All My Life

by Prescott Lane

  “I’m going shopping,” is all I can manage to say.

  He gives me the funniest look. I obviously sound like an idiot. Just because we slept together, that doesn’t mean I have to give him a play-by-play of my movements. I try to recover, lowering my voice and flashing him a smile. “I mean, I’m going shopping for . . .”

  His eyes dart to the floor behind me, his head shaking a little.

  My head whips around. “Oh, Mia,” I say, finding her sitting on the floor, piles of paint samples in front of her, sorting them into correct piles. “I didn’t see you there.”

  She looks up at me with the same puppy dog eyes her father can give. “Dad has me sorting paint colors. Little kids come in and like to play with them, then I have to fix it.”

  I wrinkle my nose up, letting her know that doesn’t sound like a great way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon in the summer. “Shopping sounds better, huh?” I ask.

  Her eyes light up. “Totally. I can go with you?” I cock my head towards her dad. She leaps up. “Dad, can I go with Devlyn? I really want a new swimsuit for my trip with Granddad.” Garrett smiles, and Mia runs over, planting a kiss on his cheek. Guess that’s a yes. “And can I have an advance on my paycheck?”

  He chuckles and reaches to his back pocket, pulling out his credit card. She goes to take it, and he snatches it back. “Don’t go crazy.”

  “I won’t,” she promises. “One swimsuit, I swear.”

  “Don’t forget the shoes,” I tease her. “You’ll need new flip-flops.”

  Giggling, she turns to Garrett, who shakes his head at me like I’m in big trouble. I’ll be more than happy to take that spanking later. He gives Mia a little squeeze. “Let Devlyn get her shopping done, too.”

  “I will,” Mia says, turning to me. “What are you shopping for?”

  One look at Garrett, and he knows his daughter just blocked my lingerie surprise. He mouths the word “fuck” to me, and a big smile covers my face. “Well, I actually was going to shop for your birthday, so it’s good you’re coming with me. You can give me some ideas.”

  Mia’s face blossoms into a huge smile, then Garrett places his hands on her shoulders. “Before you leave, could you go in the back and grab me some more paper for the register?” She nods, throws me a smile, and heads that way. When she’s disappeared, he holds his hand out to me and says, “Come here. It won’t take her long to find it.”

  He pulls me behind a cabinet away from any windows. His lips sweetly brush mine—once, twice, three times. I feel his body start to tighten, wanting more, but he gently cups my cheek, looks right into my eyes then pulls me back into the main part of the store just as Mia reappears.

  She places the paper on the counter then says, “I’m ready.”

  She kisses her dad goodbye. Garrett and I exchange a smile then Mia and I head for the door. “Be good,” Garrett calls out.

  I flash him a look over my shoulder. “Never.”

  *

  Teenage girls and shopping require a snack for energy and the Supreme Court to make a decision. It took Mia three trips to the dressing room to decide on the perfect swimsuit. If she liked the color on one, she wished it came in a different style. If she liked the style, she wished the color was different. Thank God she’s relatively modest, and it wasn’t up to me to talk her out of anything too revealing. I really wouldn’t want to have to face Garrett and explain why his daughter was in a thong.

  I wasn’t able to sneak any lingerie shopping in, but Mia gave me some great ideas for her birthday, mostly practical things like a new backpack or shower caddy. That’s no fun, so when I saw her eyeing a pair of pearl earrings, I snatched them up while she was in the dressing room. Every college girl needs a pair. It was a great afternoon.

  Driving back, Mia plays with the radio in my car. Apparently, she doesn’t have satellite radio, and it seems to have her fascinated. She played with it on the ride to the mall, and it looks like she’s going to do the same on the ride home.

  “There’s literally any kind of music you could want,” she says, flipping the channel again. She lands on the Beatles. “Granddad loves the Beatles,” she says. “I told him they were the original boy band.”

  I bust out laughing. “I bet he loved hearing that.” She giggles, holding out a bag of trail mix, offering me some. “No, thanks,” I say. “That’s basically M&M’s with obstacles.”

  Taking a handful, she asks, “You didn’t go off to college, did you?”

  “No, I lived at home and commuted.”

  “Why?” she asks. “Dad told me you were valedictorian like me.”

  “I was,” I say, hoping for a change in topic. “But my parents needed my help with the diner.” I don’t add that Garrett needed my help with her, and I couldn’t bring myself to leave him. He’d watched so many of his friends go off to school. He always wished them well, but I knew it must’ve hurt. “Besides, I always saw my life in Eden Valley.”

  She looks out the window, tapping her fingers on her leg. “So you knew my mom?”

  This is not the change of topic I was hoping for, and she already knows the answer to that question. So there must be something else she’s searching for. “You know I did.”

  “What was she like?” Mia asks softly. “Daddy doesn’t talk about her much, and for some reason, she’s been on my mind a lot.”

  “Probably because of all the big changes in your life,” I say. “That’s understandable.”

  She turns to me. “So what was she like?”

  “I think this is a conversation you need to have with Garrett.” God, I see her whole body deflate, sinking into the seat. Reaching for the button, I lower the music. “You look just like her when she was your age.”

  “I know,” she says. “But what was she like? You know, was she into books or sports or dance? Did she like chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Was she a good dancer? What was her favorite holiday? Could she cook? Or was she good . . .”

  “Mia,” I breathe out, looking down the road. “Sheena and I weren’t close.”

  “But you knew her.”

  Sheena brings up some painful shit for me. She was everything I wasn’t. Beautiful and sexy, and she knew it. Worst of all, she had Garrett’s full attention. When she was around, I was always second best. Pushing my own issues aside, I search my mind for something to tell Mia, something that Garrett wouldn’t mind me sharing. “Want to know one thing I remember about your mother?” She nods, angling herself towards me. “She ate avocado every day. Said it would help make you smart.” I pat her leg. “Think she was right.”

  Her head falls back to her seat. “I don’t like avocado.”

  I know what she really needs to hear, but it’s not me she needs to hear it from. I say it anyway. “She loved you.”

  “I know.”

  “Talk to your dad,” I say.

  “I can’t,” she says. “Daddy’s the best, and I don’t want him to feel bad like he’s not enough.”

  “Mia, he knows that,” I say. “He’d be more upset knowing that you are upset and not confiding in him.”

  She nods. “He really loved her, didn’t he?”

  That’s a knife to my gut. “Yes, he did.”

  “It wasn’t just puppy love?”

  “I don’t think it was,” I say.

  “Thanks, Devlyn,” she says.

  I want to say anytime, but I wouldn’t mean it. “I remember this one time your mom got sick at school. Threw up all over the place. Your dad picked her up and carried her out of the lunchroom.” Mia’s head turns to me, and she smiles. “Then there was this time that you wouldn’t stop kicking, and he sang to her belly right in the middle of the school parking lot.”

  “He sang?”

  “Yep,” I say. “Want to know the best part?” She nods. “He sang your mom’s favorite song to you. A show tune. All I Ask of You’ from Phantom of the Opera.”

  “I love that musical,” Mia says. “That’s my mom’s favorite song?”
r />   “Was when she was your age.” I reach for the nob on the radio. “Think there’s a Broadway channel on here somewhere. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and they’ll play it.”

  Mia flings her seatbelt off, leans over, and hugs me as I drive. I get the feeling that little piece of information meant more to her than the earrings will.

  *

  Humming, Mia opens the door to her house. Garrett appears from the kitchen wearing jeans that hang just right from his hips and a white t-shirt, his hair wet like he just got out of the shower. Mia does a little spin, her shopping bags twirling with her.

  “What’s the damage?” Garrett asks, grinning at us. She hands him his credit card and the receipts. He looks down, seemingly impressed by our restraint. “Looks like you had fun.”

  Mia tosses me a smile. “We did,” I say. “I should get going, though. Big day tomorrow.”

  Mia misses my comment, but Garrett doesn’t, giving me a dirty smile. “Why don’t you stay for dinner? It’s the least I can do for you saving me from the mall.”

  My eyes go straight to Mia. I’m not sure Garrett or I will be able to keep our hands off each other to make it through dinner. “Yeah,” Mia says. “We can watch a movie like we used to. Just maybe not Disney. It will be fun.”

  “Stay,” Garrett says. “I’ll cook.”

  “That’s not a selling feature,” Mia teases. “I can run out and pick up food.”

  My eyes go to Garrett. That will only take about ten minutes depending on how long she has to wait for the food. Eden Valley has two choices for takeout—pizza and Chinese, neither of them more than five minutes away. This is how things will be if Garrett and I stay together. Dinners and movies with Mia when she’s home from school. It’s the prequel of what could be coming.

  “Sold,” I say.

  Garrett tries unsuccessfully to convince Mia to just order the food when she gets there, but she insists we call it in. I like how he was trying to extend how long she’d be gone, but no dice. Once she’s out the door and pulling out of the driveway, he pulls me into his arms. Placing my hand on his chest, I hold him at bay. “I have to talk to you about Mia.”

  “Something happen?” he asks.

  “She asked me about Sheena.”

  He turns away from me, the muscles in his back so tight they look like they’ll rip his shirt. “I’m sorry she put you on the spot.”

  “I thought you should know she asked me. I didn’t want to keep it from you,” I whisper. “I told her a few things.”

  “She asked me about her a few days ago.”

  “She’s curious, and she knows it’s a sore topic for you,” I say.

  “What am I supposed to say about Sheena?” he asks. “It doesn’t matter what I tell Mia. The story ends with her mom leaving us.”

  He’s done a really good job with Mia. I should know. I’ve had a front row seat for the whole thing. Placing my hands on his broad shoulders, I plant a little kiss. “You raised a great kid. You did that. All by yourself.”

  I feel his chest inflate. “But there’s not a damn thing I can do to take away the pain of her not having a mother around.”

  “Maybe not,” I say, stepping in front of him. “But you’ve done everything to make that pain as small as possible.”

  His blue eyes find mine, the pain in him seems like a giant, and I wonder if I’m the one that can shrink it down to size.

  He kisses me.

  It’s just a kiss.

  The kind where you know you aren’t going to end up naked, but the kind that you know is taking you somewhere.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  GARRETT

  My father’s grand plan was an impromptu road trip with Mia. The promise of a few days at the beach was an easy sell for my teenage daughter. They’ll be back just a few days before Mia’s big birthday party. Dad laid it on pretty thick with Mia, talking about how much he’s going to miss her. She ate it right up.

  So this morning, they got an early start. I have to say, it gave me a little anxiety, as Mia was the one doing the driving, but the thought of three days alone with Devlyn made it easy to get over. I’ve probably only had a fraction of the sex most men my age have experienced. It’s time to make up for that.

  Leaving my truck parked at the store, I walk to Devlyn’s house. It’s not far, and I don’t want any nosy neighbors talking, so it’s best that my truck not be in front of her house all night. It’s only been a few days since our night together, but it feels like months. I hope the next few days go by slowly.

  Devlyn’s house, like the rest of Eden Valley, looks like it was ripped from the pages of a fairytale. A winding path of flowers leads up to a stone cottage with huge front windows and a slate roof. The double front door is painted white to match the window trim. I’m not sure how old the house is, but Devlyn has kept it immaculate. I doubt I could find so much as a broken flower stem.

  Before I step to the door, I give one more glance over my shoulder. All clear. I lift my hand to knock, but the door opens. A smiling Devlyn pulls me inside and jumps in my arms. Her arms and legs wrap around me, my hands on her ass, and she kisses me hard on the lips.

  “Guess you missed me,” I tease.

  She pulls back, looking into my eyes. “I’ve been missing you all my life.”

  “We only just . . .”

  She runs her fingers through my hair. “All my life.”

  She’s had these feelings for me that long? She has to be exaggerating. “I had no idea.”

  “I’m a good liar,” she says, wiggling free.

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?” I ask. She gives me one of those woman looks where you know they are internally rolling their eyes. “Garrett, I know you. You love hard. There was only room for one woman in your life. Mia.”

  “My life, Mia, we wouldn’t be where we are without you. My life doesn’t happen without you. I know that,” I say.

  Softly, her lips land on mine. Unlike the other night, there’s patience behind her kiss. Apparently, she’s been waiting years for this moment. Years for my dumb ass to figure out how I feel about her, which also means she’s played out this moment a thousand times in her mind. The female mind is vastly different from the male, so I doubt seventy-two hours naked is what she has in mind. So I do what any gentleman would and ask, “What do you want to do today?”

  “A lot of this,” she whispers, kissing me again.

  *

  I snatch her panties out of her hand. “Nope.”

  Her laugh fills the room. “I’m not sleeping naked.”

  “Who said anything about sleeping?” I say, holding them over my head.

  “Give me my panties,” she says, smiling and reaching for them, but I capture her in my arms. Her body is still warm from our shower together, her hair still pinned to the top of her head. “I need those.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Yeah, I do. What if there’s a bug or a spider or something? It could bite me or crawl up in there and make a home in my vagina.”

  I just stare at her. She has the craziest mind in the history of women. Who the hell thinks of these things?

  “Besides, I could get cold,” she says, yanking the panties from me.

  I snatch them back. “Is your story that you have an arachnophobic vagina or a hypothermic vagina?”

  She’s laughing and shaking her head at me, and there is nothing better than this. Nothing better than being with her. “Today’s been the best day,” she giggles out.

  Anyone else looking in would think we didn’t do anything special today, besides all the sex. We watched a movie together, cooked together, showered together—all the things that other couples probably take for granted. It’s business as usual for them to crawl into bed together, and I hope to God I never feel that way about sharing a bed with Devlyn.

  Grinning, I hand her panties back to her. She slips them on then pulls the sheets back on her bed, holding them up for me. I slip in beside her. She lays her head on my chest, her
hair fanning out, and I wrap her in my arms. You always see couples in movies sleeping like this, and I’ve always thought it was ridiculous. Who can sleep all tangled up with someone else? Sleep or not, I’m not letting go of her. I can go without sleep if it means she’s in my arms.

  “Garrett,” she whispers, and I hear her voice crack.

  Moving her hair, I look down at her face, a few silent tears glistening in the moonlight. “Baby, what is it?”

  “It’s . . .” she stammers. I sit up, pulling her with me, getting concerned now. Devlyn Drake is seldom without a witty comeback. “I’m having a hard time believing this is real.”

  “I wouldn’t play with you.”

  “I know that. It’s just . . .” She shakes her head. “I gave up on you, on us, a long time ago.”

  Having your woman cry is the worst. As much as I want it to stop, I know she’s got years of shit she needs to get off her chest. “Don’t give up on me again,” I say. “No matter what stupid shit I do.”

  She giggles through her tears. “I’m being silly.”

  “You don’t cry for silly reasons,” I say. “You have some things you need to say?” She nods. “And you’re scared to say them?” She nods again. I give her a little kiss on the forehead. “We’ve had non-stop sex with the promise of more. Aside from the panties you insisted on wearing, you’re naked in bed with me. There couldn’t be a better time to lay some deep shit on me. I’m liable to give you anything you want.”

  She sits up, looking me right in the eye. “Kids?”

  Well fuck, she couldn’t start with something little, like do you keep the ketchup in the cabinet or refrigerator?

  “I want them,” she says. “It’s a non-starter.”

  “Devlyn, we haven’t even had a real date yet. I think . . .”

  “That’s not going to work with me. Look, if you are certain you don’t want any more kids, you need to tell me.”

  “How am I supposed to tell you? You basically just said it’s over between us if I do.”