The Patriot Girl

by Toni Lynn Cloutier

  She parked outside Tammy’s parent’s home twenty minutes later. Her son’s girlfriend strolled down the driveway, and then belted herself into the passenger’s seat. She was adorable in her little floral miniskirt, white blouse, and sandals. With her dark hair pulled up away from her round face, showing off her sapphire eyes, she looked older than sixteen. MaKayla understood why her son was physically attracted to Tammy.

  “Hi. Ready to forget about our men for a few hours?” Where had that come from? Dustin wasn’t her man. He was free to date whomever he pleased—another reason to stay away from No Bulls. She wouldn’t be able to handle walking into the club and finding another woman in his arms.

  “What man are you referring to, Ms. Adams?”

  She couldn’t discuss her feelings with a teenager. Pity-shopping was for forgetting her problems, not discussing them. “Oh, no one.” She reached over and shook the girl’s arm. “And please, honey, call me MaKayla. It’s okay to relax. I’m not going to bite.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Jodi wished you good luck.”

  Tammy’s voice hesitated. “Why did she wish me luck?”

  “You’ll see.” MaKayla hit the automatic door lock and laughed. No way was Tammy getting away from her now. “This is what I call my pity-shopping.”

  “Ah, Alex told me about this. It sounds like fun. Thank you for inviting me.”

  She’s been forewarned and yet is still excited? Great! Now MaKayla didn’t feel bad about keeping that part of their get-together a secret. This was going to be fun. If she couldn’t have the company of her son, getting to know the young lady who made him happy was a close second.

  After the ten-minute drive to the mall, they found they had a lot in common—the arts, comedy movies, cross-stitching, and shopping. When Tammy mentioned she enjoyed country music, another idea for No Bulls hit MaKayla. Dustin needed to have a family night at the club.

  “With Alex away, I should take up cross-stitching again. It’ll keep my mind off how he’s doing.” And off whom Dustin might be doing.

  Jealousy was a new emotion to MaKayla. Why was she doing this to herself?

  “There’s a great craft place near my parent’s business. We should go sometime.”

  MaKayla turned and smiled at Tammy. This was their time. No more Dustin thoughts. “Sure. I heard you’re planning on going to UT next year.” She parked the car. “What are you looking to do?”

  “I want to be an elementary school teacher.”

  “Good for you.” Making their way across the lot, they entered the first of many department stores MaKayla planned to conquer this evening. “There’s a shortage of teachers.”

  “I know. I love children.”

  After two-and-half hours of zigzagging through clothing stores, a drug store, and a couple shoe stores, they went to the food court. MaKayla went to one stand while Tammy went to another. Meeting at a small round table, they secured their bags beneath their feet against the metal railing.

  Tammy unrolled a soft taco from its paper. “MaKayla, do you always shop this way?”

  MaKayla laughed. “Only during pity-shopping.” She bit her extra-long hot dog. “I would have warned you, but I was afraid you wouldn’t have come. And no one does this kind of shopping alone. I usually drag Jodi, but after Alex’s father passed away, I kind of wore her out.”

  A familiar touch on MaKayla’s shoulder stiffened her body. She sipped her root beer to force down an un-chewed bite of her dinner.

  “Hi, MaKayla.” Dustin’s voice and the scent of his leather jacket made her body tingle. No pity-shopping could make her forget how aroused she became when he stood this close. As much as she wanted to shut her eyes and wish him gone, she couldn’t.

  Instead she stood. “Dustin, hi.” She pointed across the table. “This is my son’s girlfriend, Tammy. Tammy, this is Dustin James.” She waited for them to exchange greetings and then faced him. “What are you doing here?”

  Tammy pulled up another chair. “Have a seat.”

  “Thank you.” He placed a ladies-lingerie store bag between them. Not the type of bag MaKayla wanted to witness in his hand. Melissa was still too young for him to be shopping at such a store.

  Could he have already found another woman to wear sexy clothing for him? Probably not by the way he focused his attention on her lips. Was he remembering how they felt against his? Did he miss them as much as she missed his?

  Stop it. She couldn’t think about him in such an intimate way. Daydreaming only made her hungry for his touch, angry for what she couldn’t have, and guilty for what she’d already taken.

  He smiled. “How’s the pity-shopping going?”

  Her brows rose. “Are you stalking me?”

  “Maybe.”

  She could handle his stalking better than whoever had been lurking around her house. These past few nights she’d convinced herself the noises were kids, maybe some of Alex’s friends.

  Dustin reached out and caressed her fingers. The effect his heated touch had on her intensified rather than subsiding, as she had hoped. That meant she still had to stay away.

  He stood and then leaned down to whisper in her ear, his cheek pressing hers. “I’ll give you all the time in the world to figure things out with your family and your son. Just know I’m not going anywhere. When you’re ready, you know where to find me.” He stepped back and nodded to Tammy. “It was nice meeting you.”

  MaKayla stood and placed her hand against his chest, fighting the urge to kiss him. Her throat was so tight she couldn’t say a word.

  She sat again, and watching his departing backside, she sipped her soda to moisten her dry mouth.

  Her crazed shopping routine had always worked up until now. Her feet were too sore and the stores’ doors were about to shut. There would be no round two. What a wasted shopping spree.

  “MaKayla!” Tammy’s mouth gaped open and her eyes were as round as silver dollars. “He’s the man you’re trying to forget? No disrespect for Alex, but he’s gorgeous. He obviously has the hots for you. Alex didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend.” She rolled her eyes. “But, yes, he is the man I accidentally referred to.”

  If she told the girl exactly who he was, Tammy would be on the phone with Alex the minute she got home. MaKayla had to be the one to tell Alex she’d met the driver who killed his father.

  “Well, you should be dating him. You two have some chemistry going on.”

  Hearing her son’s girlfriend talk about chemistry in the sense of a relationship made her laugh. She was a teenager. What did she know about attraction?

  “He owns the country club at the top of my street. He’s a friend, and business client.”

  Tammy crinkled the paper on her last taco. “That’s too bad. You two look cute together.”

  It was too bad because he made MaKayla feel cute, amongst other things. She couldn’t explain why knowing he also missed her made her feel a little better. She finished her drink. “Ready to get out of here?”

  “Sure.” Tammy cleaned up the mess before retrieving their bags from beneath the table. “You’re so lucky, MaKayla. I wish Alex was here today for an accidental meet-up.”

  She wrapped her arm around Tammy’s shoulder as they made their way out into the chill of the evening. She didn’t feel so lucky. Dustin’s presence made her miss him even more, made every hair on her body stand on end, and made her mind confused with emotions she couldn’t explain to herself, let alone to him. She called that torture, not luck.

  “I wish we’d met Alex here, too, honey.” MaKayla sat behind the wheel of her car.

  She still had to come up with a line about what her feelings for Dustin were that Jodi would buy.

  Running into him so frequently wasn’t helping her case. The more she saw him, touched him, and breathed in his masculine scent, the harder it became to convince herself she had no feelings for him. How was she supposed to persuade a wiser, intuitive woman?

/>   Chapter Thirteen

  MaKayla buried her face inside another vase of eleven roses. This delivery meant Dustin now had over a half dozen roses waiting for her. Seven were most likely dead by now. Since their mall meeting on Halloween, he’d sent a different-colored, short-one-rose bouquet each week to let her know he was thinking of her.

  She’d missed him but she couldn’t give in to his flower deliveries and the sweet words attached to them.

  Four o’clock couldn’t come quick enough today. She had to rush home and start Alex’s favorite dinner for his arrival this evening. Between working at the bank and focusing on her new public relations clients, she could hardly believe how fast four months had passed.

  There was a knock on her door.

  “Come in.”

  “Okay, young lady, I can’t take this any longer.” Jodi sat on a leather chair in front of the desk. “Are you ever going back to No Shits or is the plan to crawl back into your shell, drown yourself in work, and never have sex again?”

  Even a lecture from Jodi couldn’t ruffle MaKayla’s feathers. All she cared about was reuniting with her son. “It’s called No Bulls, Jodi. And we’re not discussing this topic anymore.”

  Why would she mention the club on a Wednesday? On Mondays Jodi had an excuse to bring up Dustin’s name, because most of her time had been spent at No Bulls the weekend before.

  Maybe this was Jodi’s way of letting her know Dustin was scouting for a new woman. Good. MaKayla’s decision to stay away would be easier if he were off the market. Either way, she shouldn’t care.

  She gathered a pile of papers, made her way across the floor and placed them into the dark plastic bin hanging on the wall. “When’s Sara coming back?”

  “I’m not sure. And don’t change the subject.” Jodi stood and blocked her from going back to her seat. “He asks about you all the time. Honey, you can’t let what happened three years ago stop you from being with him.”

  MaKayla could see this subject wasn’t going to go away unless she faced her friend’s concerns head-on. Maybe if she could explain her feelings then Jodi would drop this, and future, conversations on the subject.

  “Look, Jodi. So, yes, I feel something whenever Dustin’s around but I’ll get over it. Have you ever thought of cheating on Duke? You wouldn’t dare. Why? Because guilt kills the mood. Trust me, I know. Even if I wanted to be with Dustin, I couldn’t. Alex is coming home tonight…and he’s all I want to focus on today. Okay?”

  “Ah, so now we’re getting to the root of your problem.”

  “If you mean Dustin, there’s no problem, he’ll find someone else. And so will I, but only when I’m ready.” Jodi’s crossed arms and tapping foot meant her thoughts were stirring. “What do you want me to do, forget about the accident? What about Alex?” The idea of hurting her son made her heart break. She didn’t expect her childless friend to understand a mother’s concerns.

  “What about Alex? It’s you that concerns me.”

  “I know you’re worried, but I’ll be fine. I need to put Dustin behind me, but as long as you keep bringing him up, how am I supposed to do that?”

  “If dating the devil made you happy, Alex would be all for it. So what other excuses can you come with? I’m not buying the cheating thing because Paul’s dead. You’re not cheating.”

  “How dare you?” MaKayla raised her hand but held off slapping the mouth that had spit out such a harsh reminder of why her life was so distorted these past few years.

  Paul might be physically dead, but mentally he still ruled her mind and had her heart. She pushed past her friend and sat down.

  “Someone needs to remind you that you’re not the one who’s dead. And you’re not cheating on Paul. Paul’s dead, honey. He’s gone. And he’s not coming back.”

  “Stop it!” MaKayla’s hands shook and she fought the sting behind her eyes. “This conversation”—her throat tightened and she had to force her brain to finish her thought—“is over.”

  “Oh, no it’s not.”

  MaKayla’s phone rang. She had to collect herself before she could answer. Somehow Jodi had managed to suck the excitement out of what should have been a happy day. “I need to answer that. And don’t come back in here unless you have a work-related problem.”

  ****

  It’d been a long day at work. Cooking and cleaning had helped to get her emotions back on track. MaKayla had never been as angry with Jodi as she had been this afternoon. Maybe after today Jodi would get the hint and there would be no more Dustin-this and Dustin-that discussion at work.

  MaKayla answered the ringing phone knowing the caller probably wasn’t Alex because he should be home any minute.

  “Honey, are you still mad at me?”

  Jodi’s voice was so sweet. How could she stay mad at the woman who was only trying to help? “Of course not. But promise me, no more talk about Dustin.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Listen, Alex will be home any minute. You know tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. I’m not sure what Tammy has planned with her family, but I was just about to invite her over. If you and Duke want to come meet her I’ll let you know what time.”

  “Of course. We have to visit Duke’s folks. Then, there’s a party at No Shits we have to go to. Then we’ll stop by your house around eight for the rest of the evening.”

  “Great. I’ll ask if she can come around that time. You’re going to love her.”

  “I already adore the girl.” Jodi laughed. “She survived your pity-shopping and has taken the pressure off me.”

  Hearing Alex’s car in the driveway, MaKayla disconnected, then linked her arm with Tammy’s and headed outside to greet him. The engine wasn’t turned off before she yanked the car door open, pulled her son out, and hugged him. “Welcome home. We’ve missed you.”

  Alex gave his girlfriend a hug. “It’s good to be home. I missed you too.”

  Watching his arms wrap around Tammy’s neck and holding her close, made MaKayla’s heart swell.

  Love was a precious thing. During the few moments she had been honest with herself, she realized she had fallen in love with Dustin. No way could she confess those feelings with Jodi.

  She, too, wanted to hold on to Dustin forever the same way Tammy now embraced her son. The difference was these two didn’t have a past getting in their way.

  Giving the young couple a moment of privacy, MaKayla went back into the house and into the kitchen. Placing the bowl of cooked pasta, meatballs, and sauce onto the table reminded her of the old times. She removed the garlic bread from the oven and set it in a breadbasket.

  “Dinner’s ready.”

  Alex pulled out his girlfriend’s chair and then sat across from MaKayla. “Mom, this smells awesome.”

  “I’m planning on cooking all your favorites while you’re home. I’ll make French toast or chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast tomorrow—your choice.”

  The rest of the conversation was filled with stories of what college was like, tales of Alex’s childhood shenanigans, and laughter. Having him home brought warmth back within these cold walls.

  “So, Mom, tell me about this new dude of yours.”

  She choked on her bread. Had Tammy said something about what happened at the mall? She’d better not jump the gun until she collected more information. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Jodi said I shouldn’t worry about you because there’s this guy who’s been keeping you busy.”

  Of course Jodi would say something she knew Alex wanted to hear. “Don’t listen to her. She’s referring to my client from the nightclub—the one who signed the contract before you left.” That was all she wanted to say about Dustin. Jodi shouldn’t be misleading her son into thinking anything more.

  MaKayla needed to change the subject before Alex asked further questions. “Tammy, what does your family do for the holidays?”

  Tammy shrugged. “My mother has a family party at my house tomorrow night. Then we go to my grandparent’s home for
Christmas dinner.”

  “Jodi and Duke will be over to visit with Alex around eight o’clock tomorrow. They’d love to meet you. Would your folks let you come by for an hour or so?”

  Tammy held Alex’s hand and smiled. “I’m sure they will, and I’d love to, MaKayla. Thank you.”

  “Did you call my mother MaKayla?”

  MaKayla laughed. “Yes. We bonded during pity-shopping. She emerged all in one piece, and she’s still talking to me.”

  “You took her shopping? Thanks for ruining my relationship, Mom.”

  Tammy squeezed his hand. “We had a great time. She didn’t ruin anything.”

  “See?” MaKayla winked at Tammy as she stood to clean the table. “Why don’t the two of you go catch up? I’m going to have him all to myself later on.”

  With the kitchen cleaned and her shower taken, MaKayla descended the stairs after hearing Tammy’s car drive away. Alex already had a fire going. She’d forgotten how the fire made the house feel more like a home. Usually her puffy robe kept her warm, but not cozy. She had to embrace this feeling so she’d remember to light the fireplace more often after Alex returned to school.

  She tossed a bag of popcorn into the microwave. The house began to smell of warm butter. She filled two glasses with ice and soda then joined her son in the living room. “Did you and Tammy have a nice visit?”

  “Yeah. She’s looking forward to meeting Jodi and Duke. I talk about them all the time.” He sat beside his mother on the sofa. “How’s the business doing?”

  She caressed his cheek and brushed his hair away from his eyes. More than ever his features now resembled his father’s. She might not have Paul with her, but she’d always have a piece of him within her son. “Business is good. How was your trip to the cabin?”

  He nodded and shied away.

  No need to push the issue. She knew how much he missed his dad and that the memories still hurt. “Tell me more about school. What’s your favorite subject?” She reached for a handful of popcorn.

  “Science.”

  “You’ve always been good in science.”