Safe at Home (Warm Springs Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  He adjusted the duffle bag on his shoulder. As he walked toward his mother, he thought about how they had ended up alone. He was the result of a one-night stand his mother had when she was seventeen. She worked long hours as a waitress to support them for years, and they got by. Then, she met Joe. A fast-talking car salesman who moved in with the two of them after a few months.

  Joe had been okay at first. At least his mother had seemed happy and that was something. About a year after Joe moved in, his mom found out she was pregnant. Joe was supportive and acted as though he was as excited as she was about the baby. Then one morning, he went to work and never came back.

  There they were again, just the two of them against the world.

  A few months later his mom gave birth to a little boy with blond hair and sea green eyes, and for some reason, this little person gave them hope.

  His mother found a job with a cleaning company and he started working at odd jobs the way kids do. They were a family. They took care of each other.

  For exactly seven years.

  Then, Jason was taken away from them.

  After that, his mom went a little crazy. She lost her spark, and then her job. Her days were spent staring out the window as if she were still watching her little boy playing in the yard.

  He wasn’t enough for her, and the day he’d realized it would forever be etched in his mind. She needed Jason, her baby, her hope. She needed to hear his laughter and to hug him. She needed his face to remind her of happier times. But, those days were gone. They died with the little blond haired boy.

  When he climbed into the old rusted Buick, he could tell nothing had changed. His mother looked at him now with a strained smile and gave him a quick hug. She still smelled of stale smoke, undoubtedly still smoking two packs of Slims a day. She’d lost weight, too.

  The ride home was silent, each lost in their own thoughts, but as his mother parked the car, the rage began to bubble inside him. It did every time he looked at his mother and the small apartment she’d been forced into. They owed her more than that. Some small settlement didn’t begin to make up for her loss. The money would’ve lasted longer if she hadn’t turned to drugs, but she said it was the only way she had any peace from her own mind.

  The memories of that night were all she thought about. The blood on her hands as her baby boy lay dying in her arms. She didn’t sleep for fear she would have to relive that night in the bank. He had done his best for her, but there was only so much he could do with a nearly finished high school education and a criminal record.

  The apartment was the same as it had been the day he left. The wallpaper in the kitchen half peeling off of the walls and the sink full of a week’s worth of dishes. The smell of smoke followed his mother around and filled the apartment with a lingering haze. He swallowed his urge to hit a wall and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. He knew, somewhere inside, his mother loved him, but she was different now. When he got in trouble with the law, she didn’t care. She let him be his own man.

  Later that evening, they ate dinner together on TV trays, not speaking, while they watched old game show reruns. Staring down at them were the pictures of Jason that littered the mantle. They were painful, but his mother refused to take them down. In her mind, Jason would come into the room at any moment, and with his infectious laughter, they’d be okay.

  He had to stop this. Pushing his tray away, he stood. He needed to escape to his room. He was suffocating. The sadness threatened to overwhelm him, but he wasn’t his mother. His sadness was followed by rage. And, he knew how to make those feelings go away.

  He pulled the drawer open in his bedside table and took out the knife he’d left there. The familiar groves in the handle fit against his hand perfectly. He fell back onto his mattress and twisted the knife in the air, allowing muscle memory to take over. He rested the tip of the blade against his palm and pressed until a bead of dark red appeared. He smiled.

  Before long it wouldn’t be his blood coloring the end of the knife. It would be hers. The girl who had ruined his life.

  Chapter 3

  Three weeks later, Spencer sat in his usual Saturday afternoon spot next to his brother, Jake, and listening to the announcer. Spencer let his shoulder muscles relax as the sun beat down on his exposed neck. “And now, it’s Tommy Davis to bat. It’s a swing and a miss. Here comes the next pitch, and here we go, a nice hit by Davis.” The parents in the stands went wild as Tommy surged toward first base.

  “How’re things going over at Dad’s place?”

  “They’re going. It needs a lot more work, but it’s coming along. The new girl has some good ideas.”

  “She does, does she? And, how might the lovely Sam be doing?”

  “Shut up, Jake.”

  Jake continued to grin at his brother.

  “I mean it. Lay off.”

  Jake’s eyebrows raised slightly at Spencer’s tone. “What’s wrong little brother? Did you finally meet a girl that isn’t flattered by your charm?” Jake laughed and hit him on the back.

  His comment was followed by an icy stare from Spencer. The banter was suddenly blown off as the next batter headed for home plate.

  “Hey look, Alex is up. Let’s go, Alex.” The little boy walking to the plate was the spitting image of Jake when he was that age. Other than getting his mom’s blond hair, Alex looked every bit like a Malloy. He was small for his size, but he was fast. He proved it when he got a hit on his third try. This time, Jake and Uncle Spencer were as loud as all the other cheering parents, both standing tall, beaming with pride.

  Aside from taking his brother’s abuse, Spencer loved days like this. Spending time at a little league game, then eating a laidback dinner at Jake’s house was his idea of a Saturday well spent.

  After Alex’s team won, all three Malloy’s piled into Spencer’s truck and talked nonstop about the game on the way to Jake’s house. Alex took off for the door as soon as the truck came to a full stop. He bounded into the kitchen and started telling his mother all about his team’s victory.

  Jake cut in long enough to scoop his pregnant wife into his arms and give her a quick kiss.

  “Hey, stop that. That’s how I keep getting fat.” She teased her husband, giving him a slight shove.

  “You’re not fat. You’re beautiful.”

  “For now, maybe. We’ll revisit that little remark in a few months.” She winked.

  Watching the two of them always put a smile on Spencer’s face. They reminded him of his parents. So in love with each other. Even when his dad ruffled his mom’s feathers, it was never for long.

  “Hello, Ann. It smells delicious, as always.” He wrapped her in a quick hug. “When are you going to dump this loser and run away with me?”

  “But, what would happen to all the other girls? Their hearts would be broken.” Ann grinned at him and released him from their hug. “Now why don’t you boys go have a seat? Dinner will be ready in a few.”

  “Well, little brother,” Jake dropped a hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “I think that’s our cue to leave.” The men headed for the living room to cool off and drink some of Ann’s sweet tea.

  Just as Spencer was getting comfortable in front of the game on television, Jake broke their silence. “So, what do you really think of Sam Parker?”

  “Christ, Jake. Are we on that again?”

  “Stop being cranky. I was just asking. I’ve only met the girl once, but she seemed nice and, if memory serves, she wasn’t too hard on the eyes.”

  “She’s nice, okay? Now, are you satisfied? Your assumption was correct.” Spencer turned away from his brother and focused on the sports announcers, but his mind wandered to Sam. His brother had a point. Sam wasn’t hard to look at.

  “Very funny, Spencer. I mean what’s she like? Why did she move here?”

  “Well, let’s see. I have no idea why she left the city and the only thing we ever talk about is the house. She’s always working inside and I’m outside.”

  “Well,
that’s boring.” Jake leaned back in his chair.

  “Sorry to disappoint you.” Spencer cut his gaze toward his brother. “You do realize you sound like one of those nosey old women from church?”

  “I’m just trying to help you out. Don’t want you to miss an opportunity.”

  “I can find my own dates, thanks. Plus, Sam is my employer, nothing more.”

  “Yeah right, as if that would stop you. Spence, you’ve never met a pretty woman you didn’t like.” They watched more Sports Center in silence, Jake grinning and Spencer scowling.

  “Dinner!” Ann shouted from the kitchen. Alex shot by them in his sprint for the table.

  “You can talk to me now, Spencer. You don’t have to go all stony silence the rest of the night. I was just wondering about her is all. I mean, you should’ve seen her the day I met her. She was shy and it seemed like she felt guilty about living in the house when I told her who I was.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Ann looked from one brother to the next as they entered the kitchen and sat down.

  “Nothing. Your husband is just butting in where he isn’t welcome, as usual.”

  “I was just asking him about Sam Parker and how things were going at the house.” Jake raised his hands in front of him, all innocence. “Did she seem to act weird to you when you told her you grew up in the house?”

  Spencer shifted in his seat. If it weren’t for the plate of food in front of him, he would leave. He didn’t want to talk about Sam with his brother. Or anyone else. “It hasn’t really come up.”

  “What do you mean, ‘it hasn’t really come up’? You didn’t tell her your name or anything? Jeez, Spence, that really takes the cake.”

  Spencer stared at his plate and pushed his mashed potatoes around. “I don’t really see the big deal. We’re on a first name basis. There’s never been a need to exchange last names.”

  Ann raised a hand to silence their bickering. “Spencer, has Sam made any friends since she arrived? It can be hard on someone when they move to a new place.”

  “Oh, Ann, I don’t know. I really don’t talk to her much.” Spencer looked from his brother to his sister-in-law and tapped his boot under the table. He felt like a ten year old getting laid into by his mother.

  “I’m not saying ask her out, I’m just saying you should try to make her feel welcome. She’s all alone out there.”

  After dinner, Spencer thanked Ann for another great meal, even though he hadn’t really tasted it, and headed home. What was wrong with those two? Since when did he serve as the town’s welcoming committee? It’d only been three weeks. They couldn’t seriously expect her to have completely settled in and have a new group of friends already.

  Guilt gnawed at the back of his mind, chipping away at the last wisps of his good mood. He hadn’t seen her leave the house in those three weeks except to get supplies and groceries. He did help her carry them in one day. That had to count for something. He wasn’t a total jerk after all. But, even he wasn’t convinced. He thought of his mother. She would have killed him, or least chased him around the kitchen with a dish towel. Her voice echoed in his head, “Spencer, I raised you better than that, where are your manners? You could at least invite her to church.”

  Frustrated, Spencer took his hat off and tossed it on the bed in the middle of the second room of his two-room loft. His little bachelor pad had served him well. It may be a small town, but a man has to live.

  Spencer flopped onto the couch and flipped on the television. He settled for ESPN, but he was distracted by thoughts of Sam. His first impression of her had been wrong. She was no priss. She worked her ass off, and wasn’t afraid to get dirty. He fell asleep thinking about the brown-eyed girl with the great legs who now lived in his old house.

  Sam spent the better part of three weeks avoiding Spencer. The way he looked at her made her uncomfortable. But, regardless of her comfort level, he did fine work. It was as if he knew exactly what she wanted for the house, without her having to tell him.

  He seemed to know how to bring it back to its natural beauty. The front porch looked great with its new banisters, railings, and stairs. Spencer had proven himself a true craftsman, and Sam couldn’t wait to get some rocking chairs and a swing.

  She’d managed to get a great deal of the painting done inside the house over the last few weeks, which probably had something to do with the fact that she barely left the house. She went out for groceries and a ridiculous amount of paint. On Sundays, which had become her favorite day of the week, she ate dinner at the hotel with the first people she met in her new town, Earl and Betsy. A little ritual they insisted upon and one she had begun to love despite all her initial protests.

  She never would’ve guessed that staying at a hotel for a few days upon her arrival in Warm Springs would introduce her to two of the most caring people she’d ever met. Earl and Betsy were wonderful to her. Even though Sam knew they wondered what drove her out of the city, they never asked. They were like stand-in grandparents and even though she hadn’t moved with the intention of making friends, she enjoyed their company. One Sunday dinner a week was safe enough. She was beginning to like her new life, busy and mainly secluded. Sam sipped sweet tea as she prepared to start painting the dining room, then her cell phone rang. She had only owned the phone for a week so the sound made her jump and chips of ice sloshed out of the glass. Sam wiped her wet hand on her shorts and answered. “Hello?”

  “Sam, darling, you bad girl. Why haven’t you called me other than to leave your number?”

  Sam grinned into the phone as her best friend’s familiar voice filled the line.

  “Here I am stranded in Chicago without you, trying to plan the biggest party of the year, almost at wit’s end, and you can’t even call me and see how I’m doing.”

  “Hi, Denise.” Sam laughed. Denise always had a way of checking up on her without acting like that was what she was doing. “I’m sorry I haven’t called, but I’ve been busy renovating my new house.”

  “I was afraid you’d run off with some cowboy in tight jeans and forgotten all about poor me.”

  “Oh, Denise, seriously,” she laughed, “No man could make me forget my best friend.”

  “Well, as long as you’re doing all right, I forgive you.”

  Sam leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She could almost convince herself she was sitting next to Denise getting one of their weekly pedicures. “I’m fine. This little town is beautiful. The people are nice and my house is wonderful. Things are better now than they’ve been in a long time.”

  “I miss you, Sam.” Denise’s voice softened, all teasing gone. “Things aren’t the same without you. You aren’t here to hear the stories of my latest weekend conquests.”

  Sam laughed. “Maybe one day I’ll be able to get you down here to visit.”

  “Oh my God, can’t you just picture it? Me, in the country. What would I wear?” They both laughed at the image.

  “I bet I could tempt you with the promise of cowboys in tight jeans.”

  Denise smacked her lips. “I bet you wouldn’t have to try very hard.”

  After catching up on all the latest news, they said goodbye and Sam made her way back to the dining room to resume painting. She couldn’t stop her mind from wandering back to Chicago and the way Denise had stood by her through the threats and the police interviews. She would never be able to repay Denise for her support.

  Chapter 4

  Sam scrutinized her progress inside the house. She’d finished painting the den and hallway leading to the kitchen, her favorite room in the house, which was nearly complete.

  It seemed a shame to pour all the work into a house that no one but herself would see. Maybe one day she would be able to use it as she had used her condo in Chicago. When she lived in the city, she always had parties and friends over for dinner, but here . . .

  Her gaze wandered to the couch sitting in her living room and she remembered for a moment how it felt snuggling on
the couch with Tyler. She sighed and tried to hold onto her memories. Just long enough to try to recapture how his body had felt against hers. His warmth.

  She clapped her paint splattered hands together to snap out of her dream before sadness ruined her day, then crossed the kitchen to look out over her backyard. The sky was clear, the sun bright, and a slight breeze rustled the leaves. The outdoors beckoned to her like a siren. An assortment of flowers sat waiting for her on the grass.

  She stepped outside, crossed to where her tray of flowers lay, and knelt in the dirt. The damp smell of earth filled her nose. Spencer had cleared the area and cut the grass, jobs she’d seen him do through her kitchen window, but the space needed some color.

  As she pressed her fingers into the dirt she noticed the silence. In her old home, dogs barked and car horns honked at all hours from the street below her window. City sounds. She missed them, but she found herself beginning to enjoy the sounds of the country, too. The hum of bugs flitting through the air, the train whistling down the tracks, and the cows mooing in the distance were all beginning to feel familiar.

  She tamped dirt around the last group of flowers and stood. Her muscles were sore from hunching over, but the reward was worth the effort and slight discomfort. She brushed the dirt off her hands and knees and inhaled deeply, admiring the mix of red, yellow, and orange flowers. They were bright and welcoming. She hoped they would help ward off the loneliness that always seemed to be lingering just on the edges of her new life.

  He found her in the backyard, with her head leaning against a tree and her eyes closed. The faintest of smiles tugging at her mouth. Her beauty struck him like a punch to the gut. He couldn’t explain what it was at that moment that made his heart skip a beat.