Sizzling Hot Apple Cider

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  Dayton Killison was a walking daydream. He had it all, the warm blue eyes, the curly brown hair, and the beard with the soul patch over a strong jaw. All of that was topped off with golden skin. And his personality? That was as golden as his skin. He was every single mother’s dream.

  “How are you doing?” he asked. “You look tired.”

  “I’m fine.”

  His expression said he totally didn’t believe me, but that was okay. I believed me and that was all that mattered.

  Lee came out a moment later, rubbing his eyes as he went over to his cubby. He went to the one next to his and blinked at it in confusion since it was empty. Just as he was about to turn toward us, he realized he was at the wrong cubby. His was next to it.

  “During reading, he was having trouble.”

  I pursed my lips as I considered the reasons. “Think I should make an eye appointment?”

  “Do you know when they had their last one?”

  I tried to come up with a reply, but that had been all on Mandy to handle. I felt like she told me about it once, but I couldn’t place when. Shaking my head, I sighed. Darn. I wasn’t even sure how to do that. We were going on five months since Mandy’s death and it still felt like I was playing catch up with where the boys stood with their health and lives and boy stuff.

  I wasn’t a boy, how was I supposed to know when they would start getting erections? Apparently one of their classmates had an older brother who couldn’t stop talking about his experience. Not a question I wanted to be asked. Ever. Again.

  Scrutinizing Dayton, I wondered if I could find some way to reroute those boy questions to him or the others instead. They had first-hand knowledge on that stuff.

  “Maddie,” Dayton said slowly, as if sensing my wandering mind running away from me again. It did that to me sometimes.

  “Yeah?” I focused really hard on watching Lee get ready. Lawson was at his side now, helping him. Or at least what he thought was helping, though he dropped Lee’s folders and made a bit of a mess.

  “When was the last time you went to the eye doctor?”

  My wince was all the answer he needed. Frankly, I couldn’t remember. My eyes were fine, I didn’t need a darn doctor to tell me that.

  “Maybe you should set up an appointment for all three of you?”

  “Why is it that your question feels more like a demand?”

  Dayton smirked. “Maybe because it is? Should I bring it up with Koen? Do you think he has any good recommendations?”

  “Ah, stop! No more questions that aren’t really questions.” I covered my ears, hoping to block him out. “And you know darn well Koen knows an eye doctor. He wears glasses.” I rolled my eyes as if his not-a-question questions were ridiculous.

  “Do you think Koen also knows a good dentist? Should I ask?”

  I gaped at the man and the dangerous game he was playing. “You want me to get into trouble, don’t you? I bet you do.”

  Dayton shrugged. “Since Halloween is over and the holidays are coming, we’re doing an oral hygiene lesson.”

  “You’re unfair.”

  The man smirked before getting called by another parent who’d just shown up. While the boys finished getting ready, I did a quick search on my phone for a nearby eye doctor. There were a few options, so I screenshotted the result page. I’d make some phone calls in the morning. Dayton would so tell Koen and then he’d get all bossy and make me do it. If I was already working on it, he couldn’t say anything. That made me smirk, thinking I’d get one over the dominating lawyer.

  “Ready!” Lee declared as he came over with a smile.

  “Good, pizza time!”

  That got them excited and we headed out.

  I was picking up the pizza when Kennedi Panders, my best friend in the whole wide world, texted to let me know she was waiting outside my place.

  “Guess what,” I said, as I put the pizza in the front seat and loaded them back into the car.

  “What?” Lawson asked as Lee fought over his seatbelt.

  “Kenni is going to hang out with us tonight.”

  “Oh. Does that mean she’ll watch movies with us?” Lawson asked.

  “Whatever you want.”

  “Wait,” Lee said after getting his seat belt to snap into place. “Don’t you have work tonight? Today is Wednesday.”

  I shrugged. “One night of not working won’t hurt me.”

  That excited them all the way until we got back home. Kenni was in her car, waiting for us. She hopped out as soon as she saw us parking. Her dark hair glinted red as she came running over.

  “Ah, there are my peeps,” she said with a huge grin, hazel eyes lit with excitement.

  The boys jumped out and ran after her, wrapping their arms around her waist.

  “Oh, no. Don’t worry about me,” I said, grabbing the pizza and plastic bag from the seat. I had made sure to get breadsticks, and they also did those really good risotto balls, so I got some of those too.

  “You look like you got it under control. I’ll take care of these munchkins.” She herded Lawson and Lee away from me.

  “You’re mean!” I called out to her.

  Her head tilted back, and she released an evil cackle as they disappeared into the building.

  They waited at the entrance until I got there. Kenni took the keys and let us all in. By the time we got back to the apartment, she had the twins giggling over her story about being chased around by someone in a turkey outfit through Boston Common.

  The kitchen was my first destination to drop everything off. The twins went straight for the living room. It only took seconds before the TV was on and they argued over what movie to watch. I had all the services I could think of to provide us with all the movies and shows possible. Between all the subscriptions, they could find whatever they wanted.

  “Sissy, we need help,” Lawson said, coming into the kitchen. “I want to watch Kung Fu Panda, but Lee wants to watch the LEGO superhero one, and Kenni wants to watch a princess one.” He shuddered at that thought, and I grinned.

  “Oh, I don’t know, a princess movie sounds great right now,” I answered. Kenni was messing with them. She didn’t care what movie was on TV. She was only here to eat my pizza, drink my wine, and listen to me rant. Or maybe she had something to rant about. I’d have to be mindful about that.

  The Great Debate was resolved as they settled on an animated Scooby Doo movie. The boys stretched out on the floor and munched on their pizza, while Kenni and I claimed the couch with our dishes.

  “Oh, before I forget.” I reached over to my purse that I’d tossed onto the other side of the couch. After digging into the magical world of a massive purse, I got my wallet and dug out a card. “Koen said to either fax or mail in your witness letter.”

  “I can’t give it to you?”

  I shook my head. “They want to ensure I don’t have a chance to ‘tamper’ with it.”

  “Got it.” She snatched it from me and stuffed it into her pocket. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “How are you doing?” She glanced at the twins. “Really doing?”

  That was the big question of the day, wasn’t it? I should have charged people for asking me that question. I didn’t answer right away as I stared at the back of Lawson and Lee’s heads. “I’m scared.” I blinked furiously as unwarranted tears rose. “I’m very scared. I can’t lose them. I don’t think I’ll survive.”

  Kenni’s hand found mine, and she gave it a supportive squeeze. “It won’t happen. This whole case is a joke, and the only person who doesn’t realize it is Olivia.” She eyed me slowly and frowned. “And maybe you. You do know they are yours, right? This is an open and shut case, as they say.”

  “Yeah.”

  She shook my hand. “Say that again, and mean it this time.”

  “Yes.”

  “Louder.”

  “Yes!”

  “Sissy, you’re too loud.” Lawson glared at us over his shoulder.

  I giggled, unable to ho
ld back my smile. “Sorry, Oats, I’ll be more careful.”

  Kenni and I shared a look and broke out in giggles, both of us trying to suppress it before we felt the wrath of an angry six-year-old.

  The rest of the night was fun and silly. By the time the kids went to bed, I was wiped and exhausted. Kenni sensed that and instead of sticking around like she normally did, she kissed my cheek and called it a night.

  She was considerate like that.

  I didn’t realize how much I’d needed her around until she was gone. I felt better, a hundred times better.

  Good enough to crawl into bed after checking on the twins and then fall asleep.

  My night wasn’t completely dreamless, but it was a start as the hope blossomed inside of me. If everyone kept saying I was going to be okay, that Olivia didn’t have a chance, then I had no choice but to start believing it myself.

  Chapter Three

  It was Friday afternoon when my intercom buzzed at me while I tried to find a snack for the twins. They were settling down to watch TV after doing their homework.

  “Yeah?” I asked through the intercom.

  “Madison?” A male voice sounded through it, a little staticky. “It’s your father.” I flinched back from the intercom like it had electrocuted me. Lee recently watched Star Wars and for a moment I transposed the great reveal of Luke’s father.

  No, I am your father.

  “Madison?”

  I dove for it. “Uh, yeah. I’m here. Hold on.” I stared at the button to buzz him in. It was easy. All I had to do was press it, but something held me back.

  Cameron Hansen was not a man I wanted to deal with. All my thoughts of him were overshadowed by his wife, Olivia. That was the kind of person he was. He gave her the reins to his life, and she had complete control.

  Heaviness settled into my chest. She had been trying to set up a dinner date with the twins all week, and I had been dodging her, hoping to put it off as long as possible. I didn’t have it in me to deal with her again, and I’d never leave them alone with her.

  I was pretty sure the moment I did, she’d have them crossing the Canadian border before I was even aware of it and I’d never see them again. They’d grow up with the Inuit people in the freezing tundra of Nowhere, Canada. Maybe it was a silly fear, but it was still there.

  Was my father being here a ruse?

  Probably.

  “Madison? Is the buzzer broken?”

  “Sorry, let me hit it again,” I lied. I swallowed and finally hit the darn button.

  I leaned my forehead against the door, waiting for his knock, trying to breathe.

  It was going to be okay. While he was married to the stepmonster, it didn’t mean he was like her. If anything, he was simply indifferent. He did what he had to do, what was expected of him, and nothing extra. At least, until I did something that reflected badly on the family. Then he finally bothered to speak up. Unfortunately, everything I did reflected badly on the family. The mere motion of breathing was enough of an excuse in Olivia’s eyes, and she had a way of twisting that around so that my father took her side.

  A loud banging thrummed through the door, vibrating against my forehead. I jumped back and swallowed, my mouth dry, my heart pounding too hard. Instead of answering right away, I used the peephole to make sure it was him.

  He stood there, looking at the door with a sad expression. He was the man I remembered him to be. Dark, almost black hair, but there was some peppered gray around his ears to show his age. Tired dark eyes. He looked so much older, his skin sagging around his cheeks.

  When was the last time I’d seen him? Not just talked on the phone, but actually saw him and held a conversation? He was at the funeral, but he had stayed away.

  He looked so much older now, like the life had been sucked out of him. I bet Olivia was a soul-sucking succubus. That wouldn’t surprise me. My nose wrinkled in disgust because that was not an image I needed in my head. It took everything in me not to gag.

  “Is it just you?” I asked through the door, not ready to open it even though my hand rested on one of the locks.

  He stared at the peephole, and for a second, I swore he could see me through it. With a sigh, he said, “Yes. Livvie isn’t with me.”

  I tried to see around him, but he took up so much of the view that I couldn’t tell. For all I knew, she was hiding out of sight, waiting for me to open the door before making her move.

  Slowly, I unlocked the door, starting with the one on the knob, working up to the deadbolt, and then finally the keychain. Taking in a deep breath, I released it as I opened the door to the man who had donated his seed to my mother to create me.

  Cameron Hansen. Forty-eight years old. CEO of a real estate business based in New York City. An adulterer.

  “Dad,” I choked out, feeling like someone shoved a cloth into my throat. Maybe they’d light it on fire and I’d explode like a Molotov cocktail. It was preferable to my dad stopping by to visit. “What are you doing here?”

  “May I come in?”

  “Um.” I glanced behind me. I could kind of see into the living room, but only to the other wall. The TV and couch weren’t in view. Neither were the munchkins. “What are you doing here?”

  His eyes widened, probably not expecting me to act like that. What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to swing open the door and jump into his arms? Tell him how much I missed him? Welcome him into my home without a second thought?

  None of those options had ever been what our relationship was like. On most days, he was apathetic, uncaring, cold even. On good days, maybe he’d crack a smile, or held a softer expression, and on the bad days, I might as well not have existed. I was so used to seeing disapproval in the lines of his face that I sought them out as he stood in front of me.

  All I saw was sadness and nervousness. And something else that was never there before. I didn’t know what it was, it was too unfamiliar.

  “Please, Maddie?”

  I blinked in surprise. He never called me by my nickname. Never ever. That wasn’t him.

  The shock was enough to have me stepping back and letting him inside. He slipped through. I thought he’d move further into my apartment, but he didn’t, his eyes flickering from me as I closed the door and locked it and then down to the living room where he could hear one of the boys laughing and something loud happening on the TV.

  “May I?” he asked, motioning that way.

  I nodded jerkily. “Uh, shoes there, coats there,” I said, pointing to where I set up what I called the mud section. We didn’t have a mud room, but I wanted to feel fancy, so I called it a mud section.

  He didn’t say anything, slowly taking off his leather shoes and coat and putting them away.

  I went to the kitchen area of the open space, and he followed, stopping at the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. He came to a halt, his gaze on the twins. His Adam’s apple worked along his throat as he swallowed and stared at them in awe.

  While he got lost in the wonderful existence of the twins, I glanced around, trying to see what kind of first impression I made.

  Dishes in the sink, but not overflowing, kids’ clothes tossed around the living room with some toys. A couple of Lee’s books. Their book bags on the kitchen table. A bookshelf in the living room with more books, toys, movies, and picture frames. A couple of certificates the boys got from kindergarten.

  Photos lined the wall of Mandy, the boys, and me. All our adventures were lined up there for my father to see. There were also drawings of who knows what on the walls, along with words they learned to write in school. There was a large framed artwork of the twins’ feet right after they took their first baby steps.

  I had a homey apartment, not too messy. But Dad didn’t see any of that. All his attention was on his grandchildren. As it always should have been since the day they were born. My heart ached for the boys who’d never had the love of a grandparent in their lives. I’d had mine as a child until my mother’s paren
ts passed away. In their case, it was from old age complications. They’d had my mother later in their lives.

  “They’re beautiful,” he whispered.

  “I know. Mandy was a beautiful person.”

  A small sound came from him. It reminded me of how I sounded when I tried to swallow my emotions and some of it still leaked out.

  “Why are you here?” If I thought the bitterness in my voice was going to deter him, I was wrong.

  “Right.” He cleared his throat and faced me. “Can we have dinner? The four of us.”

  My mouth popped open.

  He glanced at Lawson and Lee. The two of them finally noticed him standing there and sat straight up, staring at him with curiosity. They stayed where they were though and didn’t say anything. Lee looked like he wanted to bolt for the bedroom while Lawson was too curious. I’d have to teach him about the saying that curiosity killed the cat.

  “Is that a good idea?” I asked. “With everything going on?”

  “About that. I…” He shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say. I just knew I needed to come here when I found out.”

  “Found out?”

  “I didn’t realize Olivia was trying to get custody until this week.”

  “Are you kidding?” My mouth popped open briefly as I gaped at the man. Was he really that blind to her? There was so much more I wanted to say. If Olivia was a Queen B, my dad was King D. Darn, that meant I had to promote Karma to Empress. I was beginning to think Dad wasn’t a king at all, just plain oblivious. A puppet king. “You really didn’t know?” The bitter sarcasm slipped in as my voice raised. “You seriously had no idea what your wife was up to?”

  He flinched. “Maddie…”

  I shook my head. “No. No. No. No. Just, no.”

  When his expression fell, it was impossible to not feel guilty about it.

  “So, no dinner?”

  I glanced back at the boys. Their confused stares were flickering back and forth between my father and me.

  Their grandfather.