by Natalie Ann
And though those movies were way before Kristen’s time, her mother watched them religiously. Now that she thought of it, she’d bet her mother looked up to Phyllis. Just another reason for her parents’ divorce, she was guessing.
“I have no clue what she’d do. She’s always been a wild card.”
“But she livens things up at Harper’s. They love her there. And you have a great relationship with her. I love your mom. Sometimes I wish my mom had been more like yours when I was a kid.”
“No, you don’t,” Kristen said. “She was such an embarrassment at times.”
“Please. You’ve said before your friends all loved her and loved being around her. Trust me, my mom was an embarrassment too and no one was telling me they loved her. I left the country for boarding school and didn’t come back because I didn’t want to be around her man drama.”
“Your mother is a changed woman now,” Kristen pointed out.
She knew all about Olivia’s mother and the multiple marriages, but the last one seemed to have stuck. And she loved when Olivia’s mom, Victoria, came into the shop. That woman had class miles long. Something that Kristen always wished she had.
“She is. And we’ve gotten really close too. I guess you’re right. We all have our own reason for hating our childhood.”
“Yep. Some of us have more than others,” Kristen said and was glad when a customer walked in and she got to end this conversation.
Stand Out
Two weeks later Landon was on Broadway again and decided to walk down to Hartman’s and see if Olivia was around.
Finn had called him last week to talk, saying he heard about his situation and wanted to reach out. That Olivia had slapped his hand for not doing it sooner.
Landon had laughed at Finn’s comment that was said in jest. Or so he thought. Yeah, it had to be, though Olivia was one tough chick and she probably did give Finn grief.
He had to say it did feel good to talk to someone who was kind of in a similar situation. Sort of.
Finn had had custody of Trey from day one, but he still did it alone for years until Olivia came into the picture. Though it wasn’t the same as having an eight-year-old dropped into your lap that wouldn’t communicate with you at all.
When he got in front of Hartman’s, he opened the door and looked around. The place was pretty busy. There was Kristen talking with someone at one counter while another employee was with someone else at a different counter and Olivia was in the back with someone sitting at a desk. Maybe he shouldn’t have just come in, especially in uniform since all eyes turned to him.
“Excuse me a minute,” he heard Olivia say and stand up to approach him. “Landon, it’s good to see you. Something I can help you with?”
“You’re busy. I just wanted to come thank you for having Finn call me.”
She smiled at him. “Give me a minute. I’m almost done with this custom order and we can chat. Look around if you want. Or better yet, come on back and make a coffee and grab a cookie.”
“Coffee and cookies?” he asked.
“Yes. We have drinks and snacks on hand for men when their women drag them in here to look at things.”
“Sounds like a good deal. If you won’t be too long?”
“Not long at all. Five minutes tops.”
He followed her to the back, his eyes searching out Kristen while she worked. She was wearing a navy skirt today and a white sweater with some little navy heels. She really did have a sweet body on her. Classy came to mind when he saw her working. Just enough to stand out but not be snobby about it.
When he saw her at the restaurant a few weeks ago she’d been in shorts and a T-shirt and looked mighty fine that way too. She’d still had her hair pulled back and makeup on from work, but she was more casual looking.
More fun looking than at work. Fun was something he’d been missing a lot of lately.
Her hair was down today and he couldn’t see her face, but he was guessing she was made up again. It didn’t bother him much, as it wasn’t overdone, but he tended to go toward the natural look of a woman more.
He was halfway through his coffee when Olivia’s client left and she motioned him over to her desk. He sat down and said, “I won’t take up much of your time. Like I said, I just wanted to thank you for mentioning it to Finn to call me. He said you slapped his hand.”
“I would do no such thing. But I did give him grief. I hadn’t even known about your niece. I had to call and find out if he knew.”
He frowned. “How did you find out?” She grimaced and looked Kristen’s way. “She saw me with Chloe and thought it was my child?” he asked.
“Something like that. She didn’t mean anything by it. Just said that she didn’t know you had a kid. I said you didn’t. I called Finn and he told me he’d heard what had happened. One thing led to another.”
“It’s fine. It’s not a secret.”
“I’m sorry about your sister. That had to be hard news to hear,” she said, reaching for his hand.
“It hit me hard. I guess I’m still trying to believe it. The truth is though, I hadn’t talked to Jennifer in over ten years. I didn’t even know she was in New York or had a child.”
“Then that was two shocks in one day.”
“It seems like every day is a shock now and I’m trying to get through. It helped talking to Finn. I know it’s not the same situation, but he did it alone for so long and at least I know I can call him if I’m panicking.”
“I don’t think you are the type to panic any more than Finn is.”
“Not really.”
“Finn told me he asked you to come to dinner. I’d like to extend the invitation. Bring Chloe along. She and Trey can play.”
“She doesn’t talk much. I don’t know. I don’t want it to be awkward,” he said.
“Trey is pretty shy too. Well, not as much as he was when I first met him, but it might do her good to talk to other kids.”
“She doesn’t talk much at daycare from what I hear,” he said.
He’d hoped things were getting better there, but it seemed Chloe still kept to herself. At least she wasn’t causing trouble, which the counselor had told him was a possibility too.
“Maybe she just needs some one-on-one instead of being in a group. Everything is so new to her. Trust me, I was the new kid a lot in my life. Besides, it’s supposed to be nice this weekend. Come on over Saturday for a cookout and bring your suits. The kids can play in the pool.”
“You’ve got a pool?” he asked. “Chloe said she liked to swim. I got that much out of her one night.”
“Then say yes. Maybe she will open up a little and it will give you time to talk some more with Finn.”
He turned to look at Kristen again when she laughed. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. What time?”
“Anytime that works for you. You’re at the studio on Saturday’s right?”
“In the morning. I’ll touch base with Finn and let him know when.” He stood up. “I appreciate it.”
Olivia looked over when Kristen went to talk with another customer. “I can invite Kristen along. She’s great with kids.”
“I’m kind of in over my head right now. It wouldn’t be fair to lead someone on.”
“But you’d like to get to know her better if the timing was different?” Olivia asked, pushing just enough.
“Sure. But the timing isn’t right.”
“No one says you can’t be friends. Like I said, she’s good with kids. She could be a buffer for you and Chloe. Another woman for her to talk to.”
“I wouldn’t use her that way,” he said, frowning. He was shocked Olivia even suggested it.
“And you shouldn’t use anyone. That isn’t what I meant.”
“What did you mean?” he asked.
“That it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone else other than Finn and me. That Kristen is a sweetheart and maybe she could reach out to Chloe. She likes kids and she likes to swim too. Consider it a cookout with frie
nds.”
“Does Finn ever win an argument with you?” he asked.
“Of course not.”
Story of Her Life
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Kristen said Saturday afternoon when she showed up at Olivia’s house. “I feel like a loser that needs to be set up for the prom by the beautiful friend to the jock, knowing he’d probably laugh his butt off or give me the sympathy date.”
Olivia laughed. “Kristen, that is ridiculous. You’re stunning, not a loser. Second of all, Landon wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to, pity or not. And third, I told you what he said. He is interested,” Olivia argued.
“He said the timing wasn’t right.” The story of her life, it seemed.
“He also said he didn’t want to use you when I said there was no reason you couldn’t just be friends.”
“Damn straight I don’t want to be used.”
“And he won’t. What is wrong with you, Kristen? He’s a sweet guy going through a hard time. We invited him over so he could spend some time with Finn to talk and I could keep an eye on Chloe while she plays with Trey.”
“He has complication written all over him. It seems like every guy I like falls into that situation.”
“And didn’t I tell you that we all have issues in our life? You’re looking for someone that doesn’t exist. You’ve been crushing on him for months. What if you were dating him already and this happened, would you have cut ties?”
Nothing like having one of your closest friends and boss make you feel shameful. “Of course not.”
“Then why are you thinking the way you are now?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I just feel like I’m being pushed on him. What’s wrong with being with a guy that is really into you?”
“You aren’t. He’s a big boy and can tell a woman no, just like you can tell a man no. He even taught you to throw a man to the ground if you wanted to.”
“Please, I wouldn’t throw him to the ground for nothing. Not unless I could climb on top of him while he was there.”
Olivia burst out laughing. “See you are interested. Just relax and see how the day goes. There’s no pressure at all. Not on anyone’s part. He’s going through a rough patch and making the best of it. He can relax and have a beer with a buddy and enjoy the company of us two women. Maybe you’ve got that black bathing suit in there you bought a few months ago? The two piece you were telling me about you took on vacation?”
“I might have packed it.”
“That a girl.”
***
“Sorry I’m late,” Landon said when he walked into Finn and Olivia’s backyard. He hadn’t been here before but shouldn’t have been shocked by the size of the house. Olivia came from some heavy dough.
“No worries,” Finn said. “We’ve just been sitting around relaxing. You must be, Chloe.”
Chloe looked up and nodded and Landon said, “Can you say hi to Finn? Thank him for inviting you over to swim for the day?”
He was trying to get Chloe to talk to people more and instill some manners. Though it didn’t seem like she was lacking any manners that he could see.
“Hi,” Chloe said, her voice quiet. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Don’t thank me. It was Olivia, my wife. Here she comes now and my son, Trey.”
“Hi, Chloe,” Olivia said. “We are so happy you could come today. Landon said you liked to swim.”
“I do,” she said. “I’m not really good, but I like the water.”
Shit, he hadn’t even thought to ask that. “Do you know how to swim at all?” he asked now. “I just assumed you did.”
“Yes,” she said. “I can float and swim and sort of dive, but I’m not very fast.”
“Okay. So you don’t need any floaties or anything in the deep end?” Olivia asked.
“No. I can swim, but I do like to play on floats.”
“We’ve got lots of things for you to play with,” Trey said, jumping around. “But most of them are in the shallow end.”
“Which sounds like a good idea to me,” Landon said. “Can you stay in the shallow end until I know for sure your level of swimming unless I’m in the pool with you?”
“Yes,” Chloe said and followed Trey to the pool area with her bag on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry,” Olivia said. “Kristen and I will stay in the pool area with them. We’ll watch over her.”
He glanced across and noticed Kristen sitting in a chair under an umbrella. He lifted his arm and waved at her, and she smiled and waved back. He wasn’t sure if Olivia was going to ask her to come or not.
“Thanks.”
“I’ll go get you a beer,” Finn said, “and we can sit on the deck away from the kids and women for a bit.”
“Thanks. I could use the break but still want to keep an eye on things.” He followed Finn to the deck and sat, then opened his beer and poured it in a glass. “We had an incident when we were ready to leave.”
“Incident?” Finn asked. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,” Landon admitted.
“What happened?”
“I told Chloe to go get her swimsuit and anything else she needed. She went in her room and about ten minutes later I realized she hadn’t come out. I went upstairs to see what the hold up was and she was bawling her eyes out on her bed. I went rushing in thinking she was hurt.”
“Been there and done that,” Finn said. “What was wrong?”
“She said she couldn’t find her bathing suit and she didn’t want to get in trouble.”
“She thought she’d get in trouble because she couldn’t find it?”
“I don’t know what she thought. She hasn’t cried once since I brought her home. If she cries it’s not around me and believe me I fully expected tears. Her mother died, but she doesn’t say or show much of anything. But not being able to find her bathing suit was the end of the world.”
“Do you think she was punished for things like that?” Finn asked. “Abused?”
He hoped the hell not, but had been looking for signs. “No clue. I didn’t know how to ask her either.”
“I see you found it though,” Finn said.
“We did, but that isn’t it. I found it in a box we hadn’t unpacked yet. When I pulled it out I knew there was no way it was going to fit her. We stopped at the mall quick. That was another nightmare.”
“How’s that?” Finn asked.
“She is afraid to ask for anything. I don’t think my sister gave her much more than necessities. The only time I’ve seen her smile is when I took her out to eat a few weeks ago. She was so happy over it. Like it was this big treat. I want to take her out every night to make her happy, but I know that isn’t going to solve anything.”
“No, it won’t. But you found her a suit and you’re here.”
“Yeah. I had her go try it on and then let me see it. She was uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to buy it and not have it fit and have another episode here. She wouldn’t even pick one out herself. How am I supposed to know what little girls like?”
“You’re doing the best you can,” Finn said, grinning. “How is counseling going?”
“We’ve had three counseling sessions and it’s to the point she won’t talk when I’m in the room. She stays in with the counselor while I wait, then I go in and we try to talk together. We don’t get very far. The counselor won’t say much to me unless Chloe gives her permission.”
“Makes sense. And you’ve got no clue about how things were with her mother?”
“Nothing. When I got to the apartment and saw how they were living I knew money was tight. She didn’t have a lot of possessions. Everything Chloe had fit in my SUV. Her bed was just a mattress on an old frame. There wasn’t a dresser in her room, just plastic totes that I put in the car to bring back here.”
“That’s kind of sad,” Finn said.
“She had about two boxes of toys and dolls and books. I’
ve got a box of paperwork I’ve been going through each week. I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve made to the courts and social services trying to get this guardianship squared away. I need to get her registered for school. So many things to figure out.”
“It never ends, Landon,” Finn said. “You should get a lawyer. They will take care of it all for you.”
“I was thinking that too.”
“Call Ryan Matthews. That’s who I used. His firm deals with this all the time. Not to mention his father is a judge. Speaking of Ryan…his son, Cameron, and Trey are close, along with Ryan’s nephew, Michael. They are talking about wanting karate or jiu jitsu lessons. I figured I’d talk to you about that today. I know you have all sorts of different classes there.”
“We’ve got a kids’ jiu jitsu class on Tuesday nights. I can get more information for you. I don’t teach it,” he said.
“Not a problem. Evan Malone wants to do it too. That’s Lucas Mathews’s nephew. Mac Malone is Trey’s pediatrician. You’ve got one for Chloe, right?”
“No,” he said, taking another swig of his beer. “I’m so lost.”
“You’re doing fine. Mac is great. If you don’t mind, I’ll reach out to him and let him know your situation. I can’t tell you the number of late night calls I had with him when Trey was a baby and I felt like I was in over my head.”
“Yeah, sure. I can use all the help I can get. I guess I should call Lynn and find out more about Chloe and Jennifer’s relationship.”
“Lynn?” Finn asked.
“My sister’s girlfriend.”
“Oh,” Finn said.
“Yeah. I know. So many things I had no clue about.”
“There is time yet. Trust me, you may never know it all, but you’ll get there.”
He heard laughter and turned his head to see Kristen and Olivia in the pool with Trey and Chloe. His niece was giggling and that was the sound he was zoning in on. He didn’t know she could laugh like that and was glad he decided to come after all.
Time of Need