The Four Stages of Loving Dutch Owen - Debra Kayn Page 0,41

glared at him. Dick.

Escorted out of the room, she lined up with the other visitors. She glanced at the clock above the door. One more minute, and she'd see Dutch.

Nervous energy, coming from the others waiting to go inside, spread to her. They were all here for the same reason. Someone they loved was sentenced to prison for a crime they'd committed.

On her eighteenth birthday, when Rachel and Skull could no longer keep her from coming to visitations more often, she started driving herself. Dutch hating her coming, but he never refused to see her. That gave her hope.

He needed to see that she still loved him. It was one thing to hear on the phone and another to hold her and kiss her. She could imagine how horrible his living conditions were. Visitations gave him the strength to keep serving his time. There was hope that he could get out early if he refrained from getting in trouble.

She grew frustrated at the injustices.

Nobody should get five years of their life taken away for having counterfeit money on their person when pulled over by cops. Dutch wouldn't tell her if he knew the cash was fake. And even if he had known, he hadn't killed anyone, and nobody got hurt.

She'd walked away from the first visitation knowing that, wrong or right, he was in prison because he was a WAKOM member, and whatever his job was within the club, he would serve his time.

"Go inside single file, slowly. Remember, this is a family visitation. If there are any problems, you will be escorted out of the room." The door opened, and the guard continued to warn everyone about the rules.

She tuned him out, knowing every rule by heart, and stood on her tiptoes, trying to see around those in front of her. All she wanted was a chance to make sure Dutch was okay.

Once she crossed the threshold, she hesitated, scanning the room. She found him sitting in the back corner. Her gaze connected with his. She swallowed, wanting to cry out in relief. Every second apart from him, she worried that something would happen to him.

Prison was a dangerous place. Every single person around him was a criminal. He had no choice but to co-exist with them. He couldn't go anywhere.

The walk across the room a simple reaction at seeing him. She arrived at the table within touching distance.

Although hugs and short kisses were allowed at the beginning of the visit and when leaving, she was afraid of overreacting and unintentionally breaking a rule.

He stood. She stopped in front of him, certain the imprint of her heart pounded against the front of her shirt with each beat.

"Marla Marie." He opened his arms.

She slowly walked into his embrace. He caught her the moment her knees weakened at the relief of holding him.

Then, his arms were gone. "Give me a kiss."

She lifted her chin. His lips touched, and the tip of his tongue skimmed hers before he stepped back, licking his bottom lip.

"Sit." He sat.

She pulled the chair closer to him and reached for his hand. They could hold hands the entire time. It wasn't against the rules.

"Everything okay at home?" He spoke, but he was thinking of something else.

He kept looking through her as if he could see something she wasn't aware of doing. She swallowed, wishing she knew what was going on with him.

"I've put a deposit down on an apartment." Her tongue stuck to the top of her dry mouth. "I can move in on the seventeenth of next month."

"Rachel doing okay with that?"

"I think so." She continually rubbed his hands, wanting to get as much of him as she could. "She went through her kitchen and gave me everything she wasn't using or had doubles of—that was nice of her."

Her relationship with Rachel and Skull had changed since Dutch left. They stepped back from punishing her for the rules she broke and let her do what she wanted. Though, without Dutch, there wasn't anything she wanted to do.

"Did you talk to Skull about withdrawing some of my money? You can get some furniture and have a little cushion to help with rent."

She shook her head. "I'll be okay."

"Marla Marie..." He squeezed her hands. "Take it."

She could move out of the house on her own. Because of what happened to Dutch, she'd saved all her money from her job. The only place she went was over to the gas station, where Alyssa worked, to talk with her during