Finding Joy (The Joy Series) (Volume 2)

by Jenni Moen

  “Hey, Tony. I’m late,” I hollered behind me. It was 7:35. I’d gotten tied up at work, and now I only had 25 minutes before Marlene and Lizzie would be here. I had even less time to explain the situation to Adam and show him the door.

  “He’s already up there,” Tony said, as if he could read my mind. I wasn’t surprised that Tony knew his whereabouts. It seemed that Adam had made his first friend in the building. Unfortunately, his only friend was the guy who was paid to know everyone’s business.

  “Okay, thanks,” I said. I spun back around to face him before I crossed the threshold of the elevator. “Hey, Tony, I’m expecting two visitors in a few minutes. Lizzie …whom you’ve met … and an older woman. Will you send them up?”

  “Absolutely,” he said.

  “Oh, and Tony, my dad showed up last night. If he comes back, don’t let him up, okay? Or at least give me a head’s up?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, with a salute.

  “Thanks,” I hollered as the elevator door closed between us.

  I twisted the knob even before I inserted the key. When it turned and opened, I made a mental note to give Adam another tongue lashing about leaving the door unlocked. It wasn’t a good idea even in this building. It was an especially bad idea with my dad on a rampage. Of course, maybe this wasn’t the night to turn into a nag. I would table that conversation for later.

  I threw my bag under the table by the door and made a quick sweep of the living room and kitchen. No Adam. Tony was right, though. He was here somewhere. Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady” was booming through the living room and was a dead giveaway that the man of the house was home.

  I swooped into the bedroom and found Adam sitting on our bed. His head was bent forward as he studied a paper in his hands. “Hey,” he said, looking up and sending me his killer lazy smile. “Did you have a good day?”

  “I did,” I said. I leaned against the doorway and kicked my heels off. As I continued to study him, my mind went all fuzzy, and I forgot why I was in such a hurry.

  His elbows rested on his thighs, causing his biceps to bulge just a bit. Perfectly defined shoulders stretched his t-shirt tight against his upper back. Maybe the locks weren’t necessary. I really didn’t doubt his ability to keep me safe, especially if he was wielding his trusty umbrella.

  “Did you do anything special for lunch?” he asked, raising a smirky eyebrow at me.

  “As a matter of fact, I did,” I answered vaguely.

  A genuine smile spread across his face before he returned his attention to his reading. “Good. I’m glad you liked it. Don’t ever forget it.”

  “I’ll try not to.” I moved from the doorway so that I was standing squarely in front of him. “What ‘cha reading?”

  He sat up straighter and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Instructions.”

  “For what?” I asked, gingerly sifting my fingers through the back of his hair.

  “For teaching that damn cat to piss and shit in the can.”

  “Oh,” I laughed. “It’s already here? Man that was fast.”

  “I paid for overnight shipping.”

  “That probably cost more than the actual kit, didn’t it?”

  “It did, but I’m getting on this now. Burke’s not winning this bet.”

  “You just want to see him in chaps,” I said, laughing some more.

  “No. I could do without that. What I don’t want to see is him sitting behind the wheel of my car.”

  I smiled and laid my head down on top of his, drinking in his musky scent. “You’re so protective of that car.”

  “Uh, yeah. Burke is a terrible driver. He’ll drop the transmission or strip the gears. He can barely drive that van half a mile without causing an accident or a pedestrian to shit their pants.” He patted me on my backside. “Besides, it’s my baby. I have to protect her from bad influences.”

  His proclamation reminded me of the task at hand. I glanced at my watch behind his head. Fifteen minutes. “Hey, in the spirit of rocking boats and protecting babies from bad influences, I have something I need to talk to you about.”

  He gripped my waist and held me just far enough away that he could look me in the eyes. “Hit me with it.”

  “Well, the director of the Big Sisters/Big Brothers Program called me today. She thinks Lizzie’s been living alone for a while. Someone in the building tipped her off.”

  His arms went rigid, and he gripped my waist a little tighter. “Alone? Are you kidding me?”

  “Maybe for a week now. You know, the apartment was too clean yesterday. I should have figured it out. I can’t believe I didn’t,” I said. Every time I thought back on it, I was swallowed up by how I had failed her. Yet again.

  “It’s not your fault if her mom disappeared. So what are they doing about it? Is the state taking over?”

  “Well, that’s the thing. Marlene said that she’s already spoken with Lizzie’s grandma in Boston and that she wants her to come there.”

  “That’s great,” he said.

  “Yeah, but they need somewhere to stash her for a couple of days.” I gave him a weak smile. “I told her that Lizzie can stay here.”

  “Sure. Of course, she can,” he said, getting up and heading into the bathroom as if it was settled.

  I followed behind him and watched him take the cat contraption out of the box. He lifted up the seat on the toilet and positioned it over the hole. “Hey, can you go get the litter?” he asked. “Let’s fill this up and see what Rubber Cat is made of.”

  “Yeah, sure, but Adam … the thing is, she can’t stay here if you’re here.”

  “Oh,” he said looking up from our now modified toilet. “I guess that makes sense. Yeah, okay. I’ll just go stay at my apartment.”

  He was making this really easy on me, reminding me once again how amazing he was. “So you’re okay with it?” The relief was apparent in my voice. It was probably written across my face as well.

  “Of course, I am. Were you worried?” he laughed.

  “Yeah, a little. I mean that’s a lot of boat rocking in a 24-hour period.”

  “Geez, Allie. That’s not boat rocking. I like Lizzie. And I know what she deals with every day. I’ve been there. The difference is at least I had my dad … some of the time, anyway.”

  It suddenly dawned on me why Adam had made an almost immediate connection with Lizzie. They had bonded over one afternoon of rollerskating, rock climbing, and pizza. I’d thought Adam was just naturally good with kids, but that wasn’t the whole of it. As my dad had so eloquently reminded me the night before, Adam’s mom had also been a drunk … and God only knows what else. So while I, with my perfect upbringing, could only sympathize with Lizzie, he actually empathized with her. He had lived a different version of the same childhood. I don’t know why I hadn’t put it together before now.

  “Besides, it’s only for a few days. It will give me a chance to pack some stuff up anyway. When is she supposed to get here?” he asked, just as I heard a knock on the door.

  “Umm, I guess that would be now.” I glanced down at my watch. Ten minutes to go still. They were early.

  “I’ll pack a bag,” he said, moving toward the closet. “Is it bad that I’m still here?”

  “It’s okay,” I said, though I wasn’t sure. “I want you to meet Marlene.” I walked through the bedroom toward the living room, and muffled agreement followed me from the closet

  “Change your shirt though,” I said, raising my voice so that he could still hear me in the bowels of our tiny walk-in closet. “I’m not sure she’ll appreciate it,” I added under my breath. He’d been wearing a shirt with a man in a black trench coat on it. The man was handing a little girl a sucker, and underneath them it said, ‘Strangers are Awesome.’ The shirt might not make the best first impression with the director of the Big Bros/Big Sisters organization.

  On my way to the door, I made a broad sweep around the living room to turn off Run Rabbit Run, which would also cause Marlene
to question our ability to be positive influences on Lizzie.

  Swinging the door wide, I looked into the excited face of Lizzie and the harried face of Marlene.

  “He let us up. I hope that’s okay,” Marlene said apologetically.

  “Of course,” I said, stepping aside to let them in.

  “Guess we finally get to have a sleepover,” Lizzie said excitedly as she brushed past.

  Marlene gave me a weak smile. “She seems to think this is an exciting adventure.”

  “It is an exciting adventure!” Lizzie said, as she tossed her backpack on the floor and flopped back onto the couch. Making herself right at home, she grabbed the remote off the table and flipped on the TV. “I’ve never lived in a place like this. Geez. What channel is this?”

  I didn’t need to look at the screen to know what channel Adam had been watching last. The room was suddenly filled with the sounds of a raucous sex scene. Heavy panting and moaning reverberated from the surround sound system that he had installed a few weeks earlier.

  “We weren’t watching anything,” I murmured, as Adam strode in looking disheveled. He had a dufflebag in one hand and a loaded cat carrier in the other. My attention flicked back and forth between him and the TV, and I wasn’t sure if I was more shocked by the noises coming from the TV or by the fact that he was stealing my cat. After one look at my face, he dropped the duffle and the carrier and strode across the room. He hit the button on the TV, turning it off just as the woman filling the screen had an epiphany and started screaming for God.

  “Sorry. I was watching an old episode of the Sopranos earlier.”

  “Whatever, guys. It’s not like I haven’t seen a sex scene before. I mean, look at me,” Lizzie said nonchalantly.

  “Lizzie!” we all admonished at the same time. She was turning into a real mess. Though it was probably just a defense mechanism, I was going to need to straighten her out. Too bad I only had a few days to do it.

  “What?” she asked with a shrug.

  “Anyway,” I said, turning to Marlene who no longer seemed concerned with Lizzie. Instead, she was openly gawking at Adam, eyeballing him like he was a piece of meat.

  This was something I had grown accustomed to. I no longer got my panties in a bunch over it. After all, I was able to recognize Adam for what he was. And he was yummy, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

  His brown hair was perpetually just a bit too long, hanging over his ears in a disheveled manner that was all him. Though his clothes were always casual and usually consisted of some smart-ass t-shirt and a pair of well worn jeans, he wore them with a confidence that rivaled any well-suited investment banker on Wall Street. But it was the eyes that did it for all the ladies. Warm and chocolaty, one look from them made any woman all gooey inside … myself included.

  It didn’t bother me when other women fawned all over him. I was used to it. I had been dealing with it since our very first date. From the waitress who had wanted him to the bartender that I suspected had already had him, everywhere we went women were tripping over themselves to get a piece of Adam. It didn’t bother me though. He barely even noticed these other women. He only had eyes for me these days.

  However, Marlene was my friend … of sorts … so I could only let her make a fool of herself for so long. “Adam, this is Marlene. Marlene, Adam. She’s the director of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program, and she’s here to talk about Lizzie.”

  My voice snapped her out of her trance. She stammered out a hello and extended a hand to shake Adam’s. When she let his go, we had All-Business-Marlene back, and she quickly got down to the current business of Lizzie.

  She had talked with Lizzie’s grandma again and confirmed that I could deliver her to Boston on Friday. Since she’d had ‘the opportunity to meet’ Adam now, Marlene was comfortable with Adam hanging around Lizzie though we all agreed that he shouldn’t sleep here. And when I had brought up the problem of getting Lizzie to school, Marlene had even agreed to allow Adam to drive her. I knew he would be excited to have a reason to get his car out, and Lizzie had perked up at the idea of showing up at school in Adam’s ‘awesomesauce’ car. That statement from her had gotten three blinking stares from the adults in the room.

  After all the details of Lizzie’s stay had been thoroughly hashed through, Marlene said her good-byes, promising to call me the next day for an update.

  As soon as the door shut behind Marlene, Lizzie turned the TV on again and started flipping channels. Adam spent a few minutes getting his books together for his class the next day and then walked to the door. With his school stuff, his duffle bag, the cat carrier, and the box with the toilet contraption in it, he was more loaded down than a pack mule.

  It was then that I remembered that he’d packed my cat.

  “You aren’t really taking my cat, are you?” I asked, following him into the hall.

  “I most certainly am. He and I are making progress on our little project. We can’t take two days off. We’ll lose our advantage over the competition.”

  I chuckled. “I had no idea you were so competitive.”

  “Win or die trying, babe,” he said with a crooked smile.

  “Well, how are you going to get him to your apartment? You aren’t really going to take Rubber Cat on the subway, are you? He might have a coronary. He’s an introvert, you know.”

  “I thought of that. I’m going to take a cab.”

  “You … Mr. Public-Transportation-or-Nothing … are going to willingly take a cab?”

  “I am. For you. So that your cat doesn’t die of an embolism on the subway.”

  “Do you need any cash?” I asked. Now I was just trying to delay his departure. I wasn’t in any hurry to see him leave.

  “No,” he said, throwing me a harsh look. “I don’t need any cash. I’m not a kept man, Allie.”

  What? That wasn’t what I’d meant at all. “I know that,” I stammered. “I meant. I just meant …well, you never have cash on you. I just wanted to make sure that you could get home okay…since you’re taking a cab and all.” I looked down at the floor and shifted nervously on my feet.

  Money was something we didn’t talk or worry about. He had his. I had mine. But Adam was a proud man, and I was very aware that he took issue with the source of his money. I still didn’t know exactly how much money my dad had paid to Adam’s family in the settlement, but from what I had gathered, it was substantial. Though it meant financial freedom for Adam and his mother, it was a thorn in his side. I certainly hadn’t meant to imply that he needed to get money from me.

  He set the bundle of bags, boxes, and cat down at his feet. Moving toward me, he pushed me up against the hallway wall and caged me in with his hands on either side of my head. His hips pressed into my stomach, causing the butterflies that dwelled inside to wake up and take flight.

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” he said, looking me square in the face. His eyes were talking to me again, and they were telling me that despite his gruff voice he wasn’t mad. “I’m not going home. I’m already home. I’m willingly leaving only because I know its temporary.”

  “Temporary,” I said with a contented sigh. I wrapped my arms around his waist and tucked my fingers into the back pockets of his jeans.

  “Yes, temporary,” he said, leaning in and brushing his lips against mine. His tongue gingerly swiped across my bottom lip until I opened up to him. Our tongues tangled around each other until my knees were weak and my breathing ragged. My fingers, still tucked into his jeans’ pockets, grasped at the firm ass concealed within. He held onto the kiss, not letting me come up for air until I was rethinking this whole alternative sleeping arrangement. Only then did he pull away.

  “Two nights and I’ll be back where I belong. So don’t be getting any ideas about getting another roommate,” he said, before placing a final kiss on my forehead. Then without further fanfare, he pushed off from the wall, retrieved his belongings from the floor, and sauntered down the hall toward the elevators.<
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  “See you bright and early in the morning!” I called after him.

  “Sleep tight,” he said smoothly without turning back around.

  I smiled contentedly at his backside and headed back into my apartment.

  “Movie night!” Lizzie said with teenage enthusiasm. “What do you want to watch?”

  “You pick. The movies are all in that drawer,” I said, motioning below the TV. “No rated-R’s for you, though.”

  My phone barked in my back pocket, and I pulled it out to see what Carly had to say.

  CARLY: Have you bought that book yet? I’m at my niece’s piano recital at her church and reading on my phone. These crazy Brits are so hot! I’m so engrossed. I feel like I need to Google ‘puppy mill’ or ‘Auschwitz’ to snap me out of it. I might not be able to stand up and applaud in a minute.

  ALEXIS: I just got it, but I can’t start it tonight. Lizzie is here.

  CARLY: Too bad. You’re missing out. Take tomorrow off and stay home and read. Keep Adam handy.

  I giggled a little and looked up to find Lizzie watching me. She rolled her eyes and then continued digging through the movies until she found one that met her approval. “How about this?” she asked, holding up the unrated version of Knocked Up.

  “No way,” I said. “That one is beyond rated-R. Plus, the ending may scar you for life…though I applaud your eagerness to accept your situation.”

  “Whatever,” Lizzie said. “It seems appropriate, and I love Seth Rogen. He’s funny for an old guy.”

  I walked up behind her and plucked a movie out of the drawer. “You think he’s old?” I asked. From her perspective, I guess he kind of was. I held up Nottinghill. “Let’s watch this instead. Hugh Grant is really cute … for an old guy.”

  “Fine,” she said with a little annoyance. “But he’s like my grandpa’s age or something. You have any corn?” she asked as she placed the DVD in the machine.

  “You bet. I’ll make some.” I wandered into the kitchen and started digging through the cabinet for the box of greasy microwave popcorn.