Delivered Through the Storm

by Nicole Garcia

  Panic creeps up my chest and into my throat thinking of Ryder being on the other side of the door. I put my hands up to my hair and notice I haven’t even brushed it since I got out of the shower this morning. My curls are knotted and damp, and I only have one shoe on. And if that wasn’t enough, I haven’t even applied any makeup to my face either. I was planning to put it on quickly once I dropped the boys off to save some time.

  The chime of the bell echoes in my ears and my heart races nervously as I try to decide what I should do. I’m cemented to the floor. Maybe if I didn’t answer the door he would leave one of those little yellow ‘sorry we missed you’ notes; but that isn’t the brightest idea either because he’d have to come back and redeliver it anyway.

  I bunch my hair in my hand and quickly twist it into a messy bun and kick my one shoe off in the corner. Hopefully I don’t look as bad as I think I do and he won’t go screaming for the hills at the sight of me. I gather up enough strength to turn the doorknob and swing the door open, only the man I was expecting to be standing there, isn’t. Instead of Ryder, a much shorter, much younger man with red hair is staring back at me. I don’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

  “Ms. Moore?” The young man asks as he looks at the box in his hands.

  “Yes?”

  "I just need you to sign for the package."

  For some reason I feel like crying. My chest aches from holding back the tears that want to escape. I know it’s probably due to all the stress I’ve put myself through this morning, but deep down I was hoping Ryder would be the one standing in front of me and not this college aged kid who didn't make my heart skip a beat at all. In that one meeting with Ryder my whole body screamed for his touch and gentle words. He seemed sincere and I really should give him a proper thank you for saving Aiden from a serious head injury. But, I can’t do that now. Now I have to sign for a package I really didn’t need in the first place.

  "Miss? Are you okay?"

  I clear my throat. "Yes. I’m fine." I sign for the package, but curiosity gets the better of me. "Will you be working this route now?"

  "No, I'm just filling in for the regular driver. I think he went on vacation for the week."

  "Oh." I take the box and close the door behind me. I lean my head back against the door, staring up at the ceiling and inhale a deep breath. At least I didn’t have the opportunity to make a complete fool of myself. Dropping the box by the door, I make my way back over to the couch to search the rest of the cushions for my missing keys.

  "Mom."

  "What is it Aiden? I'm kind of busy right now."

  He raises his hand, jingling the silver metal keys in front of my face. "You left the keys in my backpack yesterday when we came home."

  "You had them the whole time? Why didn't you tell me?"

  "You told me not now."

  I grab the keys out of his hand, slip on my shoes, and usher the boys out of the house. I speed through traffic after dropping off the boys and make it to work only ten minutes late. Of course, Tyler is already here. He is never late. That is the one and only thing that really irritates me about him. Otherwise, he is absolutely perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.

  “Well, you’re almost on time.”

  “Ha ha. Can’t you ever be late once Ty? I’d love to look like somewhat of a responsible employee once in a while.”

  “We all can’t be perfect darling.”

  I huff out an aggravated breath. “That’s for sure.”

  “What’s bothering you? The boys okay?”

  I sigh. “The boys are fine. It’s just that...I did something last week that I regretted this morning.”

  Tyler hops up on the desk. His eyes widen as he crosses his long legs. “You naughty thing. Spill it!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, it’s nothing that has to do with sex.”

  His smile falters. “Oh, well then what is it?”

  “I ordered a few toys online for the boys…”

  “And that’s something you regret? How much did you spend?”

  “It wasn’t the money, will you just let me finish already. I wasn’t even going to tell you anything in the first place.”

  “Girl, who are you kidding?” You tell me everything.”

  “True. Anyway, I didn’t order the toys for them. I bought them for my benefit.”

  Tyler’s eyebrow shoots up and a playful smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth. “What kind of toys did you buy?”

  “Can you please keep your mind out of the gutter for once please. I’m trying to be serious here.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry go ahead.”

  “The truth is I wanted to see Ryder again.” I nervously bite my bottom lip, waiting to see what his reaction is going to be. Although I kind of have an idea already.

  “You mean that tall, hot, rough, tattooed delivery guy who could not keep his eyes off you the entire time he was in your house?”

  “Yes, that guy.”

  “I say go for it. He seemed like a decent enough man. He did take to the boys right away. Why would you regret doing something you obviously wanted to do?”

  “Because Tyler, no matter how much I want to go out on a date with someone, I can’t.”

  “Yes you can, you just don’t want to.”

  “No I can’t Ty. I have the boys to think about. Their own father disappointed them and I can’t watch that happen to them again. It’s heartbreaking.”

  He takes my hand in his. “Do you think it’s healthy for a young woman to be stuck alone for the rest of her life just because she’s too cowardly to take a chance?”

  I snatch my hand away from him. “I am not a coward!”

  “I know you’re not, so what are you going to do about it?”

  I sigh. “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

  Chapter Six

  Ryder

  Sitting on the plane ride home I’ve had a lot of time to think about how empty my life really is. My mother wasn’t feeling well so I decided to take a few days off and fly down to see her. My brother, Wyatt, doesn’t live far from the house we grew up in, so he stopped in to check on mom as well. It was nice to be with family once in a while, but it also made me remember why I moved out of state in the first place. I'd always felt inferior to my brother’s success, and seeing him with his family made me realize how much I was missing out of life.

  Being a bachelor and playing the field is getting pretty fucking old. I want more. So much more. I want to be a part of something important, something that only belongs to me.

  I haven't even been with a woman in months. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, but the minute I stepped foot in Madison's house and held that boy in my arms, I knew that was where I was supposed to be. Okay, so I may have been thrust into a hectic situation and was included in a kid's death defying stunt without any say in the matter, but I was glad I had been there at that very moment to save him from serious injury.

  Madison was just icing on the cake. One look at her and I was ruined for every other woman from that moment on. I felt so comfortable in that short amount of time I was in her presence. Having kids was always in the foreseeable future, but being with a woman who already had children of her own was never written in the stars for me. It wasn't even a thought in my head to date a woman who had kids. Going out with a single mother was taking on a huge responsibility. Besides, I don't know what her situation with the boy’s father was like. Was she still married? Separated? Divorced? I have no idea. All I do know is I want to get to know her and her kids more. But how? I can’t just show up at her doorstep unannounced. If she were any other woman I would have, but this situation needs a tad more care and finesse. My gruff attitude toward the opposite sex won’t work with a woman like her.

  You know, it may have been my imagination running wild, but I could have sworn she’d given me an open invitation to drop in on her. Maybe I should take her up on that offer. There was definitely chemistry between us, that’s for sure
. My fingers itched to touch more than just her hand and I’d seen the same fire burning in her eyes reflecting back at me. I’d kill for the chance to sink my hands in her long golden hair as I pump into her hot mouth. The thought of her full lips around my hard cock and her looking up at me has me straining in my jeans. I adjust myself and try to think about something other than Madison, though everything else that comes to mind only lasts a few seconds before my thoughts flip back to the beautiful blonde.

  The soft buzzing vibration in my pants pocket momentarily distracts me and I don’t know whether to be grateful or annoyed I was interrupted from my dirty thoughts. I glance at the phone to find Quito’s name blinking across the screen. “What’s up?”

  “You on your way home?”

  “Yeah, I’m on the plane now.”

  “Do you need me to come pick you up?”

  “Nah, I’m good. I’ll take a cab.”

  “No you won’t. I’ll pick you up and we’ll stop by my mom’s for dinner. Mercedes came to visit for a few days and brought Raven with her so we can all catch up there.”

  “Shit, you don’t have to ask me twice, I’m starving.” I was already salivating just thinking about the food I was going to consume. Quito’s mother makes the best Cuban food I’ve ever tasted in my life. I never turn down an invitation to eat at her house. She always makes me feel welcome and treats me like a son. Quito is the youngest of five boys and Mercedes, his little sister was the last to be born in the family. I grew up with with only two older brothers. I can only imagine what poor Mercedes had to go through growing up in a household full of boys, but seeing how close they all are I’m sure there were plenty of laughs to go around. Quito and I had become fast friends because we have so much in common. Over the years we’ve become more like brothers than friends.

  “How long until you land?”

  “About forty-five minutes.”

  “Alright I’m getting ready to leave now.”

  I hang up and lean my head back before slouching in the seat. I close my eyes doing the best to clear my mind of the images of Madison flashing behind my lids. I can’t escape her no matter how hard I try to. I need to have her soon before my desire drives me to the brink of insanity. Maybe if I fucked her once that would be enough to satiate me to where I’m able to think of something else besides her. I’ve never known this kind of yearning existed until I laid eyes on her. I’ve been with plenty of women who were forgettable, but Madison was burned into my mind and I haven’t even had sex with her yet. And I mean yet because I will have her no matter what it takes.

  Her scent, fuck, it seems to follow me wherever I go. The aroma of sweet peaches still clings to the sensitive tissues of my nose. I involuntarily lick my lips and wonder if she tastes as good as she smells. I imagine she does, but there’s only one way to know for sure.

  An hour later and I’m sitting in the passenger seat of Quito’s car staring at the trees whizzing by on the highway. The vision of Madison’s face distracts from me from the babbling in the background coming from Quito in the driver’s seat. She’s consumed every thought in my head in the last few weeks. But, it’s not only her I think about. I also think about those two little boys of hers, especially Aiden. I could see the pain in his eyes when he spoke to Tyler about his mother, even if it was only in a passing glance. I have an unexplainable dire need to make them happy. I plan to make it my mission to put a smile on their faces every single day if I have the chance to do so.

  “Hey!”

  “What?! Damn it Qui, are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack? Shit!”

  “Didn’t you hear a word I said? What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting all kinds of weird for the last few weeks. Who has your panties in a twist?”

  “First of all, I’m not wearing panties. I’m going commando.”

  “Dude. That is the kind of information you can keep to yourself.”

  “Then mind your business.”

  “It is my business when you’re in my car and I don’t like your funky attitude.”

  I laugh. No matter how much he tries to hide it, Quito’s accent always finds a way to come to the surface, so when his ‘funky’ comes out sounding like ‘fucky’, I can’t keep a straight face.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you making fun of the way I talk?”

  I clear my throat and press my lips together. “No.”

  He shoots me an annoyed glance. “Mentiroso.”

  “I may be a lot of things, but I am not a liar.”

  “I guess, but that still doesn’t explain why you haven’t been yourself lately man. What’s going on? Is your mom okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s fine. Wyatt took her to the doctor the other day. She has a cold. She should be feeling better by next week.”

  “Good. Well, if it isn’t your mother then what is it?”

  “Like I said, mind your damn business.”

  “Look, either you tell me now or I’m gonna have to force it out of you one way or another. It’s a woman isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Having second thoughts about Nora?”

  “God no.”

  “Well? Who is it? Anyone I know?”

  “No, I met her during my route.”

  He waggles his brow at me. “Made a special delivery, did you?

  “No. She’s not like that at all. She has two little boys…”

  “Hold on. Time out. I know you’re not getting all gooey eyed over a woman who’s got kids. Since when did you become the serious type?”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Into the MILF thing are we?” He turns to wink in my direction. “My man.”

  “No, I don’t want to fuck her. Okay, that’s not completely true, I do, but I’m not going to take advantage of her. She seems so, I don’t know, different than any other woman I’ve been interested in. She’s…wholesome.”

  He bursts out laughing. “Wholesome?”

  “Yes, wholesome. What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, please let me in on the joke.”

  “I’ve known you for years and ‘wholesome’ is not a word I would use to describe the girls you go out with.”

  “Well maybe I’m looking for a change.”

  “Or a challenge.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you like the thrill of the hunt. I mean what man doesn’t right? You want something you can never have and that makes her desirable to you.”

  I turn to face him fully. “You’re talking out of your ass.”

  “And you’re too busy thinking with your dick because if you were thinking with your head you’d realize a ‘wholesome’ woman would never be interested in your type.”

  “And what type is that?”

  “The type that fucks women and leaves them once the chase is over. You’ll do the same thing to whoever this chick is, I put money on it. She’s just a phase and once you have her, you’ll get bored just as you have with all the other women in your life.”

  “You should not be talking my friend. You are just as bad as I am.”

  “Which is why I’m not the one in denial trying to seduce a mother of two children just to satisfy my sexual needs.”

  “That is not what I’m doing. Besides, I’m not even seeing her.”

  “But you want to and I know you well enough that you won’t rest until you get what you want.”

  I angrily face forward and cross my arms over my chest. It irks me in the worst way that Quito and I are so much alike that he can tell what I’m going to do before I do it. Well, he couldn’t be more wrong about me this time. “Just drive.”

  The thirty-minute ride from the airport to Quito’s mother’s house was the longest ride ever. I refused to talk to him the rest of the way because he pegged me for everything I am and I had nothing else to come back at him with.

  We park in front of a quaint little yellow house
complete with white shutters and white picket fence. I can already smell the faint aroma of what Mrs. Perez is cooking inside wafting through the open windows. My stomach bubbles at the anticipation of consuming some of the best food I’ve ever tasted in my life. My ire mood is instantly doused and a smile is now splayed across my face. I look over at Quito as he rounds the front of the car and his face is lit up as well. Several cars line the driveway and laughter fills the air as Quito’s brothers are playing some kind of sport in the backyard; most likely soccer.

  Both Quito and I make our way up the walkway and the front door swings open. His younger sister Mercedes jumps off the porch, not bothering with the few stairs and rushes over to us. Quito picks her up in a tight hug and spins her around, her long, curly, dirty blonde hair flowing through the air.

  When he puts her down she throws her arms around my neck and I embrace her in a tight hug of my own. “Hey! When did you get here?”

  “I flew in last night after my last class. I’ll be on break for a week, so I figured I’d come see my favorite guy in the world.” She winks at me and pokes me in the stomach.

  “Yeah, me.” Quito responds playfully.

  Mercedes places her hand on her hip and rolls her eyes at her brother. “You wish!” She threads her arm through mine as we walk back to the house. “How’s your mom? I heard she wasn’t feeling well.”

  “She’s good. She just has a cold. She’ll be better in no time. Now, tell me how Juilliard is. How are all of your classes going?”

  “Great. I can’t wait to get back. Though my busy schedule doesn’t leave much for love life.”

  Quito interrupts us. “What do you mean love life? What love life are you having? Don’t make me fly to New York and kick some asses.”

  I laugh, staring down at Mercedes. “Yeah, me too. You better be behaving yourself.”