“Water will be fine, thank you.”
“I have beer and wine if you’d like to kick back and relax some.”
“I don’t usually drink until Luca is in bed for the night, maybe some other time,” I say hoping he’ll want to do this again another day without the kids here.
“So tell me, what brings you to our town?”
“I needed to get away from my deceased husband’s family, this place is far enough away from them that I feel comfortable and it’s a good place for me and Luca to start over again.”
“Your husband passed away, I’m sorry to hear that.” And I can tell by the way he says it that he’s sincere in what he said.
“We were married, but we didn’t love or respect each other anymore.” Why in the hell am I telling him any of this? I must be losing my mind while consumed by his good looks and southern charm. I need to get out of here as soon as it’s been an acceptable amount of time!
He gets up and goes to get my water and him a beer, he comes back with a bottle of water and a bottle of beer. I can’t help but admire the way he moves, he has a manly grace about the way he walks and holds his body. A body I really want to admire without that shirt on. I want to see his chest and count his abs that I can tell through that tight shirt that he has, but I can’t tell to what extent that is.
“So do you work?” he asks me.
“I haven’t since Luca was born, but now that it’s just us, I plan to find something,” I tell him as I open my bottle of water. Taking a sip, I mentally think even though I don’t have to work, I can’t stare at four walls all day long.
“Well, you’ll find out soon enough since you’ll hear my bike, but I belong to the new MC in town and we’re in the process of opening up several businesses.”
MC? What the hell is that? “I... I don’t know what that means,” I say feeling embarrassed.
“Motorcycle club,” he replies before turning his bottle up and taking a long drink. Watching the way his throat moves has my brain synapses misfiring and I feel like drool may be pooling around my lips. Seeing the look on my face, he further clarifies, “My club isn’t into illegal shit. All of our businesses are legitimate. We just like the freedom to do as we please, but for the most part, we’re like your everyday average working man.”
Yeah, right, like any of the working men I’ve ever seen look like him! “So I’ll probably hear motorcycles?” I question.
“There’s no probably about it, but if I’m coming home late from a trip, I will bring my cab, not my bike home.”
“Your cab?” he must think I’m pretty naive since I haven’t a clue what a cab is.
“The cab to my eighteen-wheeler, the front of the truck without the trailer part,” he tells me with a smirk on his face.
Needing to change the subject so I’m not looking at his smile and how it transforms his face I ask, “Is that what that big building is on the other side?”
“Yeah, we built that so that I could pull the cab in and keep it secure. We only have a few trucks so far and while crime isn’t big in this town, why take chances? Plus, it’s big enough for my pickup truck when the weather turns too wet to ride.”
“That makes sense.” I want to know so much, like what happened to Lily’s mom and is he seeing anyone, but I quickly realize that there’s no way that I’ll be asking those questions any time soon. Finished with my water, I stand and say, “Thank you for the drink, but I better see if I can get his room unpacked before he’s done playing.”
He stands as well and replies, “I can throw something on the grill, why don’t you come back around six thirty and it’ll be done by then. That’ll give you a little more time to unpack, won’t it?”
Shit as tongue-tied as I’ve been this past twenty or so minutes, now he wants me to eat dinner with them? Out loud I say, “I’d like that, thank you. He tries hard to help, but I’m sure you know that a child’s help usually means more work.”
He chuckles as he follows me to the door. “Yeah, they try their best though and that’s all we can really ask, isn’t it?”
“You’re right. Okay, I’ll come back around six thirty then. Do you want me to bring anything?”
“Just yourself.”
“I can do that, if Luca is any trouble just bring him home, thank you again for the drink.” I say as I stand and practically run to the front door. I’m acting like a teenager—hormones and all.
Three
Braxton
I walk her to the door, admiring the way her trim yet curvy body moves in a pair of leggings. She’s got curves for days and I feel my hands clenching to keep from pulling her toward me. I’ve never had this kind of reaction to any woman, not even Lily’s mom. “See you after while,” I say, as I hold the door for her.
“See you then,” she replies, her eyes not quite meeting mine. She’s a shy little thing, but I think it may have more to do with the stuff she blurted out while we were talking than her true personality. Remembering how she and her brother talked in the backyard, I’m convinced I’m right. Once she walks out the door I have to adjust myself, she does things to me that I haven't experienced in many years. I need to think of anything to get my mind off the raging hard on I’m now sporting, then it’s like an ice cold bucket of water rains down upon me as I hear Lily and Luca’s voices outside.
I head back out to the yard and see my mom sitting in a chair while Lily and Luca play. “Mom? Going to run and pick up some chicken and stuff to throw on the grill, want me to grab a couple of salads?”
My mom looks at me with a knowing look before saying, “I take it we’re having dinner guests?”
“We are, I told Caraleigh to come back around six thirty for dinner. That will give her a little more time to unpack.”
“You’re a good man, Braxton.”
“Raised by a good mom,” I reply.
At the store, I grab a buggy and head toward the meat department. I’ve got enough time to marinade the chicken the way I like it, which I prefer. The pre-packaged meats are okay, but when I have the time, I like to add my own seasonings.
“Hi, Braxton,” a voice calls out. Turning I see one of the women who work in the office at the trucking company. Mentally steeling myself, I turn to face her.
“Hello, Starla,” I respond. I haven’t missed her blatant interest toward me but I don’t shit where I eat so that’s not gonna happen. Besides, she’s not exactly my type. She has dieted to within an inch of her life and has bleach blonde hair. Not that I’m against a woman coloring her hair because I’m not, but when it looks like straw? Yeah, not so attractive.
“Oh, you’re cooking out?” she asks, eyeing my cart.
“Yep. Just ran down to pick a few things up so I can get dinner started.”
“Wow, a man who cooks,” she replies. Cue the eye fucking that she’s now giving me. While I want to shudder in distaste, my mom raised me to be a gentleman. I may be the president of an MC, but I won’t treat a woman like shit unless all other means have been exhausted.
“Mostly grilling, but yeah, my mom taught me to cook.”
“I love chicken on the grill.”
“We do as well,” I tell her, deliberately missing her hint. “Hate to cut this short, but I have a few more things to grab before I head out. See you tomorrow.” There, that should shut her down.
“Uh...okay. Enjoy your evening.”
“You do the same, Starla.”
Finishing up with my purchases I head out of the grocery store, anxious to make it home.
Walking in the front door I hear Lily calling out for me, knowing that she heard me pull up I wonder how long she’s been waiting for me to make it home. “Coming Lily,” I say as I make my way towards the back yard. Once I step through the back door I can’t help but laugh at the predicament Luca finds himself in. “What’cha doing up in the tree like a cat, Luca?”
“Lily threw the ball up in the air, Mr. Braxton and I was climbing up here to get it down for her, onlys I can’t get
myself down.”
“Cans you helps him, Daddy?” my little girl asks as she looks up at me beneath her lashes. When she gives me that look I’d do anything in the world for her.
“Of course I will, baby girl, we can’t leave him up in that tree like a stray kitten, now, can we?” They both giggle their childlike laughter at me, and it soothes something in my soul. I don’t know how, but in just this moment alone this boy has dug his claws in me and I vow to always be there for him, regardless of what may or may not transpire between his mother and myself. I reach up on my toes and extend my arms for him to fall into. Once he decides he can trust me to catch him he lets go and lands in my arms. I give his hair a tussle and kiss him on top of his head. He’s a good boy, his mom’s done a fine job with him.
“Thank yous, Mr. Braxton, I was getting lonely and scared up in that tree alls by myselfs,” he says gracing me with a smile that I’m committing to memory, I want to see his face light up like this on a daily basis...woah, where did that thought come from? Deciding to not think about it I let it go for now and will ponder this later.
“I need to get dinner going, Luca. You and your mom are going to eat with us, how does grilled chicken, salad, corn on the cob and green beans sound to you two?”
“Yes.”
“Oh yeah.”
I laugh at their exuberance, I guess what I have planned to cook for dinner sounds like a winner to them. Letting them get back to their playtime, I head into the house to get the charcoal so I can get the grill started so it has time to heat up and cook the chicken to perfection. Once I have the grill going, I start marinating the chicken, my marinade is inserted so I don’t need to do it overnight. I grab the corn from the pantry and shuck it, once that’s done I wrap it in tin foil coated in butter and seasoning. About this time mom walks in to help me prep dinner, I try to cook when I’m home giving my mother a break.
Mom eyes me as I’m getting things gathered for the grill. I see a glint in her eye and know what she’s thinking.
“Don’t go playing matchmaker, Mom, this will play out how it’s meant to be. Let it alone and put your sights on one of the guys, I have Lily, they have no one other than the club.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Son, I don’t interfere in your relationships,” she says sounding innocent. Ha! I know she’s anything but.
“Sure you don’t. Mom, remember the lady at the grocery store and how you had a feeling she’d be a great mother and wife? You wanted me to go to the checkout line and ask her out, when I refused you set up a blind date behind my back?”
“She was a sweet woman who was lonely like you were, I had a feeling she could make you and Lily happy, sweetheart, if you’d have given her a chance things might have happened.”
“Mom, are you serious? She’s fifty-four years old, a little old for me don’t you think?”
“What? It isn’t like she’d be a cougar or anything, Son, she’s only twenty or so years older than you, she has experience with life and would have made your life easier. I just want to see you happy, is that so wrong? A mother likes to see her child not struggle to raise his child and likes to see a smile upon his face.”
“I understand that, Mom, I really do, but let me find that person that will make me happy. I want that feeling, the one that slams into you out of nowhere, that one person that you can’t breathe without. I want my heart to jump with excitement when I look at her face. It will happen, Mom, just maybe not on your timeline. I know you want me happy, I want me happy, I want Lily to have a woman to look up to, to teach her about makeup, talk boys with her,” I cringe at that thought. “Most of all, I want to know that neither she or I will be abandoned again, I need that security. I’d like to think I’ll know that person when I meet her, give me a chance before you doom me to a lifetime of loneliness and misery.” Mom wipes a tear from under her eye, which makes my heart break. I can’t stand to see a woman cry, but especially not my Mom.
“Don’t cry, Mom, I promise I’m still enjoying life with Lily and you. You two make my life worth waking up every morning and coming home every night. You two are all I need for now,” but I can’t help but imagine having Caraleigh and Luca added to those days and nights.
“You make your mom a very happy woman, you’ve grown into a man I’m proud to call mine.” I bring Mom into a hug showing her what her love and life commitment means to me.
At six o’clock I throw the chicken and corn on the grill. The salad is made and sitting in the fridge and Mom is working on the green beans and getting the outside table set. It’s been such a nice day that I figure eating outside will be a fun treat for the kids. I set out the citrus candles to keep the bugs and mosquitos away. I’m keeping an eye on the kids and their laughter is music to my ears. Seeing Lily be so carefree and enjoying life is something I’ll never tire of watching. Luca is fitting in with our family as if he’s always been meant to be a part of us.
“Hey kids, why don’t y’all go get yourselves washed up for dinner and we’ll bring out the bubbles to play with until dinner is done.”
“Okays, Daddy,” Lily says as she grabs Luca’s hand and pulls on it, giving him a silent command to follow her. Even at her age, she’s figured out how to get boys to do her bidding. Wow, women start young and I never realized how young until just this moment.
“Yes, sirs, will my momma be here soon?” Luca asks as he digs in his feet for some resistance while waiting on my answer.
“Ya, buddy, she’ll be here any minute.”
They take off in the house and I hear my mom laughing at them. “She already has him wrapped around her finger,” she says as she walks past me into the house. She has him wrapped around her finger and he’s already protective of her, I think to myself, her having a boy for a friend might come in handy later on down the road.
“He better be the only boy,” I mutter under my breath. I don’t like my baby girl liking boys...period, friendship and all.
“What was that, Son?” Mom asks coming up behind me, scaring the absolute shit out of me, I nearly scream out like a little bitch.
“Mom! Since when did you become a ninja? Coming up behind me all stealth-like and shit, are you trying to give me a heart attack woman?”
Mom starts laughing at me, and we’re not talking a cute little woman’s laugh either, she’s bent over holding her stomach with tears streaming out of her eyes. I’m glad she finds this shit funny, I’m the motherfucking president of an MC, it shouldn’t be so easy to sneak up behind me!
“Oh, Braxton. Son, you make an old woman laugh like this. I wasn’t being quiet in the least, as a matter of fact I dropped the platter of appetizers on the table and it scared me to death. How it is you didn’t hear me doing that is beyond me, Son,” she says while still laughing as she’s speaking to me. “You were just so lost in your thoughts anyone and anything around you was just background noise. You really should be more aware of your surroundings, Son.”
“Ha-ha, very funny, woman! I swear you took ten years off of my life just now,” I say pouting. Yes, I know grown men don’t pout, but Mom still has the ability to make me act like a child.
Just as she goes to retort we hear a scream and a door slam, and my heart drops. I know that’s Caraleigh, don’t ask me how I know I just know that’s my woman’s scream. My woman, what the fuck has gotten into me? She’s turning me into a fucking teenager. As I go to run through the house and out my front door I see a head poke up over the fence line that separates my house from hers.
“Um, Braxton?”
“What the hell, woman? Between you and my mom I’m going to have grey hair before my time, what’s up with all that screaming and door slamming?”
“Well, I was going out my door to come to your house, but see...there’s this huge beast that started growling at me and charging at my door. It scared the absolute shit out of me, think you could help me out here?”
“A dog? Seriously! There aren’t any dogs allowed on the premises, ther
e’s kids and elderly folks living here. It states in the contract no large dogs of any kind are allowed,” I say, fuming out loud.
“That’s all good and dandy, but doesn't help my situation at all, Braxton. Could you get rid of the dog please?”
“Let me get this straight, you want me to go out and confront an attack dog?”
“Um, yes?” she says, but it’s more question-like than a statement.
“I don’t think so woman! I like my balls where they are, attached to me and not in a dog’s mouth!” And I’m completely serious, my friend was attacked when we were children and the damn dog went right after his nuts. Ain’t no way in hell that will be happening to me. No way, no how.
“Then what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m calling animal control, hang on and hold tight and I’ll get back to you.” I grab my phone and call, they say it will be at least an hour before they have a handler here that can come and get the beast. They are a no-kill shelter which works for me, I can’t fathom the thought of any animal being put down unless there is absolutely no choice in the matter. Even then it pisses me off that an animal was put in that position by an animal's owner. They are like children, they depend on you for shelter, food and love. If they aren’t given those they can become rabid and unsavable. If that happens I’d personally like to go a few rounds with said owner.
“It’s going to be at least an hour, sweetheart.”
“So what are we going to do? Are you going to hand me my son over the fence along with my dinner?”
“Hell no, I have two ladders, we’ll put one on your side and one on mine and you can climb over that way. Once we’re done eating the animal should be gone and getting medical attention.” I’ve been looking forward to this night, no way am I not going to spend it with her. Nothing is getting in my way.
“Alright, Braxton, sounds good to me,” she tells me. Now that that’s settled I grab my mom to watch the grill while I get my ladders. Just the thought of watching her ass move while she climbs down on my side has me adjusting myself for what feels like the hundredth time today and brings yet another smile to my face.
Braxton Page 3