Clearwater’s Redemption by Tiffany Casper

Chapter 3

Knox

The entire drive I kept glancing in my mirror ensuring that she remained behind me. I had a white-knuckled grip on my handlebars, fury still ran through my veins due to the mark the bastard had put on her face.

A few times I had seen her wiping away what I assumed to be tears. Bastard didn’t deserve her tears. No one did.

After half an hour I pulled my bike up my drive. It was dark, so if someone didn’t know where they were going, they wouldn’t find it.

It had cost me a mint to pave the road on the mountain, but it had been worth it for my bike. And for my peace of mind.

Driving up the mile and a half incline the sight of my house standing strong and proud gave me a sense of satisfaction.

Most of my house I had built, except for the electrical work and the fireplace. I hadn’t wanted to mess that shit up and end up paying more in a power bill.

I had built an A-frame-style house in the front, but the rest of the house was a three-bedroom three and a half bath. I had bay windows in the front that overlooked the front yard. I also had floor-to-ceiling doors that appeared as windows when the doors were closed.

Even though money wasn’t an issue thanks to someone that I had met when I had been in juvie. There had been another boy there, one that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. His Uncle had wanted his father’s empire. His name was Jacob.

I had protected Jacob when others that were bigger than him tried to pick on him, I had been tall for my age and bigger.

Because of those actions when Jacob had been found innocent and had gotten out, he had taken over his father’s empire. And a month later I had started to receive payments from him. Payments that I had tried to give back, only he wouldn’t hear of it.

So I had used a small portion of it to build this house, and the other payments he sent through the years all went into an account that I haven’t touched since then.

And every six months I get an interest payment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. And again every six months when that occurs I call him to tell him to take the shit back. Then I get hung up on.

When I pulled my bike to a stop in front of my garage, I hit the door for it to raise. Once I parked it I pointed beside my bike so she could pull in the garage.

“Leave them.” I told her as she started to grab her things.

She looked at me as she nodded, then I walked around the garage that was attached to my house so we could enter the front door. Why I was excited to show her my house, I couldn’t tell you. But her gasp when she saw the front porch was worth it.

“You have a front porch swing?”

The moment I turned on the lights, I heard Fiona gasp in surprise. I looked over at her to see her eyes wide as she stared up at the dark exposed beams.

“Knox, this… your house is amazing.” I stood there leaning against a post as she took everything in. I watched her walk to the fireplace while Kida sniffed the area with her.

I felt my chest swell with pride as Fiona took in my home with Kida at her side.

“Your kitchen. Oh my god.” She took in everything that there was to look at, and then I led her down the hall, where four doors were closed.

I wanted her to see my room, to see the room that if I had my way, she would be occupying. My bed was big enough so she wouldn’t touch me when we slept.

Opening the door I said, “This is mine.” I walked in front of her as she took in my room and then my bathroom.

Her eyes were wide. I had spared no expense with my bathroom, I had a walk-in shower that had ten nozzles, the tile floor was heated with a double vanity on the right side of the room. And against the wall below a tall window was a claw foot bath tub.

Just like I knew, she migrated over to that tub. “Use it.” I muttered.

Her smile was blinding when she nodded.

I walked out of my bedroom across the hall to the only other room with a bed. “Yours.” I said as I opened the door for her.

Turning on the light, Kida walked right in and jumped up on the bed. Guess he liked it.

“Bathroom.” I nodded at her own.

“Get settled.” With that I walked out of her room, went, and grabbed her luggage from her car and brought it all into her room.

“Knox, I don’t know how to thank you.”

Unsure how to accept the gratitude that she was giving me when I didn’t deserve it I simply nodded.

An hour later I was sitting out in the backyard with the grill going. I had seasoned some steaks and had just put them on when I heard the sliding glass door open.

The first thing I saw was Kida as he ran for the backyard and took everything in. I saw him run the perimeter marking his new territory.

“Anything I can help with?”

I shook my head at her. I already had corn on the cob with the steaks on the grill.

“This is beautiful. How long have you lived up here?”

She walked past the grill as she too took in her surroundings. And what a picture it was. If I had it my way, this would be her and Kida’s new home.

“Fifteen years.”

“Who built the house?”

“Me.” At my comment, her eyes widened as she looked at me.

“That really is amazing Knox, thank you for sharing this with me for however long.” I wasn’t going to tell her that it would be forever. No. Not until she got to know me.

I checked the food and seeing that it was done, I grabbed our plates that I had brought out here earlier that were on the outside patio, plated them, and then held up a steak for Kida as I looked at Fiona for permission.

“Absolutely. Thank you.”

I held the steak out for him, ever so carefully he put his mouth on the steak as he pulled it from my fingers. Now that was a great dog.

He chewed once, twice then swallowed it.

As we sat down to eat after she grabbed two sodas from the kitchen I wanted to know about Kida.

“Kida?”

Her smile lit up the night sky, “I got him from a breeder in Virginia. When she had heard about my past, she invited me to come down and check them out. So I did. It was a blast. Kida had actually been slotted to go to someone else but it was fate. The moment I had walked into the area where she had all of the puppies, Kida made a beeline for me and refused to leave my side. Actually when I had thanked her and was about to put down a deposit for another puppy, Kida actually jumped the four-foot fence she had, just to get to me. Normally, they never let them go without neutering them to ensure the bloodline. But Kida actually snapped at her when she tried to remove him from my side. In my contract, I’m not to let him breed another female, and I am to bring him back in another year so he can breed with her females. I’ll get one from that litter and then he will be neutered. If I fail that condition, she has the right to take him from me.”

That would be over my dead body.

We finished eating in silence and I noticed that she didn’t mind me being short with my answers. That was fucking refreshing.

While the crickets and the frogs serenaded the night sky I let the events from the day wash away. It was getting late, but she didn't seem to mind.

“Clubhouse tomorrow. Cassidee’s birthday.”

“I got her something. Normally Novalie brings her to the diner after so I can see her and Jasper.”

Then she stood as she yawned and stretched out her back. Her ass was magnificent in the shorts she wore to work today.

Snapping me out of the vision that was in front of me she said, “Night Knox.”

“Night.” I told her as I sat there while she walked back inside to go to her room with Kida right at on her heels.

Unsure of however long I sat there, smoking a blunt I looked at the stars, going over everything I had to do for the next day.

Turning in I walked past her room and almost opened her door to see her. But knowing that it was too soon for her, I went to my own room and laid there for hours while she slept not even thirty feet from me. Finally.