Lucky Forever - Cee Bowerman Page 0,6
but he has no idea what he’s walking into,” I told both men with a haughty look. “I’m going to win the spider ring and the pencil eraser.”
“Big talk, man. Big talk. She seems confident.” Marcus laughed. “But I call winner. I’ll mop the floor with either of ya.”
“Girls!” Rowdy raised his voice just a bit so he could be heard over the girls’ chatter. “Bus is leaving. Pile out!”
“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Hamilton.”
“Call me Marcus. Why don’t you and your daughter join all of us here for dinner tomorrow night?”
“I, um, I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Not at all!”
“Believe me, you want to eat whatever Reagan decides to cook. I’ll come get y’all on my way over here.” Rowdy assured me.
“Okay.” I smiled at the men, taking a leap of faith that they could be trusted. “We’d love to come, but let me bring something at least.”
“I’ll have Reagan give you an assignment when you guys bring Holly home.” Marcus's smile was blinding white against his dark skin. “He loves to boss people around.”
Rowdy and I laughed as we walked out the door and down the sidewalk to his truck. The girls were already inside the cab and when Rowdy opened my door for me we were greeted with giggles and hushed whispers. I glanced into the backseat and saw that my daughter was smiling from ear to ear and I realized that I didn’t care what they were plotting as long as she stayed as happy as she was right now.
I was smiling, too. It was a foreign feeling for me, but I was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
3.
SIERRA
“Your daughter is a riot!” I told Rowdy as he and I watched the girls rush off toward the entrance to the arcade section of the restaurant.
“She’s a little too smart for her own good sometimes.”
“My girl, she’s older than her age. You know what I mean?”
“I already figured out that the two of you have been through some shit.”
“You could say that,” I laughed darkly. “Some shit. That’s true.”
“Is that why I am holding a little piece of paper that could change your lives in a big way and you’re too scared to turn it in?”
“Yeah.”
“When you were out and I was going to take you to the hospital, your daughter told me that’s how ‘he’ found you last time. She was terrified.”
My heart hurt for what my daughter felt and I was so sorry that I couldn’t take care of it for her.
“Your ex? Her dad?”
“Yeah. Stepdad, actually.”
“I figured with you living at Kari’s place it was something like that.”
“He’s found us twice. We were able to get away the first time, but the second time he got to us, he had us for three days before I could escape with Lexi.”
“Cops can’t help, huh?”
“Yeah, I mean as much as they’re able. They’ve done all the right paperwork and he was arrested for the last thing, but his parents bailed him out again and he skipped on it to find us. So, he’s got a court date waiting for him and the bail jumping makes it worse, but they won’t keep him forever.”
“All sorts of things can happen to someone in prison,” Rowdy said vaguely as he looked around. He started to say something else and then stopped. He did the same thing twice more and I could tell he was trying to find a way to tell me something, he just couldn’t figure out how to say it.
“Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I was just putting myself in your place - well, as much as I could, and I thought of what I would do to protect my daughter.”
“And?”
“With the right amount of money and the right contacts, you could make sure that your ex doesn’t survive prison.”
I blinked a few times, shocked at the notion.
“Forget I said anything, I just…”
“That is the most brilliant idea I have ever heard,” I whispered. “But I haven’t figured out how to get the money and stay safe until he gets arrested. He’s evil, Rowdy. You just don’t even know.”
“I’m just saying this because I’m going through it myself, but if something happens to you, what will happen to Lexi? Will she go to the state or do you have relatives that would take her?”
“Kari and I have talked about it and right now, I have her and her brother Jace listed as Lexi’s guardians if something happens to me. I have family out there and