Page 10 of Family Forever
Chapter Four
Dylan and Lora had just settled into their seats at the movie theater when his cell phone buzzed. She gave him the annoyed look she always did when that happened. They had gone out seven or eight times now, and his brothers tended to call at the drop of a hat on each occasion. This time, he’d intentionally chosen the late show, with the thought that at least putting Nate and Luke to bed before he left would curb any reason for his brothers to call and interrupt his date.
He reached for his phone and Lora quickly gripped his forearm and glared at him. Yep, it was an ultimatum, one in which she would surely not like the outcome. He needed to check and see who it was, he had responsibilities.
The movie was just starting. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered as he scooted out of their row and headed toward the lobby. In the meantime, his phone had stopped vibrating but started again before he reached a quiet spot in the corner of the entryway. Surprisingly, it wasn’t his brothers, Marissa’s dad’s home number flashed across the screen.
“Hello.”
Her sobs reverberated in his ear.
“Marissa, what’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer. She just kept crying.
Panic shot through his veins. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
He waited a moment, hoping she’d catch her breath.
“I need help. I have to go get my dad.”
“Where is he, what happened?”
“Louie, the bartender from the Rusty Combine, called and said if someone doesn’t pick my dad up, pronto, he’s going to call the cops. He can’t go back to jail, he just can’t.”
“Okay, calm down. I’ll pick you up in ten minutes and we’ll go get him.” Luckily, her home was on the way or it would take longer.
He hurried back into the theater to get Lora. He didn’t make any friends, interrupting the beginning of the show like he did.
She leaped to her feet and followed him to the truck. “What’s going on? Did one of your brothers get hurt?”
“Not exactly.”
“Is your house on fire?” she asked with more attitude than necessary. But on second thought he couldn’t really blame her for being mad since he just hauled her out of the movie theater as if the shit was hitting the fan. And every date they’d been on so far had been full of family interruptions. He needed to remember that she was only twenty-two, and he was living the life of a man twice his age, knocking on the door of fifty.
“It’s the neighbor girl. I need to help her with her dad.”
“Seriously, you need to help her? Why doesn’t she just call her uncle to pick her drunk dad’s ass up like usual?”
Did she really just say that out loud?This was a small town, everyone knew everyone’s business. But still, to say it out loud so cold and heartlessly.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe she couldn’t reach him.”
“Her uncle is probably on the stool next to her dad.”
Ouch. True colors.
Marissa sprang through the front door the second he pulled into the driveway. She opened the front passenger door before she realized someone was sitting there. Even in the darkness the pink in her cheeks was noticeable, not to mention the red streaks in the whites of her eyes. His heart went out to her. This poor girl lived with these circumstances way too long, and they started at way too young of an age.
She climbed into the backseat without a word.
He glanced back at her as she swiped the tears from her cheeks. “Marissa, you need to let me know what’s going on before I go in there to get him.”
She swallowed audibly. “I guess he’s trying to pick fights with everyone.”
Great.Though her dad was a small man, his reputation of being a scrapper was well-known.
“It might be best if I go in with you. He’s usually fairly receptive to me or my uncle when we have to pick him up.”
