Once Burned

by Suzie O'Connell

  “And enjoying it, so get used to it.”

  “You deserve to be spoiled, Mom,” Noah remarked.

  She hugged him. “Aw, thank you, bud.”

  “You were able to get the two weeks off, right?” Henry asked.

  “Yep, thanks in large part to Mitch. The manager didn’t want to give it to me since we’re always busier over the holidays, but Mitch suggested I might quit if I didn’t get it—fat chance of that happening, and Mitch knows it—but it worked, and I have the twenty-first through the third off and back to work on the fourth.”

  “Hey, Mitch!” Henry called, spotting the cook as he stepped out of the restaurant on his way home.

  The heavyset man glanced up and waved when he spotted them.

  “Thank you!” Henry called.

  “You’re welcome,” Mitch replied. “Take care of my girl over there in Montana.”

  “You bet I will. Have a good night.”

  “You as well.”

  Turning back to Lindsay, Henry grinned. “I like him.”

  “He’s a good man,” she agreed. “Like you. Other than Skye and Evie, he’s probably one of my best friends even if we only ever talk at work. And I owe him big time.” Sighing happily, she gestured for Noah to hop in the truck and climbed in after him. “I can’t remember the last time I had two full weeks off. The ten days I took off for Evie’s wedding was amazing, but a whole two weeks? I may never want to come back.”

  She entertained herself as Henry drove out of the parking lot of Donovan’s Bar and Grill by imagining all the ways an extra four days off would feel, especially an extra four days off to spend in Northstar with Henry, both their families, her son, her friends…. The end-of-day fatigue melted away just thinking about it.

  “Guess that answers the question of whether or not you’re having second thoughts with a definitive no.”

  “I’ve had second thoughts about a lot of things in my life, but spending Christmas in Montana with you isn’t on that list.”

  “And what about you, Noah?” Henry asked. “Any second thoughts about it?”

  “Are you kidding me? I’ve wanted to go to Montana since Mom came back! Do you think we’ll have a white Christmas?”

  “Most likely. I can’t remember one in my lifetime when there wasn’t snow on the ground.”

  “I’ve never had a white Christmas before.”

  “Not even when you were at your dad’s for Christmas? Doesn’t he live in Spokane?”

  “Yeah, but both years I’ve been at his house for Christmas, there wasn’t any snow.”

  “I’d say you’re in for a first, then. What about you, Lindsay?”

  “Two that I can remember. We don’t get a ton of snow out here.”

  Henry drove home, and Lindsay listened as he and Noah talked about all the fun things they could do in snow on their trip. Now that she knew for sure she’d have the entire two weeks off, she’d have to call Max to tell him Noah wouldn’t be coming for Christmas. She didn’t think he’d mind too much since it had been such a battle to get him to agree to have Noah over for just three nights, but regardless, she wasn’t looking forward to talking to him. Noah had only talked to him once since Henry had been in Washington, and she hadn’t talked to him at all, and the lack of that chaos in her life had been nothing short of wonderful. Too bad it couldn’t always be like that.

  Too soon, Henry parked in front of her parents’ house. Weariness descended on her at the thought of her call to Max about Christmas. Just get it over with.

  Henry unlocked the door and held it open for her and Noah. He offered to reheat some spaghetti for her while she called her ex. She took the cordless into the living room, dialing his number as she walked, and sank onto the couch to kick off her shoes while she waited for him to answer. Her heart skittered nauseatingly when he answered, but unlike days gone by, it was only anxiety she felt. There was not even a flicker of her former infatuation with him left to stir longing.

  “Noah?”

  “No, it’s Lindsay.”

  “Well, isn’t this a surprise. It’s been a while.”

  “Not long enough,” she said tiredly. “I have something I need to talk to you about or—believe me—I wouldn’t be calling. It’s about Christmas.”

  “I thought we had everything planned out for Noah’s visit already.”

  “We did, but there’s been a change in plans. We—Noah, my parents, and I—have been invited to spend Christmas in Montana.”

  “Invited by whom? Evie?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t tell me that Henry guy Noah’s been talking nonstop about invited you.”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “You’re not seriously thinking of going.”

  She ground her teeth. He had a way of making her feel like a chastised child, and he had no right to dictate what was good or right for her. If he’d ever had that right, he’d long since lost it. “Not just thinking about it. We are going.”

  “No, you aren’t. It’s my turn to have Noah for Christmas. I won’t let you take that away from me like you’re trying to take everything else away.”

  “Trying to take…? You’ve got to be joking. I had to beg you to agree to let Noah come over for Christmas.”

  “I’m not joking, Lindsay. I don’t want my son around that man.”

  “Now he’s your son? You know what, Max? Spending time with Henry has been good for Noah. Very good for him. He’s getting his homework done early every night, he’s actually enjoying school for the first time this year, and he’s started to willingly help out around here. I’m sorry you don’t like it, but Henry’s a great role model for him.”

  “Like Logan was? He was a real great role model for our son, chasing after you like a dog after a bitch in heat.”

  “Don’t even go there with me, Max, because right now, I’m inclined to lump you into the exact same category as Logan.”

  “My dad is nothing like Logan was,” Noah spat.

  Lindsay glanced up, suddenly realizing that he’d been standing close enough to hear Max’s end of the conversation along with hers. Anger and pain burned in his eyes. Despair crashed down on her. “We’ll talk about this in a—”

  “No. I don’t want to talk about it because Dad is right. All Logan wanted was you, and you were too stupid to know that he was only pretending to like me.”

  “I have to go,” Lindsay said to Max and abruptly ended the call. By now, Henry had joined them in the living room, but she ignored him and addressed her son with fury and agony fighting for control of her. “Noah Ulrich, how dare you speak to—”

  Henry stepped between them, leaning down with his back to her and his face just inches from Noah’s. The boy’s eyes rounded, and in the reflection on the glass doors of the entertainment unity, Lindsay caught a glimpse of the reason why. Henry’s expression was stony. Shock tinged with a hint of curiosity obliterated any consternation she might have felt over such a blatant and uninvited intrusion into her duties as Noah’s parent.

  “You owe your mother an apology,” he said in a low voice.

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” Noah retorted. “You’re not my dad!”

  “Obviously not. No son of mine would ever treat his mother with such disrespect.”

  Noah opened his mouth to counter, then snapped it shut.

  “I will not tolerate the kind of attitude you are displaying right now, Noah, so until you learn to address your mother with the respect she deserves, our time together is done. No more help with your homework after school, no more football on the beach, no more guy time. You can go back to getting off the bus at your cousin’s after school. Oh, and no trips to Montana with your mom, either.”

  “The trip’s off anyhow, so who cares?” His voice wavered, and Lindsay could see the implications of Henry’s promises sinking in.

  “There will be other trips, Noah, so you might want to head to your room and think about that for a while.”

  With lip quivering a
nd tears threatening to spill over, Noah dashed to his room and slammed the door. Lindsay winced. Henry straightened but remained where he was, looking over his shoulder toward Noah’s bedroom on the other side of the wall at the far end of the living room. The muscle in his jaw pulsed, and his brows were drawn low in regret, and to see that scolding Noah hurt him endeared him even more to Lindsay.

  It was almost a minute before he turned to her.

  “I’m sorry for overstepping my bounds, Lindsay,” he murmured, siting beside her on the couch with that same pained expression.

  “Don’t be sorry,” she replied. “It’s what he needed—to hear that from someone he respects. He gets caught in the middle between Max and me, and he has to defend whichever of us he feels is under attack. I can’t fault him for loving his father even if Max doesn’t much deserve it.”

  “I can’t fault him for that, either, but you bust your ass to make sure he has everything he needs, and you do not deserve to be talked to like that, regardless of the reason.”

  He folded her into his arms, and she leaned into him.

  “I am so sick of this. So sick of fighting Max and watching him turn my son into that nasty, mouthy brat you just saw… because that is not my son. My son is a kind, warm-hearted boy.”

  “I know who your son is, Lindsay,” Henry whispered. “And that’s why I had to step in. I had to remind him of that.”

  That undid her, and without warning, she broke down. Tears poured from her eyes as frustration, guilt, and rage melded together with gratitude and hope, and Henry held her with unwavering patience as she cried. He didn’t have to say it for her to know she had permission to fall apart, and the freedom to do so began to stitch her ragged thoughts and emotions together again. Every time, she thought. Every time this happens, my heart breaks a little more. But I finally have someone to help me put it back together.

  “I’m not going to let you cancel your trip to Montana,” he whispered. “So we’ll have to find a way to accommodate Max.”

  “No.” She straightened but didn’t move to pull away from him. She wasn’t strong enough to leave his embrace just yet. “I don’t want to accommodate him, and I most certainly don’t want to cancel our trip to Northstar. I need it too much.”

  “So, what do you want to do about Max?”

  Bit by bit, she gathered her courage, bolstered by Henry’s gentle support. “As far as I’m concerned, he can go to hell. Unfortunately, that’s not an option.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “I don’t even want to consider this because I don’t want to cut our time in Northstar short, but would it be too big a pain to leave a few days early and spend New Years in Spokane so Noah can spend a night or two with his dad?”

  Henry briefly got up to fetch the magnetic calendar from the fridge and rejoined her on the couch. “The beauty of this whole trip is that everything is flexible and negotiable, so that wouldn’t be a pain at all. It’s only about a six-hour drive from Northstar to Spokane, so we could leave early on the thirtieth or the thirty-first.”

  “Better make it the thirty-first. I don’t want to have to cut our trip any shorter than I have to, and if we leave early enough, Noah will still have plenty of time on New Year’s Eve with Max.”

  “Do you think Max will go for that?”

  “Guess I’ll find out,” Lindsay replied, picking up the phone again. She pulled Henry’s arm tighter around her waist.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Max demanded without bothering with a greeting.

  “Never mind what it was about,” she replied. “Here’s what’s going to happen, and you can either take it or leave it. I really don’t care. We’re driving to Montana on the twenty-first, and we’ll leave early on the thirty-first so you and Noah can spend New Year’s together. We’ll leave Spokane on the second, which will give us a couple days to rest before he has to go back to school the following Monday.”

  “No. I want Noah for Christmas, Lindsay. Giselle and I have already made plans, and besides, I thought was very clear about not wanting Noah around Henry.”

  “Maybe if you’d chosen to be more of a father to Noah to this point, I’d give a damn about what you think. As it is… I don’t. I’ve made accommodations to make sure you still get to see your son over winter break, but Noah and I will be in Montana for Christmas. What’ll it be, Max? Because if you don’t want to take the offer, we’ll happily spend those extra days in Montana.”

  Her ex was silent for a long time, and Lindsay might’ve wondered if he’d hung up on her, but she could hear the television on in the background.

  “Well?” she prodded.

  “I guess New Year’s it is. I’m not happy about this, Lindsay.”

  “As I said, I don’t give a damn if you are or aren’t. Your happiness is so far down my list of priorities that I’m not sure if it’s even still on the list.”

  “You got what you wanted, so there’s no need to be a bitch.”

  “That’s rich, coming from you.” Lindsay grinned triumphantly at Henry, and he beamed back at her. “But I’m done letting you ruin my happiness. We’ll see you on the thirty-first, Max. I’ll call you before we leave that morning with an ETA.”

  “Fine. Put Noah on the phone, please.”

  “No. He’s in his room thinking over his attitude right now, but if he wants to talk to you afterwards, he’s more than welcome to call you. Goodbye, Max.”

  Deciding to quit while she was ahead, she ended the call without even waiting for Max to respond to her farewell and let out long breath. She shifted her position to face Henry and found him watching her with profound pride etched into his face. He slipped his hand around to the back of her head and leaned forward to kiss her tenderly.

  “I’m going to head home and let you eat in peace,” he murmured. “I’ll see you in the morning after Noah goes to school.”

  “What if I want you to stay?”

  “It’s best that I go. I meant what I said to Noah.” He touched his lips to hers again, and when he pulled away and stood, he smiled. “But don’t worry. Something tells me he won’t hold out for long.”

  She followed him to the door, leaning out into the chilly, damp night. He hugged her, holding her tightly for a few minutes—just long enough to restore peace to her heart but not so long that she would be tempted to beg him to stay.

  “Love you, gorgeous.”

  Again, he didn’t let her say it back, striding out to his truck before she could. She watched him drive off.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered, and she knew it was true.

  Returning to the dining room, she sat down to eat her dinner even though she was too agitated to be hungry. The house was remarkably quiet with no sound whatsoever coming from Noah’s room. It was a little after nine, so it was possible he’d fallen asleep, though that was doubtful. Was he actually thinking about what Henry had said? Lindsay promised herself she’d finish her meal before she went to see.

  As it turned out, she didn’t have to wait that long.

  In the silence, the sound of his door opening was loud, and a floorboard in the hallway creaked as he stepped on it on his way into the kitchen. A moment later, he appeared in the kitchen, but instead of joining her, he headed straight for the door and grabbed his coat off the peg behind the door.

  “Just where do you think you’re going, young man?” she demanded.

  “I’m gonna go talk to Henry.”

  Then he was gone, and she stared at the closed front door in shock for half a second before it sank in that he son had just vanished outside. She skidded around the counter separating the kitchen from the living room and ran to the door, jerking it open. He was gone, swallowed by the black night.

  “Noah!” she yelled.

  Instinct compelled her to run after him, but she didn’t. It was only two and a half blocks to the cottage Henry was renting, and Indianola was a peaceful town. There was also the gut belief that he needed a man’s advice right now more
than his mother’s terrified chastisement. She waited long enough for him to reach the cottage, listening intently with her heart pounding for any sound of trouble, then went back in and called Henry.

  “Is Noah there?”

  “He just showed up. Do you want me to send him home?”

  “No. Not until he’s ready.”

  “I’ll walk him home when he is.”

  She thanked him and hung up, then collapsed on the couch and prayed Henry would be able to succeed where she’d failed.

  * * *

  Henry had to reach almost as deep into his willpower to leave Lindsay so soon after she’d broken down as he’d had to to walk away from Dylan, but he knew her well enough to understand that she needed some time alone to talk with her son. As it was, he’d already stuck his foot in it when he’d told Noah to apologize to her, so he ignored every instinct to stay to make sure she was all right. Of course she was… or would be. She’d been dealing with this for eight years, and she’d been strong enough to do it all on her own all that time, so he reminded himself that she was more than capable of handle it tonight.

  I don’t want her to have to deal with it on her own, he grumbled as he let himself into his cottage.

  As soon as he closed the door behind him, he picked up the phone and called his mother to inform her of the change in his and Lindsay’s plans for Christmas even though it was after ten in Montana and he would probably wake up his early-to-rise parents. He needed the distraction, and they’d understand.

  “I’m surprised to hear from you so late, Henry,” his mother replied, fully lucid. “You usually have more consideration.”

  “Oh, lord. What did I interrupt?”

  “I’m sure you can figure it out,” John said, apparently only a few feet away as he was close enough to hear Henry’s side of the conversation. “So this had better be good.”

  “Probably not good enough,” Henry replied. “Lindsay and I are going to have to cut our stay short by a few days so we can drop Noah off at his dad’s for New Years. I just wanted to let you know.”

  “I thought the idea was for Noah to visit his dad on that three-day weekend later in January,” Tracie remarked.