by S. M. Shade
My instinct was to put a stop to it. To inform her she’s mine and drag her back to my place like a Neanderthal. My reaction when she returned from the bar that night scared the shit out of me because I don’t lose control like that. It’s not who I am. I left her alone for both our sakes, because I’ve been teetering on the edge of crazy at the thought of her with anyone else.
“Did you tell Veronica I was seeing someone?”
Looking at the floor, Bailey nods. “I told her there was a lady you talked on the phone to all night. I thought if you both got jealous, you’d change your mind and get married. She could be my mom and Aiden could be my little brother.”
Bailey is usually so mature for her age, that there are times I forget she’s not even twelve years old. It takes something like this to let me see how naive and innocent she really is. What has really caught me off guard is her wish for a mother. She’s never said anything, and I’ve avoided relationships to spare her feelings.
“Bailey, do you remember when I took my wedding ring off?”
“Yes.”
“You remember how upset you were?”
She looks up at me. “That was years ago. I just wanted Mom to come home. When you took off the ring, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I was nine. I didn’t understand.”
She leans against me when I put my arm around her. “I know that, honey. I’m not scolding you over it. It was understandable. But I don’t want to do anything to hurt you. You’re the most important girl in my life, no matter what. You know that, don’t you?”
She hugs me. “I know, but I don’t want to be the only one. I want you to be happy too. And I love Veronica.”
Sighing, I squeeze her back. “So do I, Bails, but love doesn’t always lead to marriage. Even if I started seeing Veronica again, or another woman in the future, it doesn’t mean we’ll get married.”
“I know.”
I look down at her, making sure she’s looking me in the eye. “You can’t manipulate people, Bailey. Especially not by using their feelings against them. It’s wrong, and you aren’t going to get the outcome you want.”
Nodding, tears streak down her face again. “I know that now. I’m sorry.”
“I know. Some lessons we have to learn the hard way, kid, but those are the ones that stick with us.”
Bailey sits up and fidgets with her hands. “So, um…would having Noble and Jani set up a romantic dinner for you and Veronica in the lunchroom, then getting you both to show up be considered manipulating? Because if so, I swear, this is the last time.”
“Wait, what?”
Noble steps in, dressed in a tuxedo with a towel draped over his arm like a waiter in a fancy restaurant. “Your lady awaits, sir,” he announces, biting back a laugh.
Bailey looks up at me with a combination of hope and caution. “She’s waiting for you. Well, sort of. She’s waiting for something. Aiden just told her she had a surprise.”
Surreal isn’t a sufficient word as I follow Noble down the hall and peek into the lunchroom that has been decked out like a restaurant. White tablecloths, candles, the whole shebang.
At the center table, Veronica sits, looking casually beautiful as she glances around like something might explode. “You’d better go in before she leaves. She’s not very patient,” Noble says. “I’ll be bringing your food.”
“Did you set this up?”
“Dude, I don’t have a vagina. Bailey came to me, and I owed her one after she helped me get Jani back. The whole neighborhood knows you two should be together, so I got Jani to help. Now get in there and don’t fuck this up. Jani and I are taking Aiden and Bailey back to Jani’s apartment tonight. We’ll send them home in the morning.”
This is crazy. Completely and totally insane. But there’s not an inch of me that doesn’t want her, so I step into the lunchroom slash impromptu fancy restaurant.
“Neal?” Her jaw tenses and the little I’m pissed lines pop up around her mouth. “What’s going on? Did you do this?”
Sighing, I sit across from her. “Nope, we’ve been parent trapped.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Bailey got Noble and Jani to lure us together.”
She rubs her forehead. “Shit. Is Bailey upset?”
Noble appears, still carrying the towel over his arm and walking stiffly. Is that how he thinks waiters walk? He shuffles over to fill our wine glasses and starts speaking in a horrible accent. It’s like a mix of Italian and French and probably borderline offensive to both nationalities.
“Ciao, welcome to Little Italy. It’s-uh me, Noble. We are appy to ave you and your usband. We will start with the wine and then-uh the pasta, no?”
“Dude, stop, you sound like Mario. Give us a minute, okay?”
“Very well. I-uh know when I’m a not-uh wanted.” He keeps mumbling in the horrible accent as he leaves, but I’m focused on Veronica.
“Bailey is okay. V, I want to apologize for the way I acted. Bailey told me you were dating a firefighter and—”
“I’m not dating anyone!” she interrupts. “Why would she say that?”
“For the same reason she told you I was talking to some woman on the phone all night. She wanted to make us jealous because she thought it would push us together.”
Veronica sits back, her mouth slightly open as the realization sinks in. “There was no dollar store whore?”
“No. And you haven’t been seeing anyone?”
“No.”
She picks up her wine and takes a few gulps. We stare at one another for a few seconds until a smile cracks her lips, followed by a giggle. It is funny in a way, and my laughter fills the room along with hers.
“She set us up, and it backfired,” she clarifies.
“Then she had Noble and Jani help her try to fix it. By doing this.” I gesture around the room.
“And they agreed. They all think if you just put us in the same room…”
“Like two pandas,” I snort. “Just lock us together and we’ll be all over each other.”
When our laughter dies down, I reach across and lay my hand on hers. “I’ve missed you. I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter what I thought or what I was told. I should’ve talked to you. I was an asshole.”
She squeezes my hand. “You tried to talk to me. I’m sorry too. I knew I had no right to be angry that you were talking to someone else, but it tore me up. It made me realize we’ve been fooling ourselves, thinking we could just be friends.”
She sighs and pulls her hand back. “I know it’s hard on us, but we need to make sure the kids aren’t suffering because we made a mistake. Bailey can always come to see me. I’ve come to love her like my own.”
She still thinks this isn’t going to happen.
“Do you love me?”
Tears fill her eyes and she nods. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry for loving me?”
She nods. “I know that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“V, I love you too, and damn what we thought was supposed to happen. This.” I point back and forth between us. “Us. We happened. And I don’t regret a second of it. I’m also not ready for it to end.”
“But…we said…the kids…”
“I love Aiden. He’s the son I didn’t have.”
“He loves you too, but—”
“But what? They might suffer if we broke up? They’d be right where we are now. We can’t be afraid of the if’s anymore. What if things work out and we make a family? What if we get to spend the rest of our lives with the people we love? A clean start for both of us.”
Swallowing hard, she grins through her tears. “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Neal?”
“No, I’m asking you to move in with me and be my everything. And one day soon, when I’m sure you won’t run away screaming, I’ll be asking for you to be my wife. Because that’s how this story ends, V. With you and me.”
She gets to her feet, and I meet her halfway around the table.<
br />
My arms wrap around her as she adds, “And hours of dirty, sweaty fucking.”
Our mouths clash together in a kiss that displays the desperation we’ve both felt. Her hands grip my hair and she throws her legs around my waist as I back her against the wall, losing myself in her the way I’ve dreamed of every night she’s been gone.
Everything around us disappears. I don’t care that she’s ten years younger, that we’ll have to make adjustments for the kids, or that we’re in the middle of a lunchroom in a damn community center. All I can see and feel is her.
Until Noble’s voice echoes around us.
“You couldn’t even wait until after the spaghetti?” He grumbles and puts two plates on the table before heading toward the door mumbling, “Like freaking rabbits.”
Veronica laughs and calls out, “More like pandas, actually.”
Chapter Fourteen
Veronica
The next few weeks are busy, but fantastic. We have a talk with the kids, and they’re thrilled we’ll be moving in together. My lease isn’t up for a few months, so I have more time than Neal to get packed up, but there’s some work we’d like to do with the place anyway, and it helps that we can crash at my apartment when the water is shut off or the smell of paint is overpowering.
We both have the day off work today, and we’re shopping for household stuff. Aiden is at daycare, and Bailey is spending the day with a friend. It’s nice to be able to take our time and not have to drag the kids around with us.
Neal wraps his arm around me as we make our way through the parking lot and into the store. We’ve been so touchy feely it probably makes our friends gag, but I don’t care. It feels amazing to be able to touch him and not worry about the kids seeing.
We fill the cart with curtain rods, window treatments, and various other necessities. While I’m trying to decide on a shower curtain for the bathroom, Neal plants a soft kiss on my temple. “I’m going to go next door to get some paint. Meet you in the car?”
I smile up at him. He’s been patient as I’ve meandered around the store, trying to find the perfect things to make the new house a home. I’m sure he’s dying to escape. “Sure, I’ll just be a few more minutes.”
His chuckle tells me he knows as well as I do that’s bullshit. But really, we have to look at this shower curtain every day. It needs to be perfect.
Finally, I settle on a pretty yellow one and head to the cashier. As I’m checking out, I see the last person I want to see, loitering outside the plate glass window. He has his back to me, but I’d know that haircut and jacket from anywhere. Clint. And I have to walk past him.
Forcing my chin high and prepared to fight, I make my way out of the store with my bags in hand. My heart leaps into my throat when I look at him and see something new. His left leg below the knee has been replaced with a blue metal prosthetic. It hasn’t been that long since I saw him, so what the hell happened?
The words jump out before I can think about them as I approach him. “Oh my god, what happened to your leg?”
My gaze is fixated on his prosthetic until I hear a very unfamiliar voice reply, “I lost it to cancer a few years ago, but I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”
My eyes climb slowly to his face, and I want to die.
Or at least be dragged away, maybe into that nearby sewer grate, where no one can see me. Where is that killer clown when you need him?
It’s not Clint.
The angry eyes that pierce me are brown, not blue. “Oh god. I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else. Someone I knew. My ex, who ran out on his kid. I’m so so sorry.”
My rambling response brings a slight smile to the man’s face, but I don’t stick around to see what he says. My face is burning up, and I just want to get away. I rush into the parking lot, squinting against the sun glinting off the cars, and frantically try to remember where Neal parked. Oh, I hope he didn’t see that.
Finally, I spot his car and damn it, I can make out a figure in the driver’s seat. At least he couldn’t have heard what I asked the guy. Eyes on the pavement, I rush over, throw the back door open and toss in the bags. I jump into the front seat, lay my hand on his knee, and exclaim, “Please get me out of here. I made a total idiot of myself just now.”
Silence descends as I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting to feel the car move me away from the source of my embarrassment. “Uh…Ma’am?”
What the?
My eyes pop open at yet another unfamiliar voice, and I’m afraid to turn my head. Because if what I suspect is true, I will never be able to forget this day. Finally, I look over at the man in the driver’s seat. The man who looks nothing like Neal because he isn’t Neal because I’m in the wrong damn car.
I don’t know what’s worse. Realizing I still have my hand on his knee, hearing this man chuckle, or looking over to the next car that happens to be the same model and color, where Neal sits, laughing his damn ass off.
This should be the moment I wake up because there’s no way I can accept what has happened in the last five minutes. “Sorry,” I mumble. “Wrong car.” I’m out in a flash and I fling myself into Neal’s car, wishing it was a bottomless abyss.
Pulling my knees up, I drop my head and cover my face. “I can’t believe I did that.”
Neal’s laugh echoes around me. “I should be insulted you don’t know what I look like.”
“The sun was in my eyes and…please, just get me out of here,” I moan, not uncovering my face.
There’s a tap on Neal’s window, and I peek up long enough to see the man standing there with a smile, waving my bags I left in his back seat. This really can’t get any worse.
Neal takes the bags and thanks the man. Finally, I feel the car move, but I don’t look up until we’re parked at my apartment again.
Neal’s hand creeps onto my leg. “V?”
“Hmm?”
“You going to go turtle for the rest of the day?” Amusement rings in his voice.
“The rest of the year sounds better.”
Chuckling, he squeezes my knee. “Come on, so you got in the wrong car. I was the only one who saw it.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “Only the person whose opinion means the most to me.” As usual, I don’t give the words much thought before they leap past my lips.
When I look up, a grin is inching across his face. The corners of his eyes wrinkle a tiny bit as the grin turns to a full, incredulous smile. “My opinion means the most to you?”
“What? No.” My reply is light and teasing. “Of course not. Why would I care what an old man like you thinks of me?”
His hands land on my cheeks as he plants his lips on mine for a long, sensuous kiss. When we break apart, he says, “Secret’s out, V. You love me. Worship the ground I walk on. It’s understandable. I’m awesome.”
Giggling, I shake my head. “Can we just get out of the car and pretend the last hour never happened?”
“We can get out of the car. Can’t promise the rest.”
Once we unload our purchases, we take a seat in my living room. He sits back on the couch, and reaches to play with the ends of my hair. “We need to find a babysitter for this weekend.”
“We do?”
“Mmm Hmm. I’m taking you on a date. We’ve never been anywhere without the kids.”
He’s right. It hadn’t even occurred to me. I cuddle against him “Well, we never do anything the typical way, do we?”
“What fun would that be?”
Neal doesn’t mention the date again until he tells me that Noble agreed to stay at my apartment to watch the kids. “Are you okay with leaving Aiden with him for twenty-four hours?”
“Yeah, Aiden loves Noble. He’ll have a blast.” I peek up at him. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“Tease. I need to know what to wear.”
He slips his hand under my hair, running his fingers across the back of my neck. It always drives me crazy and he knows it. “Comfor
table clothes. No dresses as much as I’d love to peel you out of one. You’ll want to bring a swimsuit.”
The suspense is killing me, and he grins at my impatience when I try to get him to say more. “Just go pack a bag. Noble will be here in an hour. I’ll go tell the kids.”
An hour later, we’re on our way, and I have no idea where we’re going as we pull onto the highway. “How long is the drive?”
“A couple of hours.”
I pester him on and off throughout the next two hours, but he won’t tell me anything until he turns off the highway and onto a winding country road and I exclaim, “A lake? Did you rent us a cabin or something?”
“Better,” he replies with a grin. “A cabin cruiser.”
Excited, I sit up and crane my neck to see the lake behind the tree line as it blurs past. “We’re going on a boat? I’ve never been on a boat.”
He parks at a Marina and stares at me. “Really? Not even a pedal boat, canoe, nothing?”
“No, Mom can’t swim so we didn’t do much water stuff when I was young.”
His face glows with happiness at getting to show me something new. “You’re going to love spending the night on the lake.”
Spending the night? Out on a pitch dark lake? The idea suddenly sounds as terrifying as exhilarating, but there’s no way I’ll let him see my nervousness. “We’re going to sleep on a boat?” What kind of boat is a cabin cruiser? And what if I need the bathroom? A thousand questions run through my head as we make our way inside and Neal makes arrangements with the man renting us the boat.
When we’re lead out to the Cabin Cruiser, my eyes widen in appreciation. It’s not the tiny boat I was expecting. I could easily spend a weekend on it and be comfortable. The deck is large, with plenty of seating and easy access in and out of the water. A few steps lead down to a small kitchen, bathroom, and bed.
“This is amazing,” I squeal! “I could live here.”
Neal laughs at my enthusiasm, and we unload the trunk of his car. He’s thought of everything. A cooler of food and drinks, sunblock, towels, anything we might need for the next twenty-four hours.
“We should charge our phones first,” I caution. “In case the kids call tonight.”