A Valentine's Day Gift (Clover Park, Book 11)

by Kylie Gilmore

  Allie

  Allie,

  Here’s what I would do. Talk to the bully’s parents about it not happening again. Then I would talk to Gabe about self-defense. He has to know the basics, blocking a punch, throwing a punch with his thumb tucked on the outside of his fingers, not in. Sometimes the only thing that stops a bully is giving him a taste of his own medicine. If his dad can’t teach him the basics, take Gabe to someone who can. Maybe go to a karate class if it comes down to it. And tell him to make friends with the biggest boy in his class. How you think I got so popular?

  Tell me about you, how you spend your days, when you’re at your happiest. I like picturing it.

  Vinny

  Vinny,

  Well, no more black eyes. Gabe says everything’s okay now. I hope that’s true. I took him to a karate class, but he hated it so much he didn’t make it past the two-week free-trial period. He made friends with the biggest kid in his class, Shane, who is a very nice boy with the brightest red hair.

  I’m at my happiest painting in the early morning light with music blasting in the background, something with a good beat I can rock out to.

  When are you at your happiest?

  Allie

  Allie,

  I’m at my happiest when I get a letter from you.

  Vinny

  She pressed the letter to her heart, her eyes welling. It had had that effect on her the first time she’d read it, and now rereading it for the millionth time after a year of letters, it was just as powerful. Simple, to the point, yet it grabbed her by the throat.

  A year of letters.

  Too many to tuck in a book. She kept them tied with a pink ribbon, hidden in the storage space above her studio. Her letters had been mailed down the street, his hand-delivered early Friday morning. Innocent letters yet not. She yearned for more. She wanted to see him, hear him, be with him. The distance between them was a problem that only she could fix. She wrote him one final letter, knowing he’d read between the lines.

  Vinny,

  I have a very difficult decision to make due to our deepening friendship. I will be in touch to let you know how things turn out. This will be my last letter until then. Please do not write back. I need to think.

  Allie

  Vinny respected her wishes. She didn’t hear from him. She waited another month to be sure she was doing it for the right reasons, and then finally she faced William. He returned home late Friday night from the city. She’d arranged for the boys to spend the night at her parents’ house.

  For the first time in a long while, she studied her husband as he walked into the kitchen, always his first stop home. He looked much older than his thirty-nine years. He ran his own law firm now with a partner, just as he’d wanted from the moment he’d graduated with his law degree. He worked an insane number of hours, and it was taking its toll. His light brown hair was thinning, he had bags under his eyes, lines in his face, and his skin was pale and sallow, like he hadn’t seen the sun in years. He mostly napped when he was home on the weekend or watched TV. For a moment she almost felt bad for throwing a wrench in his life. He probably wanted nothing more than to eat a late dinner and sit in front of the TV. But now she had to think of her needs not his. She’d found an affordable local lawyer to help her, though she knew William with his legal expertise would not make this easy.

  She took a deep breath as he brushed past her on his way to the refrigerator. “William, I want a divorce.”

  He turned to face her; his expression unchanged, tired and weary. Maybe they’d both known it was inevitable. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” She let out a shaky breath. “I’d like full custody of the kids.”

  “Done. I’ll say goodbye to them this weekend and move permanently to the city.”

  Her gut clenched at his complete indifference. “You don’t sound surprised. Or upset about it. This was a difficult decision for me.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I think we both know this marriage died long ago.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  He lifted one shoulder. “You’re a good mother. I thought that would be enough.”

  Agitation rose in her. “Would you have divorced me if I didn’t say anything?”

  His lips pressed into a flat line. “I thought it would be better if it was mutual.”

  Probably for legal reasons. Her temper flared. “Well, it definitely is!”

  He looked around the kitchen, let out a sigh, and said, “I guess I’ll be going out to eat tonight. When will the kids be home?”

  “Tomorrow by noon.”

  “I’ll stop by then to say goodbye. My lawyer will be in touch with you on Monday morning. Goodbye, Allie.”

  “Goodbye.”

  He left, just as cold and distant as ever.

  She stared at the floor. Not one shred of shame or sense of failure went through her. His cold dismissal had only confirmed she’d done the right thing. A sob bubbled up. She sank to the floor and cried for all the wasted time, for all the misery she’d waded through, thinking she was doing what was best for her kids, when none of it mattered. He was a cold hard man with no love for her at all. She wasn’t even sure if he loved their children. The only time he warmed to the kids was when they brought home good report cards. He wanted them to follow in his footsteps and join his law firm. But did he ever think about what was best for them? What they wanted to do with their lives?

  After a while, she calmed and returned to her art studio, where she always felt happiest. Maybe she’d have to move when this was all said and done, but she had her little art studio now.

  She’d know her future better on Monday morning.

  Chapter Five

  A month passed.

  Then another month.

  Three months.

  When it got to be four months, Vinny had to face facts. Allie had made her decision. She didn’t want to shake up her life, and he understood why. First and always was the kids’ welfare. So no more letters. He needed to move on. Not that he wanted to date. This thing with Allie had been so much more than that, a deeply meaningful friendship like she’d said.

  Fridays always reminded him of her. That was the day she’d give him a home-cooked meal and also the day he’d stopped by her art studio to slip a letter under the door. Now it was nothing.

  He drove home from work, thinking ahead to the weekend. It was September and the boys were back to school and sports. Vince and Nico had football games. Angel had soccer. Life was good. He had things to look forward to; his life was very full with the kids.

  He pulled into the driveway, parked, and got the mail. He rifled through the usual bills and junk and then froze. A letter from Allie. His adrenaline kicked in—heart pounding, sweat beading on his forehead. He got back in the truck and stared at it for a moment before ripping it open.

  Vinny,

  My divorce is now official. This wasn’t because of you. I’ve been very unhappy for years. My boys have been acting out during their visits to their dad every other weekend, but are otherwise fine at home. I have full custody, as I hoped, and got the house, which I wanted to keep the boys’ lives as unchanged as possible.

  All this to say, I’m in a much better place now. How about that cup of coffee?

  Allie

  Joy spiked through him, quickly followed by nerves. This was an invitation to start something. He’d been devoted to one woman since he was seventeen years old. He was thirty-eight now. Would Maria be okay with him seeing another woman? Would his mother-in-law, who was still very involved in his and the boys’ life, be okay with it? Could his boys, who still missed their ma, handle him moving on? Was he ready to move on?

  He swallowed hard. Now he had a difficult decision to make.

  That night Vinny did something he hadn’t done in a long time. He pulled out the framed picture of his wedding day from his nightstand drawer and set it on the nightstand. It had hurt him to look at it before, seeing the two of them so young and happy
, thinking their whole lives were ahead of them together. Maria had been gone more than two years now, but it felt like longer. She’d been fading away for five years before that, only a wisp of her former vibrant self.

  The boys were asleep, but he still didn’t speak out loud. Instead he looked at her picture and spoke to her in his head. He confessed how lonely he’d been, how sad, how he couldn’t sleep sometimes with the burden of grief and responsibility he carried. He asked her permission to move on.

  He got nothing from it.

  She was just gone, and no amount of wishing or hoping or praying was going to change that.

  He spent the rest of the weekend agitated. He didn’t like not having a definite decision on what to do. He liked a clear way forward, but as he spent his time cheering for his kids from the sidelines, doing the Sunday errands of food shopping and new clothes for Vince, he knew only one thing—he wanted to see Allie again. He didn’t know if that meant for a cup of coffee or a relationship or what. He waffled back and forth on his intentions. He wanted to be clear because the last thing he wanted was to hurt her.

  Sunday dinner at his in-laws’ house had him in charge of cooking as usual. For the first time, Loretta didn’t supervise him at all. Instead she sat in the living room, holding her husband’s hand as he rested in a recliner. His father-in-law, Mike, had been sent home from the hospice to die in the comfort of his own home. His boys sat on the sofa, all of them watching a game show.

  After he set the food on the dining room table—two pans of lasagna, warm Italian garlic bread, and salad—Loretta declared he was now an official Italian chef. Only took two years and change plus many scoldings, but he’d graduated.

  “Thanks, Loretta. It was all your great recipes.” She wrote nothing down, all of it top secret, only shared one person to another.

  “You did good, Vinny,” she said. “You did what you should for your boys so they know their mother’s cooking.”

  “This is Ma’s recipe?” Vince asked.

  “They’re family recipes,” Loretta replied. “Passed down the generations. And now I taught your dad to keep the tradition going. Hopefully he’ll teach you boys one day or your wives.”

  Vince curled his lip in disgust. “Wives! Blech.”

  “Gross,” Nico put in.

  “I wanna get a wife,” Angel declared, which made them all laugh. He had a long way to go from first grade to wife.

  Loretta shook her finger at the boys. “Vince and Nico, you might feel very differently in a few years.”

  “No way!” Vince proclaimed. Nico heartily agreed.

  He and Loretta exchanged an amused look. Mike remained in his recliner, watching TV. He ate very little now.

  After dinner, Loretta went to wash dishes, as she usually did. That was the deal. Vinny cooked; Loretta cleaned up. But this time Vinny followed her in, offering to dry while she washed.

  They worked together in silence for several minutes before she turned to him. “What is it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re here for a reason. What is it?”

  “You doing okay? I mean, with Mike and everything.”

  She took a deep breath and looked to the ceiling and then back to him. “It will be a blessing for him. He’s in pain and tired of suffering. For me? I will grieve. I will honor his memory. And I will carry on for my grandchildren as long as I can.” She was a strong woman.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She gave his arm a squeeze. “You and I have been through the wringer. First Maria, now Mike. I didn’t think I’d live through Maria’s passing.”

  “I had to for the boys.”

  She gave him a small smile. “Me too.”

  She went back to washing dishes, and his mind wandered back to Allie. He’d lost so much, life was so damn short, and he wanted her light in his life.

  He spoke over the lump in his throat. “I met someone.”

  Loretta stilled and turned off the water. She didn’t look at him, just stared straight ahead. “Who?”

  “Her name is Allie. She’s a single mom with three sons close in age to mine.”

  She closed her eyes as if pained.

  “Loretta?”

  “Is it serious?”

  “We haven’t gone on a date yet. I’ve been thinking about it. I’m not sure if it’s the right thing for the boys. I know they miss their ma. I miss her too.” His shoulders drooped. “I don’t know.” Sadness weighed him down again.

  She yanked the faucet up, blasting the water, and began furiously scrubbing a pan. Clearly she didn’t want him moving on from her daughter, but he’d been so lonely. Maria had been everything, and then there was nothing.

  “Loretta.”

  She ignored him.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d be careful. I wouldn’t even introduce the kids until I knew for sure it was a definite thing. I wouldn’t let them be hurt by another loss.”

  She turned, her eyes narrowed. “Do not speak to me of another woman.”

  She returned to the dishes, her movements jerky. Some part of him had been hoping for her blessing, almost like he had Maria’s blessing. He let out a breath, turned, and left the kitchen, not at all sure of the right thing to do.

  ~ ~ ~

  Allie waited nervously in the entryway of a diner in Eastman just after noon on Monday. Vinny got her letter on Friday, and now here she was only three days later about to meet a man with the potential for more for the first time in years. She’d married so young, only nineteen, and had Gabe at twenty. She’d only ever slept with one man. Her heart raced. Maybe she wasn’t ready for this.

  She ran a shaking hand through her hair. Vinny was working on an office building across the street and would be here at any moment. He’d called her last night. It was the first time they’d spoken by phone, and her belly had actually fluttered from his warm deep voice in her ear. She’d hung up and spent half the night worked up about seeing him today. She hadn’t seen him in person in more than a year. All those letters, her only connection to him.

  “Allie?”

  She whirled, heat rushing to her cheeks. He was here, the soulful letter writer, the bulky-with-muscles man. She took a moment to soak him in. His dark hair, dark eyes, and tanned olive skin were a striking contrast to his white T-shirt. His shoulders were massive, his chest broad, his legs long in faded jeans with work boots. All of him was so big everywhere, much bigger than her. His physicality struck her in a whole different light now, what that might feel like close up. She broke out in goose bumps, a primal response to unknown territory.

  He flashed a smile that lit up his gorgeous face, his dark brown eyes warm on hers. And then she remembered his devotion to his sons, to his wife’s memory, and she knew this was just as big a step for him as her.

  She moved forward without hesitation and wrapped her arms around his middle in a warm hug. He hugged her back and then pulled away, giving her a small smile. “Ready for coffee?”

  The question suddenly felt like it meant so much more. Her heart pounded in her ears. Was she ready for this?

  “Yes.”

  Their gazes locked for an intense moment.

  She couldn’t hold the eye contact and looked away, her breathing a little fast. She had to calm down. It was just coffee. No promises of more. He signaled the hostess they were ready to be seated.

  Allie needn’t have worried about coffee with Vinny, which soon turned into lunch. They picked up right where they’d left off, catching each other up on their lives, mostly talking about their kids, but also what she’d been working on. She’d completed three picture books as illustrator since they’d last spoken. He shared about his father-in-law’s decline, which she was sad to hear about, and that he’d married his high school sweetheart, which surprised her. Was he just as inexperienced at this dating thing as she was?

  “I’ve only been with one man,” she blurted, her cheeks flaming. Shut up! God, she was worse than a teenager on her first date. She�
�d slipped into awkwardly horny mom-on-a-date territory. So embarrassing.

  He leaned close and lowered his voice. “I’ve only been with one woman. I guess we have that in common.”

  She nodded, calming down a little, relieved she wasn’t alone in the anxiety and excitement of dipping her toe in the dating pool. “You seem so relaxed I never would’ve guessed you were new at this too.”

  He inclined his head. “I just feel lucky to have met you. I’ve never even been tempted by another woman in all these years.”

  Her belly fluttered, her heart pounding. She licked her lips and he watched the movement. Her insides clenched in response, her mind drawing a complete blank. “I-I don’t know what to say. I’m a little bit overwhelmed.”

  He smiled, a charming sexy smile that made the butterflies in her belly go wild. “Say you’ll have dinner with me on Saturday night.”

  She hadn’t seen him smile much before. He was devastatingly handsome. She would’ve found that intimidating if she hadn’t connected with him under different circumstances. But she knew this man, knew him on a deeper level than most people in her life. “I would love to. I need to find a babysitter, but I’ll let you know.”

  He flashed a wide smile. “Great.”

  “Vinny, you are breathtaking.”

  He laughed, his dark eyes twinkling with good humor. “I’ve never been called that before. Thanks.”

  “I’d love to paint you with that smile on your face.”

  “Keep putting that smile on my face and you can.”

  She blushed, staring at the table, running her finger along the edge. “I’m so out of practice, dating at thirty-three. My first date since I was a teenager.”

  “Same here, except I’m thirty-eight. We’ll figure it out together.”

  She met his eyes. He understood. “We’ll have to work around the kids. I don’t think they’re ready to see their mom dating. Their dad moved out four months ago, but still. It’s a lot.”

  “So we’ll work around the kids.”

  “Did you ever think the first time we met that one day we’d be planning our first date?”

  “No.”

  She stared at the table, shaking her head. “Me either.”