Something New

The next morning, my alarm went off, and it was hard to get out of bed. I hadn't gotten any sleep last night because I was constantly on edge. I didn't have a whole lot of money, so we weren't staying in the best of motels right now. So I was constantly on edge when I heard weird noises, and would cuddle Kailey closer to me.

I got ready for the day, and packed Kailey's bag for the sitter. Baby Lissa gave me the address to the girl's house who would be watching the kids today. I was still a little bit wary about leaving Kailey. She's only two months old and I've never been away from her for a long period of time.

I pulled up to the house and saw Baby Lissa pulling up right behind me. "Hey, Girl," she said, smiling and getting out of her car. She got her little girl from the car as I got Kailey out. "Sarah's excited to have a baby staying with her," she said as we walked to the door.

As soon as I met Sarah, my uneasiness was put to rest. She was such a sweet lady, and I could tell she loved kids. I explained Kailey's schedule to her, and it was like she had watched her already. She reassured me that she would be fine and she would call if they needed anything.

As soon as we got to the office, Beth was ready to put me to work. She explained everything that had to be done for the day, and I assured her I would be fine while they were out on bounties for the day. I really did like to file and organize, so this would be a breeze for me.

Soon enough, everyone started coming in for the day. Leland looked miserable and Duane Lee was laughing and shaking his head at him. "What did you do to your brother now?" Beth said accusingly to Duane Lee.

"Nothing, it's all on him this time," Duane Lee said, shaking his head. "He had too many drinks at the bar last night."

"Oh, Leland," Beth groaned, shaking her head. "I hope you pull yourself together before we have to go on the runs today." She went back into her office to do some other things.

Leland sat at his desk, holding his head in his hands. I felt bad for him, so I went to my purse and pulled out some Tylenol, water, and a granola bar. I walked over to his desk and set them on the desk in front of him. He looked up at me with a surprised look on his face. "It may help," I said, shrugging and giving him a soft smile.

"Thank you," he said, returning the smile. I nodded and went back to my work that I had set out for me.

Dog soon came in and they got started for the day. They were going after a guy that had given them some problems before, so they planned on being out most of the day. "Will you be okay here on your own for that long, Sam?" Dog asked as they geared up.

I nodded, giving him a smile. "I'll be good, I have your numbers if I need anything, but I don't think I will."

"Okay, make sure to keep the place locked up. I don't feel comfortable it being open with only you here. If anyone needs to reach us, they can call us," Beth said, grabbing her binder and phone.

The day went by surprisingly fast for me. I got everything done that Beth asked me to do, plus so much more. I cleaned the whole place from top to bottom, organized all the desks, and found whatever else I could do. They would call in and check in with me every few hours to see how things were going. It seemed like the bounty was going to go on even later than they had thought. So Baby Lissa asked if I would mind picking up her little one when I picked up Kailey, then she would just come by and pick her up when they were finished.

At around seven I went ahead and closed the place up and left to go pick up the girls. Sarah said that the day had gone by great and that she couldn't wait for Kailey to come back tomorrow.
When we got back to our motel room, I feed the girls, before they both drifted off to sleep. I waited up for Baby Lissa until about eleven. "Hey, Sam, I'm sorry it's so late. I'll be there soon. Where are you staying again?" I told her which motel and what room we were in. There was a long pause before she answered. "I didn't know you guys were staying there," she said, almost worried.
A knot formed in my stomach. "Yeah? Is that bad?"

"No, no, um... I'll be there soon. I'll call you before I go to the room so that you know it's me." After I hung up with her, the knot in my stomach hadn't gone away. Was this really not a good place to be staying? I mean, I know it isn't the greatest of places, but is there something that I didn't know about this place?

Not even forty-five minutes later, she was calling me again. When I opened the door, I didn't see just her, but also Leland. "Hi?" I said, confused. They walked into the room quickly, before closing and locking the door behind them.

"Go ahead and pack your bags, you're going home with us," Lissa said, grabbing Kailey's bag and started packing it.

"What's wrong? Why do we have to leave?" I asked, starting to panic.

"This is one of the worst places to stay, Sam. There are so many crimes that go on here, we don't want to see you girls staying here," Leland said.

They didn't have to do anymore explaining. I was packing us up so fast, trying to remember everything. The last thing I wanted was to have Kailey in such a dangerous place. "I'll go ahead and ride with you so you know where to go," Leland said, grabbing our bags.

"I have to check out still," I said, grabbing my purse and Kailey, while walking out the door.

"Already done," he said, as we walked to the car.

"How?" I asked, confused.

"It helps living on a small island," he said, giving me a sideways smile. I felt my heart skip a beat. No... That can't happen. It's way too soon.

After we got everything packed into the car, we got in and he started giving me directions. We drove for a short time, before we pulled into a driveway. "Just worry about grabbing Kailey for now. Which bag do you need for the night?" He asked. I told him which one and he grabbed it for me.

He walked to the front door and let us in. He turned a few lights on and led us through the house. "Where are we?" I asked as we walked into the living room.

"My house," he said simply, walking down a hall. I left Kailey sleeping in her carrier on the couch, as I followed him.

"Leland, we can't stay here. Just point me in the direction of another hotel and we'll be fine," I said, starting to panic.

"You can and you will," he said, walking into a room and turning the light on. It was a nice spare bedroom. He sat my bag on the bed and turned to me. "I'm not going to let you two stay in some dump."

"We're okay, Leland. It's only for a little while until I can get enough money to find an apartment."

"Even then, Sam. You won't find a decent apartment anywhere in town on the paycheck you'll have. It's not good for you and that baby," he said, shaking his head.

"You hardly know me, Leland. Why would you suddenly let me and my baby stay here with you? You don't know my history. You don't know anything about me." I was starting to near hysterics.

"One, my dad did a background check on you, so I know you're clean. And two, I don't have to know you're background. Just like my dad, I'm pretty good at reading people. You're an amazing girl with a huge heart, anyone can see that. No matter what reason brought you out here, you need to start off on the right foot. And if that means staying here for a while, then so be it. It's usually just me, so it'll be nice to have some company. My boys visit on the weekends, so that's the only time there will be a full house. They aren't here this weekend because they're visiting their mom's parents." I couldn't believe what he was telling me right now. I didn't know whether to trust this or not.

"Leland... This is so generous of you, but do you really know what you're signing up for? Kaiely is only two months old. There are so many things that go on with babies within the first few years of their lives."

He laughed softly. "I know, Sam, I have two boys. And, of course I know what I'm signing up for. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't."

"I feel like a charity case," I mumbled, playing with my sweatshirt.

"You aren't a charity case, Sam," he said, lifting my chin to look up at him.

I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm going to pay you rent, I'm going to buy groceries, and I am going to help with the utility bills," I said, rambling off.

"Sam, calm down and breath. We can talk about all of that in the morning," he said, smiling and shaking his head.

"But we have work in the morning?" I said, scrunching my eyebrows.

He laughed, shaking his head. "It's Sunday, we normally don't work on Sunday's unless there's a special case."

"I'm going to have to get used to this schedule," I said, making a mental note of that.

"Don't worry, you will," he said, patting my back. "I'll go bring Kailey in so you two can settle in," he said, about to walk out of the room.

"Leland," I called, stopping him. He looked back, waiting for me to speak. "Thank you, so much. I don't know how I can repay you," I said, softly, meaning every word.

"Don't even worry about it." Damn that smile was going to kill me...