Stone Hearts
Page 18
Sophie loops her arm in mine, and the two of us walk to the parking lot.
“You okay? You look pale,” she asks as we load our arms with blankets.
“Yeah. I don’t think that hot dog we ate is agreeing with me though,” I lie.
“It’s the chili. It was delicious but greasy. I have Tums in my purse. I’ll get you a couple.”
We walk back and set up, and I plant a happy smile on my face for Beau when he bounces over with his new friend, Flipper the goldfish.
Myer
Dallas acted out of sorts after the parade. When I asked what was wrong, she said she was just tired and something about greasy chili. I gave her some space, but she isn’t getting away with that shit for long. The past few weeks have been so busy with the brandings and Memorial Day and moving the cattle to the new pastures that I’ve barely gotten to see her and Beau, and space is not gonna be an option for her tonight.
After the fireworks, everyone starts dispersing. I walk with her and Beau to her truck.
“I’ll follow you guys,” I say once I have Beau in his seat.
“I’m awfully beat tonight, Myer,” she says as she turns the key.
“That’s fine. We can just curl up in front of the television with popcorn,” I suggest.
“Yeah, popcorn with extra butter,” Beau approves.
She turns around and says to him, “Maybe another night, baby.”
I fold my arms on the window of her truck. “What’s wrong, Dallas?” I ask.
“Nothing. I’m just not in the mood to hang out tonight. I want to go to bed early, and I have to get all that paint scrubbed off Beau’s face and figure out what to put a goldfish in,” she starts listing off all her bogus excuses.
“Flipper lives in a bowl,” Beau chirps from the backseat.
“I don’t think I have a bowl big enough for Flipper. He’ll have to go in a jar for now.”
“I’ll stop in the general store right quick before Peterson closes it up and grab a bowl and rocks and some fish food,” I offer.
“Yeah, we have to feed him,” Beau says.
Dallas sighs in defeat as Payne walks up beside me.
“Fine. Meet us at the house,” she relents before throwing the truck in reverse.
“What was that all about?” Payne asks as she peels out of the parking lot.
“I have no idea, but I’m going to find out.”
I pull up to her house forty-five minutes later, and she already has Beau clean and in his pajamas.
He and I set up the fish bowl while she picks up around the house, effectively avoiding me.
I carry the bowl into Beau’s room. “Where do you want him, buddy?” I ask.
“Right here. He and Fritz can be friends, so they won’t be lonely when I’m in school.”
“We’re gonna have to get you a dog or something. I don’t think we can fit many more tanks in here,” I tell him as I set the bowl down.
“Momma says I can’t have a puppy until I’m big enough to walk him all by myself,” he says.
“It’s true, buddy. Dogs are a much bigger responsibility than a frog and fish. You have to feed them, give them baths, take them out to use the bathroom at all hours of the day and night, and clean up after them. They require a whole lot more work and time than these guys do,” I explain.
“That’s what Mommy says.”
“Mommy’s always right.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, “but when I get bigger, I can ask Santa for one.”
After Flipper is all set up in his new home beside Fritz’s aquarium on Beau’s dresser, we join Dallas in the living room and settle in for popcorn and cartoons.
She sits on the other side of Beau and as far away from me as possible.
He doesn’t notice the tension, but I can feel it thickening the air in the room.
Beau falls fast asleep before the first show is over. I pick him up and carry him to bed for her. She spends an unnecessary amount of time tucking him in before she joins me again in the living room.
“All right, I know something’s bothering you. Now, talk,” I demand.
“Can we not do this right now?” she asks brokenly.
“Jesus, Dal, what’s wrong? You were fine this afternoon, and now, you’re acting like you want to be anywhere but in a room with me. What’s changed in the last four hours?”
“I’m not the one who wishes they were somewhere else,” she says softly.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“How’s Samantha doing these days?” she asks, her eyes never leaving the floor.
“Samantha?” I ask, confused.
Samantha was my high school girlfriend. We dated junior and senior year, and then we both went to the University of Colorado Boulder. When I left school after my injury, she stayed. She wanted to be an athlete’s wife. It was her entire life plan, so when the possibility of going pro was gone for me, so was she. I never mourned the loss of that relationship because I knew the minute she decided to end it that I had dodged a bullet. I thank God every day that I saw her true colors before it was too late.
“Yes, Samantha. I overheard your conversation earlier today,” she says, her jaw starting to tremble.
“What? Are you talking about what Paul said?”
She nods.
“What does that have to do with us right now?”
She’s not making any sense.
“I don’t want to be anyone’s consolation prize. You don’t belong in Poplar Falls. He’s right; you should be on a football field somewhere, like you always dreamed.”
“Who said I want to leave Poplar Falls?”
“Look at me, Myer. I’m a single mother in debt up to her eyeballs, who works two jobs. I drive a truck that’s basically held together with duct tape at this point and live in my parents’ backyard. You deserve someone like Samantha, who probably has her life together. You should call her,” she says as she folds her arms over her chest.
You have got to be kidding me.
“Is that what’s in your head? Seriously, Dallas?”
“I know the thought crossed your mind. I saw you put her number in your phone,” she accuses.
“Really?” I pull my phone from my pocket. “In this phone?”
She just stands there and doesn’t answer.
“The only number I put in here today is Paul’s, and that’s only because I didn’t want to seem like an asshole when he gave it to me,” I roar.
She swallows back tears.
“Dammit, Dallas. I cannot believe this. Seriously? Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?”
I head for the door, and she follows me out onto the porch.
“I—” she starts.
I cut her off, “I’m not a boy anymore, Dallas. I don’t dream about winning MVP trophies and taking the head cheerleader to prom. I’m a man. A man who knows exactly what he wants, and that is you and Beau. Waking up to the two of you every day for the rest of my life. But I’m tired of trying to convince you to want the same thing. I give up. You call me when you figure out what the hell it is you want.”
I give her the ultimatum before I climb in my truck, slam the door, and pull away, leaving her standing on her porch.
That woman drives me insane.
I must be nuts for loving her so damn much.
Dallas
Myer has stayed true to his word, and I haven’t heard from him at all this week.
After four days of sulking, I finally confess to Sophie what happened as we work on Friday morning.
“Oh, Dallas, you didn’t,” Sophie says, her words dripping with sympathy.
“I did. I’d misunderstood the entire exchange between them, and instead of just asking him, I got in my own head and let my insecurities run away with me.”
“Well, at least something good came from all of this,” she deduces.
“What would that be?” I ask because I see no good at all.
“You know how you feel now,” she points out.
It’s true. I’ve been angry with myself and sick over the whole thing. I’ve missed him this week. And not just the way you miss a friend. When I gave my notice and worked my last day at Faye’s, the first person I wanted to call when I got in my truck was Myer. And when we went to the bank and Momma put me down as a signer on all the bakery’s accounts, he was the first one I wanted to share my exciting news with.
“Yeah, I think I’m in love with him,” I confess.
She nods in agreement. “You need to call him. Braxton and I will keep Beau for you tomorrow night. Ask him to come over, or better yet, you go to him and apologize for jumping to conclusions and then tell him how you feel.”
I take a few deep breaths.
“Don’t hyperventilate on me,” she warns. “I’m zero help in a crisis; ask Aunt Doreen. When Beau was bucked from that horse, I just froze and then freaked out. She and Aunt Ria were the cool heads who handled the injured child and Madeline like pros. My future children are clearly screwed,” she says.
That makes me laugh.
“You’ll be fine. It’s different when it’s your own kid. Your instincts take over, and you handle the crisis and then freak out later behind closed doors,” I assure her.
“God, I hope that’s true.”
“Also, I’m not feeling so confident about your offer to keep Beau now either,” I say as I side-eye her.
“Don’t worry. Braxton never loses his cool. He’ll keep Beau alive,” she promises.
Good to know.
I pick Beau up from school, and we head home for the evening. My heart is lighter after my conversation with Sophie this morning, and he can tell.
For the last few days, he has been able to read my mood, and he in turn has been melancholy. He has also been sticking close to my side.
Today, he is talkative and excited for the weekend.
He gets his cast off on Tuesday, and he is so ready.
“Mommy, is Myer gonna come with us to the doctor when they take my green arm off?” he asks as we sit down for supper.
“I’m not sure, baby. I’ll ask him though.”
“Where is he?” he asks.
I know that he has felt Myer’s absence this week, but he hasn’t mentioned him until now.
“He’s upset with Mommy right now.”
“Why? What did you do?”
“Well, it’s complicated, but basically, I said something stupid, and it hurt his feelings,” I confess.
“Did you say you were sorry?” he asks.
“Not yet.”
“You should say you’re sorry. He’ll forgive you. Nana says you always forgive people you love when they say they’re sorry,” he says as he takes a big bite of mac ’n’ cheese.
“That’s really good advice. When did you get to be so smart?” I ask.
He shrugs. “When I was four,” he informs me.
I laugh. “Is that right?”
“Yep. I remember.”
I make up my mind to call Myer after I put Beau to bed tonight and ask him to come over tomorrow night. I’ll make supper, and we can sit down and talk. Hopefully, he’ll be open to it.
I tell Beau that he’ll be spending the night with Braxton and Sophie tomorrow, and he can barely contain his excitement. He asks me at least five times when I’m going to take him over there. He loves Sophie, but I’m sure his impatience has more to do with Hawkeye than it does the two humans. He lights up every time he sees that pup. I need to get him a puppy of his own. It’s selfish for me to keep him from that joy because of the extra work it’s going to cause me.
I make a mental note to start putting out puppy feelers for his birthday this year.
The phone rings as I’m clearing the dishes. It’s Payne. Momma and Daddy left this afternoon for Arizona to visit Aunt Barb and Uncle Clyde for the weekend.
Payne is helping out at Braxton and Sophie’s this evening, so he asks if I can run over to the farmhouse and take care of a few things for him.
“Beau, get your boots on. We’re going to Nana’s,” I call to him.
Dallas
Beau and I go up to the main house to water Momma’s potted plants and flower garden.
Before we walk up the drive to water the beds at the entrance gate as well, we go back to our house to grab an extra watering can.
I have a small one that is just Beau’s size, which we bought from the hardware store in town last Christmas. It came with children’s gardening gloves and tools. It is one of the best investments I have ever made because he uses the hell out of those tools, following his pop-pop around the farm.
We walk up our porch steps and into the house, Beau chattering away about his sleepover with Hawk tomorrow.
I click the light on and scream.
“Travis?”
My ex-husband is casually sitting on my couch in the dark. One of the beers from my refrigerator dangling from his fingers.
“Hello, wife,” he snarls.
I halt a startled Beau and tuck him behind my legs.
“Mommy?” he says nervously.
“It’s okay, baby. We have an unexpected guest, is all,” I say calmly.
“Unexpected guest? Why, I’m your husband. Doesn’t that make this my home too?” Travis asks with a grin.
“We’re not married anymore,” I remind him.
He looks up at me with rage in his eyes. He looks older than the last time I saw him. His hair is darker, and he has grown out his facial hair. He looks like he hasn’t slept or showered in a long while.
“Well, now, I didn’t agree to that,” he says as he casually sits back and throws his arms over the back of the couch.
I start slowly backing up toward the door without taking my eyes from him.
“I didn’t know you were out,” I say as I reach behind me, trying to find the doorknob.
“Yep, for a couple weeks now. I was paroled and they let me out early for good behavior. Turns out, I’m a model inmate. Which you would know if you’d bothered to read any of my fucking letters,” he spits.
Beau is wedged between me and the door. My hand finds the knob, and I start to turn it.
Travis bolts up and rushes toward us. I bend and hoist Beau up, and he immediately wraps his arms and legs around me. I throw a protective arm out, which Travis grabs and yanks forward, slinging us into the room.
He twists the dead bolt on the door and turns back to face us.
Beau is trembling, and he clings to me, crying harder now.
“Calm down, son. I’m not here to hurt you,” Travis commands.
Beau’s face is hidden in my hair, and he lifts his head and looks over at Travis. “Mr. Stanley?” he asks, confused.
“What was that, baby?” I look down at him in question.
“We’re friends. Ain’t that right, boy?” Travis says with a wiry grin.
Beau’s arms around my neck tighten, and I recall him telling me a dad of one of the kids at school was visiting. My eyes snap back to Travis.
“You’ve been to his school?” I yell.
“Yeah, he’s my kid. I wanted to get to know him. Didn’t want him to be afraid when I picked him up,” he explains.
“When you picked him up?”
“That’s right. See, the plan was to pick him up one day before you did, and then the two of us would come home and surprise you.” He looks down at Beau and smiles.
Oh my God, if he had gotten Beau in a car and taken off with him, there would be nothing I could do. He is his father. I have been trying for six years now to get his rights taken, and it has been nothing but red tape on top of red tape. Apparently, a felony drug conviction is not grounds to strip parental rights, and each time my attorney, who has cost me a fortune, approached Travis to just sign over all rights, he refused.
“You know the Feds railroaded me on bogus charges because they couldn’t touch the real dealers. I should’ve never been sent up for the small amount of selling and laundering I dabbled in. I’m not a criminal.”
He continues, “I want my family back. I was going to prove to you that I’d changed, and the three of us were going to move back to Denver and get the auto shop back on track. Start over and put this whole ugly mess behind us,” he says in a quiet voice.
A chill runs up my spine at the thought of him getting so close to Beau. He was within grabbing distance of him on the playground.
How did I let this happen?
“That is, until I saw you with Wilson the other night.”
Anger lights his eyes, and I know all too well what it looks like. He was filled with it the first time I left him.
“So, you’ve left me no choice; we’re leaving now. Grab your shit, and let’s go,” he demands.
“We aren’t going anywhere with you,” I tell him.
He snaps and crashes the beer bottle against the stone end table by the couch. Beer and glass shards fly everywhere, making the floor slippery and dangerous. Beau jerks in my arms at the loud sound, and I cover his face to make sure nothing hits him.
Travis stands there with the broken bottle in his hand, waving it in my direction. He might have had his moments of angry outbursts when we were together, but he was never violent. Not with me. He’s not the same man I was married to. I can see it in his eyes.
I have to get Beau away from him.
“Baby, I want you to go upstairs, okay?”
I try to set Beau on the floor, but refuses to release me.
“No, Mommy,” he whimpers.
“He ain’t going anywhere,” Travis growls.
I look up and meet his gaze. I keep my voice calm and placating. “He’s scared. If you want to talk, fine, we’ll talk, but I want to do it alone. Let him go up to my room,” I say as I try to untangle Beau’s arms from me.
Travis looks up to the loft. “He can still hear and see us from up there.”