Under Your Skin

Chapter 1-3

The Web site offered a wealth of information. She gleaned a basic understanding of open and closed adoptions. She could click or call or text and be connected with a counselor who would answer questions and talk with her. Voicing those options and questions was scary though. She wasn’t ready for that step.

Instead, she clicked back to job Web sites to find a way to make money. She feared she wouldn’t have any more luck there.

Kai strode into the hospital carrying a bouquet of roses for his mom. Horrible memories of visiting injured friends hit him. Hospitals reminded him of bad times. His adolescence spent running the streets of Chicago with a g**g meant he was used to seeing friends hurt. Fistfights, knife fights, gunfights—he’d witnessed it all. Walking in here was never a happy thing.

Jaleesa had already texted him the floor and room information. From inside his mom’s room, he heard Jaleesa’s melodic voice reading. Their mom had always been a bookworm so he wasn’t surprised.

He pushed through the door. When she looked up from her bed, Lani smiled at him. She looked small and weak and so unlike how he was used to seeing her.

“Come here, boy.”

He walked to the bed and bent over to hug and kiss her as best he could without disturbing her leg.

Jaleesa stood and took the flowers from him. “I’ll find something to put these in.” She patted his arm in acknowledgment. She probably thought he wouldn’t come.

He almost didn’t. He didn’t like to see Lani this way. Although a small woman, she always seemed big, mostly because she had a way of yelling at him that could make him feel tiny. Dragging Jaleesa’s vacated chair closer, he sat beside his mom. He took her hand. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Doctor says I’ll be dancing again in no time.”

He wanted to believe her, but behind the smile, he saw the pinched expression of pain in her eyes. “That’s good.”

“They say I should be out of here in three days or so.”

“About that. Jaleesa and I have been talking. We think you should go to a rehabilitation facility. Jaleesa’s house would be too hard for you to maneuver until you’re back to full strength.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not going to an old folks’ home.”

“That’s not what this is. People of all ages go there to recover. The staff knows what to do and you’ll have someone around to make sure you’re okay.”

She folded her hands on her lap and pressed her lips together, but not before he saw the tremble. “You both just want to get rid of me. I see how it is.”

“No, Mom. Listen.”

She shot him a mean look. “You listen, Kai. I’m not weak or stupid. If you don’t want me around, say so. You wouldn’t be the first man to do that.”

And she lobbed the jab he’d learned to expect. His father had left them when Kai was young, and Lani held it against all men, even her son. Of course, it hadn’t helped that he’d been in so much trouble as a teenager. He’d been no help to her.

He sighed and stood. “I’ll be back to see you tomorrow. You want me to bring you anything?”

She sniffed and turned her head. For an old woman, she sure did know how to act like a child. Kai pushed through the door and almost ran into Jaleesa in the hall. She held the flowers in a plastic pitcher.

“Leaving already?”

“It’s time. Where are the kids?”

“At home with Matt.” She hitched her chin toward the door behind him. “What happened?

“She got mad when I brought up the rehab facility.”

Jaleesa shook her head. Hugging the flowers to her chest, she leaned against the wall. “You should’ve waited for me.”

“What would that have accomplished? Then she’d be mad at both of us. What are we gonna do?”

“She’d feel better and probably recover faster if she feels safe. Your house is a safe place for her.”

“We’ve been over this.”

“And you said you would consider it.”

“I can’t take her, Lees. I have a job and hockey. I can’t stop doing everything to have her live with me.”

Jaleesa stood to her full height, nearing his own six feet, and leaned close. Her long black hair swished like a wave down her front. “I have three kids underfoot all day and I manage to care for our mother.”

“It’s not the same. When she’s healthy, she helps with your kids. You love having her around. I wouldn’t. It won’t work.”

“No man is an island, Kai. You remember that. You do your best to keep everything in your life from intersecting and it’s not normal. Take Mom to work with you. You can take her for a walk in between clients.”

He snorted. “She’d love being around tattoo artists all day. The language alone might give her a heart attack. Should I bring her to hockey practice too? I’m sure sitting on the bleachers will be great for her knee.”

“Don’t be an a*s, Kai.”

“Don’t expect what I can’t give.”

“Won’t. Not can’t. Again, you choose this life.”

He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He and his sister could do this all day, and he didn’t want to.

The touch of Jaleesa’s hand on his arm made him open his eyes and stare at her.

“You’re not a child anymore. You’ve moved past all your mistakes. When we helped you get the studio, I thought you were moving on.”

“I have.”

“No, you haven’t. Get a life.” She smirked. “A real one. You can’t keep everything compartmentalized. It’s not normal.”

“You don’t make any sense. And don’t try to shrink me. You’re not my caseworker.” He knew exactly what she was talking about, though. Separating the sections of his life was the only way he had to dig out. He worked successfully on each area and then moved on. Without overlap, everything worked. And if he screwed up, he wouldn’t lose it all again.

She shook her head. “I’m going back to read to Mom.”

He eased away from the wall.

As she opened the door, she asked, “Will you be back tomorrow?”

“Probably.”

He left the hospital and thought about what Jaleesa had said. His little sister always pushed advice on him in one form or another, but this felt different. This wasn’t her usual nagging about getting a girlfriend when she meant wife. This wasn’t about being more involved with his nieces and nephew. Or even about how to run his business like a real job. Today’s attack felt personal.

Which wasn’t like Jaleesa at all. She was one person who had always been in his corner no matter what stupid s**t he’d done. She was the only one to visit him in jail when all of his “friends” abandoned him. She’d convinced her husband to lend him the money to open Ink Envy. He couldn’t understand why she pushed at him now.

He drove back to Ink Envy in a foul mood. Coming in the back door, he tossed his keys on the desk in the office and noticed the plate with a single Rice Krispies Treat. His stomach grumbled so he took a bite. The damn thing was so sticky he was afraid he’d lose a filling. Before he got a chance to sit down, Tommy knocked on the doorframe.

“Got a minute?”

“What?” He didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now, but he had a business to run.

“My sister’s looking for a job.”

“And?”

Tommy shrugged. “I thought maybe you’d hire her?”

“Can she ink?”

“No. I meant like office s**t. Making appointments and stuff.”

“Do I look like a babysitter?”

Tommy crossed his arms on his chest. His lanky frame would never look threatening. “She’s pregnant. No one’s going to hire her. I thought maybe you’d do something nice.”

“I’m not in business to be nice.” Plus, with his luck, she’d go into labor on his watch and there was no way he wanted to deal with that.

“Couldn’t hurt to ask.” Tommy spun on his heel and left.

Kai had managed to go years without anyone asking him for anything. Suddenly everyone had expectations. What the f**k was that about?