The Men of CCD: Help Wanted

by Marie Rochelle

  “Nice to see you, Kathy,” Jim said trying his best to be civil for Trevor’s sake. “How are you and Donnie doing?”

  “Stop trying to be nice to me. We both know that we can’t stand each other and you know that I’m not dating Donnie anymore. I haven’t been dating him for months. He went back to his ex-girlfriend and they are expecting a baby next month.”

  “Kathy, I was just trying to be cordial because of Trevor. He doesn’t have to hear us fighting every time one of us drops him off at the other person’s house,” Jim said, trying to keep the peace because he wanted to enjoy this time with his son.

  “Fine,” Kathy snapped. “I won’t go into what a dead beat father you are. I heard about the huge amount of money you spent on that damn bike shop. How could you waste money like that when Trevor needs new clothes for school?”

  Jim knew Kathy was standing there lying to him. He bought his son new clothes two weeks ago and took them over to her house, so she wasn’t about to get any more money from him to spend on her young boyfriend.

  “I just got him some things. Where are those clothes?”

  “Trevor is a growing boy and he constantly needs a new pair of shoes or a new shirt,” Kathy told him. “You have money and should want him to have nice things.”

  “Don’t you mean that you want nice things?” Jim retorted as he slowly began to lose his temper. It was past time for Kathy to leave and she knew it. Why was she still here anyway?

  “I’m not getting into this with you. If I stay any longer I’m going to be late for my flight. Cameron is waiting for me at the airport and I don’t want to be late.” Kathy spun around and headed for the door. “Don’t forget that Trevor has an allergy to peanuts. Make sure that he doesn’t get into anything with nuts in it. Also remember that he needs a refill on his medicine. He only has a little left in his bag.”

  He hated when Kathy talked to him like he was stupid. Of course, he knew to keep Trevor away from peanuts. He was the one who figured out about the damn allergy in the first place. This wasn’t the time or place for him to lose his temper. That was what Kathy wanted him to do, so he would look bad in Trevor’s eyes and it wasn’t going to work. He was done doing this same song and dance with her.

  Walking past his ex-wife Jim stood in front of the open front door. “I think it’s time for you to leave. I would hate for you to miss your flight with your new boy toy.”

  “Have fun with Trevor, but don’t let him get away with murder,” Kathy snapped as she stormed out the door and down the driveway to her car.

  Standing in the open doorway, Jim made sure that Kathy got into her car and drove off. He didn’t want her coming back to stir up any trouble. She had a bad habit of leaving and then coming back five minutes later to start up a new fight him.

  God, I’m glad she’s gone. I have to find a way to get full custody of Trevor. Kathy doesn’t know how to be a good mother. She’s too busy trying to relive her youth with guys who don’t want her and never will. Closing the door, Jim turned back around and found Trevor standing behind him.

  “Trevor, how long have you been standing there?” Jim asked.

  “I was in the hallway listening to you and Mom fight and then I came in here when I heard her leave. Why are you two always upset with each other? The two of you aren’t ever going to get back together.

  “Trevor, what have I told you about me getting back together with your mom? She has a boyfriend and they’re going away on a trip. I’m not ever going to get back with your mom. I really want you to understand that.”

  “Daddy, I know you’re mad at Mom now, but I know the two of you will get back together. You have done it before, why not this time?” Trevor asked, staring at him.

  An oval face with perfect dark mahogany skin and huge brown eyes flashed before his eyes and Jim shook his head to get rid of the image. Shit! Why in the hell was he thinking about Keira Winters? There wasn’t any reason she should even be a thought in his mind as late as it was. She had rubbed him the wrong way from their first meeting and his opinion hadn’t changed about her since their second meeting.

  Unlike Hayward, Clinton and Dave he wasn’t looking for the love of his life. He had already been through a hellish marriage and he wasn’t able to go through that again. He only wanted to spend more time with his son. However, he was having a battle getting more quality time with him because his ex-wife was being such a bitch. She always found a way to make sure Trevor never got to spend more than a couple of hours with him.

  There were always programs on television about deadbeat fathers and how their absence influenced their children’s lives. Yet here he was trying to be a part of his son’s life and Kathy stopped him at every turn. He was getting so tired of this shit. He needed to go back to court and fight for full custody.

  It wasn’t like Kathy was the best parent in the world. Half the time, she was at her boyfriend’s house and dropped Trevor off to spend with her parents. His son needed him in his life because these were the best times of his little boy’s life. It was when his personality was starting to form and he was getting more independent. He didn’t want to miss any more of these years than he already was.

  “Daddy, are you listening to me?” Trevor demanded, hitting him on the arm.

  “Yes, Trevor, I hear you,” Jim answered. “Like I told you before, I’m not getting back with your mother. We got a divorce and she has a new boyfriend. Don’t you like Cameron?” God, he hoped that he had the right name. Kathy was forever changing the men in her life and bed.

  Trevor shrugged his little shoulder. “I guess he’s okay, but he isn’t you. I want to spend more time with you, but I’m always at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Why can’t I come and live with you? I know you have to be so lonely being here all by yourself. We would have so much fun together if I lived with you.”

  Jim was stunned that Trevor was so worried about him. He didn’t want his son to miss out on being a kid because of him. He was the parent, not his seven-year-old son. From now on, he had to make sure that he kept his fights with Kathy away from Trevor. It would be hard but he was going to try his best. Kathy may not care about what Trevor was feeling but he did.

  “Hey, do you want to go for a ride on my bike? I’ll take you over to Clinton’s house and you can see the new baby.”

  Trevor’s face lit up at his suggestion. “Will Kevan and Evan be there?”

  His son loved playing with Hayward and Clinton’s children because he was older than them and they followed him around the house like he was their big brother. He could keep them entertained for hours and True liked that her sons had an older boy to play with instead of each other all the time.

  “Yes, they are still here and I know Dylan will be excited to see you too.”

  “Okay, let me grab my backpack off the bed,” Trevor said rushing back towards his bedroom. “I want to show them the new video game that man got for me.”

  Jim laughed at his son’s excitement as he grabbed his keys off the coffee table. He didn’t know how much True was going to like Kevan and Evan playing video games at five years old, but he didn’t have to heart to break Trevor’s bubble.

  He would let Hayward or True make the decisions about the video game since they were staying with Clinton and Jenisha for a while. Since they had so many children now, Hayward was building on to their house in Montana. Hayward was even considering buying a place here in Los Angeles too as a vacation home during the colder months in Montana.

  I don’t know how Hayward can handle having four children under the age of six years old. Trevor is more than enough for me and he’s seven.

  “Daddy, I’m ready.” Trevor rushed back into the room with his backpack on. “Do you think Mrs. Campbell will let me hold one of the new babies?”

  “I’m not sure. Why don’t you ask her when we get there? Now, if she doesn’t let you I don’t want you to get upset, okay?” Jim turned and headed for the front door.

  “All right,” his son mumbl
ed as he followed behind him. “Daddy, can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “When are you going to have another kid so I can be a big brother? Most of the kids in my class have younger brothers or sisters. I want to be a big brother.” Jim stopped in his tracks as Trevor’s words hit him. Great! It wasn’t like he didn’t already have enough on his plate with dealing with Kathy, fighting with Keira about who really owned the bike shop, now he had a request from his son to make him a big brother. Damn! Was it possible for his life to get any more hectic?

  “How about we discuss this after we come back from Clinton’s house?”

  “Are we really going to talk about it when we get back home?” Trevor asked.

  “Yes, I promise you we will talk about why you aren’t a big brother yet.” Jim opened the front door and went out with Trevor behind him.

  Chapter Six

  “Isn’t that the cutest sight you’ve ever seen?”

  Keira glanced at True who joined her at the kitchen table and handed her a cup of coffee. She still couldn’t believe that her friend had already lost most of the baby weight she’d gained having My’kael and Kyle. No one would ever know that True was the mother of four boys. She looked amazing, like she was in her early twenties instead of early thirties. Keira noticed Charisma coming into the room behind True carrying a plate of cinnamon rolls.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked taking a sip of her French Roast coffee while not taking her eyes off the guys.

  “Trevor, Jim’s little boy asked me could he feed Kyle since My’kael was taking a nap and I let him. He looks so cute doing it. He’s over there sitting beside Hayward on the couch in the family room.”

  Glancing across the room, she smiled at how adorable Trevor did look feeding the baby. “Sorry, I didn’t see him at first. He does look very cute doing that. You should take a picture for Kyle’s baby book,” Keira suggested.

  “Hayward already took one with his phone. I think he’s going to email it back to our home computer, so he can print it out when we get back,” True replied.

  “I know why Keira didn’t see Trevor,” Charisma chimed in setting the plate of sticky goodness on the table next to Jenisha. “She was too busy looking at Jim. I saw how he looked at you when he first walked in. I think we might have a love connection in the works.”

  “More like a match made in hell.” Keira frowned. “I can’t stand him. He won’t let me have my father’s bike shop back. I can’t believe anyone would be so cruel and unfeeling.”

  “Keira, why are you complaining about that motorcycle shop? You never showed real interest in it while your father was alive. You were gone most of the year because of your job anyway. Why are you fighting him so hard on it? It’s not like you’re going to learn how to build a custom bike anytime soon,” Jenisha said. “Jim has talked about owning a bike shop for years. He knows his way around a bike. Any time Clinton’s motorcycle needs something done, Jim is the only person he lets touch it.”

  Keira couldn’t believe this. Why was everyone on Jim’s side? The motorcycle business had been in her family ever since she was a child. She had a right to fight the ownership of it if she wanted to. She wished that her best girlfriends would be a little more understanding.

  “I don’t know why the three of you are so upset. It’s not like Jim doesn’t have the shop. He’s going to be working there while I figure out what I’m going to do about the papers my dad signed.”

  “Are you trying to say that your father wasn’t in his right mind when the business deal took place?” True asked. “I thought all of the important documents had been taken care of and looked over by a lawyer a year before your father got sick.”

  “They were, but I still don’t like the fact a stranger is the one my father went to instead of me. Why didn’t he have any faith in me?”

  “I think you’re looking at it the wrong way. I think your father thought he was helping you out by taking care of getting the shop sold before he got any sicker. He knew how much you loved being a flight attendant and he didn’t want to take away from that.” Charisma tapped Keira on her arm. “Now, why don’t you just let Jim work there and the two of you try to find an equal playing field. I like Jim and I believe you will too once you get to know him.”

  “I will never like his arrogant ass,” Keira said glancing over at Jim. “He thinks he can say anything he likes to me and I shouldn’t comment back to him. I’m not going to be one of those women who think he has that sexy bad boy look to fall all over.”

  “Which one of us at this table said Jim had a sexy bad boy look?” True asked, grinning at her. “I believe you were the one who brought that up.”

  Keira bit her lip and mentally kicked herself for her slip. She wasn’t interested in dating him at all. She only wanted to get over the airplane crash and move on with her life. She wasn’t thinking about finding a man and having babies like the women around her. She had always been career minded and that hadn’t changed over the years.

  “I was just calling it as I saw it,” Keira said correcting True. “You have to agree that Jim does have an attitude problem.”

  “I think you’re just mad at him because he told you to stay out of my relationship with Dave when he had that huge argument. If the two of you had met under different circumstances I know you wouldn’t be bad mouthing him right now,” Charisma said.

  “I agree. Jim is coming out of a bad marriage, so his opinion is a bit jaded when it comes to females. Take some time to get to know him and you will like him as much as we do,” Jenisha said before she checked on Parker in the car seat next to her. “You have been single for way too long. It’s time you started dating again.”

  “I just got out of a relationship with Bradley.” Keira wasn’t much of a dater, but Jenisha was acting like she was an old maid or something.

  “Bradley…isn’t he the one that wanted you to be his woman on the weekends while he still living with his wife? I thought he was an asshole the first time I met him at the airport. I didn’t like his toothpaste smile. It was very phony to me.” Charisma sat back and crossed her arms. “If I had known he had a wife then I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

  “I ended things as soon as I found out he was married,” Keira said. ‘I’m just glad that I didn’t sleep with him. I would hate to think of myself as someone’s mistress.”

  “I’m glad that I’m happily married and don’t have to do the dating scene anymore,” True chimed in. “I couldn’t ask for a better husband than Hayward.”

  “You got lucky. I’m pretty sure that I won’t luck out like the three of you did,” Keira said smiling at the women sitting at the table with her.

  “Don’t worry, your time will come and when it does don’t fight it. I swear you will be so thrilled that you didn’t,” Jenisha told her. “In addition, be honest with him. Lies almost cost me my marriage and I wouldn’t want that to happen to anymore else.”

  “Clinton forgave you for not telling him your secret and now look, the two of you have two beautiful children,” True pointed out. “People go through stuff before they end up happily married. It doesn’t matter as long as it turns out in the end.”

  “So, the three of you are thinking my Prince Charming is right around the corner,” Keira joked.

  “No, I would say he’s right across the room,” Charisma said looking over her shoulder at Jim sitting next to Dave.

  Keira started to tell Charisma that she was wrong, but decided to keep her mouth shut. It wouldn’t do her any good anyway because when the trio got their minds set on something nothing was ever going to change them.

  Chapter Seven

  Early the next morning, Jim parked his motorcycle in front of Choppers hoping Keira was in a better mood than she had been yesterday. He had waited and saved up for too many years to let her take his dreams away from him. Why in the hell did she want to stay with a business she truly had no interest in?

  Maybe K
eira’s attitude yesterday was partially his fault. He had already been in a bad mood after worrying if Kathy was going to be a pain in his ass and he took some of that out on Keira. Yet, he still thought sixty percent of their argument yesterday came from her being so stubborn.

  Shit!

  She couldn’t even name the different bikes. How in the hell would she know how to repair one? It would be only a matter of time before she would have a lawsuit against her for destroying someone’s prize motorcycle.

  “I guess I need to go on in. There’s no telling what kind of trouble Ms. Winters has already gotten herself into.”

  Getting off the bike, Jim took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his long hair. He had toyed with the idea of cutting it for the last couple of months, but he wasn’t ready to give in to the thought yet. He loved how it drew female attention to him despite the fact he wasn’t interested in dating anyone.

  Jim took one last glance at his bike to make sure it was parked correctly before he went inside the shop. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Keira standing in front of him. He couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing.

  “What in the fuck are you doing?” Rushing over to her, he snapped the open-ended spanner wrench out of her hand and tossed it back into the tool box on the floor. Lord, she was working on someone’s bike! He didn’t know if she had already done some damage and was making it worst.

  “Where did you get this bike from? Who would be crazy enough to leave it with you?”

  Narrowing her eyes, Keira took a step closer to him. “Don’t you ever take something out of my hand like that again,” she yelled. “I know what I’m doing.”

  Jim seriously doubted that Keira knew what she was doing. Damn it! She was going to ruin his shop before he even got it off the ground. Well, he might as well forget thinking that today was going to start off on a good foot. He was about to piss off Keira and right at this second he didn’t care!