Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(7)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Heather

I crumpled up the note and tossed it behind my truck seat. Amy and I had talked and I had promised her that I wasn’t going to call Heather. As much as I wanted to know what the girl wanted, it wasn’t worth fighting with my woman over. Heather was the last person on earth to be trusted, so calling her was like calling the devil and asking for a favor. We couldn’t take the chance of her stabbing us in the back for her boyfriend Rick. She was a sneaky person, who had made my entire family suffer in some way.

I spotted Amy walking out of the house and ran to help her walk across the ice. I couldn’t have her slipping and taking a fall. While she was at work, I would make sure she had a safe path for when she got home. "Slow down, Blaze. You don’t have to act so excited to get away from me already."

She put her arm through mine. "You know it’s not like that. I own a business and I have responsibilities. Trust me, if I could stay in that warm bed with your sexy ass all day, I would. I don’t think you understand how hard it is to concentrate on cutting hair when all I can think about is your mouth between my legs."

Just hearing her say that brought a smile to my face. I don’t know why I was feeling so sad. She would be back in my truck by the evening and in my bed a few hours later. "I’m sure glad I never had serious girlfriends before you. This worrying shit is a pain in my ass."

She got buckled in her seatbelt and waited for me to climb in my side before answering me. "Thank you for caring about me. I know you hate it, but it feels so nice to be loved. This past week has been one of the best of my life."

The drive to the salon wasn’t as long as I wanted it to be. Her father was already standing at the door when we pulled up. I jumped out and ran over to Amy’s side to help her out of my lifted truck. She put her arms around my neck as she kissed me and I lifted her down. "You better miss me today."

She giggled as we walked toward her father. “I will show you how much when you pick me up tonight."

I reached out and shook hands with her father. "Good morning, sir."

"Thanks for bringing her out here, Conner. I’m going to stay until I know she is locked in here safely."

He put his arm around Amy and I could tell right away how glad she was to have him back in her life. "You two worry too much. I’m going to be fine. I left him and there’s nothing he can do to change it now."

I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I’ll call you in a couple hours. If you need anything you better call me."

She smiled. "Okay, I promise."

Once I climbed into my truck, I watched her father take a look around the parking lot before they walked into the salon. She was in good hands and it made it a little easier to drive away knowing that.

Rick was out there somewhere. Sure, he could have left town and maybe in a perfect world, he did. My world wasn’t perfect and I trusted nobody except my family, at this point. In the back of my mind I feared that he was just lying low, waiting for the opportunity to take the one thing that meant everything, away from me.

Chapter 5

Amy

It was great that Conner was so worried about me. It was also a big pain in my ass. For someone that had felt like a prisoner in a marriage for so long, it was hard to not feel that way when Conner was being overprotective. Sure, Rick had physically hurt me, but I didn’t see him doing it in public. He’d always been a perfect gentlemen when people were around.

My father hadn’t seen me since I left his house a disarray after running from Rick. So much had changed since that day. After telling my father about my pregnancy, even he jumped on the ‘keep Amy safe’ bandwagon.

I didn’t schedule any customers until after ten so that we could deal with getting the locks changed and working with the security company. I had even considered going with a new company altogether, but when I explained my situation they said they would make sure that my ex never stepped foot into my salon again. Trust me when I say that if I never saw that lying, cheating, bastard again, it would be too soon.

While waiting for the security company to get finished, my father and I sat around eating donuts that he had gotten for us. I started licking all of the chocolate off the top of the one in my hand. He started to laugh. "You know, you used to do that when you were little."

I laughed and looked down at the donut. "It’s the best part."

He chuckled some more. "Your little half-brother does it too. I reckon it’s in our genes. You know, the boys have been talking about you like crazy. Maybe, if you’re okay with it, you and Conner could come over for dinner one night this week. I never approved of your choices in men, but that boy is good for you. I can tell his intentions are good."

"You obviously haven’t seen his tattoos."

He laughed again, but I knew he hated tattoos. "Yeah, I stopped judging people for those reasons a long time ago. My wife has several tattoos, so I really can’t use that as an excuse anymore. Unless he has Satan on his body somewhere, I really don’t care about them. I can tell he loves you. He wants to keep you and that baby safe. It’s all a dad can ask."

Of course, my mind went straight to Conner. Underneath of his tough appearance was a beautiful man that would risk his life for me. I knew that was how my father saw him. It probably didn’t hurt that he called my father ‘Sir’. "He’s glad that you and I reconnected. Family is very important to Conner."

"Good. He’s got some major responsibilities now. I hope he continues to impress me. Speaking of which, have you two thought about where you are going to live once the baby is born. Four and a half months are going to come faster than you think."

This was a hard topic to talk about. I’d only been free from Rick for a week. As much as I looked forward to a future with Conner, we hadn’t set anything into stone. I didn’t think he was going to leave me, but aside from him saying he was going to build us a house, I didn’t know a when or how he was going to afford it. "He’s planning on building a house on a piece of family property. In the meantime, we are going to stay with his sister and her family."

"It’s hard living with people. Are you sure that’s a good idea?"

"Dad, Miranda is my best friend. She would tell me if it was a bad idea. Her and Conner are very close too. There are places we can go to stay out of their way. I’m sure Conner is thinking the same thing as you are."

He shook his head and looked right at me. "I just want my grandson to have a good home to come home from the hospital to. If you need money, all you have to do is ask. I know that you are going to have legal issues soon and I plan on being there every step of the way. The sooner we can get that ass**le out of our lives, the better."