Wood U (Carved Hearts #4)

by L. G. Pace III

  Patty had M.J. the whole week before Molly’s wedding, but had agreed to let me have him longer for the festivities, even though technically it was her weekend. When I got to her house to pick him up for the rehearsal, he wasn’t ready. Patty was on the couch with a cigarette, and the cold way she surveyed me when I walked in triggered a silent alarm in the back of my brain.

  “What the hell, Patty?” I asked, my eyes raking Junior’s dirty face and casual clothes. “I told you I’d be here at 5:15.”

  “It’s my weekend.” She exhaled smoke through her nose, flicking her ashes into an overflowing ashtray.

  “You said I could have him. For the wedding stuff, remember?” I could actually feel my blood pressure climbing. “And you said you’d smoke outside when he was here.”

  “What I do in my house is my business,” she snapped, lighting another cigarette off of the first as if to make her point clear. “And as far as you taking M.J. tonight, I changed my mind. Junior and I are going to watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and make Halloween cookies.”

  “M.J., I need you in the shower. You have twenty minutes.”

  “But Dad, mom said we’re making cookies,” he whined. Patty’s tiny smirk made me understand how people end up on death row.

  “Looks like I’m calling my lawyer,” she muttered.

  “Go right ahead. And I’ll cut back to only paying what’s court ordered from now until you have your day in court,” I shot back, shooing Junior toward the bathroom. “No more plastic surgery for you.”

  “Do it,” she dared me. “You think I’m the one who’ll be hurt if you cut me off?”

  “Mom? Dad?” M.J. was bouncing in my peripheral vision, but I was seeing red.

  I folded my arms, doing my best to keep my cool. When I spoke, my tone was dangerously quiet. “Is that a threat?”

  “It’s a fact, Mac. Kids are expensive: T-ball, PeeWee football…hell, he was asked to three birthday parties in the last month alone.” For the first time in a while, Patty looked dead sober while picking a fight with me. “You’re only hurting M.J. if you try to get back at me through child support.”

  “You are the one hurting M.J. You can’t just play mom when you’re pissed at me.” I thrust a finger at her. “Why would you do this? You know how important this wedding is.”

  “Maybe your family should have thought about that before they treated me like shit.” She sipped her drink, and I wondered what was in it.

  “He’s in Molly’s wedding, Patty.” I tried to remain calm, though I was tempted to choke her. “Junior. I’m not telling you again. Go jump in the shower.”

  MJ stood there, his eyes flicking back and forth between us. It took almost all of my self-control, but I gave him a grin. He visibly relaxed and shot off toward the bathroom. From behind me, I heard Patty suck in a breath.

  “Oh, I see. You start shacking up with that little bitch, and suddenly I don’t have a say in what MJ does? Listen up, asshole, I gave birth to that boy, and I will say what he does and doesn’t do. How about I call my lawyer and have him seek an injunction to keep MJ away from your house when that slut is there?”

  She was baiting me, hoping to turn this into a blow up so she could justify her bad behavior. It was one of her favorite ploys to get her way. I had fallen for it often enough, so it was no surprise that she thought she could keep using it. I realized that from her point of view, this was all about Kelly. But I knew it wasn’t about me or even Kelly. It was all about the boy. A strange sense of calm settled over me. Slowly, I turned toward her, and she blanched when she saw my face.

  “Listen up, Patricia. I don’t care if you get your feelings hurt for people judging you on how you choose to live your life. If you don’t like it, then make better choices. But I guaran-damn-tee you that if my boy ever lacks for so much as a toothbrush I will take you back to court and make sure the only time you get to see him is with a court appointed shrink present.”

  The fire went out of her eyes, and she shrank back into the couch, stubbing out her cigarette quickly. Her lower lip began to tremble, and I knew she was retreating into her second favorite ploy. Trying to appeal to my sympathy. Unfortunately for her, mine was all reserved for our son.

  “Mac,” she began in a shaky voice. I slashed my hand through the air in front of us.

  “Save it, Patty. I’ve heard it all before, and I don’t care. The only thing that matters is that you behave like a mother when he’s around. I couldn’t give a good God- damn what you do when neither of us is present. Now, do I need to call my lawyer, or are you going to get your head out of your ass?”

  I left ten minutes later with a fairly presentable M.J., who babbled excitedly about what Aunt Molly had told him his role in the ceremony would be. I felt a little guilty, not for ripping Patty a new ass, but for the manipulative way I fixed the problem of the cookies. Patty knew that M.J. would freak out about not getting “mommy time” with her; that’s why she dangled the carrot. God knows she normally didn’t get off the damn couch unless she was heading out to happy hour or making my life miserable.

  When M.J. pouted about their thwarted plans, I told him that he and I would make cookies when we got home from the rehearsal dinner and that he could even stay up past his bedtime to do it. When I hinted that we’d ask Kelly to help, all of his resistance disappeared. That woman was like magic fairy dust. Sprinkle a little of her around, and the sky was just a little bluer.

  Molly and Joe had the rehearsal dinner at Tamryn’s and Robbie’s, since they lived so close to the wedding venue. The entire evening, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Kelly, who busied herself with M.J. as if she were solely responsible for him. Their interactions provided an alarming contrast to the scene at Patty’s.

  When she arrived at Pecan Grove, Kelly’s astounding beauty made it hard to keep my hands to myself. The minister walked us through the rehearsal ceremony, and when we sat down to eat at Tamryn’s, Kelly deftly placed M.J. between us. The dress she had on made me hungry in a completely different way. It was a slinky number with a tiny strap securing it behind her neck, leaving her beautiful shoulders bare. I glanced down at M.J. nestled close beside her in his red button-up shirt, and I was struck by how perfect they looked. Like the present I had always wanted on Christmas morning.

  “Sugar, can I have some more sweet tea?’ M.J. asked Kelly, rousing me from my conversation with Mason about how we were going to trash Joe’s truck the following evening.

  “Did you just call her ‘Sugar’?” I demanded, completely dumbfounded.

  “Yeah. So? You call her that all the time.” M.J. asked with a shrug, and I gaped. Kelly and Mason both snickered.

  “She’s Miss Kelly to you, Son,” I commanded.

  Junior looked unimpressed and a little confused. “Why?”

  “Because…” But I struggled forming an argument that didn’t make me look like a chauvinistic bastard marking his territory. “Because I said so!”

  “Kelly is fine. You can drop the ‘Miss,’” Kelly said, placing her arm around Junior affectionately. He gave her a side hug and shot a sideways glance of triumph in my direction.

  “Why you little—” I started, and Mason snorted, nearly spitting the beer he was in the process of drinking.

  “I’ll take him to get some tea,” Kelly volunteered softly, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. I watched as they walked hand-in-hand to the buffet, giggling conspiratorially about me, no doubt. I felt very emotional, very much like the time when she’d tucked him in at my place. I was lucky to keep it together that night, because I hadn’t been prepared for the impact she’d had on Junior or me.

  When M.J. had asked Kelly for a bedtime story, I’d been folding laundry. After several minutes, they were so quiet I decided to peek in on them. Every time I put Junior to bed, he acted like a total lunatic, and his booming voice was loud enough to wake the dead. I tiptoed down the hallway and saw them sitting on the bed quietly, each holding half the cover of some chapter book. M.J
. looked up at Kelly in pure wonder.

  “You just think lovely, wonderful thoughts,” Kelly read, her voice enthusiastic and infectious, “and they lift you up in the air.”

  As Junior began to read the next page, Kelly locked eyes with me. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe and hurried away to hang up clothes in my closet. Even so, I was drawn back to Junior’s door a few minutes later, watching them cuddled up together. My son read excitedly to Kelly, whose smile could have melted even the coldest and most scarred of hearts.

  She continued on the next page, and I was struck dumb by just how pretty a picture they made. I nearly bawled like a goddamn baby, and I escaped into the bathroom before they realized I’d been back in the doorway. I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe how old I felt. I chalked it up to work stress and told myself to get my shit together.

  Now, seeing them together by Tamryn’s two-story fireplace, I knew that I’d been fooling myself. As Kelly chatted with my mother over buttermilk pie, I knew my tearful reaction had nothing to do with stress. It was all about Kelly Palmer.

  I loved her.

  I loved exploring the world with her on her crazy impromptu adventures, as well as exploring every inch of her. I loved making her laugh and holding her in my arms. More than anything, I loved seeing her interactions with my son. I wanted her in our lives every single day and in my bed every single night. I suspected she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment, and I didn’t want to fuck everything up and scare her away with needy pleas and pushy ultimatums. I was reminded of a quote Granny liked to toss around. “A bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.” Was that right? Maybe not. It sounded kinda dirty. Strike that from the record just in case.

  “Dude. When are you going to lock that down?” Mason nodded in Kelly’s general direction, an expression of exasperation on his face.

  I sipped my drink, eyeing him with reproach. “When she’s ready.”

  “Do you pay any attention to the way she looks at you?” he asked incredulously, his eyes a little bloodshot from drinking. “She’s ready.”

  “I come with a pop-top family, Mason.” I huffed. “That’s not exactly every girl’s happily ever after.”

  “She’s great with M.J..” He snorted. “She already mothers that kid a thousand times better than Patty does.”

  I didn’t want to argue with my brother, largely because I wanted him to be right. I simply sipped my beer to stall for time.

  “At this rate she’ll die of old age before you decide that she’s ready. You might want to seal the deal before she hits menopause.” Mason popped open another beer. “That is, if you want more kids.”

  It probably sounds idiotic, but that was the first time I’d thought about whether Kelly would want kids. Seeing her doting on M.J., my gut told me she was up for taking him on at the very least.

  “I want to do this one the right way.” I glanced around to be sure no one else in my nosey-assed family could hear us. “I’m not looking to repeat my mistakes. Not with Junior in the mix.”

  “Comparing Kelly to Patty is like comparing apples to prunes,” he chuckled as he swigged down a healthy pull of beer. “Like, old pickled prunes that someone dropped in manure and stomped on.”

  “Kelly is nothing like Patty,” I agreed. “I’m going into this situation with my ducks in a row and my head on straight. I don’t want to fuck things up this time.”

  “Mac, I’m saying this one last thing and then I’m going back to minding my own business.” Mason stood and loosened his belt from around his considerable gut. “Don’t wait around for ‘the right time,’ alright? There’s never gonna be a right time.”

  After dinner, the kids begged to play tag outside, and Kelly and I volunteered to take them out. Her reaction to the view from Tamryn’s and Robbie’s back porch was nearly as dramatic as the view itself.

  “Oh, this place is heaven!” she exclaimed, gazing out at the sun, which was setting dramatically behind the large mesa in the distance. “Look at that horizon!”

  She stood enraptured by the sunset, and I was just as enthralled watching her. I kissed her bare shoulder, which was exposed by the soft material of her halter dress. It took all of my self-control to keep my hands away from the straps tied around her neck, knowing that one pull would strip her bare. I could have easily whisked her around the side of the house and given into the beast inside me who was raging to have its way with her.

  “Dad!” M.J. called, yanking me back to the real world and the responsibilities contained within. He was waving the flashlight he insisted on bringing. “Look! It’s a light saver.”

  He started making a pretty convincing imitation of the sounds from Star Wars and waving the flashlight around as if he were dueling someone. Kelly giggled as she applauded him.

  “Light saber, dude.” I bit back a laugh.

  “I love that kid.” Her words ended with a sigh. My heart swelled at the sentiment, and I slipped my arm around her and stroked her hair. She looked up at me from under her lashes, still smiling. “I love…Texas.”

  I assessed her shy eyes and blushing cheeks, and I realized she’d meant to say something else entirely. She could lie to herself a hell of a lot better than she could lie to me.

  I took her face in my hands and searched her eyes. By the light of the setting sun, I saw beyond her stammering words and her crumbling walls.

  “Texas loves you, too.” I moved in for some serious kissing, when someone cleared his or her throat behind us.

  Due to my responsibilities in the ceremony, I really didn’t have much of a chance to talk to Kelly until the reception the following night. While everyone else filled their plates at the buffet, I snuck down from the head table to steal her away to the bar.

  “This was a perfect wedding.” Kelly could make breathing into an art form. The way her chest heaved when she inhaled mesmerized me. She was oblivious to my drooling, focused on the strings of white lights crossing the rustic reception hall and the mason jars sparkling atop every table. “It was so perfectly Molly and Joe.”

  I leaned on the bar, studying her smile, her perfect ears, and the hollow of her long neck. Her deep purple gown went all the way to the floor, but the slit up the side gave me a great glimpse of her killer legs. She was devastatingly beautiful, and I was confused as to why she was here with me. “I’m happy that they’re happy. It’s long past time, and they both deserve it.”

  “Guess who else is happy?” she asked, glancing around as if she had a secret.

  “Who?” I asked, intrigued.

  “Dan and Jay.” Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “I saw Jay leaving Dan’s hotel room when I went to pick Dan up this morning.”

  “Seriously?” I was completely shocked and didn’t bother to hide it. “I thought they hated each other.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was all sexual tension.” She nodded to where they two men seemed to be having a friendly drink at the other end of the bar.

  “I’ll be damned,” I muttered, finishing off my drink.

  Her smile melted into something watchful and intense. “Are you happy?”

  “I am,” I said without pause, pinning her gaze with my own. “Are you?”

  Her lips curled in a soft smile. “Yes. But…”

  “But…” I exhaled, trying to keep things light when I really wanted to lose my shit. “That’s the last word I want to hear out of you.”

  Her face went three shades redder. “I didn’t mean….”

  I turned entirely in her direction and leaned in closer to her, breathing in her heady floral scent. “What do you mean, Sugar?”

  She swallowed, and shrugged. “Your ex. It bothers me that she used me as an excuse to threaten you and M.J.”

  I sat back, and pushed out a loud breath that seemed to be choking me. “I don’t want to talk about Patty. I’m happy, remember?”

  “Okay.” She may have spoken the word, but her expression told me she was anything but. “What do you want to talk ab
out?”

  “Us.” I locked gazes with her once more.

  “What about us?” She leaned closer to me.

  “Do you like kids?” It fell out of my mouth and I couldn’t believe I’d actually said it.

  Apparently neither did Kelly, because she blinked as if I’d sprayed her with a squirt gun. “If I don’t like kids, I’ve made a really bizarre career choice.”

  I was committed now, so I pushed forward. “Right. I guess what I meant to say is, do you want kids?”

  She tilted her head and eyed her glass of wine. Her gaze slid cautiously up to me, and she licked her lips, causing me to temporarily forget myself. “Are you asking if I want to have kids, or are you asking if I want M.J?”

  It was my turn to react in surprise. Her eyes were unrelenting as I tried to rack my brain for an intelligible answer. “Both, I guess.”

  She appeared thoughtful for a moment, and I watched the candlelight dancing in her dark eyes.

  “I guess I always thought I’d have them someday. Molly and Joe’s twins have given me a major case of baby lust. If it’s meant to be it’ll happen.” She shrugged, and studied her glass stem carefully. “As far as M.J.’s concerned, he’s amazing. I’m jealous that Patty gets to be his mom, if I’m being honest. He’s a great kid, Mac.”

  Her earnest eyes sought mine out, and I couldn’t stop myself from coming in for a kiss. She seemed surprised and confused by my response, but she responded with her usual enthusiasm.

  Molly and Joe had their first dance, and Kelly watched with rapt attention as Joe broke out some moves even I didn’t know he had. I loved the way Kelly lit up when she saw people dancing, and I was nuzzling her neck when the DJ announced it was time for the bride to dance with her father.

  I turned to look in Molly’s and Joe’s direction, livid that no one had told the jackass to skip this tradition. On top of it all, the guy was playing Butterfly Kisses, which was like a fucking twisted dagger for Short Shit, based on the look that flickered across her face.