Blind Fold
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
BLIND FOLD
First edition. August 24, 2021.
Copyright © 2021 Olivia Gaines.
Written by Olivia Gaines.
Also by Olivia Gaines
Modern Mail Order Brides
Oregon Trails
On A Rainy Night in Georgia
Buckeye and the Babe
The Tennessee Mountain Man
Lobsters, Bisques & Berries
Sunflowers and Honey (Coming Soon)
Bleu, Grass, Bourbon
Serenity Series
Welcome to Serenity
Holden
Farmer Takes A Wife
Slice of Life
Friends with Benefits
Slivers of Love
The Cost to Play
Thursdays in Savannah
The Blakemore Files
Being Mrs. Blakemore
Shopping with Mrs. Blakemore
Dancing with Mr. Blakemore
Cruising with the Blakemores
Dinner with the Blakemores
Loving the Czar
Being Mr. Blakemore
A Weekend with the Blakemores
The Davonshire Series
Courting Guinevere
Vanity's Pleasure
The Delgado Files
Killers
Becoming the Czar
Yunior
The Men of Endurance
A Walk Through Endurance
A Return to Endurance
A Walk Through Endurance
The Technicians
Blind Hope
Blind Luck
Blind Fate
Blind Copy
Blind Turn
Blind Fold (Coming Soon)
The Value of A Man
My Mail Order Wife
A Weekend with the Cromwells
Cutting it Close
The Zelda Diaries
It Happened Last Wednesday
A Frickin' Fantastic Friday
A Tantalizing Tuesday
Standalone
Santa's Big Helper
A Menu For Loving
North to Alaska
Turning the Page
An Untitled Love
Wyoming Nights
Montana
Blind Date
The Christmas Quilts
Watch for more at Olivia Gaines’s site.
Blind Fold
Olivia Gaines
Front Matter
Table of Contents
Chapter One- Crimp
Chapter Two- Ruffle
Chapter Three- Pucker
Chapter Four - Envelop
Chapter Five – Turn Around
Chapter Six - Crease
Chapter Seven - Crinkle
Chapter Eight - Bunch
Chapter Nine - Collapse
Chapter Ten - Gather
Chapter Eleven - Layer
Chapter Twelve- Overlap
Chapter Thirteen - Flop
Chapter Fourteen - Wrinkle
Chapter Fifteen -Flatline
Chapter Sixteen - Overlap
Chapter Seventeen - Spoon
Chapter Eighteen - Pleat
Chapter Nineteen - Pleat
Chapter One- Crimp
The woman stood next to the window, her fingers gently touching the edge of the heavy drapery, pulling it back, just an inch to peer outside. The sun, barely breaking over the ridgeline, only offered shimmers of light on what the man was doing. Noises, ever so slight, creased the silence of the mountain range as he hooked up the two dolly, she assumed was to bring back her vehicle. If she were to be honest, the car had seen better days and instead of it being a means to get from one place to another, it had become a burden, needing more attention than a new born with a head cold.
In her mind, she wished life had been kinder to her, but she was alive and had survived the night with an unwanted penis poking her body; for that, she gave thanks. However, she didn’t know what today would bring since a good night’s sleep in a bed bug less mattress and a full belly allowed her to grab a few hours of snooze time without too much fear. She’d stopped paying attention to the man, and had also, inadvertently opened the curtain further. Her eyes went back to the man who had stopped doing what he was doing and was now watching her.
“Oh shit,” she said, closing the curtain and making a beeline for the bed. She dove in and pulled the covers over her head like she used to as a kid when her mom caught her spying on her ‘dates’. The woman stayed in the bed for a good fifteen minutes, simply listening to the sound of the truck preparing to depart.
He wasn’t driving the same vehicle from last night. Today he was in a Toyota Tundra which was as silent as a rat urinating on cotton as he pulled out of the gravel drive way. Although she couldn’t hear the truck, the sound of the tow dolly rattled as he headed down the drive back to F & L’s Eats and Treats to bring back her vehicle.
“Maybe he can fix it and we can be on our way,” she said, snuggling into the warmth of the covers.
There was no way to be on to, for her, or the boy. The past year had been a series of hits or misses when it came to finding employment and a place to live. The shelters from town to town varied as well as the level of assistance she could get and it appeared that the smaller the town, the shittier the service. When the man came back, she’d have a chat with him about options, or possibly allowing them to stay and she work for him, to earn a few bucks to get her back on her feet.
He wasn’t a bad looking guy. She estimated his height to be around five feet nine or so, with a wiry frame she knew was loaded with muscles. Body fat wouldn’t have a home on his taut frame, but she knew his type- been there, done him and had a kid to show for it. At the twenty-five-minute mark of hiding like a scared kid, she rose and made the bed.
“At least when he gets back, I can have tea and a hot breakfast waiting for him,” she told herself.
In the hall between the bathroom and laundry room was a small linen closet which held soap, toothpaste and extra tooth brushes. Last night she’d used one and gave one to her son. The home, a three-bedroom cottage, had small sleeping quarters, and the third bedroom, where her son slept last night, doubled as an office, with a day bed. It wasn’t her place to check his bedroom, but thus far, she didn’t see any signs of another swan nesting in the roost, or another rooster for that matter.
“Be smart and handle this well,” she warned herself, heading to the kitchen. In the fridge she found eggs, cheese and leftover French fries from last night which she would repurpose as home fries. She cooked and prepared a small meal, deciding a batch of fresh biscuits would be good with breakfast and would fill the place with home baked goodness, and maybe, he’d allow them to stay for a few days. “At least, that’s what I’m hoping.”
****
What he’d hoped for, and what One Way found were two different animals. The vehicle, which he spotted last night, parked under the only lamplight on the road, was visibly smoking. There was no way she would take his word for the status of her car, leading him to take out his phone, time stamped the video and recorded as he drove around the burned-out heap. The parking lot of F & J’s showed no traces of life with the exception of the number of broken beer bottles surrounding the burned heap and he was careful not to ride too close, or suffer the same, if not a worse fate. He recorded the remains and was grateful he’d brought the woman and boy home with him, or he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that had she stayed, more than likely, inside of the vehicle would have been two unidentif
iable bodies.
“Lucious, you are a prick of seismic proportions,” he mumbled, backing up and heading home.
If a contract ever came through on the co-owner of the place, One Way knew he’d do the job for free. He’d never seen any of the damage done to people who’d previously worked for the mean SOB, but he’d heard stories. Nasty stories and rumors of women who managed to escape from the biker gangs that roamed through the Smokies and frequented out of the way places like F & J’s. They were a certain type of man, looking for a certain type of evening, which is more than likely was why F & J’s couldn’t keep any wait staff.
“I guess I won’t be eating there again, or getting my knives or anything else sharpened at that place of business,” he said, feeling some sort of way for losing the one connection he had in those mountains.
Solemnly, he drove home, trying to decide what would be best for the woman and boy based on the current circumstance. One possibility was to call the Archangel. Lately, everything with him had been a gamble since he’d gotten married. One Way suspected, any day now, to receive the call that his mentor would be a father soon.
“Hell, nearly all of them are fathers now, except me, Falling Rocks and Slow,” he said. “Even Wrong Way has a kid. Don’t know if I’m ready for that life.”
Whether he was ready or not, that life had arrived. He could send them on their way via the Archangel or he could let it play out. One way or another, it was going to put a crimp in his life and he wasn’t sure he wanted that either. Deep in his own thoughts, he knew she’d be watching when he pulled up and not seeing the vehicle attached to the tow dolly, he would have to explain. The moment he pulled into the drive he saw movement in the curtains.
“Damn it,” he swore. “Well, the cat’s in the curtain and sees the dog I brought home that can go with me on walks. I’m not caffeinated enough for this crap so early in the flipping morning.”
He parked the Tundra and unhooked the tow dolly putting both items back in the garage. One Way parked the truck beside his other vehicle, and thought for a brief second, he could give her the Four-Runner and a few bucks and send them packing. “Hell no. I love my truck, both of them,” he said, turning off the alarm from the garage and entering foyer of the modest home.
Immediately he was hit with the smell of baked biscuits, cinnamon tea, and the smell of crisp bacon. He didn’t know why, but crisp bacon had a different scent from limp, greasy bacon, and his mouth begin to water. The woman’s eyes met his and he didn’t look away.
“Let me guess, they flattened the tires on my car?” She said, carrying a bowl of scrambled eggs smothered in melted cheese to the table.
“Nope, they set it on fire and burned it to a black shell of despair,” he said, taking out his phone, pulling up the video and showing it to her.
The woman stood staring at it for a long while. One Way expected her to cry or fall out onto the couch in a one woman show of sorrow and disdain for life as she knew it, but she surprised him. She didn’t seem to react to much of any of it.
“The car was on it’s last legs anyway and probably was going to break down on me any day,” she said, going back to the kitchen to get the biscuits. “I made biscuits. Son, come wash up so we can eat.”
“Okay, that is not the reaction I was expecting,” he said, watching and waiting for the onslaught of tears.
“Yeah, I’m not a crier,” she told him. “The car is gone. I have thirty-seven dollars to my name, and one pair of panties that I’m wearing. Either I’m going to have to be really nice to you so you let us stay until we get on our feet, or I can be your live in housekeeper. I stay on this end of the house, and out of your way, or you take us to the nearest big city and drop us off at a shelter. I can tell you, I’ve just left the one in Morristown and got as far as F & J’s before I ran out of gas, which is why I was working there.”
One Way took a seat at the table. She shook her head no for him to go and wash his hands and by the time he’d returned, the boy was at the table as well, ready to chow down on the biscuits. He knew this to be factual, since that is what the kid said.
“May I ask where you were heading?”
“Kentucky,” she said. “I heard about this place in Louisville that helps single moms get houses and stuff. I left Tybee Island in Georgia, trying to start fresh, get some gumption in me, but it appears that gumption is like diarrhea in my body. It just doesn’t take hold.”
One Way squinted, “not the visual I want before I eat, you know.”
“I know, but I needed you to understand my goal and hear that was my plan, but now I must rely on your kindness to see what is next for us,” she said, watching him bite into the biscuit.
Pleasure showed all over his face as he ate the warm disk baked with feeling, hoping and praying that she didn’t add anything to it to knock him out so she could take his vehicle and wallet. Once he stopped chewing and looked at her, she was smiling at him. Her eyes appeared brighter this morning and he noticed.
“I don’t have that much gumption to poison you, take your wallet and one of those trucks,” she said. “I also know better than to ask you to loan me one to get to Louisville, so what’s it gonna be Mister?”
“Can I eat breakfast, enjoy my tea and have a minute to think, Woman?”
“Woman?” She asked, looking at him the way the teacher in math class would when you called out a wrong answer. “I have a name and so does Ja...”
“Eeeehhh, aaatttt,” he said holding up his hand. “See it never fails that when you find a sad little puppy and bring it home and feed it, the moment you give it a name, you want to keep it.”
The woman stood up from the table. “Are you comparing me and my son to stray animals?”
“I said a sad puppy,” One Way corrected.
The boy, who had been relatively quiet, spoke up, “Mom, it’s kind of true. We have nothing, so we are kind of strays.”
“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean he has to say it,” she snapped. “Our situation is bad enough as is, and right now, I have no idea what this man may ask of me for us to continue to live. Up until this point, I haven’t had to use my body for us to survive, and him being so callous about our current situation isn’t right. A good man wouldn’t say such things to a scared woman and child.”
One Way nearly smiled at her, “who said I was a good man?”
The woman sat down. He watched her again, waiting for the tears and none came. He ate the eggs and nibbled at the bacon and still, no tears. The boy spoke up again.
“I’m 13 and I’ve never seen her cry. You’re not going to either,” he told One Way. “Mister, let us know what we need to do. If you don’t want us here, that’s fine, but we need to know how to prepare for what comes next.”
He respected the boy for speaking up. Just as he was about to open his mouth to give them some kind of idea what he was thinking, a sound from his office made them all turn. It was the fax machine. One Way had to go to work.
****
“That sounds like an old-fashioned fax machine,” she said, looking around and towards the office.
“It is,” he said, “I have to go to work.”
Rising, he went to the office and pulled off the sheet of paper. Ohio. Columbus area. Answers were being presented faster than he could ask the questions. The piece of paper was folded and stuck in his back pocket. Days had passed since he last worked and hanging out with Merge and his kids had been cool, but now he was back to the real world.
“Mister, where do you work?” The boy asked, getting met with a disapproving glare from One Way. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get too personal.”
One Way said, lowering his voice, “listen, both of you, and hear me carefully. The less you know about me the better and the less I know about you is even wiser. For now, as we presently stand, you are Woman, and you are Boy. I am One Way. Got it.”
They both nodded.
“I have to leave for three, maybe four days, five tops,” he said. “You
can stay here until I get back. Boy, I will show you how to operate the security system. Woman, don’t go into the woods or exploring around the house, the whole place is booby trapped, so you’ll be safe here. The patio is a good place to come out and get some air.”
The woman asked, “what if I want to go for a walk down the drive way?”
“And what if Lucious comes looking for you? He doesn’t know where I live but there aren’t that many homes up here, and all they have to do is ask anyone in the area where the Asian dude lives to be pointed in this direction,” One Way explained. “Do as I ask and when I return, we can talk about options. It is important for you to listen and do as I say, especially if you wish to live.”
The look on her face gave him a cause of concern. She may not have been one for tears and histrionics, but he saw the fear. It was tangible and all over her person.
“Talk to me,” he said, wondering who in the hell was speaking on his behalf. He even walked over to the couch and took a seat, asking them to come join him as if they were about to have a family meeting on the boy’s behavior in Ms. Thatcher’s class today. “I don’t know you and what I’m reading in your facial expression says you’re scared.”
“My mouth just told you that five minutes ago,” she said to him looking as if all the patience on the left side of her brain had gotten up and left the room.
One Way actually smiled. “Fair enough,” he said.
Ohio was a good place to start to get information and a chance to get them set up. Elyria wasn’t close to Columbus, but he knew someone who lived in the city who could help him get things rolling. When he left the house later in the day, he would make a few calls to get his hands on supplies for both the woman and kid.
“We have nothing but what we’re wearing,” she said. “I need things- women things.”
She blushed furiously as she said the words. “The boy needs things as well and you have no vegetables in this house outside of potatoes and those don’t count.”