Risking Fate (Mitchell Family #4)(18)
Author: Jennifer Foor

As much as I wanted to make love, Ty was right. I needed to get some sleep. I started working part time in the morning, but it was still getting hard to stand for even an hour at a time.

The next morning was as hectic as ever. Ty refused to wake me up on time and although he and Bella were at the door waiting, I still had to get myself ready. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off looking for something to wear, while trying to do something professional looking to my hair. I worked in a salon so having bad hair was a definite no no.

My worries were relieved when we pulled up to the Salon five minutes early. I leaned over and kissed my sexy husband before heading inside. Ty and Bella usually stopped by for doughnuts before he dropped her off at school and went into the shop.

I got my station all ready to start working and grabbed a bottle of water for me to drink. Amy was getting the register together when the door bell rang. Ty came walking in with a cup in one hand and a bag in the other.

He handed me the hot drink. “Decaf coffee with extra cream and one sugar for my beautiful wife.” He opened the bag and let me peek inside. “Two chocolate éclairs for my growing boys.” He leaned over and kissed me. “Gotta run. See ya at lunch, Baby.”

He went flying out of the door before I could thank him. I grabbed my phone as I watched our car pulling out of the lot.

I love you Ty. Thank you.

A few minutes passed and I knew he was rushing to punch in on time at the shop. As the first customer walked in, I heard my phone vibrate.

Anytime. Love u 2.

The smile on my face couldn’t be contained. Amy shook her head and started walking toward me. “You two make me jealous.”

“Sorry, Ames. Another bad weekend?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “He never came home on Friday night. Showed up Saturday morning completely shit faced. I took the kid out and grocery shopped. When we got home he was passed out. I guess it could have been worse.”

It wasn’t that cold out, but Amy was wearing a long sleeve jacket. I know I was pregnant and drinking coffee, but it was too hot to be wearing a jacket. I reached for her arm and she pulled away. “Don’t! Please just don’t, Miranda.”

I pulled her in for a hug. “Our offer stills stands. You can stay at Ty’s parents whenever you need to.”

“I’m saving up my money. I can handle him until then.” She started walking toward the customer at the front of the shop. “Good morning Agnes. How can I help you today?”

I watched Amy put on her best fake smile as she began working on her first customer’s hair. After ten minutes my first client showed up and the place filled with voices. At noon two more stylists came in and worked until six at night. I felt bad, but I never got a chance to talk to Amy any more.

Since I’d known what it was like to be physically abused, my heart ached for her situation.

Ty showed up at lunch time and after we ate, I stopped at the school and picked up Bella, before taking the car home. I knew I’d have to pick Ty up later, but it was nice to go home and relax for a while. If it was up to Ty, I would just be a stay at home mother. Between the farm and his full time job, we didn’t need the money. I just liked getting out and doing something. Of course, once the twins were born, it was going to get a lot harder.

As long as I got to cut Ty’s hair I think I would be satisfied. He had the thickest, sexiest brown hair. I loved playing with it.

Bella and I spent my first half day watching kid shows and pigging out. Conner was nice enough to run out and grab Ty when he headed into town to pick up something he needed. By the time they both came in, I had dinner ready and on the table for them. We all sat down together and said grace like we tried to do every night. Bella liked to say it herself and we liked how she still messed up some of the words.

Ty got Bella started in the bath tub, while Conner loaded the dishwasher for me. He came down and sat next to me, throwing my legs over his. “How’s my little sister feelin’?”

“Good. How are you doin’?”

Conner shrugged and tossed his hat on the table. “It’s different here. Brina’s been tryin’ to get me go out more. I just need to stay focused on work. I know this is my chance to make things right.”

“Well, you seem to be doin’ a lot better.”

“Randa, I’m a little worried about goin’ to Kentucky for the Christening.” Conner looked down at his hands and fidgeted. He’d done so well being away from all of his friends. His first week had been the worst, in fact we found out a lot more than we had wanted to. Conner had been using drugs. He tried to detox cold turkey and got really sick. He ended up spending the night in the hospital and having a very sick first week.

Ty and I did everything we could to make him comfortable, we even kept the worst of it from the family. Conner was trying so hard and he didn’t need extra eyes judging him. Besides, Ty wanted to do it for Conner. He wanted him to be able to trust us.

I grabbed my brother’s hand. “Conner, everything will be okay. The family doesn’t know the bad stuff.”

“What if my friends want to go out?”

I squeezed his hand. “It’s probably better if you don’t. Just hang out with us for the weekend. If it gets too bad then we can come home early. I can make up an excuse that I’m not feelin’ well. Ty will be cool about it.”

He leaned over and kissed my head. “I couldn’t do this without you, I hope you know that.”

Conner got up and headed back to his room. I heard him and Ty talking to each other in the hallway as they passed. I hadn’t thought about how hard things were going to be for Conner on our visit. I knew he missed his friends, but seeing them again, could test his sobriety. He and I both knew that he didn’t want to go down that road again.

It made me very nervous.

That night I told Ty about Conner and how worried I was. He told me that Conner had talked to him about it in the car and that he suggested the same thing. The two of them may have joked a lot and even gotten into heated arguments, but they acted like brothers. If something was wrong, they were the first ones to stand up for each other. Like always, Ty had Conner’s back and I knew we would be able to make it through the weekend if we just stuck together.

The next week flew by and we found ourselves packing up the cars again. This time Ty’s parents were coming. We still had to take two separate cars and of course Bella wanted to ride with her grandparents. I had to admit that I was a bit relieved. My ride was going to be annoying enough with Conner and Ty.