I want to focus on him and bring him pleasure but every time I focus on him, I lose my buildup. I close my eyes and focus on what he’s doing. Then I move back to him, and he moans. I do everything I can possibly think of to get him to keep moaning. They are the most beautiful sounds, and I’m the one making them erupt from his lips.
He loosens his suction on me. “If you don’t slow down, I’m going to blow my load before you.” Then he’s back on me, and I writhe in the bed sheets. I bite his thigh to muffle my scream as my passion explodes out of me and all over him.
He rocks back on his heels, and I sit up. He removes my shirt and uses it to wipe his mouth off. Malcom leans over and messes around in the side table.
“You don’t have to keep wearing them anymore as long as you really haven't been with anyone else, and you really did have a vasectomy.”
“You sure?” he questions.
“Yes. How do you want me?”
Without missing a beat, he says, “On your back with your ass in the air.”
“Been thinking about this, have you?”
“Maybe.”
I do as he says, using my heels to keep me hovering above the bed. He moves between my legs and in one quick thrust his entire length is inside of me. He pulls it out just as fast. “Sorry. I got a little carried away.”
His bulbous head breaches my opening again as he slowly moves it in until it’s deep enough for me to feel it hitting my cervix.
“Fuck. You are so tight. I’m not going to last. I’m sorry.”
He holds my hips as he pumps in me. I close my eyes, enjoying every time he hits off the back of my canal. It’s a hurt that feels good, and I could let him do this to me all day every day.
“Open your eyes.”
I open them up as his lips come smashing down on mine, and he lets out an unearthly growl.
TWENTY-FIVE
Atticus and Sawyer are back, and we're watching Sunday night football in the living room with Pops. Pops yells at the screen for the fifteenth time as I get up to go get some ice cream from the kitchen. I find Mom sitting alone at the table. She’s crocheting.
I grab two spoons, the ice cream from the freezer, and sit down next to her. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Why do you think something's wrong, honey?” she says, as she spins thread around her finger.
“You only crochet when you’re upset about something.” She hasn’t crocheted at all since the boys and I have been back.
“Money keeps disappearing from the cash register at the store, and I hate to fire Amy, but she’s the only other person with access to the cash register.”
Mom hasn’t mentioned much about money missing since when we first came to town back in August, so I thought she had already taken care of it. “Have you talked to her about it yet?”
“No, could you do it? I don’t want Archie to know.”
She never hides things from Pops. I think they’ve both grown pretty fond of Amy. “How much money has come up missing?”
“In the past two weeks, five hundred dollars.”
“Wow. That’s a lot, Mom. Yes, I will go talk to her. When does she work again?”
She relaxes her body into the chair and lays her hooks on the table. “Tomorrow after she gets out of school.”
“I’ll make sure to stop in without the boys and see what’s going on.” I know they go to school with her, so I’d rather they not know anything about it. That way if they’re asked, they have nothing to tell.
“Don’t be too mean. She doesn’t come from a very good family, but I can’t let her keep taking our money. We’ll have to close up shop.”
I rub her back. “No, you can’t let her do that Mom.”
Between Mom and I, we eat the entire half gallon of mint chocolate chip. My phone vibrates from the counter. I put the empty container in the trash and the spoons in the sink before checking it.
Malcom: When I went to pick up Elsie, Roxanne was there. Angie has convinced her to go to rehab again. She leaves in the morning.
Me: That’s good news, right?
Malcom: I guess. She’s done this several times before. I hope this time it sticks for Elsie’s sake.
Me: Me too.
Me: I just found out that someone has been stealing from my parents’ store. I’ll be dealing with that tomorrow.
Malcom: That’s crazy. I’m sorry.
Me: I’m going to get to the bottom of it. Let me know if you learn anything else new tomorrow related to Roxanne.
Malcom: Will do.
I’ve pretty much completed the beach novel, so I’ve spent the day rereading the final chapters before submitting them to Writer’s Talent Inc.
I submitted an application for an entry level position at a publishing house close to Inez’s firm. I wasn’t going to because I know my chances of getting it are slim to none, but Inez says I’ll never know until I try. She also said that Stephen has asked to meet me. He wants to settle out of court and without a mediator. It sounds fishy to me, but I’d do just about anything to have this divorce final, so I agreed to meet him Saturday morning.
Pops took the day off from the store because Mom forced him to have his annual checkup before the end of the year. Mom is at the store until I get there later. I told the boys I would be busy when they get out of school, so Mom would be there to pick them up, but that she’d be late.
I call Malcom on my way to the store.
“Hey.”
“Hey, are you busy?” I ask.
I hear papers rustle. “No, just packing up to head home.”
“Did Roxanne head to rehab today?” I’ve never known anyone personally that has dealt with addiction, but a lot of them did come to Stephen to have their teeth pulled.
“She did. The rehab she is going to this time is some fancy one in Tennessee where they serve all organic food and let you pet horses. It’s the same place some bitch from that Teen Mom show on MTV went. I swear she cares more about going to the same rehab as some teen mom than she does about getting clean.”
I drive past the public library. “I’m sorry. How many rehabs has she been to?”
“This is her fourth one closer to home. She went to one in Columbus, then one in Toledo, then back to Columbus, and now this one. I don’t know if she’s gone to any near Malibu or not. Probably not.”
“Well, I’m here if you ever want to talk, but I’m pulling into the store now. I’ll text you later.”
“Bye Sugar Tits.”
I smile before saying, “Bye.”
I flip the open sign to closed and lock the door after I enter Jenkins Hardware. Mom left to pick the boys up as I walked in.
Amy’s wiping down the countertop. She looks frail, like maybe she hasn’t eaten in a while. There’s a stain on the hoodie she’s wearing, and her hair looks like it hasn’t been washed in at least a week. She’s old enough to work, so I know she’s old enough to have better hygiene. I look down at her feet, and her right big toe has poked a hole in the front of her worn tennis shoes.
“Amy,” I say. Startled, she knocks over the rack of post cards when she turns to face me. She drops down to her knees and scoops up the cards. I bend down beside her and place my hand over top of hers, halting her from moving further. “Amy, do you know who I am?”
“I’m sorry. I-I’ll clean this up. Of course, I know who you are Adaline.”
I stand, and she follows my lead. “My mom noticed that the cash register has come up short a few nights recently. You’re the only person who had access to the register besides her.”
She picks at the inside of her wrist. “I’m sorry. I just… my mom hadn’t saved any money for Christmas, and she wouldn’t ask anyone for help. My siblings, they still believe in Santa Claus, and I promise I’ll pay all of it back. I just didn’t want them going without another Christmas.”
“You know if you would have said something to Mom or Pops, they would have helped you. You didn’t have to steal it.”
“I’m
real sorry. I’ve felt horrible since I took it. I was going to put it back today.” She reaches inside of her hoodie pocket and pulls out a handful of wadded up bills. “I hadn’t bought anything with it yet. I was going to, but it just felt wrong. They don’t need anything that bad, and I don’t have any way of going shopping.”
If they dress the way she does, they most certainly need some new clothes at the very least. “Now, what’s done is done. How about you tell me a little bit about your siblings, and we go together to get them some things for Christmas?”
She shoves the money in my direction. “No, really, they’ll be okay. I just thought I would have had more money by now to pay for the gifts out of my paychecks from here but…” she drops her head.
“But what?”
“Mom needed the money to pay the bills she said. I ended up giving her everything I had. I just wanted them to get something for Christmas for once. They asked last year why Santa only brought them some worn shoes when all the kids at school got new ones. All I was able to get were a couple pair from the lost and found at school, and they didn’t really fit. They thought it was because they had been bad, so this year they’ve been extra good, hoping Santa would bring them something good.”
“Let’s go get them something then. You can help me pick it out.” Sawyer and Atticus do not realize how fortunate they really are.
“I’m not asking for a handout, really. I’ll figure something else out.” She removes her Jenkins Hardware apron from over her head and hands it to me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better employee. I understand you have to fire me.”
“Now, no one said anything about firing, but you cannot steal anymore. If you need something, you have to tell me or Mom.” She won’t be able to help with any bills if she no longer has a job.
“I promise I won’t. I’ve been sick ever since. I couldn’t eat or sleep. That’s why I was putting the money back tonight.”
“Let me call Mom to see if she can come back and run the store while we go shopping for your siblings.”
I went in the back and called Mom and told her everything. She felt the same way I do about using the money to get the kids some things for Christmas.
Stephen’s company always sponsored a family every Christmas. I was in charge of it. I text him to see if he has sponsored a family yet. If he hasn’t, I’m going to make him sponsor Amy’s.
After Mom showed up at the store, we left and headed to the city. A lot of the stores are doing holiday hours and are open later. As I drive, I say, “Tell me about your siblings.”
She clasps her hands in her lap. “Pete’s seven and in the first grade. David’s three, so he goes to Headstart. David is really smart; he can already write his name. Pete doesn’t like school and refuses to get up for me most mornings.”
“Do you get everyone ready in the morning?”
“Yeah, most mornings.”
Oh. “Who watches them when you’re at work?”
“Sometimes Mom is home.”
She didn’t come out and say the boys watch themselves, but I’m pretty sure that’s what she was implying. I’ve barely started letting Sawyer and Atticus stay home alone, and they’re fifteen now.
We bought both her brothers two new outfits, a new pair of shoes each, and she picked out a remote-control car for each of them. She didn’t want to get anything for herself, but I made her.
Stephen had messaged back by the time we had arrived at the mall, and I told him I was using some of the child support money to help this family. He said to use however much I wanted because he was going to write it off his taxes for sponsoring them.
Amy ended up getting some new clothes, a pair of shoes, and she wanted a book.
We’re in a bookstore now looking for this book she wants. They are about to close. I make my way to the romance section and find the book I wrote, Kisses After Midnight. I knew what the cover looked like because the editor sent it to me. The author’s name is Dorthea Newell. I look at the other books written by Dorthea Newell. They all have half-naked men gracing the covers and the titles are as generic as the one I came up with. I grab Kisses After Midnight as they announce overhead the store is closing.
Later, I dropped Amy off at a trailer park. She wouldn’t let me help her carry anything inside. She thanked me a million times. I’m glad we were able to have her brothers’ gifts wrapped before we left the mall. I’m sure they are inside, and I know how excited she is for Christmas morning now.
I can’t help but wonder about her little brothers. It sounds like there is at least some neglect going on in her house. It’s not really my place to step in, but I’m going to keep a closer eye on her now. I don’t think she will steal again, but I would hate for something to happen to her or her siblings and know that I just turned a blind eye to the situation.
As I head home, I think about how fortunate my family is and how blessed I am to have two parents who love me and took great care of me. I hadn’t asked Amy any about my boys, but I wonder if they are nice to her. She’s a junior and they’re freshman, so they might not even see each other at school. I need to have a good long talk with Sawyer and Atticus.
TWENTY-SIX
I told myself I wasn’t going to worry about money, but I haven’t heard anything from The Hive. I can only assume the figgy pudding article didn’t go over well. Writer’s Talent Inc. said they didn’t care for the ending I wrote for My Summer with Nick. I haven’t been able to come up with anything else I like. For five days, I’ve stared at the blank screen and written zero words.
I’m taking the day off from writing, not that I’ve actually been doing any. I have my meeting with Stephen this morning before he takes the boys for a week. They are on Christmas break.
Malcom was pretty busy most of this week finishing up things at the school to get ready for break. He has great hours. He says he doesn’t make a lot of money, but it gives him more free time to spend with Elsie.
Mom says the drawer at the hardware store has been correct every night this week. She even invited Amy to Christmas, but Amy declined because she was spending it with her brothers.
I tried to get Mom to ask Amy more about her home life, but she said you shouldn’t go prying into other people’s business unless they ask for your input. I just have a bad feeling about her situation, not that I’m really in any kind of place in my own life to help.
I receive a message from Malcom as I’m getting ready.
Malcom: Roxanne asked me to take Elsie for a visit tomorrow for a family day or some shit.
Me: Are you going to take her?
Malcom: No.
Me: Probably for the best. She shouldn’t be going to a place like that. Don’t get me wrong, I know she’s her mom, but she shouldn’t see her like that.
Malcom: I knew what you meant. Let me know how it goes with Stephen. I’m a call away if you need me.
Me: Thanks Malcom.
Malcom: Anything for you, Sugar Tits.
I’m glad he isn’t taking her, but also sad she is going to miss seeing her mom. Malcom said his parents are coming in for Christmas. I’ll be meeting them for the first time. I’m kind of nervous, but he says not to be. Apparently, they are excited to see the woman who has swept their son off his feet.
Stephen’s parents never seemed to care for me. They moved to Colorado when Stephen went to college there. They stayed even after we moved. They rarely see the boys, but Stephen said he is taking Sawyer and Atticus there to see them this week.
I’m meeting Stephen at a local diner in town. He wanted to meet in private, but I told him it had to be public. I’m not sure what kind of stunt he’s trying to pull, but I may need witnesses.
I dress in black leggings and a sweater my mom got me. It reads, ‘this is my Hallmark Christmas movie watching shirt’. Maybe she is unaware that even though I write about romance, I never watch those horrible movies. Everyone knows they all have the same plot and use the same six actors. How they still make money off releasing twenty
new films of the same movie every year, I’ll never know.
I pull my coat snug around me as I walk from my car to the entrance of the diner. Stephen is nowhere to be found. I take a seat at a booth near the back of the restaurant making sure I have a clear view of the door.
The waitress walks over and asks, “Whatta ya like?”
“Do you have iced coffee?” I say as I look at her name tag. Cat.
“We have regular coffee, but I can bring ya some ice in a cup.”
“That would be fine. Cream too, please. Thanks, Cat.”
“It’s pronounced like Kate,” she says, before turning and walking away.
I like that. I might use it in my next book.
There is a table of six men sitting under a sign that reads, ‘The Liars Table’. I bet they’re here every morning gossiping like a bunch of women. There is a man asleep at a booth a couple tables down from me. A little girl sits with her grandparents in another booth. As they read the newspaper, she watches the cars go by out the window.
Cat sits my coffee on the table just as Stephen walks in like he owns the place. He wasn’t always that way. He wasn’t always so cocky. He didn’t always come off as a jerk. I can’t remember when he changed. Sometime in med school, I suppose. He’s wearing black slacks, a purple button-down, and a black coat.
I wave him over in my direction, but he stops at the counter and removes a coffee cup from beside the pot. Then he pours himself a cup of coffee before walking over to me.
As he takes the seat across from me, I say, “Making yourself at home, I see.”
“My dad and his friends always did that here when I was kid. We came here almost every Saturday morning at nine for breakfast.” He takes a drink of his coffee, and I take a drink of mine.
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“I never did make much time to come back here and visit.”
“No, you didn’t. Are you going to tell me what this is about?”
He clears his throat. “I thought we might catch up first. Talk about the boys.”
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