Live-In Position

by V. S. Tice

“Well, hello there.” Dominic stood against the side of the door.

  “Dominic,” I nodded and tried to walk through the doorway. He grabbed my arm.

  “Hey, is that any way to greet a friend?”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m really tired and stressed right now. Victoria is hurt and I have to wait for her to come—” Suddenly his lips were plastered on my mouth.

  At first I was frozen in shock, but then anger flooded me. What the hell was he doing? With my one empty hand, I shoved him away from me. He smirked over my shoulder. I followed his line of sight and saw Collin charging toward us.

  “I can’t believe you—” He grabbed my head and kissed me again.

  That was it. I dumped the hot coffee over his head. He screamed and when he pulled back from me, I kneed him in the balls. He curled inward on himself and made gargling noises.

  “Don’t ever use me to hurt the people I love,” I growled at him. Then he threw up at my feet.

  Nurses rushed to help him. Arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back from the mess.

  I spun quickly in his arms. “I didn’t—” He pressed his lips to mine. These lips I welcomed.

  “I know,” he whispered when he pulled away. “Remind me not to make you angry.” He grinned and looked at Dominic as he was escorted away in a wheelchair.

  Relief flooded over me. I was glad he trusted it was Dominic who had done the kissing, not me. Then Victoria flashed in my head again.

  “Oh god, Victoria. Collin, the horse—”

  “In here.” He pulled me with him into her room. “Now tell me what happened.”

  We sat on hospital chairs in her room, and I explained the whole horrid scene with the horse. Victoria returned to her room two hours later. She was fast asleep with a cast on her left arm. According to her doctor, she was shaken up, but her largest injury was the broken arm. He gave me instructions for pain management and how to take care of her cast. Collin reviewed her chart thoroughly and questioned the ER doctor before he was finally satisfied with the results of the tests done. We took her home that evening and I spoiled her with ice cream sundaes for dinner.

  Chapter Twenty

  -SIX

  “MY ARM HURTS,” Victoria whined and hugged her cast to her chest.

  “Do you need more pain medicine?” I glanced down at her quickly before returning my eyes to the road. She missed three days of school because of her accident, and today was her first day back.

  “I think so,” she whined more.

  We pulled up to the curb in front of her school, and I grabbed her medicine from her backpack. She took the dose I offered and then we headed toward the entrance.

  Victoria led me to the main office so I could turn in her medical excuse and register her medicine with the school nurse. With a quick kiss to my cheek she was walking out of the office and down the hall.

  “See you after school,” I called out.

  “Bye, Mom,” she shouted back before rounding a corner.

  After pulling into the driveway, I took a deep breath and exhaled. I was feeling really tired lately, for which I blamed Collin. Victoria’s arm had given her a hard time so sleeping didn’t come easy for her either. I would read to her until she would finally pass out from exhaustion. By the time I climbed into bed it was midnight or later. And apparently Collin felt sex after midnight was a necessity.

  Seriously, I don’t know what had gotten into him. Every night for the past four nights, he would wake me just after midnight, tugging at my clothes. I was tempted to sleep naked tonight in an effort to avoid the late night strip search. Maybe I could just sleep through it.

  Smiling, I walked toward the front door when the sound of a car engine grabbed my attention. When I turned to look, a gold Cadillac greeted me. My stomach clenched and my breathing stopped. Ilene Bishop pulled into the driveway.

  I looked at the cars in the driveway and realized Allison’s car was not there, and the boys were at school. With that particular confrontation avoided, I exhaled the breath I’d been holding captive.

  “Sophia,” Ilene purred, approaching me.

  I furrowed my brow and took a step back. What the hell had gotten into this woman?

  “How are you this fine fall morning?”

  “Oh-kay.” I was still trying to wrap my head around her odd behavior. Maybe divorce had been good for her.

  “Do you mind?” She motioned to the front door I stood in front of. I snapped out of my frozen confusion.

  “Oh, of course not.” I opened the door and held it for her. “Um, Col, um, Dr. Bishop is not home. He is work—”

  “Of course he is at work, dear, I know that.” She spun around toward me once we were inside. “I’ve come to visit with you.” Her large Cheshire grin was eerie. I licked my dry lips.

  “Oh,” I paused, searching for what I should say. Nothing came so I just blurted out the most obvious question I had. “Why do you want to talk to me all of a sudden?”

  She laughed lightly and walked toward the sitting room, tossing her coat on a nearby table.

  “How is Victoria? I heard she took a spill.” She gracefully sat in the high back white chair and motioned for me to sit as well. Cautiously, I made my way over, removing my coat and laying it across my lap as I sat.

  “She’s okay, a broken arm, but it will heal.” My odd gaze had to be obvious. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  A deep puff of air left her lungs. “I wanted to…apologize.” She held her head high, keeping her perfect posture.

  “Apologize for what?” I sat back in my seat. Is it wrong to want to extend the obvious discomfort she held with apologizing?

  “For my rudeness to you over the past year, of course.” The snobby bitch air she held about her was still there. “I realize now that I have been quite appalling toward you, and I’m very sorry.”

  “Okay, apology accepted.” I couldn’t keep the suspicion out of my voice or off my face. After a few moments of silence, the truth was finally revealed.

  “I hear Collin has become engaged.” She smiled stiffly.

  “Ahhh,” I gave one dramatic nod, “now I understand why you are here.” I sat up straight and focused my hardened eyes on her. “I assure you, I’m not after his money, nor was this,” I held up my left ring finger, “my idea.”

  “Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to imply you were—”

  “All of this has been Collin’s decision, not mine. I love your son, but we will not be marrying any time soon. You can relax.”

  At first her face was full of insult, but then it morphed to sadness.

  “I swear, I didn’t come here to insinuate anything, Sophia.” I saw a misting in her eyes. “It’s just that Collin doesn’t speak to me.” A prim and proper snorting sound came from her. “None of the kids speak to me.” A silk handkerchief appeared in her hand, and she daintily patted her eyes. “How can they abandon their mother but accept their father and his whore?” A large tear escaped her left eye.

  I didn’t know what to say or do. Thankfully, Mrs. Baker interrupted the uncomfortable situation.

  “Oh dear heavens, I’m sorry.” She began to push the vacuum back out of the room

  “No, no.” I stood quickly. “Mrs. Baker, please continue. We will, um, head to the kitchen for some coffee.” I looked toward Ilene. She smiled small, gracefully standing from the chair.

  Ilene walked past me toward the kitchen. I glanced to Mrs. Baker, who had a look on her face that simply said, “what the hell is she doing here?” All I could do was shrug and follow Ilene. She was sitting at a stool on the other side of the breakfast bar.

  “How is he?”

  “He’s good.” I set about making coffee and moved to get mugs from the cabinet.

  “I’m sure he is if he’s finally been able to put Grace behind him,” she whispered.

  Looking toward her, she was intently focused on me, and in that moment, I could see Collin looking back at me in her eyes. Her sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness wer
e all there, in that one look. She blinked it away. I internally groaned at what I was about to do.

  VICTORIA HAPPILY SKIPPED out of school but stopped about three feet from where I stood when she saw Ilene at my side. Her eyes widened and she looked at me with confusion. I smiled small and nodded just slightly enough that I hoped Ilene wouldn’t see my action.

  “Oh darling,” Ilene walked to her quickly and hugged her, “your poor little arm.”

  “H-hi, Grandma,” Victoria peeked at me over Ilene’s shoulder, uncertainty still the largest emotion on her face.

  I used both of my pointer fingers to push up the sides of my mouth into a big smile and then mouthed “be nice” to her. Victoria hugged her tighter.

  “Oh, it’s so good to see you again, dear.” Ilene straightened up and walked back toward me.

  “How was school today?” I asked and grabbed Victoria’s backpack.

  She shrugged.

  “Well, how was your arm today?”

  “It was okay. I had to go to the nurse after lunch to get some medicine though. It started to ache.” She pulled open the rear driver side door with her good arm and climbed into the back seat.

  “Grandma, when did you, um, come back?”

  “Well, I took a small vacation on the island. Just got back yesterday.” She turned toward Victoria.

  “Was it a good vacation?” I had to give the little girl credit. She was being extremely pleasant for being so confused by the current situation.

  “Yes, it was absolutely lovely,” she sighed.

  “What’s the matter, Grandma?”

  “Well, I need to look for a place to live, and it is just exhausting. I need to find a realtor.”

  “I thought you moved into an apartment?” I asked.

  “I did, but I’m afraid the lease was only for ninety days and then I would need to sign for two years.”

  “And you don’t like the apartment?” Victoria asked.

  “No, well, it’s a nice apartment, but I really want a house again.” She cleared her throat.

  “Where are you going to stay until you get a house?” I heard the worry in Victoria’s voice.

  “I’m not sure, but I’ve been staying at a suite—”

  “You should stay with us. Shouldn’t she, Mommy?”

  I cringed a little when she called me mommy in front of Ilene. I could only imagine what type of reaction this woman was going to have. For a moment, her back stiffened and it got uncomfortably silent.

  “I’ll be fine in the hotel suite, honey,” Ilene broke the silence.

  Again, I was contemplating if I was a masochist. I was about to do something insane for the second time today.

  When Collin arrived home that evening, he entered with a purpose.

  “Is that my mother—” The sight of Ilene sitting at the small kitchen table eating dinner with us brought him to a stop.

  “Collin,” she said, soft and unsure.

  “Mother.” His tone was emotionless and short.

  “Are you hungry?” Standing quickly, I went to grab another plate.

  “Grandma is staying with us, Daddy!”

  I awaited the Antichrist’s resurrection. What was he going to say, or worse, do?

  “Oh, really?” I could feel those icy orbs on me as I moved around the stove with his plate.

  “Yes, Mommy asked her to stay with us.” Pride dripped from Victoria’s words.

  With a deep breath through my nose, I turned with his plate.

  “Are you eating with us or—”

  “Here?” Those damn eyes were blazing.

  “Collin, if you would prefer I didn’t stay, then I can go back to the hotel.” Ilene pushed her plate away and looked into her lap.

  “Hotel? I thought you had an apartment?” Confusion painted his face.

  “I’m looking for a house.” Ilene shifted uncomfortably.

  “Mrs. Bishop, you are welcome to stay here.” I don’t know where all my compassion was coming from today, but it was simply oozing from the spot my brain had once been.

  “Dear, I told you to call me Ilene.”

  Collin abruptly tilted his head toward me.

  “Yeah, uh, sorry, Ilene.” I practically buried my head in my plate.

  There was a harsh screech of a chair and I looked up. Victoria was finished.

  “Can I be excused?” She stilled a half hop from her chair.

  “Yes,” I answered her question and then excused myself from the table as well.

  Collin’s eyes lingered on me the entire time I cleaned the counters and stove, loaded the dishwasher, and began to put away the leftovers. When William and the boys barged into the kitchen, it broke the quiet tension. I was relieved.

  “Hey, there are plenty of leftovers.” I raised the Tupperware containers.

  “Thanks,” William smiled and ushered the boys toward the stools at the bar.

  “My, you two have grown so much.” Ilene approached the boys without William or I realizing.

  William’s eyes grew large and looked to me. I shrugged.

  “Grandma!” The boys ran to her.

  She hugged both of them tightly. William looked bewildered at her affectionate behavior, stunning him into silence. I began to put food out on plates for them since Will seemed to be too shocked to move.

  “How have you boys been? Have you been good for your mother?”

  “Yes,” and “Yep,” they answered in unison.

  “That’s wonderful,” she beamed at them. “What have you been up to?”

  “We got to go back to Whidbey and stay with Grandma Juliet,” Michael spouted in excitement.

  I groaned audibly and heard Collin’s fork fall to the table as William fell into a coughing fit.

  “Uncle Collin has been letting us stay here with him until Mommy finds us a new house,” Gregory announced as they both climbed up the stools to start eating.

  Ilene didn’t move or speak.

  “Mother?” Collin was by her side. “Mother?” his voice rose a little as her tears started to flow. He wrapped an arm around her and walked her from the room.

  “Oh,” she hiccupped, “Collin.” Her cry got louder.

  “Is Grandma okay?” The boys looked up to William.

  “Um, yes, she is just so happy to see you two that she has happy tears.” William dropped his face to his food and began to shovel it in.

  The twins looked at William like he was crazy, then looked at each other and went back to eating. I finished cleaning up the kitchen and left to check on Victoria.

  I’d been helping Victoria with her math homework for about thirty minutes when Will knocked on the open door.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I just wanted to thank you for helping with dinner tonight,” he smiled.

  “It’s no problem, and you don’t need to thank me,” I smiled at him. He hesitated in the doorway. “Will?”

  “Um, have you heard from Allison?”

  My brow furrowed.

  “Uh, no.” I fought a snort. Like that woman would talk to me unless she was ordering me around. Will’s face became severe. “Is something wrong?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, she met with Jonathan a few days back and didn’t come home that night, but she showed up the next afternoon.” He leaned against Victoria’s door. I approached to talk more privately with him.

  “She’s gone again?”

  “She left yesterday afternoon, and I haven’t heard from her.”

  “Maybe you should tell Collin about it.” He seemed to hesitate at my suggestion and then just shook his head.

  “No, I’ll wait. I don’t want to piss her off.”

  “But—”

  “If I haven’t heard from her by tomorrow evening then I’ll talk to Dr. Bishop.”

  “Okay. If you think that’s best, then okay.” I patted his upper arm.

  “Thanks.” He leaned over to the side. “Good night, Miss Victoria.”

  Her head whippe
d around and she beamed largely.

  “Night, William!”

  The remainder of the night was quiet. Victoria finished her homework, and after an awkward shower, keeping her cast out of the water, we sat down to read one of my favorites, “Mary Poppins,” by P.L. Travers.

  A little over a quarter through the book, Victoria was fast asleep. I tucked her in, said good night, and headed for a shower. The hot water felt good, and the smell of my body wash was unusually comforting. Stepping from the shower, I dried, brushed and dressed for bed. I was settling in under the covers when Collin entered the room. He was rubbing the back of his head with a look of exhaustion.

  “Is she okay?” I asked. His head came up quickly as he approached me.

  “Yes, she’s fine.” He climbed onto the bed next to me, still in his suit. “Thank you.” His arm came over me, and I pulled him closer to me.

  “For what?” I looked down at the top of his head. He looked up at me.

  “You didn’t have to be nice to my mother, and you definitely didn’t have to offer her a place to stay.”

  I leaned down and kissed his forehead. His swift movements brought him up, straddling my blanket-covered body. He pressed his lips to mine. It wasn’t a deep or long kiss, but it was perfect somehow. Pulling back, he looked down at me.

  “I love you,” his words were soft but passionate.

  That’s when my words from earlier this afternoon dawned on me. I told Ilene I loved her son. My face must have reflected every emotion flowing through my body because his face suddenly filled with panic.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing.” A grin crept over my mouth. “Say it again.”

  He smirked at me for a moment.

  “Say what again?”

  “What you just said.” My smile grew.

  “I love you.” He kissed me.

  “I love you too,” I whispered against his mouth.

  He stilled, and his eyes searched mine. Brightness shone in them like I’d never seen before. A large grin spread across his flawless complexion. The blanket disappeared and, eventually, so did our clothes.