Bless the Broken Road Ch. 03

This chapter got a little dark. So those with crying closets have been warned. It more or less wrote itself after a point. I know I didn't do the subject matter justice but sometimes the feelings didn't let the words come through.

This is not a stand-alone story so reading the prior chapters in order will provide you with the best reading experience. I hurried this out so I apologize for any errors.

*****

"Hello, Kevin Byler's office. May I help you?" said the bubbly receptionist.

"I need to speak to Kevin Byler." said Gene, in his pointedly, grumpy way.

"Hold one moment please." She placed him on hold and spoke into the intercom. "Kevin? Call for you on the main line."

"Tell them I'm on an important call. Get their info and I'll call them back." he said.

"I'm sorry. Mr. Byler is on another call. Can..."

"He will want to take this call. Tell him to return his other call later." Gene said sternly.

"Um...please hold."

"Kevin? This A-hole said you will want to take this call."

"Uh...okay. Mom? I gotta go...Love you too. Bye." He punched the button for the main line.

"This is Kevin Byler."

"Kevin, this is Gene Simmons. NOT the one you are thinking of. I'm the Attorney for Williams Transport. I'm calling because you haven't made it over here yet and I'm wondering what the holdup is."

"Mr. Simmons, Williams Transport does not ring a bell with me at all."

"The owner was in to see you a couple days ago. Robert Martin."

It took a second or two but I remembered. The Masterson divorce case. The guy was a pretty good jerk. "Yes, I remember Mr. Martin."

"Well that's a start. He offered you a job. So why haven't you shown up yet?"

"Well Mr. Simmons, I've been considering his offer (lying through my teeth) and I also need to speak with my Associate before I make a decision. She has not been available recently." (again lying through my teeth.)

"Well, talk to her and then git your ass over here. Time waits for no man."

"Mr. Simmons, a decision this important requires time and thought."

"Mr. Byler, he very rarely, if ever, offers someone a job. He seems to see something in you that he likes. So don't fuck around on this. I know he can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Well, most of the time. But he's a good guy. Don't fool around and mess up this opportunity. You'll regret it."

"Mr. Simmons, Give me a day and I will get back to you."

"Okay. I'll expect you tomorrow." He hung up without saying goodbye.

Geez. What the hell has gone wrong with the world I thought? I walked out to the reception area.

"Sis...I need to talk to you for a minute. It's important."

"Sure Kev. Anything for my favorite brother."

"I'm your only brother."

"Yeah, but you are still my favorite despite that."

"That old guy that just called. If I understand this right, if I take that job with Bob Martin...that's the guy in here the other day that was accusing me of wanting to sleep with my client, who was his friend..."

"Yeah, how could I forget!" She laughed.

"Well, if I take that job, I'd be working with Mr. Simmons, the a-hole as you call him that just called."

"What? Are you serious? That old fart was pretty, well, rude. He has no social grace whatsoever."

"Oh, you have no idea. He was insistent that I accept Mr. Martin's offer. Said I would regret it if I didn't."

"Did he threaten you?"

"No. It wasn't a threat, really. At least I don't think so. It came off more like I didn't have a choice."

"What the hell?"

"My Weird Shit-o-Meter has been steadily climbing toward pegged lately."

"Your what?"

"Have you noticed how weird everything has gotten lately?" asked Kevin.

"You mean since your car caught fire?"

"Even before that. It seems like ever since I accepted the Masterson divorce case, it's like I stepped into a Twilight Zone episode."

"What's that? Oh, do you mean those movies with the hunky vampires and werewolves?"

"You don't watch TV Land do you?"

"What's that?"

"Skip it. I didn't tell you this but shortly after I accepted the Masterson case, I saw the same guy in the courtroom on numerous occasions. It was 3 different cases. Not related to each other that I could ever figure out. But he was there. I thought he might be a new reporter for the paper or the radio station but he was too old to be a journalist student and he certainly didn't look like one. And he didn't ever write anything down. In fact, he just seemed interested in watching me."

"That's really creepy."

"Then, my car catching fire. They said it was an electrical short and that is reasonable enough. I accepted that at the time. But then, Mr. Martin came in. As soon as he started with his accusation, I realized that all this stuff started after I accepted that divorce case."

"Do you think it's all related?"

"I don't know. Mr. Martin accuses me of wanting to have sex with his friend, then offers me a job. And now his attorney calls pretty much telling me that I don't really have a choice whether to accept the job or not. It's starting to feel like all those fake TV shows and movies about lawyers who are always in danger trying to solve a case. That never happens. The most intrigue I've had in this job was trying to figure out who might have poisoned Hattie Monroe's cat."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I guess I need to accept the job. With all this weird shit going on, it seems likely it is related to the Masterson case. And the best way to find out what is going on is join one of the sides involved and see where that leads. But Sis, I'm not sure what is going on. Just watch your back. Okay? Have you noticed anything weird?"

"No. But I probably wouldn't unless they texted me with a heads up first."

"Okay, well just be careful."

"You worry too much. You remember my boyfriend right? Tall, handsome muscular defensive end for the Golden Flashes? I'll let him know. Nobody is going to mess with me. Not without paying the price."

"Yeah. Well, just in case, be smart and keep your eyes open."

"I will Bro."

*****

Rob

Saturday morning Jessie was a bundle of nerves. Grandpa used to say 'more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs'. Part of it was the excitement of being able to see her kids. And I imagine the rest was worrying whether everyone was going to like each other and get along. I tried to reassure her that everything was going to be fine but she just looked at me flatly like I was an absolute moron every time I said it.

We left the house after about the fifth or sixth time of going through the final checklist with Jessie to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything or left something out. We had agreed to meet at the east entrance to the mall instead of the main entrance, just to be on the safe side. Less traffic and less chance of running into someone that may recognize them. Jessie lunged for my hand as soon as we were out of the truck. We walked hand in hand into the mall and I could feel her nervous trembling. I didn't try the 'it will okay' thing any more.

Once inside, we were spotted first. The screams of two children yelling for their mother pieced through the din of the mall background noise like an air horn at a mime convention.

I saw two young ones at a dead run heading our way. Jaime was taller so her stride was longer and she had an advantage over her brother. She was looking at her mother the entire time. Greg on the other hand, he was alternating between looking at his mother and then back at his sister, because beating his sister in this race was very important.

Jessie squatted down as the kids approached. Jaime made it first and threw her arms around Jessie's neck. Before anyone could brace for it, Greg came crashing into both of them sending Jessie backwards onto her back with Jaime on top of her. Jessie was laughing and crying at the same time, elated to have both her children in her arms.

I knelt down beside them, figuring someone might need help up at some point. Greg looked around first and saw me. He raised his head up and said "Are you Mister Rob?"

"Uh, yes I am, I guess. My name is Bob Martin. But you can call me Rob if you like."

Jessie quickly interjected "Gregory, we do not address grown ups by their first name. You call him Mr. Martin."

"But, Uncle Bill is a grown up and its okay to call him by his first name." he said proudly as if he just stuck one big time to his mother.

"Uncle Bill is family. Mr. Martin is, a friend." Jessie shot me a quick glance between kisses to see if her statement had bothered me. It didn't, but what kind of a look do you return to convey that message?

"Are you going to be our new daddy? Greg asked innocently.

Jessie burst into laughter immediately, aware of the corner that Greg had so quickly forced me into.

"Greg!" shouted Jaime. "You are not supposed to ask that question! We told you that a thousand times!" Out of the mouth of babes.

"It will be a while before we know that for sure. So there is plenty of time to figure that out." I said quickly. Jessie had a surprised look on her face. I hope that was due to the decently quick response and not that I didn't answer correctly.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw two people approaching. I stood up quickly and turned toward them. It was an older couple and they didn't appear to pose a threat. Then is dawned on me that it was probably Jessie's aunt and uncle. I reached my hand out to the man. "I'm Bob Martin." and we shook.

"Bill Davies. Good to meet you. This is my wife Annette, Jessie's aunt." I turned to her and put my hand out. She didn't extend hers. She looked at me for a couple seconds. Her expression was...confusion maybe? Mixed with some hesitation? I wasn't sure but I didn't have much time to ponder it. She leaned into me and threw her arms around my neck and hugged me forcefully. She was a little shorter than Jessie so I had to bend down a bit more than I was getting used to. As she hugged me she whispered in my ear "Thank you for saving Jessie. We were so scared and worried about her."

I whispered back to her "I'm happy I could help her out." When she finally released my neck, it struck me how similar she looked to Jessie. I quickly turned to look at Jessie who was still on the floor under a pile of kids. Then I looked back at Annette. She started to smile and I swear that Jessie had the same smile. I looked back at Jessie one more time before turning back to Annette.

"Everyone thinks Jessie is my daughter because we look so much alike. But she is my niece. She got most of her looks from our side of the family although you can see her mother in there too." Annette said.

The kids finally let Jessie up. Jaime certainly looked like her mother so I guess that side of her family had it going strong for the females. Her hair wasn't quite as long and she didn't have bangs but it was every bit as dark and straight. Greg, his face showed a little hint of Jessie but he must take after his dad.

We sat for a few moments, everyone but Greg that is, and discussed our plans for the day. We walked the mall for a little bit. Jaime tried her best to keep her brother in check but he was wound up seeing his mother, being at the mall, and all the future possibilities of fun that could come with being in a new place. I think he was reaching the age where he was figuring out that Jaime is simply his sister and not an authoritative person in the real sense. A few times I stepped in to help her when it seemed Greg was getting a 'who are you to tell me what to do' attitude. Greg seemed to listen to me very well. I'm sure he will test me on that down the road at some point but for now, it was enough that someone could put his brakes on.

We weren't completely successful at avoiding the toy departments because egghead marketing specialists determined that having the toys in the front of the store would surely bring in more adult traffic. The ones chasing down their kids are as good as any in their minds I guess. And it goes without saying that Greg didn't understand why he couldn't wade into the huge fountain in the mall concourse and collect all the change just laying around under the water. Finally we left to get something to eat.

The kids wanted pizza. I won't name names but it was a franchise/corporate type chain establishment headed up by a large mouse and they have lots of games for the kids and a pneumatic animal band on a stage. I believe the band was not quite as bad as the food, and the band was lousy. No one else seemed to have a complaint about the pizza so perhaps they were acclimated to it. I've had some pretty lousy MREs but this was a whole new realm of bad. Plus they had no tobasco sauce to improve the palatability.

The kids certainly had fun. As I watched them, along with all the other kids playing, the thought occurred to me that if we could ship this pizza to our enemy, we would shorten any engagement with less casualties. At least on our side. The kids wolfed their pizza down in between stints at the games and they didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from it but just in case, I'll be sure to only hit the rabbit bar next time.

Everyone wanted to go to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. The kids didn't have much interest at all with anything there except the theaters that showed NFL Films clip shorts. I guess today's generation can only find entertainment if it comes from a screen.

We left there and I suggested we hit the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. The biggest attraction there is the challenge to see if you can run up the steps to the top where the mausoleum sits. Its only 108 steps in total. That doesn't sound like a lot, until you try to run them. Greg was certainly up for the challenge. Jaime made it halfway before deciding it wasn't worth it to her.

I stayed alongside of Greg as we ascended the steps. I made sure I didn't pull ahead of him so he wouldn't feel the need to push harder. I knew he'd need everything to get to the top. As it turned out, I did too. Back in the day I could have done that with my full pack without hardly breaking a sweat. I guess I'm getting older now and not as spry as I used to be. As we neared the top, Greg was really having to push it. Kudos to him that he didn't give up. We fist bumped when we reached the top and sat down for a breather.

It's a great view from there and after taking it in for a moment, I searched the crowd at the bottom for Jessie. She was easy to find, she was simply the most beautiful woman there. She was talking with Annette and Bill and then began glancing around. After a moment, she looked up and saw Greg and I sitting on the top step and she put her hands on her hips.

"Uh oh. Your mom has her hands on her hips. Are we in trouble?" I asked Greg, without looking away from Jessie.

"Nah. When she crosses her arms is when you know you're in big trouble." He said.

Yeah. Already found that out." I chuckled as I looked down at him and he had a huge grin on his face. "We better head on down to her before she crosses them."

"Okay. Race ya!" he said.

We saw a movie and then called it a day. I knew the leaving part was going to be hard on Jessie. She had a constant smile on her face the entire day. But I wasn't prepared for exactly how hard it was on her. She hugged and kissed the kids a dozen times, then her aunt and uncle, and then back to the kids again. When they finally left, the tears began. The entire way home she was glued to me and shed tears most of the way.

"Thank you Rob. Today was the best gift ever." She said.

"I had a great time. Your aunt and uncle are nice and the kids were great. We could take them to Cedar Point or Kings Island sometime if you like."

"Really? You would do that?"

"I may be a huge pain in the ass but I like kids." I said.

"Have you ever thought of having your own?" She asked.

"I guess not seriously. When I was in high school, the varsity athletes would visit Children's Hospital in Akron twice a year. Once before Christmas and again right before spring. I really enjoyed that. You were only forced to go one time and that was your first time when you had no idea what to expect. After that, you wanted to go. And at that age and without serious consideration, I said I wanted about 10 kids. When I thought I was getting married, I was in the service and figured having kids needed to be put off until further down the road. And because of what happened...it just never entered my mind again."

"Has that changed now?"

That was such a loaded question with so many potential craters to fall into. I sat in silence for a little while, trying to untangle the mess of those four words. Jessie noticed my silence.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, Jessie its okay. I've not really thought about it. And I wanted to give it some time to see what came up. I'm young enough that if I had them soon, I wouldn't be sitting in a wheelchair at their high school graduation. And although it seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, I think I like the idea again of being a dad."

"Good answer." She said as she snuggled in a little tighter.

Later that evening, after we had dinner, Jessie curled up with me on the couch. She had been clingy as we left for the mall and I assumed it was nerves. She was so busy during the visit, I didn't have time to notice if she was like that throughout the day. But now, not only was she clingy but she was running her left hand all over me. It wasn't overtly sensual, but like she just needed to touch me. Or maybe it was nervous energy. I didn't want to guess but I thought maybe some stress relief for her might be just what she needs. Time for my revenge.

"Jessie, the kids wore me down pretty good today. I think I'm going to turn in." I said, half faking a yawn.

She moved away enough to give me room to stand up. I took a step and then noticed she wasn't coming with me, nor had she gotten up. I turned to her and held out my hand. I was about to ask her if she was coming with me when I noticed she was staring at me.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yes. Just admiring the view. Think you can walk towards the stairs some more?"

I tried. I put a little more sashay into my hips as I walked. She started laughing.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Either you have a rock in your shoe or you've gone lame." She giggled.

"Okay, Miss 'Nobody Owns A Runway Like I do'...show me how it's done."

She got up and slowly walked in an arc to go around me and headed for the stairs. I had no idea the human body could move like that. And she made it look completely natural. Her hips moved so far left and right, I was in complete and total awe. She turned just a hint to the left and to the right as she walked. Her hips moved way left and way right. She would place her right foot to the left and outside of her left foot and vice versa as she walked. How do you even walk like that? But it was absolutely fluid and graceful and beautiful.

When she walked past me, it took my breath away. Her ass moved like two raccoons wrasslin in a burlap sack. Halfway up the steps she stopped and demurely looked over her shoulder at me. She smiled approvingly at my stare, and the fact that I had forgotten to keep breathing after she walked past me.

"Are you coming to bed with me my GQ hunk?" she said in her best Fergie, baby breath voice.

I didn't have enough air in my lungs to speak so I inhaled deeply and said "Right behind you babe. Just don't go too fast, I'm lame...remember?"

She lowered her head a little so just her eyes were visible over her shoulder. "If you want this, you'll have to catch it." She started up the stairs again with the same sashay in her hips. I was stuck where I was standing until she reached the top of the steps and was going out of view. There just wasn't enough brain connectivity for basic motor skills to function.