Mitchell had to keep his head from snapping back. “You know that I do.”
“Then promise me something.”
“Anything, Sparky.” He covered her hands with one of his to still them.
“I know that helping you is the right thing to do. The boys already care about you so much. They’d be completely crushed if you got arrested and they couldn’t see you anymore. So promise me when this is over you’ll always be a part of their lives. Even if you’re not around physically, you can visit, and there’s Skype, e-mail, video chat, or whatever.”
He took her hand and rubbed the ruby ring on her finger. Since he’d been back in Red River, he hadn’t seen her wear the diamond wedding band Cam had given her. Of course Mitchell had been the best man and kept the ring in his pocket until the reverend asked for it on the altar. Mitchell would’ve never guessed in a million years that someday he’d be the one sliding a different wedding ring onto Lorenda’s finger, even if their marriage were just for show.
“I’m crazy about Jaycee and Trevor. I couldn’t walk away from them.”
“That’s all I ask, Mitchell. I’m asking for them.”
He kept fiddling with her ring. “So what now, Sparky?”
Her lush, pink lips curved into an uncertain smile. “We get married.”
Chapter Thirteen
The next evening, Lorenda took the boys for ice cream. She wanted a little time alone with Jaycee and Trevor so she could give them the news in her own way. Mitchell agreed and left them alone to make a few stops of his own.
And because she was nervous . . . and suffering from a severe case of guilt . . . and, okay, feeling selfish too, she’d gotten them an extra scoop. And bought them a new video game.
Whoever said bribery was poor parenting obviously hadn’t had two kids in as many years and then had to raise them alone.
They ambled down Main Street with Malarkey on a leash, and all three of them licked at their dripping cones. When they approached her SUV, she didn’t stop. “How about a Sunday-evening stroll in the park before we go home and do homework?”
“Sure,” Jaycee mumbled around a lick.
Trevor nodded, a chocolate ring around his little mouth.
The park was busy, so Lorenda found a shady spot under a tree where they could have some privacy.
“What would you guys think about us helping Uncle Mitch out of a tough spot? A really, really tough spot that could get him in a lot of trouble when he doesn’t deserve it.”
Jaycee stopped licking. “Aren’t you always lecturing us to help each other because that’s what family does?”
Lorenda’s took in Jaycee’s serious expression and responsible words. When had he started to sound so grown up?
She cleared her throat. “The kind of help he needs would change our life at home, at least for a while.”
“How?” Trevor said between licks.
“Um, well. Your Uncle Mitch and I would have to get married.”
“Uncle Mitch is going to be our dad?” Trevor yelled.
Lorenda’s head shot around to see if anyone had heard. Stupid, since the news had probably already circled the state. Twice.
“Well, technically he’d be your stepfather,” said Lorenda.
Trevor let out a shriek.
Malarkey squatted and relieved himself, his typical reaction when a loud noise scared him.
Delta. Maybe she should find a bathroom too, because her nerves were getting the better of her. She rubbed her temple. She’d known the boys would be happy. Their adolescent pranks to scare her so Mitchell would stay hadn’t eased up, including a letter to the tooth fairy asking for a raise so they could buy a high-powered slingshot for protection.
Wondering how they would take it when the marriage ended had her insides tied in knots.
“I guess what I’m trying to say, boys, is that we may not stay married.”
Jaycee and Trevor both frowned.
“Why not?” Jaycee asked.
Lorenda stared at her melting cone. “It’s complicated—”
“Can we call him Dad?” Trevor got on his knees and bounced with so much joy that Lorenda was torn between seeing them excited and feeling guilty for the fact that Mitchell wouldn’t stay their stepfather forever.
Which would make him their uncle, stepfather, and ex-stepfather all in one. And that would make her a pathetic excuse for a mother. The thought made her brain stutter.
“Um, why don’t you keep calling him Uncle Mitch for now.” So they could all have time to process the new family tree.
Jaycee took a few more licks of his cone, looking deep in thought. “The way I see it, we never got to know our dad because he died when we were little, but he’s still our real dad, right?”
“Yeees.” Lorenda wasn’t sure where this was going.
“But Uncle Mitch is alive, so does it matter if he’s our uncle or our stepdad as long as we still get to see him and talk to him?”
“I guess it doesn’t matter.” Much. She gave her cone another nervous lick and then shut one eye against the brain freeze that speared through the center of her head. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if it was from the ice cream or from anxiety, because her entire body had broken out in a cold sweat. “Do you guys think you can keep this just between us?”
They both nodded.
Malarkey curled up next to Lorenda. She leaned away to escape his unfortunate odor.
“There’s one more thing.” Lorenda bit into her cone and tried to find the right words. “Sometimes kids say things that aren’t very nice.”
“You mean like when Mattie Welsh called Billy Reynolds a toad and told my whole class that if they touched him, they’d get warts.” Trevor was totally serious.
“Yes, exactly like that,” Lorenda said. “You shouldn’t listen to such things. It’s hurtful. If anyone at school says anything mean about your Uncle Mitch, I want you to ignore them, okay? He’s a good person and hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Why would anyone say mean stuff about him?” Jaycee finished off his cone.
Because they don’t know him like we do. She blew out a breath. “Your Uncle Mitch has sometimes been . . . well, misunderstood by some people in Red River.” Okay, by most people in Red River. And the stuff he pulled as a kid wasn’t exactly misunderstood. He had been trying to cause trouble and had excelled at it.
That was in the past, though. He’d grown up, and he’d certainly paid his dues in the military.
“I’ll beat them up,” Jaycee announced.
“Me too.” Trevor’s expression said he thought defending his uncle was a grand plan.
Lorenda thought it sounded like an alpha-male plan, and that’s precisely the influence she’d been trying to shelter the boys from their whole lives. So she’d gone and insisted on marrying another alpha war hero because falling for a man who was more beta would apparently be too easy.
“No!” Lorenda tried to calm her voice. “No, you’re not going to beat anyone up. You’re going to ignore it and walk away.”
Jaycee fiddled with a blade of grass like he hadn’t heard her.
“Jaycee.” Lorenda delivered a clear warning in her tone.
Jaycee rolled his eyes. “Mom, sometimes you have to let us handle things like men.”
Her lips parted. He didn’t sound at all like the little boy who used to sit in her lap and suck his thumb.
A sting started behind her eyes.
After all the years she’d spent as their role model, it had only taken a few weeks with Mitchell around for her little boys to start changing.
“Fighting doesn’t make you a man,” Lorenda argued.
“But Dad and Uncle Mitch fought a war, and that made them heroes.” Jaycee gave her a dead-on stare like his statement had explained the key to manhood.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Your dad and your uncle Mitch were in the military. That’s a very different kind of fighting. You two are not to use your fists at school. Use your words.”
God knew they certainly had no shortage of them. “That’s final.”
Malarkey let out a comfortable exhale and shifted to rest his big head in her lap. She gave him a scratch, then frowned at the shedding hair left on her hand. Ah hell. Why not be his pal, even if he were a little gross? She scratched all the way down his back. Her boys were growing up. Would leave home one day, just as they should. And Lorenda was marrying a man who had made her no long-term promises. Malarkey might be the only male in her life that would actually stick around for good.
While Lorenda spent some time with the boys, Mitchell caught up to Talmadge at his office on Main Street. He pulled open the glass door that read “Talmadge Oaks—Environmental Architect. Building Clean & Green.” There were a lot of things Mitchell had taken the blame for without setting the record straight. Setting fire to a friend’s community building project wasn’t going to be one of them.
The bell tinkled, and Talmadge emerged from the back room.
“Hey, what’s up?” Talmadge held out a hand for a handshake, and the angry hornet’s nest in Mitchell’s stomach settled.
“Thanks for taking my call.” Mitchell shook his hand. “Sorry to bother you on a Sunday.”
Talmadge waved him to the back office. “No bother. I’m just getting some paperwork in order before tomorrow.”
Mitchell followed him into the office and took a seat in front of Talmadge’s desk. The office was small but beautifully designed, efficient, and modern.
“I didn’t set that fire,” Mitchell blurted. He scrubbed a hand across his jaw.
Well, at least he’d gotten that off his chest quickly.
“Never thought for a minute you did.” Talmadge plucked a brown bag off the credenza behind him and set it on his desk.
“Really?” Mitchell wasn’t sure why he’d been so worried. Even after the fire at Joe’s, Talmadge had remained a faithful friend. Maybe Mitchell had been worried because so many others had developed a habit of judging him without hearing his side of a story. Admittedly, that was partially his own fault.
“Really.” Talmadge pulled a six-pack from the bag. “I walked down to the market after you called.” He popped the tops off of two beers. “The fire at Joe’s was an unfortunate accident, but you claimed responsibility and have been paying for it ever since. I know you well enough to know that if you had started the rec-center fire, it would’ve been an accident too, and you would’ve fessed up.”
Mitchell almost choked on the irony.
They bumped bottles in salute and took a long pull.
“So you and Lorenda,” Talmadge said.
Yeah. Him and Lorenda. Not much more he could add to that statement. So he took another drink and nodded.
“Mind if I ask how long you two have been”—Talmadge raised a brow—“you know?”
Mitchell did mind because he and Lorenda hadn’t been you-knowing at all, but if her plan to get married was going to work, then everyone had to think they were you-knowing. “It’s a fairly recent development.”
“Let me get this straight.” Talmadge rubbed his chin with a smart-ass smile on his face. “You’re marrying your good buddy Langston’s sister, a girl you grew up with and who is also your sister-in-law, and you’re the uncle to her two kids?”
Mitchell pursed his lips and nodded. “That about sums it up.”
“Is that even legal?” Talmadge needled him. “Because I’m pretty sure that might be illegal in most states. Except Nevada. I doubt much is illegal in Nevada.”
“Should I tell you to go to hell now, or after we’ve finished the six-pack?” Mitchell delivered the barb with a smirk.
“What do both of your parents say about it? It’s got to be a little weird with your family history.” Talmadge took a big swallow and chuckled.
Weird didn’t begin to describe the situation. “We’ll work it out.” Maybe.
“Here’s to recent developments.” Talmadge lifted his bottle.
Mitchell finished shooting the breeze with Talmadge and left to find Lorenda and the kids. He walked down Main Street with her parked SUV in sight. The streets were fairly empty since it was getting late, so Mitchell slowed his pace and enjoyed the cooling late-summer climate.
He stopped at a side-street crossing and closed his eyes for a second, breathing the crisp, clean air into his lungs. It was good to be home.
His eyes popped open, because he couldn’t remember thinking of Red River as home since he was a kid. The few times he’d come back to visit while on leave, he’d been revved to leave again within a few days. Or hours.
It was different this time. He was different. And Lorenda and the boys had a lot to do with him feeling more grounded and connected to Red River than ever before.
A Jeep full of teenagers slowed as they passed him, rolled down a window, and shouted, “Jerk!” at him.
Too bad his contentment with being back in Red River wasn’t mutual.
He crossed the street and rounded the corner of the historic business district, which brought him to the edge of Brandenburg Park. He slowed to scan the area until he found Lorenda sitting under a tree while Jaycee and Trevor played with Malarkey across the park under the gazebo.
He headed straight for her, passing a few families and couples in the park. He nodded to each, and every single group snubbed him in return.
He drew in a gritty breath.
“Hey.” He eased on to the cool grass next to Lorenda. Knees bent, he balanced a forearm over each knee and watched the boys.
“Hey yourself.” Lorenda’s long, slender legs were stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles. She leaned back with both arms braced against the ground.
“How’d they take it?” Mitchell asked, nodding at the boys.
“They’re thrilled.” She stared at the boys with a wistful look. A gentle breeze shifted a strand of silky hair across her lips, and Mitchell wanted to brush it away. “I think they like you better than me.”
He chuckled. “No, they don’t, Sparky. They just missed out on getting to know their dad, and now I’m the next best thing.” He shrugged. “Or so they think.”
“When did you become an expert on kids?” she asked.
“Last night. I read an article online.” He winked at her, and she swatted his shoulder.
“Seriously.” She turned a soft, almost sad expression on him. “How are you so good with them when you’ve never had kids?”
Mitchell figured she was comparing the way Mitchell interacted with the boys to Cam’s complete lack of interest.
He let his gaze wander over her face. Her creamy skin, deep-blue eyes, and slender neck. And those lips. Pink. Plump. Perfect. He leaned into her, his shoulder brushing hers, and the pulse where her neck met her shoulder quickened.
“I was a boy once. I figure treating them like I wanted to be treated by my dad is a good strategy.”
She swallowed. “Not everyone figures that out, yet you make it sound so simple.”
“You make being a parent look easy, Sparky, but I know it’s not.” His voice went hoarse.
She lifted a shoulder. “I’m too much of a softie. I’ll admit it.”
“You’re tougher than you think.” Her lips formed a subtle curve, and Mitchell went back to eying her mouth. A mouth like that was worthy of a few fantasies. “If you weren’t, they wouldn’t be such great kids.”
Her lips parted, and she leaned in. Just a breath away, the loose curls that framed her face grazed his cheek. Just before their lips touched, his phone rang.
She shot to her feet, brushing off the back of her jeans. “I’ll go round up the crew. We should go home and do homework before it gets too late.”
Mitchell pulled his phone from his pocket, and Allen Carson’s number popped onto the screen. He waited for the voice mail to beep, then listened while Lorenda met the boys at the gazebo. Malarkey jumped on her, and she actually gave him a hug instead of her usual barely-a-touch pat on the head.
Allen’s message started w
ith a cuss-out session. Then he turned serious. “Come on, Lawson. A guy like you can’t stay still for long, especially in that small Podunk town you’re from. No one is better suited for this job than you, so get your head out of your ass and get back to work so you can stay out of trouble.”
Precisely why Lorenda had insisted they get married. To keep him out of trouble.
If they were in a bigger city where law enforcement consisted of more than one overworked sheriff, their plan would’ve likely already been outed. In Red River, there wasn’t much the understaffed sheriff’s office could do.
The crummy thing was, Mitchell was letting Lorenda do it, even though there wasn’t much in it for her. Seemed like a Lawson family trait. He shouldn’t. He just couldn’t bring himself to hurt his mother and cause his father’s health to go further downhill. And Mitchell sure wasn’t ready to walk away from Lorenda. Not yet, when she might still be in danger. Even though walking away was exactly what he should do.
Chapter Fourteen
In Red River, the line between gossip and truth often got muddled. When the last school bell rang on Monday and only half of the folding chairs for the music program filled, Lorenda knew the rumor mill had already tried and convicted Mitchell. She might as well have put on her prison orange too because she was about to marry him.
Hence, the empty chairs. She needed to find a way to inspire confidence in the parents so they’d let their kids stay in the program.
“Okay, kids.” She gave them a dazzling smile of assurance from behind her director’s stand, which she so did not feel. “Let’s close the gaps and form a tighter group.”
While the kids stacked the empty chairs to the side and rearranged their seats and stands, Andrea came over with her eyes glued to the floor. “My mom said I might not be able to stay in the band.”
At this rate, Lorenda wouldn’t have to worry about a place for rehearsals. The entire adolescent orchestra would fit in the bathroom by the end of the week.
It's In His Arms (A Red River Valley Novel Book 4) Page 15