Risk Everything

Bree didn’t know which was harder: seeing the hope in the other woman’s eyes or knowing that the chances her boyfriend had changed after multiple years of abuse were pretty nonexistent.

And poor Chandler was caught in the middle of it all.

It wasn’t the first time someone from New Journeys had decided to return to a less than optimal situation. It had taken both Bree and Cassandra quite a bit of time to come to grips with the fact that not everyone could make the permanent break from their abusive situations. For some, the unknown was harder to deal with than the pain.

But it still sometimes broke Bree’s heart.

All they could do was provide what they could: a safe place and a new set of skills so that these women could support themselves, get back up on their feet and move on with their lives.

People like Marilyn were a prime example of why places like New Journeys was needed. She had made a huge difference in her own life once she had just a little help. But it was also needed for people like Angel who found the steps so much more difficult to take.

Bree and Cassandra grabbed cups of coffee, and they all came back into the family room to chat about all the daily things that needed tending to here. Half the building still hadn’t been renovated yet. New Journeys had quite a bit of private funding thanks to the Matarazzo family, who worked with some law enforcement group named Omega Sector in Colorado Springs, but renovating everything at once would have been too much to handle on multiple levels.

They currently had sixteen residents in the building, about three-quarters of its current capacity, and roughly one-third of what the building would be able to house once all the renovations were finished.

New Journeys had gone out of their way to make themselves particularly welcoming to women with children, so over half of the residents now had children with them—babies up through middle-school age.

Which explained the noise level in the room right now. None of the three women paid much attention to it. Cassandra and Marilyn were used to it since they had their own kids, and Bree just loved the chaos of it all.

But when the room fell almost completely silent a few moments later she sadly knew what had happened. A man had walked into the room. Bree forced herself not to tense or turn around to see who it was. How she reacted would influence how everyone else reacted.

Cassandra winked at her—able to see who was in the doorway—and a half smile pulled at Bree’s face as she heard giggles a few moments later. She knew exactly what man had walked into the room.

Hers.

Chapter Two (#u2c327c17-513b-5539-8059-c6eaf12f97c4)

Tanner kept his stance neutral, his posture relaxed as he made his way into the silent room. Susan, one of the residents here, knew him and had let him in the side kitchen door when he’d knocked.

Nobody got into New Journeys who wasn’t invited. Every door had double reinforced locks and a security code. Nobody could just wander in from the streets and enter the building. With all the time Bree spent here, and with as many violent offenders the residents of New Journeys had contact with, Tanner had personally made sure of it.

Tanner knew the code, of course, and had a key to let himself in if there was an emergency, but he’d never done so. The women and children who lived here needed to know they were safe from both danger and from uninvited men just wandering around, even those who didn’t mean harm.

Case in point, the silence that fell over the large living room when he entered. Every child stopped what they were doing—playing, homework, talking—and stared at him.

He wasn’t sure if his Grand County Sheriff’s Office uniform helped or hindered his attempt to set a positive example of what a man should be. Some of these women and children had received no help from law enforcement when they’d needed it most.

He stood in the doorway for a long moment, a smile on his face, arms resting loosely at his sides as everyone processed who he was and that he meant no one here any harm. It didn’t take them more than a couple of seconds to get past their instinctive fear.

He grinned as big as he could, then brought his finger up to his lips, telling all the kids to keep quiet. Using exaggerated motions, he pretended to sneak up behind Bree. The kids began to giggle, knowing both Cassandra and Marilyn could see him and weren’t concerned, so they didn’t have to be either.

“You can’t escape the kissing monster,” he said in a deep, Muppet-sounding voice. He began pecking at the top of her head, her cheeks, her shoulders, from where she sat in the chair at the table.

Bree played along, like he’d known she would. “Oh, no, not the kissing monster.”

Giggles broke out all over the room, then turned into laughing noises of disgust as Bree finally turned her head up and Tanner kissed her—very chastely—on the lips.

It was their routine. It had started out in jest, but when they’d realized how much some of these children, and their moms, needed to see men in a more easygoing, positive light, it had become a regular part of their day as Tanner picked her up to escort her home.

The noise in the room fell back to its dull roar, everyone returning to their activities now that the show was over, as Bree stood up and smiled at him.

Those green eyes still gutted him just as much now as they had the first time he saw her shoplifting in the drugstore over a year ago.

“Hi,” she whispered.

He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, but he didn’t kiss her the way he wanted to, mindful of the audience who might not be actively watching but were still aware of their every move. “Hi, yourself. Good day?”

He knew she’d had a wedding dress fitting today, and that that event tended to stress her out.

But he was also a man and knew better than to try to offer any advice or help. That would probably just get him killed. Not by Bree, but definitely by Cassandra or one of the other women in the throes of wedding planning bliss.

“Let’s just say I’ll be happy two weeks from now when all this is over and I never have to be the center of attention again.”

He trailed a finger down her cheek and leaned closer to make sure no one could hear them. “You may not be the center of the town’s attention, but I can promise you that once you are Mrs. Dempsey, you very definitely will be the center of my attention.”

He loved how her breath hitched and her mouth formed a little O shape.

“Hey, you two,” Cassandra’s voice rang out. “There are little eyes everywhere.”

Tanner was well aware of that. It was the only reason he didn’t have Bree pushed up against the wall kissing the life out of her.

He forced himself to take a step back. “I’ll behave.”

The look of disappointment on Bree’s face was almost the death of him. Whoever’s idea it had been not to have sex for the last two months before their wedding was a complete idiot.

Oh, yeah, that was him.

He forced himself to step away and sat down to talk about New Journeys and any issues. What happened here affected him on multiple levels. Personally, because of his tie to Bree and Cassandra. Professionally, because he was the captain of the sheriff’s department for this section of the county. Whatever he could do to help keep these women safe and secure, he was more than willing to do.

Sometimes that meant grabbing a hammer and drill and helping hang some pictures or adjust some light fixtures. Tanner didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, he and his brother, Noah, had been spending quite a few hours here during their time off. Both of them also realized that they were doing a lot more than some random honey-do list items by showing up week after week. They were trying, in some small way, to reclaim part of what had been lost by the years of violence perpetrated against the residents here.

It wasn’t enough. Wouldn’t ever be enough. But at least it was something.

Bree was talking schedules with Cassandra and Marilyn when Tanner felt a tug on his sleeve. He knew who it was before he even looked by how Marilyn’s eyes tracked the entire situation.

“Why, hello there, princess.”

Eva smiled up at him. “Hi, Captain Lips.”

Tanner managed not to grimace at his nickname. Bree had made the mistake of calling him by her private nickname for him—Captain Hot Lips—in front of Cassandra. His sister, never one to let a humiliating situation die naturally, started calling him that all the time. But at least the kids had overheard only part of it, and thus the nickname Captain Lips.

But this sweet child could call him anything she wanted if it meant she felt free enough to come talk to him.

Sam was standing next to her silently, not making eye contact with Tanner, but prepared to step in as best he could to protect his sister if needed. Tanner had nothing but respect for that.

“You ready for the camping trip next week?” he asked Eva. “You’re going to have a great time.”

Eva nodded vehemently, but her little face scrunched up as she pointed at the dog standing between her and Sam. “Mom says Tromso can’t go.”