Read Online Only for You by Marquita Valentine - Free Book Online

too
inconvenient to take it off,” I point out.
    “ But your money hasn’t
been anywhere near it, which makes him a sub-letter,” Rae says, and
I wonder where she’s getting her information.
    Ford steps in front of
Crystal, and for once, he’s not wearing his uniform around me. He
looks like any other guy in his late thirties, wearing jeans and a
button down. “Crystal didn’t come here to make trouble. She came
here to apologize.”
    I laugh. “Quit yanking my
chain.”
    “ And she’s here to say
good-bye. We’re leaving for Colorado tomorrow, and I’m escorting
her personally.”
    Automatically, I grab Kelly
from Rae. “Not with her, you’re not.”
    Crystal moves from behind
Ford. Her face is soft for once, and I think the tears and emotion
are genuine in her eyes. “I’m not going to take Kelly with me.” She
reaches out, cupping my little sister’s face. “She’s better off
with you.”
    “ But what about—?” I can’t
even finish that sentence. I’m too damn terrified that the more I
say, the more likely Crystal is to change her mind. But I don’t
want to be able to keep my sister safe from her mother, then the
state turn around and take her away from me, because Crystal fled
the East Coast.
    “ It’s been taken care of.
I know the lady in charge of CPS and she’s agreed, along with Judge
Solomon, to give you temporary custody of Kelly while your mother’s
getting help. Real help, from people that won’t be swayed by her
parents’ money or influence,” Ford says.
    “ Why are you taking her?
Why are you helping us?”
    Ford looks at my mom, and
I’m pretty damn sure I see love there. Or something pretty close.
Maybe insanity, because any man willing to put up with my mother
while knowing everything about her has to be crazy.
    “ Because it’s the right
thing to do,” Ford says.
    Yeah, she’s screwing him
six ways from Sunday. I want to be mad, but I don’t have it in me
anymore. At least Ford seems to respect her, and I know he won’t
abuse her, which means I won’t end up in jail
    So, in the grand scheme of
things, it’s a win-win for everyone.
    “ I wanted to spend
Christmas with you guys,” Crystal says as my brother walks in the
door. He freezes, taking in the scene. “Parker.” She runs to him,
giving him the hug she stopped giving me years ago. For some reason
I think she feels sorry for him, sorry for Kelly too, but doesn’t
know how to fix things without fixing herself first.
    Rae’s hand slips into mine
and I shake it away. “I think you need to go.”
    Hurt flashes in her blue
eyes. “Why? There’s no need to be—”
    “ I need you to go.” This
painful family reunion of sorts is going to happen, and I plan on
Crystal answering all of my questions, including who Parker and
Kelly’s dads are. There can’t be any more surprises in my
life.
    I want normal and
boring.
    Only the girl I love is a
Country Music Star, not exactly normal and certainly not boring.
But I harden my heart against the pain on her face. I can’t focus
on her right now.
    “ Okay.” She stands on her
tiptoes and kisses my cheek. “Text me later. Nana would like for
y’all to come to Sunday dinner tomorrow.”
    “ I’ll see what I can
do.”
    Rae stares at me. “Don’t do
this,” she whispers. “Please don’t close yourself off from me. What
your mom said doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”
    I exhale, pass Kelly to
Parker, and steer Rae out to the front porch, grabbing her coat
along the way. She can’t drive yet, and I’m not that much of an
asshole to make her walk, so we trudge out to my Jeep.
    In no time flat, we’re
sitting in her Nana’s driveway. Puffs of hot air are coming from
Rae’s sweet lips.
    “ I’m scared,” she says.
“I’m scared that you’re scared, that this is the end of us, and
you’re using your family as an excuse to—”
    “ My family?” I shake my
head and bark out a laugh. “Have you seen my family, Rae? My
mother sold a
baby,