Cherishing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 3) Read online

  The waitress clutched her bag to her chest, the folded piece of paper crunched in her fist. She faced him squarely and gave the appearance of looking him in the eye, but her gaze bored into his forehead.

  She was hiding something from him. Maybe she was just private. Maybe she didn’t trust him. Likely, it was both, which frustrated him. All he wanted to do was help her. No matter what she said, he wasn’t going to let her search the lot alone.

  “By the time you’re done inside, I can probably have your phone. Let me help. I’d like to.” He took a small step toward her. She shrank back and turned to go inside.

  “Fine. Thanks. I’ll meet you back here.”

  She took off before Jonah could answer. He tried not to let her seeming lack of gratitude piss him off. She was scared. She brought him breakfasts, lunches, and dinners over the last few months, but she didn’t know him. He tried to get to know her, but she walled herself off.

  Jonah walked behind the building to the parking lot, starting his search where he’d seen them standing when he came around the corner. Lights in the corners of the lot, plus the street lights, washed a pale glow over the parked cars.

  It didn’t take him long to locate her phone, which was face down a few feet from where she’d taken off running. He pushed a button on the front and then the side of the phone, not sure which might turn on the screen. As a dedicated iPhone owner, he wasn’t familiar with these alternative brands. The device lit up, revealing a spidered screen. At least it worked. Shannon might be able to get it replaced.

  By the time he journeyed back to the front of the restaurant, the curly-haired blonde sat on a bench outside the entrance, looking up the street.

  “Good news. I found it. The screen is broken, but that can probably be fixed. They might even replace it.” He held up the evidence in one hand. She stood and reached toward him.

  “Thanks. It’s nice of you to help me out. Could I ask you another favor?”

  “Sure,” Jonah replied with an eagerness that surprised him.

  “The police aren’t coming, but they started an incident report. They asked me to call them back with your information so they can contact you for a witness statement. I need to document everything. For the violation of the protective order I have.”

  This guy was for sure a known, dangerous quantity to her. Obviously, he’d given her enough trouble in the past to require a restraining order. Her request also confirmed for him that the guy wasn’t going to go away.

  If he knew where she worked, then she was in danger every time she came to the bistro. That couldn’t go on. Jonah’s father must know some people in the Dallas Police Department. Dropping the Moran name might make sure arresting the guy was a top priority, which clearly it wasn’t now.

  “I’m surprised they’re not coming by, but I’ll do anything I can to help. You shouldn’t have to put up with this.”

  “Well, he’s gone, and there’s not much they can do now anyway except go pick him up.” Shannon stopped and glanced away before continuing. “If they can find him, they’ll arrest him.”

  Jonah dug into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out a business card. Shannon took it from him and turned it over in her fingers.

  “You can reach me at the mobile number 24/7. If you ever have any trouble, just call,” he instructed, then asked the question burning in his mind, “Who is he?” Jonah let his curiosity overwhelm his consideration for her clear hesitance to tell him anything.

  “My ex-husband. He’s never been anything but trouble. I don’t understand how he’s out of jail. He got arrested on some serious charges a few months ago. Nothing to do with me. Or mostly. I didn’t figure he’d make bail. It makes no sense.” Her voice broke, and her bottom lip began to tremble.

  Without thinking, he stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her face to his shoulder and lowering his own to the crown of her head. Her hair smelled of citrus. He coiled one of her curls around his index finger, thumbing the strands. As she cried, her body shook in his arms, and she felt smaller and more vulnerable than she had seemed before he touched her.

  Jonah thought about what might have happened if he hadn’t heard her voice and come around the corner. What would that guy have done to her? He closed his arms around her tighter, which must have triggered something inside her. She stiffened and pulled away, pressing her hand against his chest. Jonah released her immediately.

  Shannon looked up at him with her electric blue eyes, swollen with tears. She sniffled and wiped at her face with the backs of her hands.

  “I have to go. I’m sorry. I need to go home.”

  “Let me walk you back to your car.”

  “No!” Her vehemence stopped him in his tracks.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry. I’m just…a mess,” she whispered. “I’m trying, but my life is still all fucked up. I’m a fuck up. You’re better off letting me walk away.”

  She backed away and ran around the building. Jonah let her go, but walked to the corner where he could see at least part of the lot. He waited until she drove away in her old Honda without so much as a look back at him.

  Her warning did nothing more than make him want to prove her wrong. She wasn’t a fuck up. He knew what that looked like, and it didn’t work as hard as she did. Shannon could leave her mess behind, starting with the ex-husband.

  Chapter Three

  In the days after Kid’s reappearance in her life, Shannon took extra care whenever she left her house. Talking to the police didn’t give her much confidence.

  They hadn’t spoken to Jonah yet, even though the cop said that he’d called a couple of times to speak to the detective. The whole incident left her shaken, but determined not to let a man interfere with her sense of peace.

  One of the worst parts of the whole mess was having to call her other ex-husband and let him and his wife know Kid somehow sprang himself from jail as he awaited trial. Kid had nearly killed Taryn, who was Jeff’s fiancée at the time.

  Shannon brought Kid into their lives and put everyone at risk, including her seven-year-old daughter, Olivia. After coming back to town, Shannon briefly thought they might have a chance to be a family again—Jeff, Shannon, and Olivia. Now, she could admit it had been a foolish and futile game to play.

  While she and Taryn forced themselves to be civil because of their love for the little girl, Shannon could feel the new Mrs. McConnell’s judgment every time she was around. They could make small talk and smile, but Taryn thought she was trash. Shannon couldn’t necessarily argue.

  That’s how she’d lived. The drugs. The stealing. Walking away from Jeff and Olivia before she turned two, and then dropping back into their lives with barrels of chaos.

  Shannon stopped her train of thought and repeated the phrase her drug counselor had told her over and over, “You are not your mistakes.”

  Over the past several months, she’d done a lot to improve herself and her life. Maybe she’d fallen off the wagon a few months ago, but that didn’t define her or her future. When it counted, she warned Jeff about Kid’s plan to break into his house, and since then, she cooperated fully with the police investigation. Shannon thought her mea culpa, apologies, and months of family and individual therapy proved her commitment.

  I work hard, she told herself. I’m making my own destiny.

  None of the affirmations, however, erased the fear that she might mess up again.

  She had scheduled visitation with Olivia the entire day on Saturday. She had gained the right to unsupervised visits only three weeks before.

  She thanked God she had time alone with her daughter without the suspicious looks from Jeff and Taryn. Now, after the incident with Kid, they weren’t sure, they said, that Shannon taking Olivia by herself was a good idea.

  “Maybe you could spend time with her here. We have gated security,” Jeff told her over the phone. Shannon gritted her teeth.

  “He doesn’t know where I live, and anyway, I w
asn’t going to bring her here. I thought we’d have lunch and then go see that Pixar movie at the dollar theater. I’ll be up in your area the whole time.”

  Jeff’s area was a collection of exclusive gated communities in North Dallas. Right after he and Taryn married in July, he’d traded his large, suburban house for an even larger mansion.

  Jeff and Shannon’s lives couldn’t have gone in more opposite directions since their shotgun wedding eight years ago. Jeff had sold part of his business to a big California tech company for tens of millions of dollars. The figures soared beyond what Shannon could imagine.

  Sometimes, she kicked herself when she thought of how she’d once been married to him. That life might have been her life if she hadn’t gotten hooked on drugs and taken off.

  Not that she wanted Jeff anymore. The feelings she thought she might resurrect when she first came to town and reconnected with him had died.

  She knew that even if she hadn’t become a junkie, she and Jeff weren’t meant to be. He never would have left her. No, they would have stayed dedicated to their empty marriage, making excuses for the misery. He and Taryn, on the other hand, fit. On her more hopeful days, Shannon dreamed of finding a man who would love her as much as Jeff loved his second wife.

  That’s what she wanted and what she had to remind herself that she deserved—not a loveless marriage glued together by obligation and a child. Remembering her worthiness of love and respect kept her calm whenever she had to deal with her first ex, who meant well, but didn’t trust her.

  “I’m not comfortable with your being out in public with Olivia alone,” Jeff declared. “You know how dangerous Kid can be. Until he’s back in jail, it’s not a good idea. If you want to challenge that and talk to your lawyer, then do what you’ve got to do. I’ll do what I’ve got to do.”

  Shannon wanted to argue. She wanted to be able to say Olivia faced no greater danger with her than when she was with Jeff, but she couldn’t.

  Kid didn’t know Jeff’s new location either. Jeff had quickly sold the house Kid had burgled, being caught in the act by Taryn.

  Shannon spent the past few months working to forget the episode. Kid put Taryn in the hospital. Of course, he’d landed there himself as well. Shannon smiled. She and Taryn had their differences, but she had to give it to a five-foot-two woman who could crack the skull of a man like Kid.

  It taught Shannon a lesson. Just because you’re a woman, it doesn’t mean you have to roll over and take shit from people.

  “Fine. I’ll come to your place, but I want to have her by myself. I’m still entitled to my time with her without you there.”

  “Taryn and I can find something to do out of the house for the afternoon. That’s not a problem,” Jeff agreed.

  Shannon sat in her car outside the gate in Jeff’s subdivision, straightening her shoulders with pride. One realization grew stronger the more distance she had from her troubled past. More often than not, if you speak up for yourself and let people know what you expect, they’ll give it you.

  “Okay, Ms. Nelson, I confirmed you’re on Mr. McConnell’s guest list. You’re all set.”

  “It’s actually not Nelson anymore. It’s Clifton. Shannon Clifton.” She drove toward the gate sliding open in front of her.

  * * *

  True to his word, Jeff vacated his home for the day. His housekeeper remained, but she kept herself busy scrubbing bathrooms. Plus, on more than one occasion, she’d reminded everyone, “I’m here to cook and clean and see to the house. I’m not a nanny.” Shannon didn’t expect the stout older woman to interfere.

  She decided to keep with her lunch and a movie idea, but do it in house with pizza and a classic Pixar movie, Monsters, Inc., Olivia delighted at the adventures of Sully and Boo.

  When it was over, they dove into the game room closet and pulled out a set of Uno cards. Shannon had just drawn four cards, prompting a cackle of glee from Olivia, when her daughter asked her a question.

  “Daddy said that you have a new apartment. When can I go see it?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m still getting things ready, and I don’t have your room set up yet.” That was true enough. Shannon had bought a mattress and box spring, but the bed hadn’t been delivered, and she didn’t have a dresser or any other furniture for Olivia yet.

  Knowing they weren’t going to have overnight visits for a while, Shannon chose to spread out the expense of outfitting the spare room for daughter. She also obtained her landlord’s permission to change the walls from sterile white to something more kid-friendly as long as it wasn’t too dark.

  Shannon thought yellow might be good. Jeff gave Shannon the bedding Olivia had at the old house, which had since been replaced with new decor. A nice, sunny yellow would match perfectly. Shannon’s days off were few, and she hadn’t done all that she wanted in her new place. She also had plans to paint her own bedroom.

  “I could help. I miss your old place. I liked going to the pool and seeing other kids,” Olivia said.

  Shannon did not miss the old apartment. However, on the few occasions Jeff brought Olivia over, her daughter enjoyed playing in the complex pool with other kids her age. Shannon would have to see if there was a city pool near her place. Maybe they could make it there before the weather got too cold.

  Looking at the cards in front of her, she mulled her options. She needed a blue card, which she didn’t have. She had the wicked draw four card, but not the heart to play it. She drew five more cards, searching for a blue one.

  Making things easier for Olivia probably didn’t do her daughter any good. Shannon considered playing the card she had and not letting Olivia win, but indulgence won out.

  Her daughter’s life was astoundingly privileged in many ways. Losing a card game wouldn’t faze her. Coming back into Olivia’s life, Shannon watched as her daughter held herself with confidence and assurance. Never for a moment did Olivia doubt that she was loved. That was Jeff. Sometimes, she felt like she should bow down to him, he’d done such a good job as a father.

  Olivia, unlike her mother, had no problem annihilating her opponent. A colorful series of skips, draw two’s, and reverses later, the girl squealed.

  “Uno!”

  Still holding a draw four, Shannon played her yellow card and watched as Olivia threw down her yellow card and bounced in victory.

  “Wow. You played your cards in the perfect order. You are such a good player.”

  “Thank you! Thank you!” Olivia stood up and bowed.

  “You ready to order some pizza?”

  “Yes, and then I can show you this cool game I play. It’s on my dad’s iPad.”

  “Okay, you get it, and I’ll order the pizza. Plain cheese, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Shannon dialed the pizza place around the corner from Jeff’s house. A few minutes later, Olivia came back into the game room.

  “What’s this game you want to show me?” Shannon asked.

  “It’s all about dinosaurs. You can look at fossils and stuff, but I can’t get it. My dad’s room is locked. It’s never locked.”

  Shannon kept her smile pasted on. They didn’t want Shannon stealing the silver. She had taken things from the house before, like an idiot. Now, they felt the need to lock up the valuables before she came over. She understood. She didn’t blame them. It still hurt. The locked door was yet another reminder of how far she had to go to regain people’s trust.

  I’m a good person, she thought. She looked at the little munchkin who had forgotten her iPad game and instead pulled a puzzle out of a drawer.

  “Let’s do this while we eat.” Olivia’s blue eyes were wide and full of adventure.

  If Shannon could give birth to such an amazing girl, she knew she had it in her to be amazing. One day, those around her wouldn’t feel the need to guard themselves against her.

  Chapter Four

  Clearly, the police didn’t take this seriously. Jonah left three messages for the detective looking into the case of Wayne
Nelson. He now knew the name of Shannon’s ex.

  Finally, on the following Monday, he decided to take a long lunch and pay the detective a visit. That, plus the threat to talk to his superiors, appeared to get his attention.

  When Jonah got back to the office, he saw his father standing in front of Jonah’s assistant’s desk, arguing with much animation. Nanette attempted to fend off his father before seeing Jonah and pointing down the hallway toward him.

  His father left him multiple messages while he visited the station, but Jonah figured he would wait until he was in front of his computer to check and answer them. The only reason his father would be calling him would be work.

  “Did you need something, Dad?”

  “Only to talk to you. Where have you been? I want to get an update on that new tech investment before I leave for the day. Being the boss’ son doesn’t mean you can blow off work to go gallivanting all afternoon.”

  “I wasn’t blowing off work. I told you that I witnessed an assault at the Scarlet Maple. I had to talk to the police,” Jonah explained.

  “Oh. You couldn’t have returned my message in the car?”

  “I didn’t have my files in the car, so I don’t know what I could have told you. Give me a few minutes. I’ll stop by your office.” Jonah waited until his father was out of earshot. “Sorry about that, Nanette. I thought I’d be back sooner.”

  “Not a problem, Mr. Moran. I tried to explain that you were at an appointment to the elder Mr. Moran, but, as you can see, he wasn’t moved,” his assistant replied evenly.

  Jonah greatly appreciated that beneath Nanette’s formality lay extreme loyalty to her boss, rather than her boss’ boss. Jonah knew he could count on her for discretion.

  “Any other messages for me?”

  Nanette handed him a slip of paper. It was nothing that couldn’t wait. First, he had to deal with his father.

  It took Jonah about twenty minutes to gather the information he needed for the meeting. Knowing that was likely ten minutes longer than would please the older man, Jonah then hustled to the end of the corridor to his father’s palatial office.