The Pick-Up Wife

by W. Lynn Chantale

  If Jewel was home, she would be out playing right along with them. At the hollow bounce of a ball, Symmone swung her glance in the other direction.

  Two boys tossed a ball back and forth. Other than that the street was quiet, but it was early yet. By midafternoon the pavement would be crowded with kids riding their bikes or drawing on the sidewalks with chalk.

  The purr of a big engine dragged her attention to the driveway, and her heart skipped a beat. Leo waved from the front seat of his Mercedes SUV and she smiled in greeting. The kids still weren’t back. Silence filled the air and she stood, dusting off her butt. She smoothed a trembling hand along the front of her khaki shorts before tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

  He pushed open the truck door and stepped out with a smile. For a second her heart pounded harder. She jammed her hands in her pockets to keep him from seeing how much they were shaking.

  “You really need to get more than three hours of sleep.” The concern in his voice took some of the sting from his words.

  She inclined her head. “I’ll have plenty of time to rest later.” She allowed her gaze to drift over him. He seemed to still prefer jeans and polo shirts. It was nice to see that hadn’t changed.

  “I brought you something.” He handed her a single red rose.

  She went all gooey inside and couldn’t stop a wide grin from creasing her lips. “Thank you.”

  He glanced around. “Cute little place.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah. Did you, um, want to come in or we can sit out here for a bit?”

  He studied her a moment. “Did things go okay with the plumber?”

  She nodded and mounted the steps. Maybe it would be better to wait for Melvin and the kids inside. “Yes.” She held the door open for him and the screen banged close behind him.

  “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”

  “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

  He shrugged, just a casual ripple of his broad shoulders. “After this morning and right now you seem a little preoccupied. I was making sure you weren’t trying to figure out the best way to tell me no.”

  She chuckled, but it did nothing to dispel the tight knot of anxiety lodged in the pit of her stomach. “I still plan to have dinner with you.” She moved further down the hall and the footsteps behind her paused. Without looking she knew what had drawn his attention. Pictures of LJ and Jewel hung along one wall.

  “Melvin had kids? They’re cute. Although the girl looks just like you.”

  Summoning a deep breath she turned to face Leo. He was inspecting the twins’ school photos.

  “Um, no, he didn’t.”

  Leo looked at her, brow furrowed. “How old are they?”

  The screen door banged open. “Mom! You gotta see this!” Jewel ran past, bumping Leo. “Oh, sorry,” she tossed over her shoulder before skidding to a halt in front of Symmone. Jewel held up a blue plastic bag. “Mel said you wouldn’t mind.

  It’s the bracelet-making set I wanted, and LJ got

  ‘Phineas and Ferb’.”

  The door banged again. LJ and Melvin walked in. “Oh,” Melvin said in greeting.

  Symmone met Leo’s puzzled gaze and then watched realization bloom across his features. He clenched his jaw and her heart sank.

  “How old are they?”

  “Mom?” Jewel looked between the two adults.

  Melvin surged forward. “Let’s give your mom and her guest a moment to talk.” He ushered the children toward the back of the house and the stairs, but not before LJ piped up.

  “Is that our dad?” LJ said.

  Melvin glanced at Symmone. “Um, your mom will explain everything.”

  Symmone ran trembling fingers through her shoulder-length hair. “I sure will.” She stared after them, dreading the inevitable encounter with Leo.

  Might as well get this over with. She inhaled a deep breath and waved a hand toward the living room.

  “They’re nine,” she said once he sat down.

  “And you’re their father.”

  ****

  Leo sat only because his legs would no longer support him. When she’d asked him to come meet someone, children were not what he expected. He looked around the small living room, sparsely furnished, a six-drawer bureau in front of him, a small end table with a lamp on his left, and the sofa.

  He was a father. He stared at his hands before pinning her with a scathing stare. Fury thinned his lips and clenched his jaw. “You never said a word.”

  She shook her head.

  He surged to his feet, advancing so fast her eyes widened as she stumbled backward. “Don’t you think that’s something I may have wanted to know?” he said, barely bridled anger in his voice.

  “It was my intention.”

  “You had nine years!”

  She flinched at his outburst, but lifted her chin. “You handed me divorce papers. Do you remember that?”

  “You should’ve said something.”

  “You didn’t want me!” she fairly shouted.

  Her shoulders shook with each ragged breath she drew. Tears glistened in her soft brown eyes. “Why would I think you wanted them? Especially when I didn’t fit into your career plans.” She presented him her back.

  He stared at her. That one day was firmly etched in his brain. She had been excited when she came home, but making a clean break was more important to him than hearing how she’d aced a test. But it wasn’t a school test she’d passed.

  Anger dissipated from his body, and his shoulders sagged.

  When she needed him most he’d walked out on her. Didn’t listen to any of her tearful pleas, just took his clothes and left. He looked around the room again. She’d done well for herself. This wasn’t the life he’d envisioned for her, but standing in her living room he had no doubt love prevailed. She’d made a home for her and their children…and then it clicked: her earlier statement about leaving her life.

  He wouldn’t do that to her; he wouldn’t ask her to uproot and start over. It was then his eyes fell on the framed photo next to the television. A lump lodged in his throat. After all these years she’d kept the drawing? A plan formulated. Making partner no longer held the same appeal, not when he was faced with family. One he’d never known existed until today. Now more than ever he was determined to make Symmone his wife again.

  “I want to meet them,” he said quietly.

  She whirled, defiance and caution in her eyes. “There’s no turning back,” she warned him.

  “You can’t decide a day or a week or months from now that you don’t want the responsibility of being their father.”

  He held her gaze. “If you didn’t want me to meet them, why did you invite me here?” He seized her shoulders and drew her to him. “I want you and my children.” Absolute certainty stole through him and he released her as suddenly as he grabbed her.

  “You need to understand that.” Reaching in his jeans pocket, he extracted the folded envelope from earlier. “Take this. From this point on you don’t refuse what I give you.”

  For a long moment he didn’t think she would take the envelope. He read a flicker of emotion he couldn’t decipher before her hand closed over his.

  Her fingers were cool as they pulled the envelope away.

  “Okay,” she said.

  He regarded her a moment. “Now that we have that settled…you should’ve told me.”

  She inhaled a shaky breath. “LJ and Jewel mean the world to me, Leo. They are the only reason I got through the divorce and am standing here right now.” She touched his sleeve, her eyes imploring him. “You’re right. I should’ve told you and would’ve if not for the car accident.”

  He stroked her cheek. “I want a second chance. I need a second chance.”

  She stepped away and his hand fell to his side. “Come on. I’ll take you to meet the kids.”

  Chapter Seven

  Her knees wobbled so badly Symmone held to the handrail as she mounted the stairs. She wasn’t certain Leo believed what she sa
id, but things were far from settled. They had so much more they needed to discuss. Like if he was going to fight for custody.

  She paused at the top of the stairs. She didn’t want to lose her kids, and if she had to marry him again to keep them, she would.

  “Leo, look, I know we never talked about starting a family…”

  His easy smile stilled her tumble of words. “I never gave you the opportunity.” He cradled her cheek. “I’m excited to know that I have twins, and I want to be a part of their lives.” He searched her eyes. “Do you hear me? I want to be a part of your life.”

  She read sincerity in his tone and the knot in her chest loosened. “Okay.”

  When she stood in the doorway of Jewel’s room, where Mel and the children were seated on the floor playing a board game, they looked up.

  She hesitated. This wasn’t the way she’d envisioned introducing her children to their father, but life so rarely conformed to dreams.

  “Hey, guys. I need you to come here a moment.” She waited until LJ and Jewel stood in front of her. She straightened their clothes. “I know I’ve never said anything about your father, but you do have one.”

  LJ smiled. “It’s okay, Mom. Kenny Farmer’s parents are divorced too. Does this mean we get to spend weekends at his house?”

  Symmone swallowed a gasp, while Mel smothered a chuckle.

  Jewel stared up at Leo. “What took you so long?”

  “Jewel!” Symmone admonished.

  LJ furrowed his brow. “Were you in jail?

  Danny’s Uncle Jay went to jail. The police came to his house and everything.”

  Jewel tilted her head, her eyes wide. “Were you in jail? Did they have recess?”

  This time Melvin did laugh, and Symmone turned her face, willing the heat in her cheeks to die down. This was her punishment for not telling her children anything about their dad. She peeked at Leo to find a flicker of amusement lighting his eyes.

  “Oh, you two have your hands full. Such imaginations.” Melvin shoved the board game on the shelf with the others. “I’m going to let you straighten out your wayward offspring. I’ll be downstairs.” He clapped Leo on the shoulder as he passed. “Glad they let you out on good behavior.”

  “Not helping,” Symmone said.

  “What have you been telling our children about me, Symmone?” Leo said.

  Her eyes widened as she stared at him in shock. “They never asked.” When he chuckled, some of the tension ebbed from her shoulders.

  “Very funny.” She sank to the twin bed behind her.

  “Leo, this is Leo Jr., or LJ. And this is Jalisa.” The little girl wrinkled her nose. “But she’s always been Jewel.”

  “You don’t like the name?” Leo said.

  Jewel vehemently shook her head. “And my language arts teacher insists on calling everyone by their given names. No nicknames are allowed.”

  Leo looked past Jewel to Symmone. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “You named her after my mother.”

  Her gaze never left his face. “Your mother was very sweet to me, even after the divorce.”

  “Thank you.”

  She nodded, her throat constricting around the lump lodged in the back. “I’m going to leave you three to get acquainted.”

  “You’re leaving me alone with them?”

  If she wasn’t mistaken, she thought she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes and she suppressed a chuckle. “Oh, you’ll be fine.” He caught her hand as she passed him and she met his gaze. “I won’t be far.”

  He brought her hand to his mouth and swept his lips across her knuckles. Moisture swam in his eyes. “Thank you.”

  Not trusting her voice, she nodded and slipped from the room.

  “So are you going to live with us now?” LJ was asking.

  “Do we live with you?”

  Symmone paused, straining to hear the answer.

  “You know eavesdropping is considered impolite,” Melvin admonished.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “I thought you went downstairs.”

  He grinned. “And miss whatever other questions those two monsters will ask?”

  She folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

  “Now who’s being impolite?”

  They fell silent. The low murmur of Leo’s baritone was punctuated with childish giggles and plenty of questions. What would he have been like if he’d had the benefit of their entire lives? How different would her life have been, or even the kids’, if she’d blurted the news to him? Would they have opted for a private school rather than the public one she chose?

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing him to meet the kids?”

  Symmone dragged her attention back to her cousin. “He asked me to marry him, and I figured this would be the best way to know if he was serious.”

  “You two are already talking marriage?”

  Melvin opened his eyes so wide his eyelids disappeared into his hairline.

  She chuckled. “He’s talking marriage. I want to be sure he’s serious. This isn’t about me anymore. LJ and Jewel come first.”

  Melvin leaned over and snatched the envelope from her pocket. “What’s this?”

  “Hey!” She lunged for the paper and he held it just out of reach.

  “Well?”

  “He held the money I sent back in trust.”

  She held out her hand. “Give it back.”

  Melvin flipped open the envelope, pulled out the receipt, and his eyes went wide.

  Curious, she plucked the page from his fingers and did her own double take. She sank to the top step. “Wow.”

  “Yeah. Still think he’s serious?”

  She glanced over her shoulder then back at her cousin. “I think so.”

  ****

  Dinner was at Chuck E. Cheese. The aroma of melted cheese and tomato sauce wafted through the air, mingling with the cacophony of childish shrieks, buzzers, and dull thudding from the whack-a-mole game. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the kids so excited. And seeing Leo interact with them left her a little overwhelmed.

  She chewed her lower lip as she watched him demonstrate rolling a wooden ball up the narrow ramp and it popped into the hundred thousand cup.

  Jewel and LJ both cheered. Symmone smiled and her heart squeezed.

  She swiped at a trickle of moisture on her cheek. This was what she’d longed for, and somehow he’d managed to capture her children’s affection, or at least their admiration.

  Jewel ran up to Symmone and wrapped her small arms around her waist in a tight hug.

  “Need more tokens?” Symmone jiggled the cup, the golden coins inside rattling.

  The little girl shook her head. “Can Dad spend the night?”

  Symmone opened her mouth then closed it again. She slid a glance at Leo who was coaching LJ on shooting free throws. She returned her attention to her daughter. “He has his own place; I don’t think he would want to stay. Besides, we have nowhere to put him.”

  Jewel stepped back and planted her hands on her hips. “Aren’t moms and dads supposed to sleep together?”

  Heat rose to her face, and Symmone fought down her mortification. “You are asking a lot of grown-up questions. Why don’t you try being a kid?”

  “Mom, I don’t want him to leave. He’s so nice and fun. And he even showed LJ how to shoot the ball. Cousin Mel couldn’t do that, no matter how hard he tried.”

  Symmone chuckled. The little girl had a point, but there were still things that needed to be discussed that didn’t involve little ears.

  “Your dad and I still have some things to work out, but he’s going to be here for you, no matter where he lives.”

  Jewel huffed. “But can he spend the night?”

  “Yeah, can I?”

  Symmone looked up to find a crooked smile on Leo’s face.

  “Yeah, Mom, can Dad spend the night?”

  Three pairs of eyes, three faces all wore identical expressions of hope. After seeing
him with the kids, she didn’t want to see him leave either.

  “Okay.”

  ****

  Long after the kids were asleep, Symmone sat on the front porch. Muffled laughter drifted from the house on the corner, some faded love song wafted through the air, while the bass knocked in some unseen vehicle. The screen creaked behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder. Leo handed her a bottle of water as he settled on the step beside her.

  His thigh brushed hers, igniting a tingle of pleasure. “They are beautiful, Symmone. LJ is a card, and even though he lets his sister boss him around he still gets what he wants in the end. And Jewel has no problem speaking her mind.”

  Symmone laughed. “You haven’t heard the half of it.”

  He rested his hand on her knee. “You’ve given me so much more than I ever expected, than what I deserve.” He picked up her hand, twining her fingers with his. “I want this, Symmone. We have to make this work because I want a family. I want you and LJ and Jewel.”

  The emotion and conviction in his voice shook her to her core. She’d waited a long time to hear him say those words and now that he had, she wasn’t sure if she could totally let go and let him take control again.

  “This was just one day, Leo. There are no breaks when it comes to parenting or when you get tired or the kids get sick or you get sick. You don’t get a do-over or put your career before them, and you can never break a promise to them.” She held his gaze. “Ever.”

  He drew her into the haven of his arms. “I understand what you’re saying, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be a part of this family. I came back with the intention of marrying you, and I’m more determined than ever.”

  She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, a hand lingering over his heart. “I don’t know if I can ever marry you, Leo. I don’t know if I can trust you to take care of me like that again.”