. And none of us will take no for an answer. “Unless you tell me his name right now.” I'm not above using threats to get it out of her.
She releases a frustrated sigh and then finally relents. “Keegan.”
“Keegan…?”
“Ward.”
It’s a lie. Her eyes flicker the same way they did when she gave her last name, but I let her have that one, focusing instead on the rest of the story.
“And did this Keegan fuckwit hit you?”
“Sometimes,” she says “Sometimes he was just a mean S.O.B.. Either way, it’s over with okay? I left him and got my daughters away from him and we’re never going back so it’s over with.”
I allow her a few breaths after the declaration before I ask, “Has he ever hit them?"
“Never.” Her vehemence leaves me doubt she's telling the truth, even as her eyes blaze. “I would never let him near them. Ever.”
“I never thought you would. Even if he did, it wouldn't be your fault.”
“Yes, it would," she says darkly. “I’m the reason they were around him. I'm the one who chose him to be their dad. He was…" She shuts her eyes and releases a breath. "He was different when I met him. Sweet, charming, said all the right things. I was young and stupid. I never had parents, and I had just aged out of the foster care system. I was lonely with an empty future, and I so desperately wanted someone to tell me the things he was telling me. I wanted to be Cinderella with her Prince Charming, wanted a family to make up for the one I didn’t have growing up. And because of that, I gave my daughters the worst dad imaginable." Her face contorts with emotion, and her voice cracks. Something in my chest breaks with it.
“Oh baby,” I say as I draw her into my arms. She holds herself still, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. I rub her back nevertheless, crooning onto her hair until eventuallyher resistance falls away and she leans into my chest, softly weeping.
“It’s not your fault baby,” I whisper into her hair, wishing I could take this pain away from her and give it to this Keegan tenfold. “It wasn’t your fault. You thought he loved you. You were a young woman with a big heart and the asshole took advantage of that."
She nods against my chest as she silently sobs and I run my hands over her back. All the while, my rage simmers in my belly.
I've always had a particular hatred for abusers, especially for pieces of shit who have the gall to abuse women and children. It just made no damn sense to me why anyone would lay a hand on someone like that, someone weaker, more fragile than them.
My father raised us to respect and protect women and to find out that someone as sweet as Patty was abused is making me see red in the corners of my vision. But she doesn’t need my anger right now. She doesn’t need me to go off like an angry bull and rant and rave about her ex. She needs me to be a rock, to tell her that her abuse wasn't her fault, no matter how much she seems to think it was. She needs me to make her feel safe. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do, even if it kills me.
So I bury my anger for now.
But, if I ever do run into her ex, I’m going to make him a very, very sorry man.
Eventually, her sobs subside enough that she tries to pull back. I hesitate for a few seconds before I let her go.
She wipes her face, looking drained so I say, “Why don’t you go in with your girls? The guys and I will take care of the cleaning."
She wavers, then nods slowly. “Are you going to tell them what you heard?”
I sigh. “Not if you don’t want me to, but I really think you should tell them. At least, let Mitch know. He has a lawyer friend and knows a cop that could…”
“No," she says, firmly shaking her head. “No one else can know, okay?“
“What if he comes after you baby?"
“He won’t. He’s getting... handled right now, but I just need to lay low for a few weeks to a month while he is still around.”
“What does that mean?”
“Please don’t ask me to explain anymore,” she says. “Just believe me when I say he’s getting handled. Okay?"
I take a deep breath. "Alright then. I’ll take your word for me. But if you need anyone to help you, no matter where you are in the world. Heck, you could be in China for all I care. You call me and I’ll come get you okay?"
She smiles. "Sometimes you can be really sweet, you know?"
"That’s what all the ladies tell me," I say, and she laughs.
