Trey glanced anxiously at the phone. Waiting for the damn thing to ring was putting him in a foul mood. He knew she as in trouble, he could feel it. It had crossed his mind to just get in his truck and go to her, but he knew he had to wait it out until she called. His stomach twisted up with anxiety. He exhaled trying not to think about what he’d do to her bastard husband if he ever got his hands on him. If he’d so much as breathed heavy on her, he was gonna . . . The phone jingled and started him out of his thoughts. He snagged it on the second ring.
“Diana? Baby, is that you?” His soft drawl echoed in his empty kitchen. There was a muffled sound from the other end and then she answered him.
“He’s gone, Trey,” she whispered. His heart started to hammer at the defeat in her voice.
“Are you OK?” He tried to keep his tone soft but he could tell by the sniff from the other end that she had heard the anger in his voice. He raged inside, wishing he could take her away, but knowing that she wasn’t ready to give up on her “family” yet. Taking a deep breath, he tried again.
“Diana, do you want me to come over?” he offered. The line was silent except for her soft sobs. He waited, impatient, but still willing to give her the time she needed.
“I have to check on the boys,” she finally replied. “I think the doors unlocked.” He took that as his invitation and didn’t give her the chance to change her mind.
“I’ll be there just as soon as I can,” he said and tucked the phone back into the cradle
He passed her house and glanced into the driveway. The car was gone and he breathed a sigh of relief that her husband hadn’t returned. He kept driving past the house and around the block, fighting to reign in his emotions. There was a deep-seated hatred for this man that she had married, but his love for Diana was overwhelming. He felt like he needed to take her into his arms and carry her away somewhere where she’d be safe from the man, from herself, safe from everything but him. He thought about what it would be like to see her smile. It had been a while since he’d seen her truly smile that open carefree smile of hers. She had been standing before him as he took her newborn son into his arms. Just days old the baby had opened his eyes and looked at him. He’d smiled down at the baby boy and Diana had beamed. Inwardly he’d felt jealous and resentful of the baby’s father, for occupying the spot in her life that he had wanted for himself.. But he’d pushed the thought away as he handed the baby back to her. He shook his head as even now the memory of her standing there that day in April, in her front yard holding her new little bundle, with the sun streaming down onto her auburn hair and kissing the soft skin just above her breasts made him ache with hardness. She had been radiant that day, so soft and supple and obviously in love that he’d beat a quick escape from the scene, his pants tight and his body throbbing. He’d been embarrassed, to long for her so much, to be slapped with the reality that she was so desperately in love with someone else.
He pulled his truck into the driveway and then off into the yard next to the garage, out of view from the street. He hated hiding the fact that he was around. He’d made so many late night trips to her house to comfort her that he felt entitled to park in the damn garage, but Diana’s refusal to leave her husband told him she had other ideas concerning his place in her life. He shuddered as he thought about the last trip he’d made here. She had called weeping, her husband had stormed out after yet another fight and she thought the baby she was carrying was coming. The brief minutes it had taken him to get to her had felt like an eternity. She was in agony when he’d finally arrived and he’d gathered up her son and buckled his car seat into his truck. After lifting the little boy up into the cab, he’d returned to the house for his momma. Diana had been so weak that he had swung her up into his arms and carried her outside. She had moaned softly against his shoulder and he’d whispered a silent prayer into her soft bangs that he’d made it in time to save the baby. He’d never have gotten her to the hospital in time...his intuition had told him to call for an ambulance on the way over. He’d thanked the good Lord that they’d arrived just behind him as they met him to take her. As the EMT’s loaded her into the back of he ambulance he’d stopped just long enough to wipe a smug of blood from her swollen lip before she gasped. She had reached out for him but they’d shuffled her into the truck out of his grasp. A gruff voice asked him if he was the father and as he shook his head the doors slammed on the vehicle and it sped way.
His hands trembled on the steering wheel as he shut off the engine. Seeing her like that had shaken him to his very soul. He’d rushed to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Parking his truck, he’d lifted Diana’s sleeping toddler into his arms and been stunned at how well her little boy fit against his chest. The staff stalled him in the lobby and a second later he learned that her husband was all ready there when the man had sauntered up to Trey and removed the sleeping child from his possession. He remembered how he’d felt empty without the little boy in his arms and how rigid the child seemed to be as he frowned in his sleep at the change in people. Her husband had left without so much as a backward glance let alone a thank you. Anger had forced him from the building but he’d stopped at the exit and turned back to the desk to ask about Diana. He’d held his breath as the nurse clicked away at the computer. The baby would live, born eight weeks early and his momma was doing fine after the surgery. Trey had uttered a few thankful words heavenward and then swore under his breath for the tears welling up in his eyes.
He gazed out the window then, wondering what that baby looked like. He’d never seen him. Common sense told him that he should be home in bed at this hour instead of worrying about another mans wife and children, but his heart ached for the woman in that house and all he could think about was that she needed him there with her and the boys. He slipped down from the cab of the truck and looked up at the stars. The rain started to drizzle, stinging his face. He tried hard to gather his defenses, knowing that his heart could end up broken a thousand more times before she was ready to come to her senses and give in to him. He didn’t know how long he could survive having his heart thrown back at him. Trey twisted the door knob and swung the door open.
“Diana? It’s Trey, baby, where are you?” he called out into the dark kitchen. His eyes adjusted and he saw her sitting on the counter. Even sitting broken in the darkness she was lovely. His heart ached as he reached her and gathered her close. She molded easily into his arms and he fought to ignore the swell in his heart at her willingness to come to him. “Did you check on the boys?” he whispered in her hair. Her head shook gently. “Com’mon...” He lifted her down and her hand fit into his. He passed through the living room with her in tow and walked to the end of the hallway. Broken glass crunched under his boots as he surveyed walls where the picture frames had once hung. He stopped and waited for her to open the door to her sons room. Following her in, he checked the windows to make sure they were locked and then stepped back and watched her as she snugged the little boy back under the covers. He grasped a small sleeper clad foot in his hand and gently tucked it back into the bed. The child smiled in his sleep and then sighed softly as he rolled over clutching his bear. The boy looked unharmed but Trey’s stomach twisted with anger as the soft nightlight showed the same didn’t hold true for Diana. The dim light highlighted the bruise that was starting to swell around her left eye. He reached for her but she turned her head away from the light and headed for the door.
Trey followed as she padded softly out of the room and closed the door. Then she turned to a second door and tiptoed into the nursery. The baby was sleeping peacefully. Trey gave a sigh of relief to see that the baby was truly no worse for wear after his ordeal just a few short month earlier. Looking at him now Trey would never have known that he had come early into the world. He checked the windows in the nursery as Diana laid her hand gently on her sleeping babe’s chest. She stepped out of the door and waited for him in the hallway while he looked down at the baby. He wanted desperately to pick up the child, eager to finally hold him, bask in this warm little piece of Diana snug in his arms. Mentally shaking himself he left the nursery and closed the door behind him.
“Hold me?”she whispered to him as he shut the door. He took her close and he felt her soften against him.