Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

With a deep sigh I felt all the way to my soul, I went to the door and locked it. Then, I leaned my forehead on the solid wood and groaned at my stupid heart. I gave myself a moment to grieve what would never be, and then I focused on reality.

I needed to get back to work, and I needed somewhere secure for Cullen to stay when I worked. Somewhere he felt safe. I didn’t want him worrying about me when I wasn’t at home. If I didn’t come up with an answer by tomorrow, I would call Marley. See if she had any ideas. Although it wasn’t her job to help me with child care, she was the closest female friend I had.

A long, hot bubble bath with a lavender candle burning didn’t ease my mind or help me rest. It took hours before I was able to fall asleep. Luckily, there were no night terrors from Cullen, and my eyes didn’t open until seven in the morning with Cullen standing in front of me.

“I’m hungry,” he said softly as he stared at me.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, stretching my legs out and pointing my toes before I looked back at him. “Let’s go out for breakfast, and then I need to run to Mobile and talk to a friend about work,” I told him.

Before falling asleep last night, I’d finally decided that going to see Marley in person was for the best.

“Can I go too?” he asked me, looking concerned that I was planning on leaving him.

Thanks, Tory, for the damage you’ve done , I thought before sitting up and leaning forward to look closely at him.

“I will never leave you alone, I promise,” I reminded him.

He smiled then and nodded his head. If he needed to hear me say it a million times, then I would say it a million and one. I wanted him to feel safe and have the security every child deserved.

“Can I order pancakes with chocolate chips at the restaurant?” he asked me then.

I nodded. “Yep!”

“Will they put whipped cream on them too?” His voice was eager.

“Absolutely,” I assured him.

“Rio left,” he then said with some deflation to his prior happy tone.

“He did,” I agreed.

“I wish he had stayed,” Cullen said softly, as if he were saying something he shouldn’t.

“He had things to do. Now, go get dressed, so we can go get those yummy pancakes,” I told him.

His bright grin was back, and he nodded before running from the room.

If only chocolate chip pancakes could solve all my problems so easily.





Chapter Twenty-Four

The club was only open to VIP guests during the daytime. Everything about the club was meant to attract a wealthier clientele. It didn’t have signs out front that would tell what exactly was happening inside, and it was on a nice side of town. I had called Marley and told her I would like to talk to her today but explained that I had Cullen with me. To my relief, she had been happy about the idea of meeting Cullen.

I parked in the back and went through the staff entrance. Stepping inside first, I made sure none of the girls were walking around in the back offices before allowing Cullen to follow me inside. I took his small hand and went directly to Marley’s office, only knocking once, for fear Cullen might see more than I wanted him to. He didn’t need to know what I did for a job. I hoped he never knew.

Marley looked up from the baby girl in her arms she was nursing. Bay was a regular here. Marley wasn’t ready to stop breastfeeding, and her husband brought Bay to her often when she had to work.

“Hello.” Marley beamed brightly at me, then at Cullen.

Then, she tucked away her breast as Bay turned her head to see what was happening. She made happy noises and wiggled in Marley’s arms to sit up.

I glanced down at Cullen, who was watching Bay as she reached out her little hand in our direction and gave us a toothless smile.

“She rarely sees children. It’s exciting,” Marley said, smiling at her daughter’s reaction to Cullen.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said.

Marley waved a hand. “She wasn’t hungry as much as she was just bored. I need to ween her and make our lives easier, but I don’t know if I’ll have another, so I’m holding on to this a little longer.” She stood up and walked around the desk to set Bay on a blanket she had laid out in the middle of the room. “Jim is on his way to pick her up now. He’s just running late. Your timing is perfect.”

Cullen let go of my hand and moved just an inch away from me toward Bay. I watched him as he looked at the baby girl flapping her arms and making noises, as if to call him over to her. He was so shy with adults, so it was surprising to see him move away from me instead of cling to my leg like he usually did.

“She has taken a liking to you, it would seem, Cullen,” Marley said with an amused voice.

Cullen didn’t look away from Bay but moved closer yet again. Marley chuckled at the sight of the two of them. It was rather cute. Bay was so excited, the closer he got. I was afraid she was going to fall over from her wobbly seated position. Marley didn’t seem concerned though.

“Now, say you aren’t here to tell me you are leaving us. I don’t think I could handle that news,” Marley said, drawing my attention back to her.

“Oh, no. That isn’t it. I need this job, even more so now that …” I paused before saying Tory was in jail.

Marley already knew that, as did Cullen, but I didn’t want to talk about it in front of him.