Stonehill series collect.., p.127
Stonehill Series Collection, page 127
“I’m perfect. You?”
“Absolutely perfect.” Or at least he was until Meg stiffened and her eyes widened just a bit. He turned and froze as well.
His mother was standing in front of his father, looking scared and hopeful all at once. She held out what had become her signature peace offering of donuts.
“Hey,” Aiden managed to say.
“You said you wanted a grill for the backyard,” Becca offered. “Your father and I wanted to get a housewarming gift for you and Meg. I hope you don’t mind, but we went and picked one out this morning.”
His dad barely looked at Meg but did nod toward Aiden. “Where do you want it?”
“On the patio out back.”
The man turned and disappeared, and Aiden thought everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief to see him go. Until Jim Howard disappeared, there seemed to have been no oxygen left in the room.
“He could probably use some help,” Becca said pointedly to Aiden.
Meg looked up at him. “Go.”
“Mom, if he starts anything…” he warned.
“Baby steps, Aiden. Okay? Let him take baby steps.”
Aiden looked at the woman beside him. Meg nodded, and though he was hesitant, he left to go help his dad move a damn grill.
There was palpable tension between them as they lifted the box from the bed of his dad’s truck and set it on a dolly. Aiden guided him as his dad steered the dolly through the garage and out to the backyard.
“Looks like a nice house,” his dad offered as he used his pocket knife to cut open the box.
“It’s nice. Not bad for a starter.”
His dad pulled the box apart, and they worked on getting the grill set up, muttering about screws and screwdrivers and whether the handle went this way or that. They’d nearly completed the assembly when his dad said, “I was raised different is all. We didn’t date people of different races.”
“Stonehill didn’t used to have people of different races, Dad. There wasn’t anybody else to marry.”
“Times are different,” he said. “I know that. Your mom sure as hell has been beating me over the head with that lecture.” He stood up. “Mom says you’re going to marry her, maybe have some kids.”
“That’s my plan.”
His dad nodded but didn’t say anything else about it. Aiden guessed the man needed a bit more time to process that news. He didn’t seem angry or upset; he just seemed to be letting the words sink in. When the grill was assembled, Jim folded up the box and stuffed it into the overflowing recycling bin. “That should do it.” He stuck his head in the house. “All done, Bec. Let’s go.”
Aiden smiled at his mother as she rushed out. She paused long enough to cast him a worried glance. “It’s fine, Mom,” he assured her. “We’re fine.”
She made a point to call back into the house and tell Meg she’d see her soon before hugging Aiden. “Thank you.”
“Thank you. I’m sure you had to twist his arm quite a few times to get that out of him.”
“And withhold his dinner a few nights.” She smiled and put her hand to his cheek. “He’ll come around. It’s just going to take some time.”
“I know.” He watched her hop into his dad’s truck and waved as they backed out of the driveway. Inside, he went back to Meg and his now-cold pizza. “That was different.”
“You okay?” she asked him.
“Yeah. Man, I’m starting to think this house is the Twilight Zone. Look at all the crazy things that happen here.”
Meg laughed. “If your mom doesn’t stop bringing donuts, though, we might have to kick her out again.”
“So,” Aya said, approaching the counter with two empty plates. “Think our parents will come around that fast?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that he’s come around,” Aiden said. “But he did keep his mouth shut, which is a big accomplishment.”
“We’ll take it,” Meg said, clearly trying to boost Aiden’s hopes that maybe someday soon, they could be a whole family with all the parts included.
Until then, as he looked around the room, he was amazed at how far his family had come and couldn’t help but smile thinking of the little box he’d tucked into the back of his sock drawer. Inside the white box with the little red ribbon sat the most perfect diamond ring, just waiting for the right moment to come.
Soon, Aiden reminded himself. He looked out at the grill and thought how the weather was turning and before long they’d have a backyard filled with friends and family as he cooked burgers and hot dogs. Yeah. Soon. The perfect moment would come soon.
Epilogue
Music and laugher filled the Stonehill Community Center as Aiden took Meg’s hand, preparing to share their first dance as husband and wife. There were still strains, but Aiden supposed that was the price of having a close family. One that he would gladly pay. Their parents, Jim Howard included, were all there. Together.
Meg’s parents were slowly coming around to Aya and Tracy’s relationship. Very slowly. But they all had accepted that slow progress was still progress.
Pulling Meg against him, Aiden kissed her lightly. “I need to say something I’ve been thinking about all day.”
“What?”
They swayed slowly to the same song they’d danced to years and years ago. “We’re going to have ups and downs, but I promise to never let those downs get so low that either of us wants to leave. I’m going to make this work, no matter how hard it gets sometimes.”
She smiled. “We will. This is a team effort.”
“And we make a hell of a team.”
“Yes, we do.”
As they slowly spun, Aiden hugged her close and took in the room filled with the people they loved.
Kara and Harry laughed as Mira and Jessica danced in front of them. Mira was getting a bit more comfortable putting some distance between her and her parents, but Aiden saw how she continually looked at them, making sure they were close and watching. Kara put her arm around Harry’s shoulder, and he looked at her with so much love it made Aiden smile. They shared a kiss but only had a moment before Mira demanded they return her attention to her.
Dianna and Paul O’Connell shared a dance of their own, lost in each other as they tended to be.
Jessica laughed as Phil took her hand and spun her. Mallory smiled as she looked on, surprisingly without baby Harris attached to her. Annie held her grandson as Marcus sat close, admiring his family. That included Jenna and Daniel, who hadn’t earned a single tense look from Marcus all day. Of course, how could Marcus glare at him when Daniel was clearly so enamored with Jenna and their daughter? Little Lily was bundled in pink and sound asleep in her mama’s arms.
His mother and father sat at the next table. They weren’t talking, but they were there. His mother had helped plan the wedding, which Aiden and Meg had appreciated. His father dropped by occasionally, usually to fix something without saying much, and then he’d leave. But it was something, and Aiden would take it. Stevie had his nose is his phone, but he was present for his brother’s wedding and that was all he and Meg expected.
As they turned, Aiden whispered for Meg to look at the table where her parents, sister, and Tracy were sitting. Eiji Tanaka held his usual stiff posture, but he was talking to Aya and Tracy, which was not something he had appeared interested in doing previously. Meg looked up at Aiden and grinned.
“Baby steps,” he said, reminding her of his mother’s suggestion where his father was concerned.
Meg laughed lightly and dragged her finger down his cheek. “Speaking of baby steps…”
His heart dropped to this stomach as she let the implication linger between them. “Wait. Are you?”
“We’re having a baby.”
He stared at her as he realized this was everything he had been working for. This moment, this little blip in time was everything. He had Meg. He had his family. And they were having a baby. Aiden let out a whoop as he scooped her up against him.
“We’re having a baby,” he yelled, setting off a chorus of cheers.
New From Marci Bolden
A Life Without Water
Carol Denman blinked. The long and slow kind that gave the brain a moment to process unexpected information. When she lifted her lids, her assistant still stood on the other side of her desk. Tiana’s near-black eyes filled with a million questions. The rich umber skin above her nose crinkled as she drew her brows together.
The words she’d spoken lingered in the air between them.
There was a man standing outside Carol’s office asking to see her. Not just any man. Her ex-husband.
“You were married before Tobias?”
Tiana’s voice was low enough that no one outside the office could possibly hear, but to Carol’s ears, the words sounded as if they had been announced through a bullhorn. The question spun her tightly held emotions out of control. The skin above her brow prickled with the first signs of nervous sweat. Clenching her fists, digging white acrylic tips into her palm, she took a breath to calm herself before the telltale sign of anxiety—bright red creeping up her pale neck until it settled over her face—could start.
She blinked again. This time the rapid, mind-clearing kind. She dislodged the knot in her throat before finding her voice. “Yes. A long time ago.” A lifetime ago. “Did he say what he wants?”
“No.” Confusion faded to what appeared to be concern. “He looks nervous. Should I tell him to leave or…I can call security.”
Security was a seventy-three-year-old overweight retired police officer who was far more invested in completing the Houston Chronicle’s crossword puzzle than he ever was in doing his job. Carol suspected even if she did need help, old Charlie Turner would call 911 and offer crowd control long before he’d intervene with some kind of physical altercation in her office. Not that she was worried about what her ex would do to her.
Just the opposite.
She was more concerned she’d grab the sterling silver scissors from her desk drawer and shove them repeatedly into his chest.
Outside her window, early summer sunlight reflected in a blinding starburst off the man-made pond where geese liked to gather as they migrated. This time of year the water was smooth. Still. Deceptively calm. As she stared at the water, memories of her life with John flashed through her mind like an old 8-mm film on a loop.
Laughter, singing, playing.
Screaming. Crying. Begging.
Tiana’s quiet voice cut into Carol’s thoughts. “Should I tell him to leave?”
“Um… No.” God, I’m going to regret this. “It’s fine. Show him in.”
“Are you—”
She cut Tiana off with a resolute nod. “Show him in.”
Tiana hesitated before disappearing through the glass-paneled door. Though the three panes had been frosted to afford Carol some privacy, movement was evident on the other side. She felt her stomach knot, knowing Tiana was speaking to John, inviting him in to see the woman who’d disappeared from his life so long ago. Carol inhaled as much oxygen as her lungs would hold, then exhaled through parted lips in an attempt to regain her emotional footing.
She inhaled.
Exhaled.
Pushed the emotions down.
A set of knocks—a rhythm she recognized from decades ago—fell on her door. Knock-knock. Knock. He’d used that same beat to draw her attention to him from their first date, when he’d shown up with a handful of wildflowers he’d denied picking from the side of the road, until the night she snuck out of his life while he was sleeping.
Her entire body tensed at the sound. So familiar. So…haunting.
Then there he was. Her past in the flesh. Standing before her, looking as uneasy as she felt. She’d spent years rebuilding herself after leaving him and even more years quieting the discontent he’d sown deep into her soul. As she met his gaze, that old feeling washed through her like a tsunami. Her impeccably composed life fell apart and, as always, she had little control over whatever storm John was about to bring crashing down on her.
How many times had he told her she needed to calm down and relax? Live in the moment; worry about the rest later. She’d never mastered those particular attributes that had always come naturally to him. However, even with his laid-back attitude toward life, crow’s feet had cut deep lines around his eyes and pronounced parentheses curved around his mouth, making him look much older than his—how old was he now?—fifty-six years. Gray peppered his brown hair, especially around his temples. His shoulders stooped slightly, as if he carried the weight of the world. Or years of guilt.
She stared, unmoving in her chair. Her heavy heart held her down like an anchor in a wild sea of rage.
What did he expect her to do?
Smile? She couldn’t.
Hug him? She wouldn’t.
After staring in deafening silence for several long seconds, John gave her a lopsided grin that was as familiar as his knock. She used to find the half-hearted smile charming. She used to find a lot of things about this man charming.
By the time she left him, she couldn’t even find something she liked.
“Hey, you.” His voice, as it always had, settled over her like a warm blanket. Only now that blanket seemed to be made of fiberglass. His deep baritone felt like a thousand invisible splinters embedding into her skin. “It’s been a while, huh?”
“Twenty-four years.” Her voice came out hoarse. Cracked. Broken. She gestured to a chair on the other side of her desk. “Sit.”
His feet seemed to be as glued to the floor as her body was to her chair.
“Or stand. Whatever suits you.” Gathering the papers she’d been studying before his arrival gave her a legitimate reason not to look at him longer than she already had. The pages didn’t need to be stacked in perfect alignment, but she tapped them on her desk—one side, then the other, and back again—until they were. She didn’t realize he’d sunk into the chair until he slid a Snickers candy bar across her desk.
There it was. The peace offering. The lame gift that always paled in comparison to the offense for which he was trying to make amends.
He gave her that smile again. “That used to be your favorite.”
It’d been years since she’d eaten a Snickers. She’d changed her bad eating habits long ago. The candy was far too sweet for her now. Even so, she set the bar aside with the papers. “Thank you.” Her gratitude sounded as empty as it felt.
“You go by Carol now,” he pointed out. “You, uh… You always hated being called that. You said it sounded too old.”
“Well, I’m older.”
His tilted smile returned. “Aren’t we all?”
“No,” she said coolly. “Not all of us.”
His face sagged for a few seconds, and then he continued as if she hadn’t intentionally gut-punched him. “You got remarried.”
“Yes.”
“Did you have kids?”
Tapping into the Ice Queen façade he’d often accused her of, she froze her heart from the inside out, which had always been her go-to defense where John was concerned. “No.”
He glanced around her office—the commercialized space with cherry-colored bookshelves that held medical dictionaries and binders of federal guidelines, a desk polished every night by the custodial team none of the executives ever saw, and framed degrees that were supposed to relay her competence for sitting in the sterile environment. “Look at this place. You’ve done good for yourself, kiddo.”
“I’m not a kid, John. I am a grown woman who’s made a life for herself despite the damage you caused.”
He pressed his lips together as if to stop himself from rebutting.
Oh, how easily she fell into another of her old defense tactics, rebuffing any attempt he made at civility in case he was drawing her in for the kill. “Sorry, that just came out.”
“No, it’s okay. I blindsided you by showing up. Seeing me can’t be easy for you.”
Carol looked out to the water. “It’s June. June is difficult.”
“Her birthday is tomorrow.”
She cut her gaze to him. “I know.”
Staring at his hands, he toyed with a gold band on his left ring finger. Carol hadn’t cared enough to ask if he’d remarried, but clearly he had. If his sudden appearance hadn’t shaken her so deeply, she might have inquired about his new life. Asked what kind of poor broken soul he’d found after she’d finally gained the courage to leave him. Asked if he manipulated his new wife as much as he used to manipulate her.
John stopped playing with his wedding ring and heaved out a big breath. “I want to see her.”
Carol didn’t respond. Didn’t move. She should have known why he was there the moment Tiana announced his unexpected visit.
Lifting his gaze to hers, he seemed to beg with his eyes. His expression triggered memories of the many times in the past she’d seen that exact same silent plea on his sad face. She’d become immune to his puppy-eyed looks long before leaving him.
“Please. I’m her father.”
Her lips trembled until she pressed them together. When she spoke, the tremble moved to her voice, making her words quiver. “I know who you are.”
“Please, Caroline…Carol. I want to see her for her birthday. Then I promise I’ll leave.”
She focused out the window, back at the water, pushing away the memories that always seemed to be trying to drag her backward. Part of her wanted to tell him to burn in hell, but he was right. He was Katie’s father. He had a right to see her on her birthday. His request wasn’t unreasonable, but damned if she didn’t want to tell him to go back under whatever rock he’d slithered from.
After a moment, she pushed a button on her desk phone. “Tiana, I need to leave. Reschedule anything I have this afternoon, please.”
John didn’t say another word as she gathered her things, simply following her out of her office. Once in the elevator, he leaned against the faux-wood-paneled wall, skimming her over, top to bottom, with the kind of candor that used to amuse her. She wasn’t amused now. She knew exactly what he was thinking. He was judging her appearance and all the other changes she’d made since walking away from him.
