The Heart of Mine Read online

  Shit! I totally didn't mean for that to come out just yet either, but if I was having to prove to her granddad that I could take care of her and our baby, then it needed to be said. I turned towards Kayla, just as she was jumping out of her seat and making her way into the kitchen.

  "Kayla, wait let me explain. I was going to tell you first, I swear."

  "Were you? Because from what I just heard, you've all but planned out our entire life for the next eighteen years. If we're going to be a family, don't you think we should have decided these things together?"

  "Of course I do, pretty girl." I reached for her hand to pull her close to me, but she pulled away just as quickly. "Kayla, I had to do somethin'. He was questioning whether or not I could take care of my family."

  "I know Madison, but these are huge decisions."

  "I know darlin', and I never want you to feel like your opinion doesn't count."

  "Madison, you took a record deal. That's a huge thing in my book. What am I supposed to do, raise our child on a tour bus? Are we just supposed to follow you around the world, what I want be damned?"

  "Of course not. I guess I didn't think that far ahead. I jus-"

  I hung my head in defeat. No matter what I say or do, it will always be wrong in her eyes, and her grandparent's eyes now. Her hand brushed across my cheek bringing my attention back to her.

  "Madison, I know you wouldn't have done it to hurt me. I know you have our best interest at heart, but these are things we need to discuss together. I just feel like you planned this all out without even caring what I thought."

  I pulled her into my chest, cradling her head in my arm. "Kayla, I only want to do right by you and our baby. I just want to give you the life you deserve."

  "Having you and this baby in my life is all I need to be happy. I don't care if we live in a cardboard box out back."

  My heart melted at the feeling of being so needed and wanted by her. Every day I felt as though she deserved better, but now, now I just felt loved by the only person I would ever want to be with. I pressed my lips softly against hers. I was lost and wrapped up in the insane amount of joy I was feeling. That was, until I heard Kayla's grandfather beside us.

  Chapter 10

  Kayla

  I was at a loss for words. I knew my grandparents weren't going to be over the moon excited, but I expected more shouting, more anger, I don't know, more anything. It would seem that my grandfather respected the fact that Madison had planned out everything he had in mind to take care of us. I did as well, but I have to admit, I felt as though he went behind my back by not mentioning anything to me about all of this.

  I sat on the back porch rocking back and forth as my grandfather and Madison sat at the table inside, planning out a future I wasn't so sure I agreed with.

  "Darlin', why you lookin' so sad over there? I would've thought that you of all people would be ecstatic that your granddaddy is okay with all of this."

  "I'm not sad, Grams. I just feel like my whole life is bein' planned out for me. I feel like I have no say so and no control. I don't like it."

  "Kayla, you just have to let your granddaddy feel like he is part of all of this. No one is sayin' ya need to do what he is settin' out for ya, but just let him think he can." She winked at me and I knew exactly what she meant.

  "Thanks, Grams."

  "Always darlin'."

  I left Madison and my granddad to talk "plans" while I went for a walk. Everything was changin' so fast I wasn't sure I could keep up. After I made it up the hill, I sat my overly exhausted ass down below the willow tree and pulled out my cell phone from my boot. I hadn't talked to Cami in almost a week and I was goin' crazy not knowing how she was. I let the phone ring three times before I was about to hang up, but then I heard her voice break through the line.

  "Hello."

  She sounded horrible and I felt even worse for what had happened to her, but I put on a happy face, not letting my worry be heard through my voice.

  "Hi love. How are you feelin'?"

  "Oh my god, Kay. I can't believe it's actually you. I'm okay. More importantly, how are you? How's the baby?"

  "I'm good, the baby is good. Cam, I'm so sorr-"

  "Don't even. It wasn't your fault. I was driving and that asshole came out of nowhere. You sound off, what's going on?"

  "I'm fine, really."

  "Yeah, and I'm not in massive amounts of pain. Spill it."

  "Well where do I start? Let's see, Madison dropped out of school, the band signed with the label, he sold his family home and he has all but picked out the curtains in our new house that he is going to let me pick out."

  "Seriously?"

  I let out a loud sigh, "Cam, I feel left out. I know how childish that sounds, but he's practically made all of these huge decisions without me. It's like he doesn't even care what I think about it all. He's sittin' with my granddad as we speak, planning out every little detail. I need a break. I need something."

  "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. I wish I could be there for you. I want to be there, trust me. My mom is like a prison warden. She won't let me leave the house, she barely lets me talk on the phone and god forbid someone try to come and visit me. Oh well, it is what it is. So how did the grandparents take the news?"

  "Ah, well like I said Granddad is all for it now, and my grams, well she just told me to let him feel like he's a part of all of this. I don't know, maybe this isn't the best thing right now."

  "What do you mean, Kay?"

  "I don't know. Maybe this is all just too much right now. Maybe I'm not ready. Sorry to lay all of this on you. Just ignore me."

  "Kayla, I think you need a break. Thanksgiving is coming up, why don't you try to come out here and spend it with us. I'm sure my mom would love to see you. She's a lot better now that she knows."

  "Cam, you told her?"

  "Uh yeah, I kind of had to if you ever wanted to talk to me again, and she's actually really excited for you. And don't worry about the record deal. I have some inside information that things won't go as fast as you think. Talk to Madison about it and see what he says. Not that you need his permission or anything, but maybe he'll agree that you need a break. I gotta go now, time to go to the doctor to get my stitches removed. So much fun. I'll talk with ya soon love. Take care of my little niece or nephew."

  "Will do. Love ya, Cam."

  "Love ya too Kay."

  I sat back against the large trunk, stretching my legs out in front of me. I smoothed down my dress with my hands and stopped as I brushed past the tiny bump starting to form underneath it. I let my eyes flutter shut, as thoughts of my impending motherhood flashed through my mind. I could see all three of us out here under this very tree, smiling and laughing. I pictured a beautiful little girl with long brown hair blowing in the breeze as she ran away from her daddy as he chased her around the yard. Or a little brown haired boy, climbing up the tree and shouting with glee as he reached the top. I wanted all of it, I did, but at what cost? I was losing part of myself and it was driving me crazy.

  "Here you are."

  I practically jumped to my feet as I heard Madison's voice break through my thoughts. "Jesus Madison, you scared the crap out of me."

  "Sorry darlin'. Can I sit with you?"

  I scooted over so he could sit in the small amount of shade next to me. He reached out for my hand, intertwining our fingers together, but I slowly pulled away.

  "What's goin' on pretty girl?"

  "Everything is happening so fast. I'm just feeling, overwhelmed."

  "Well we don't have much time to plan. We need to get everything in order before she comes."

  My mood went from complacent to angry in less than ten seconds. "Madison, listen to me please. You can't plan our entire life out without including me. I'm not some stupid little girl that doesn't have an opinion."

  "I know that Kayla, and I would never treat you like that on purpose. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

  I could hear the sincerity in his voice, b
ut part of me still felt uneasy about the whole situation.

  "Your grandfather and I have Thanksgiving all planned out. We were talkin' about it and decided that it would be best if we had it at their house and my gran and I could-"

  I stood up quickly. I could feel the rage coursing through me. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

  He was instantly up and standing in front of me trying to pull me to him. "Kayla, what is wrong with you?"

  "I won't be here for Thanksgiving, Madison. I'm going to go spend it with Cami and her family. I just need some time."

  I started walking towards the house making my anger towards him very apparent in my walk. If he was smart he wouldn't follow, unfortunately he wasn't very smart today. I felt his fingers wrap around my elbow and I pulled it out of his grasp as hard as I could.

  "What do you mean you need some time?"

  "I need you to give me some time. I'm leaving after school on Friday and I'll be back in about a week and a half."

  "Let's talk about this, Kayla. At least let me go with you."

  "Why don't you spend the holiday with my granddad? Y'all seem to be super close now. I'll see you when I get back."

  "That's it? No good-bye, no I love you? You're not leavin' for two days, will I not see you before then?"

  I turned and pressed my lips firmly against his. Just as I knew he would, he took it further. Tracing his tongue across my bottom lip as his hand slid between my legs and up my inner thigh. My knees became weak and I almost gave into my every desire, when I finally pushed back against his chest.

  "I love you Madison. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

  "You're gonna miss me. You're gonna miss that. I love you Kayla."

  I walked up the three steps to my back porch and turned long enough to catch the shit eatin' grin slapped across his face.

  Chapter 11

  Madison

  I sat outside the school parking lot feeling like a stalker. It was now Friday, and I was a ball of nerves thinkin' of Kayla leavin' for Arizona in the next couple hours. I hadn't told her what I had found out from Joey, but I definitely wasn't feelin' at ease with her being out of my sight.

  Joey had turned into an unlikely ally, and I was grateful knowin' that I had another set of eyes on her. I know how it looked, but with the love of my life carryin' my baby and a certain someone hangin' around, I couldn't be too careful.

  "Dude, you do know that stalking is illegal, right?"

  "Shut up dick. I know." Joey jumped into the passenger side before I could object.

  "Look, I told you I would look out for her at school. I don't want him getting close to her either."

  "Yeah, but our reasoning behind that seems to differ. Look, I appreciate what you're doing Joey, but that doesn't mean that I trust you, yet. I know you like my girl. I've always known."

  "Whatever you wanna believe, man. I care for her and I don't want to see anything happen to her."

  "I appreciate it. Has she told you yet?"

  "Nope. Don't know if she's embarrassed or just doesn't want me to know, but she better spill the beans before she starts showin'. Don't want anyone thinkin' it's mine." It took everything inside of me not to pummel Joey Green right there in my truck. He put his hands up in an almost surrendering motion. "I'm outta here. Don't need to get knocked out. Havin' to explain a shiner to your girl, probably won't go over too well." With a shitty smirk across his mouth, he jumped out of the truck and ran back over to where he and Kayla were eating lunch.

  She looked absolutely beautiful today. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and she was wearing my favorite sundress of hers. The yellow made her skin look that much darker than it already was and her eyes looked fiercely blue. Just lookin' at her was makin' my dick twitch and I was now in desperate need of a cold shower.

  I put the truck in reverse and looked behind me, when I caught sight of a dark blue Suburban a few cars back. I wouldn't have bothered worrying about it, but then I remembered seeing the exact same Suburban outside of my father's motel room.

  Although the man I saw walk out of my father's room, was drivin' an entirely different car. I decided to drive around the school once, just to see if the car would follow me or if they were here for an entirely different reason. Just as I had suspected, the Suburban pulled out at almost the exact same time I did. I made my way around the backside of the school and off on the dirt road that led to an open field. If this was gonna happen, I was damn sure gonna make sure there wasn't anyone to witness it.

  I pulled off on the small dirt road leading to a large tree in the middle of the vast open field. The Suburban followed closely. Just as I threw the truck into park and opened the door, they took off in the opposite direction. The scene playin’ out before me baffled me. Apparently, I wasn't what they had wanted or expected.

  I jumped back into my truck and made a quick U-turn, kickin' up dust all over the place as I peeled out of there. Kayla had made herself pretty clear the other day about not wantin' to see me, so I made my way back towards the edge of town. I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly had a really bad feelin' in my gut. I quickly turned around and made my way back to the school. Everyone had already gone back to classes after lunch, and I couldn't be certain as to where exactly Kayla was at the moment.

  When I pulled into the crowded parking lot, I spotted the large SUV in the last row, furthest away from the main building. My heart felt as though it was gonna beat out of my chest and my adrenaline was flowing at an all time high. I hopped down out of the cab and made my way over to the SUV that sat a couple feet away from me. I cracked each knuckle one by one before finally reaching the driver side window.

  My fist connected harder than I had anticipated, but I'm sure it got the point across either way. When no one rolled down the window, I shielded my eyes from the sun and took a peek inside. No one was there. Now I was extremely nervous and agitated. I waited for what felt like an eternity, before I saw his smug face walking in my direction. I wasn't exactly sure what I was goin' to say to him, but the closer he got, the faster I wanted to land my fist against his face. I had a choice to make, one that I wasn't takin' lightly. I could either walk away and find a different time to confront the bastard, or I could just get it over with now, and see what the sorry piece of shit had to say for himself. Time was up!

  "What the fuck do you think you're doin' here?"

  "I'm not quite sure what ya mean, but I'm gonna go ahead and assume that you're Madison."

  "You would assume right. You better answer my question before I force you to answer it with my fist or whatever means necessary."

  He leaned in too close for comfort before he spoke. "I don't take to kindly to threats, in case you haven't noticed. Maybe you should change your tone. We wouldn't want anything to happen to that precious girl and her unborn child now would we?"

  Before I could think, my fists were pushing into his chest as hard as they could. "If you so much as touch a hair on her head, make no mistake, I will kill you this time. And how the fuck did you even know about the baby?"

  "I have my ways, Madison. Don't worry, I don't plan on stayin' long."

  I took the three steps to close the distance between us, making sure he could hear me loud and clear. "Listen good, I won't hesitate to do what I need to, to protect my family. Make no mistake about it."

  "Maybe this time, you might actually succeed."

  I cocked my fist back, ready to lay into this piece of shit standin' in front of me. Who the fuck did he think he was? Just as I was about to bring my arm forward, I felt someone grab me from behind. I turned quickly to see who the fuck this person thought they were. My fist nearly connected with Joey's face seconds later. He braced himself for the impact, but it wasn't necessary. My hand dropped to my side at the mere sight of him.

  "Joey, what the fuck?"

  "Dude, he's so not worth it. At least not right now. School is about to let out. Do you really want her to have to deal with all of this," he pointed betwe
en Wren, and me "before she goes out of town? Because if you don't care, then I have no problem jumpin' on the bandwagon to kick the shit out of this fucktard."

  I liked Joey's enthusiasm, but he had a good point. I didn't need Kayla worrying about anything while she was gone. All I could do now, was pray that he didn't follow her back there. Damn stubborn ass woman, why couldn't she just listen to me?

  "Well if you ladies are done, I have a flight to catch."

  I lunged at him, but Joey caught me. "Don't worry, bro. I have this under control."

  I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but at this point, I had absolutely no reason not to trust Joey. So there I stood, in the school parking lot watching my girlfriend's rapist ex-boyfriend leaving to catch the exact same flight I knew Kayla would be on. When the SUV was out of sight, I turned to my left, placing my arm across Joey's neck as I pinned him against the truck next to us.

  "You have exactly thirty seconds to tell me why I'm not drivin' my ass to the airport right now."

  "Because Kayla won't be on a flight out of here."

  "What are you fucking talking about Jo?" I loosened my grip, but only enough that he could breathe again.

  "I convinced her not to go, and Glenn invited Cami here for Thanksgiving."

  "Did she plan on tellin' me?" I dropped my arms to my sides in defeat. I really fucked up the situation with Kayla the other day, and now I felt like a third wheel in my life.

  "Honestly, I don't know, but we won't be here. We're followin' that douche back to Arizona and dealin' with this situation once and for all."

  "Look Jo, as much as I appreciate your help, I don't need it. I have a family to start thinking about. I can't go gettin' myself into unnecessary trouble."