by R. R. Banks
“So, how was work today?”
He shrugs. “Nothing real exciting,” he replies. “I don't have any appearances scheduled for the next week, so I drew up a couple of wills for people.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
“It was riveting.”
I look at the clock and see that it's eight. Time to put Justin to bed, so I hop down off the counter and walk into the living room. I smile when I see that he's already cleaned up most of his toys – though experience has taught me that in the middle of the night, I'm going to find the one Lego brick he missed.
“Bed time, sweetheart,” I say. “Go brush your teeth.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
He scurries down the hallway, making me smile. Watching my little boy grow up is one of the biggest joys of my life. And it makes all of the shit I had to endure in my life all worth it. Sensing his presence behind me, I turn around and find Caleb leaning against the archway that separates the kitchen area from the living room. I snag the bottle of beer and take a swallow of it.
“He's a good kid,” Caleb says. “And he's lucky to have such a great mom.”
“I'm lucky to have such a great kid,” I say and punch him playfully in the arm. “And such great friends in my life.”
A shadow passes across his face. But like a fish just below the surface of the water, it's there one moment and gone the next – as if it had never been there to begin with. I look at him curiously.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he replies. “Of course. Just thinking about a case coming up.”
I nod slowly. “Okay,” I say. “I'm going to go put the little man to bed, so I'll be right back.”
“I'll be here,” he says and flashes me that million-watt smile of his.
I head down the hallway to say goodnight and tuck Justin in. After our nightly ritual, I turn on his nightlight and smile. His steady breathing tells me that he's already out cold, so I close the door gently behind me and head back down to the living room.
Dropping down onto the couch, Caleb hands me a fresh beer. He's watching the highlights of the day's games on ESPN. And as I sit there beside him, I laugh to myself.
“What?” he asks, turning to me.
“I was just thinking about how much we actually seem like an old married couple sitting here.”
He smiles and nods his head. “Yeah, I guess we do.”
We watch for a few more minutes while talking about the minutiae of our days. It's one thing I really enjoyed about hanging out with Caleb – we can talk about the smallest, most insignificant details of life with each other and never grow bored. It's a great quality to have in a friend – a quality I found all too seldom growing up. Needless to say, I never had a lot of friends as a kid. Mostly because I couldn't deal with the petty, selfish bullshit that came with adolescence.
I jump when there's a knock at the door and turn to Caleb.
“What are you looking at me for? Not my house, it's not my booty calls stopping by,” he grins.
“Booty calls, right,” I say. “Because I've got 'em lined up around the block.”
“Who knows what you do when I'm not around.”
I glance at my watch and see that it's coming up on nine. Kind of late for kids selling newspapers or candy. The knock sounds again, this time a little louder and forceful. Getting up off the couch, I walk over to the door and look out the peephole – and see nothing but darkness. I've been on the landlord for the last month about getting the lights outside fixed and he always says he'll get around to it – and never does.
Sighing, I open the door and immediately feel my heart drop into my shoes. “What in the hell are you doing here?” I ask, my voice tight with tension. “How in the hell did you even find me?”
I hear Caleb get up off the couch and feel his presence behind me – it's a reassuring presence that I take comfort in.
“Did you really think you could hide from me?” he says. “Hide my kid from me?”
Standing on the porch is none other than my ex – Glenn McSwain. I'm shocked to see him standing there. Mostly because he was supposed to be in prison for another year and a half. He looks the same as the last day I saw him – tall, muscular, thick goatee, and a shaved head. He looks every bit the member of the biker gang I remember him to be.
“How are you out?” I asked. “I thought you –”
“Early parole,” he says. “Overcrowding. Lucky me, huh? Now, you gonna let me in?”
My eyes are wide and I feel adrenaline surging through my body. I'm terrified of Glenn – mostly because I know what he's capable of. He's capable of doing terrible things – the bruises have all healed, but I've still got a few scars that prove it.
When I was with him, I lived in a constant state of terror. He has a bad temper and when he's set off, he can be downright vicious. I stand rooted to my spot, terrified, unable to move. I thought that by moving across the country, I'd be free of Glenn. That I'd never have to see him again. That I'd never have to live in that kind of fear ever again.
But there he is, standing on my doorstep.
“H – how did you find us?” I ask, my voice coming out a meek little whisper.
“Doesn't matter,” he replies. “I found you. That's all that matters. Now, we can be a family again. So, let me in.”
I hear Caleb take a step forward behind me and it breaks the paralysis that gripped me. He's still out of Glenn's sight and I want to keep it that way.
“N – no, Glenn,” I say, trying to put some steel behind my words. “I'm not going to let you in. And we're not going to be a family. We're over. We've been over.”
“Baby, come on,” he says, giving me a smile that used to melt my heart – used to. “Don't be like that. I made a few mistakes but I'm a new man. Give me a chance.”
I shake my head. “You need to go, Glenn,” I say. “Now.”
His eyes narrow, his jaw sets, and his face darkens – all warning signs of an impending explosion I got to know well when I was with him. Like a storm gathering strength, when he finally let loose, I usually ended up with bruises somewhere on my body – but never anywhere anybody could see them. He was usually smart about that.
“You don't get it, Veronica,” he says, his voice low and menacing. “I'm out now. We're gonna to be together – you, me, and Justin. We're gonna be a family again. Just like old times.”
“No, we're not, Glenn –”
The cracking of him punching the wall beside the door made me jump and as if it was an automatic response, tears welled in my eyes and my body started to tremble.
“Let me in this goddamn apartment, Veronica,” he spits. “You ain't gonna keep me from my boy.”
“Actually,” Caleb says, suddenly stepping up beside me in the doorway. “She can keep him from you – given that you're a convicted felon and all –”
Glenn's face grows even darker and the air of tension that surrounds us already, is suddenly filled with an anticipation of violence. Caleb doesn't know what Glenn is capable of. Doesn't know of the terrible things he's done. The last thing I want is for Caleb to get hurt.
“Who the fuck are you?” Glenn snaps.
Caleb takes another step forward – intentionally putting himself between me and Glenn. I want to grab him, pull him back, get him out of harm's way. Knowing Glenn, the way I do, I'm reasonably sure he's got a gun on him and is just looking for an excuse to hurt somebody. That's who he is. Who he's always been. He enjoys inflicting pain on people.
“An attorney,” Caleb says, his voice firm and strong. “And I can tell you that your criminal background will make it hard for you to ever get custody of Justin –”
“Who fuckin' asked you?” Glenn snapped.
Caleb shrugs. “I like to hand out legal advice pro bono from time to time.”
“This don't concern you –”
Caleb slips his phone out of his pocket and smirks. “Actually, as an officer of the court, it kind of does,” he says. “Because
I'm pretty sure that one of the terms of your parole was that you're not allowed to leave the state you were incarcerated in.”
Glen looks at him with absolute fury in his eyes – but remains silent. I can see his hand twitching and I know that he wants to pull the gun I'm sure he's carrying. Caleb simply stands there, completely unafraid of Glenn – if anything, looking amused by him.
“Did you get permission from your parole officer to travel across the country?” Caleb asks.
“Fuck you,” Glenn snaps.
“I'll take that witty retort as a no,” Caleb says and holds up his phone. “Tell you what, Glenn. You leave now and I won't call the police and let them know there's a fugitive standing here in front of me. Because I'd be willing to bet that if you get collared violating your parole, you're going to do some more time.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Leave now, and never come back,” Caleb says calmly. “You forget about Veronica and you forget about Justin. They're done with you. For good.”
Glenn stares at him and I can tell he's debating with himself about what to do. Caleb punches in the number for 911 and shows it to Glenn to spur his decision. After a long moment – one in which I swear, I didn't breathe – Glenn turns and walks away without another word.
I fear though, that this won't be the last I'm going to see of him.
Caleb closes the door and locks it. Turning around, he pulls me into a tight embrace and just holds me. The physical contact seemed to break down the emotional dam within me and I began to shake and tremble as I sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.
Guiding me to the couch, Caleb sits me down and holds me, stroking my hair, and telling me that everything is going to be okay.
I'm not so sure he's right.
Chapter Four
We sit on the back deck of Caleb's house watching the waves crash against the shore. It's a gorgeous day and we're sipping drinks as the sun slips toward the horizon, sparkling off the water dazzlingly, making the Pacific look like a pool of liquid gold.
I dropped Justin off at Melinda's for a sleepover with her kids – leaving me free to drink myself blind if I wanted to. Honestly though, after the stress of the last week, a low-key evening of sitting out on the deck, staring out at the ocean while having a few drinks and maybe some dinner sounded nice.
It's been about a week since Glenn showed up at my door and I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in that time. I'm actually starting to think that Caleb did it – that he'd managed to scare Glenn away with the threat of more prison time. He showed up thinking he could intimidate me into taking him back – again – and ended up slinking away with his tail between his legs. The mere thought of it makes me smile.
“I know why you've spent so much time with us this week,” I say.
“Do I need a reason to hang out with my best friend?”
“Every day?” I ask and smile. “I appreciate it, Caleb.”
He smiles and waves me off. “It's nothing.”
“No, it's definitely not nothing,” I say, holding his gaze. “I really appreciate you taking care of Justin and me the way you have.”
He gives me a warm smile. “Of course,” he says. “I'd never let anything happen to either of you.”
As we look into each other's eyes, there's an unexpected air of awkwardness that descends over us. The moment is interrupted though, by the ringing of my cell phone. The sound of the Imperial March theme from Star Wars coming out of my phone makes me roll my eyes.
“My mother,” I groan.
“Calling to check up on the happily engaged couple, no doubt,” he laughs.
“I'd ignore it, but she'll keep calling back until I answer,” I say.
He shrugs. “Better take the hit now then.”
With a sigh, I punch the speaker button on the phone. “Hi, Mom.”
“What's that sound?” she asks.
“Waves, mom,” I say.
“What, are you at the beach?”
I sigh. “Yes, Mom,” I say. “I'm at Caleb's place.”
“He has a house on the beach?” she asks. “Oh, my. Is he a doctor or something?”
“Lawyer, actually,” he says. “And the house belonged to my family. That's the only reason I own it.”
I shoot him a look, not wanting him to encourage her. I just want to get her off the phone as quickly as possible. He just laughs and gives me a goofy expression, making me shake my head.
“Oh, so you're the mystery man in my daughter's life. And a lawyer, at that,” she says, a small note of awe in her voice – and I'm not sure whether I should be offended by it or not. “She's been so secretive about her relationship, you know. I only just found out that you proposed to her.”
“Oh, I'm sorry about that,” Caleb chuckles. “But rest assured, our proposal was a beautiful event. It was at sunset, on the beach, champagne – it was a perfect night, Mrs. Geary.”
I reach across and smack him in the arm, trying to get him to stop egging her on. He just sticks his tongue out at me and grins.
“That sounds lovely,” she says, genuine delight in her voice. “Wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Geary,” he says. “We can't possibly be happier.”
My mother starts rattling on about something, but I'm not really listening. Instead, I mute the phone so she can't hear me and then smack Caleb in the arm again.
“What are you doing?” I ask, unable to stop the giggle that bubbled up in my throat.
“It sounds like I'm making her day,” he says. “She sounds happy enough to burst.”
He's right. I can't really deny that. She does sound happy. Damn near giddy and ecstatic. And I haven't heard my mom sound that way in a long time. Honestly, it's nice to hear. But still, we're lying through our teeth and I'm conflicted about that. It's getting her excited for something that's never going to happen.
On the other hand, she's never going to be know that it didn't happen – so, are we really hurting her by making this whole fantasy marriage up?
“Honey?” my mother asks. “Are you still there?”
I quickly unmute the phone. “Yeah, sorry, Mom,” I say. “I'm – we're – still here.”
“I was asking when the wedding is?” she asks.
I look over at Caleb and shrug. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. “We're planning on having it next month.”
“Next month?” she asks, sounding horrified. “And you're only telling me now?”
“It's no big deal, Mom.”
“We're keeping it small, Mrs. Geary,” Caleb chimes in. “Just those closest to us.”
“Well, I count as somebody close to you, don't I?” she asks.
“Of course, you do, Mom –”
“You certainly didn't leave me a lot of time to get myself ready then.”
I look over at Caleb, a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Ready for what, Mom?”
“To come out there for your wedding, of course,” she says. “You don't really think I'm going to miss my only daughter's wedding, do you?”
The sinking feeling grows to a yawning chasm in my stomach. I look at Caleb and his expression is as stricken as I'm sure mine is.
“B – but, Mom,” I say. “You're not well enough to travel.”
“The hell I'm not,” she snaps.
“Mom –”
“I'm going to be at your wedding, Veronica,” she says. “I don't care if they have to drive me all the way out there in an ambulance – I wouldn't dream of missing your big day, honey.”
I stare at the phone in silence – things have gone from bad to impossibly bad. I can't believe one little lie has blown up in such an incredible fashion.
“I have to go, honey,” she says. “But give me all the details next time we talk so I can make my arrangements.”
“O – okay.”
“I'm so excited, Veronica,” she beams. “I've been looking forward to this day for so long. Love you, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, love yo
u too, Mom.”
She disconnects the call and I slump back in my seat, feeling thoroughly stressed out and defeated. I look at Caleb who has a mischievous little smirk on his face.
“Glad you find this so funny,” I say.
“Kind of hard not to.”
I sigh and stand up, heading back into Caleb's house. He follows me into the kitchen where I fish a couple of fresh beers out of the refrigerator, handing him one. I twist the top off and take a long pull, draining nearly half the bottle.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“We have a wedding.”
I stare at him. “You can't be serious.”
He takes a drink and sets the bottle down. “I'm very serious,” he says. “Look, your mom wants a wedding ceremony. So, we give her one.”
“And how do you propose to do that?” I ask. “Do you really feel like getting married to me?”
He shrugs and smiles at me. “I can think of worse things to do with my time.”
“You're hilarious.”
“Look, all we have to do is invite a few of our close friends,” he says. “We hire somebody who was ordained online or something – not a real pastor – they perform the ceremony, it's beautiful, your mom cries, and then we never file the marriage license. No paperwork, no marriage, and all it ends up being is a nice afternoon for a mother who wants nothing more than to see her daughter get married. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.”
I take another sip of beer and lean back against the counter. “Huh,” I say. “That actually might work.”
“Of course, it'll work.”
“And you'd actually be willing to go through all of that – for me?”
The look he gives me makes my heart skip a beat and it feels like all of the air just got sucked out of the room. We stopped dating because there didn't seem to be any chemistry between us. But in that moment, there seems to be a growing heat. And I can tell by the look on his face that I'm not the only one who feels it.
Maybe it's the beer. Maybe it's all the stress I've been under. I don't know, but standing there in front of Caleb and feeling that sizzle between us, all I want is to feel my body pressed to his. Something in my head and in my body has shifted and though I don't understand it, I'm just going to go with it.