Page 3

Smoke

“Do you see anything that looks like it would be yummy in your tummy?” I asked Ash the next morning at breakfast. I was trying to start some traditions with her and I thought that maybe going to breakfast together once a week would be a good place to start.

“I think I want the birthday cake pancakes with a side of bacon.”

I tried not to grimace at her selection of almost pure sugar. They put vanilla icing on top of the pancakes and then added sprinkles.

“What are you going to get? Oh! Let me guess. Oatmeal? Plain toast? Raisins? Are you going to order off the 55-and-up menu? Do you get a senior citizen discount?”

Blinking comically, I just stared at her with my mouth open for a few seconds. She couldn’t keep up the act and dissolved into giggles a few minutes later.

“You must have on your sassy pants today,” I said after sipping my black coffee.

She nodded, her sleek hair catching the sun as she moved. It made her look almost angelic.

“The sassiest.” She grinned.

I was glad we’d been able to work things out yesterday even though I still felt a lot of guilt for hurting her.

“What are your plans for today?” she asked after we placed our food orders.

“Well, I’m taking a very naughty Little girl to the pharmacy to pick up her medications, and then driving that same naughty Little girl to work,” I teased.

She responded by sticking her tongue out at me.

Laughing, I continued, “Then I am going home to help Bash put together a dollhouse for Allyson. Pray for me, if you’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing Bash with power tools, you’ll understand why.”

“Thank you,” she told the waitress as she set down our plates.

“He’s not the…”

“What happened to your arm?” the waitress interrupted her.

Ash’s entire body tensed, her fingers curled so tightly around her cup of juice that her knuckles turned white.

Heat rushed up my neck and I slammed my coffee mug down on the table with enough force it cracked. The waitress gasped as coffee poured from the side. She grabbed the cup and set it on her tray before wiping the table with a cloth she had tucked in her apron.

“We would like another waitress,” I said, instead of the words I wanted to hurl at her. Curiosity killed the cat, but it could also kill a nosy ass waitress.

“Now!” I barked when she didn’t move. The old hag finally scurried off.

“I’m sorry,” Ashley said, ducking her head.

I pushed my chair back and went around to sit on her side of the table. Cupping her chin in my hand, I forced her to look at me. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Ash. She was very rude. I’m sorry she upset you.”

She tried to avert her eyes, but a gentle squeeze to her chin brought her eyes back to mine. “Look at me, baby.” I didn’t miss the way her breathing hitched or the wonder that passed through her eyes. Fuck me. Could she be as attracted to me as I was to her?

When I had her attention, I repeated, “You have nothing to be sorry for, baby. What just happened was because of someone else's carelessness.” My jaw ached from how tightly I was clenching it and my hand that wasn’t holding her chin shook from the force of the rage I was holding back.

Not wanting her to notice, I released her chin and started to cut up her food. She rubbed over her arm and I swallowed the sharp words I wanted to yell at the woman who caused her discomfort.

“Here, baby. I bet your pancakes are yummy. Try a bite.”

Misty hazel eyes met mine before she opened her mouth and did as I asked.

“How does it taste?” I asked, trying to distract her.

Her face was pink from embarrassment and she was rapidly blinking back tears. “It needs syrup.”

Grabbing the bottle, I poured a tiny bit onto her plate and cut another bite before putting my arm around her and stroking her shoulder with my fingertips. I wished I could hold her like this forever, protecting her from the cruelness of the world.

“How about now?” I asked, feeding her another bite.

She chewed slowly.

“A little more.”

She was eating just sugar at that point and the Daddy in me screamed to put an end to it, but she was so sad.

I poured a bit more and offered her another bite.

“More,” she said.

“There is no way it needs any more. You’re going to have a bellyache and twenty-seven cavities,” I argued.

She grinned. “But my heart has a sad and the syrup will make it all better,” she said, batting her long lashes at me.

Tossing my head back, I laughed, thankful she was slowly coming back to me after such a shock. “You little brat.” I was pretty sure I was seeing a small peek of the Little she kept denying she had.

She opened her mouth and I fed her another bite. I was happy to see her tears were starting to dry up.

“It is really good. Do you want a bite, Dawson?”

“No thanks, baby. This much sugar would give me indigestion for the rest of the month.”

“Cause you’re so old?”

“You are being such a stinker today!”

She rested her head on my chest for a minute before taking her fork from me.

“You need to eat too. You’ll need all your strength to deal with Bash and a drill today.”

A new waitress came over and refilled my coffee.

“You’ll need lots of that too,” Ashley said, nodding toward my coffee.

“I will,” I agreed. “The last time Bash tried to fix something, he flooded the bathroom at the shop so badly, we had to close for two days.”

She laughed so hard she snorted. “That’s so terrible.”

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again, “Dawson?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Thank you for protecting me today and for making me feel better.”

“I will never forgive myself for not being there to protect you when you were hurt, but I’ll do my damndest to make sure I’m here for anything else you may face,” I promised her.

***

Ashley

I set the pink donuts on the counter and grabbed the jar of sprinkles.

Making the donuts pretty was my favorite part of the job.

I shook the container and smiled when all the tiny flakes of happiness poured out.

My favorite was when we did themed days and I got to use icing bags and tips to decorate donuts.

Picking up the tray, I walked to the display case and started arranging them in their slot.

“Those are so pretty,” a familiar voice said. The voice made my stomach churn and my skin crawl. I shivered at the sensation of spiders crawling on me.

I looked up and into the dilated eyes of my mother.

“Hey, Ashley, baby,” she said. Her skin was pale, her brow sweaty, and her face bruised around her mouth. “Can we talk?”

“No,” I said, pulling the tray back and walking away from the counter. “You aren’t supposed to be here,” I called over my shoulder, trying to sound calmer than I felt.

“It’s really important, Ashley!” she yelled from where she was still standing.

My heart pounded so loudly in my chest that I worried my co-workers would be able to hear it.

“Ashley, is everything okay?” my boss, Edison, asked me. His face was blurred and it was hard to hear him over the blood rushing in my ears.

“She’s not supposed to be here,” I said, not sure how else to say the hard words. “I have an order of protection.” My tongue stuck to the roof of my dry mouth.

“No worries, babe. We’ll get her out of here. Why don’t you call your ride and leave early just to be safe, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” I agreed, trying to get my shaking fingers to unzip my purse.

“Let me help you,” my co-worker Lennon said. She grabbed my phone out of my bag and found Dawson’s number for me. I looked at her in wonder and she shrugged. “Blade does my work and I’ve met Smoke a few times.”

Thanking her, I took my phone and waited for Smoke to answer.

“Hey, Ash. Are you off already?”

“Mom’s here,” I blurted out. My teeth chattered against each other and shivers took over.

“Okay, baby. Are you safe in the store? Are you away from her?”

“Y-yes. In the b-back.”

“I’m on my way, okay? Don’t leave the back. You wait until I get there.”

“O-okay.”

“It’s going to be okay, Ash. You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, baby. I promise. Bash is calling the police now, okay?”

I nodded into the phone before I realized he couldn’t see me. “O-okay.”

Tires squealed into the line and I knew he really was doing everything in his power to get to me.

“I’m okay,” I said, not sure if I was talking to him or me.

“You tell that bitch to get out here and face me like a woman!” My mother’s shrill voice pierced the air like a needle to a balloon.

“Don’t listen to her, okay, baby? Don’t let her get to you,” he soothed into the phone.

Could he hear her yelling from the front of the store?

I swallowed. Not letting her get to me was harder than it sounded.

A crash sounded from the front, followed by the sound of glass shattering. Oh no. Someone was going to get hurt and it was going to be all my fault.

Setting my phone down on a table, I walked back to the front. My mother was holding a chair and bashing in the display windows.

“Stop!” I yelled, running toward her. “Stop! These people didn’t do anything to you and you’re ruining their shop!”

“Fuck you, you little bitch. I was just trying to talk to you and you walked away from me!”

“Ashley, go back to the back, sweetheart. We’ll let the police handle her, okay?” Edison said. He was on the phone with the police. “Yes, 102 Main Street.”

“This is my fault, I don’t want her to mess up anything else.” I tried to explain, turning to look at him. “I’ll get her out of here. I’m so sorry, Edison.”

“Mess up? Mess up?” she shrieked. “That’s all I am to you, huh? A mess-up! God forbid a woman make a mistake. Your kids will remember it for the rest of their lives. Fuck you and your high and mighty attitude,” she yelled.

I turned back to her, my hands raised trying to placate her, only I wasn’t prepared for her to hit me with the chair she’d been holding.

The base of the chair hit me in the corner of my eye and immediately I doubled over in pain.

She took advantage of my position and brought the seat down a second time.

The throbbing pain was so intense, I had no choice but to fall on the ground and cover my head with my hands to protect it.

Unable to think or move, I was a victim to her anger.

The chair came down a third time, crushing my forearm and filling my ears with a sickening crunch and my body with white hot throbbing.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the next blow, only it never came.

Big hands rubbed my back and I lifted my head to see Kay, one of Dawson’s co-workers, kneeling in front of me.

Looking around for my mom, I saw her and the sight made me freeze.

Dawson had her pinned to the wall, his face was various shades of red and purple as he screamed at her.

I couldn’t make out what he was saying over the buzzing in my head, but by the way the veins in his face and neck were popping out, I knew it wasn’t being said softly.

He had one hand wrapped around her neck and he was squeezing. He was going to kill her.

“No!” I croaked. “Dawson, no!” I put my palms flat on the floor and tried to push myself up, forgetting about my forearm. Screaming in pain, I struggled to get up.

Kay placed her hand on my back and tried to keep me down.

“No, Kay. Dawson’s going to kill her!”

She was back in my face talking to me, but I still couldn’t hear her.

I realized it was actually hard to see her too.

Wiping my face with my good arm, I drew my hand back to see it covered in blood.

She grabbed my hand and pinned it on the floor too, before looking over her shoulder and talking to someone.

Suddenly Dawson was there on his knees beside me. His big hands replaced Kay’s and he was trying to talk to me. What was he saying? The ringing in my ears was growing louder.

Everything hurt so bad. I rested my head on the cool floor, appreciating that it helped with the pain a bit. Closing my eyes, I gave into unconsciousness.