“Well, I missed you somethin’ awful last week, and I thought we might use the trip to talk. We were kind of busy last night…and this morning.” When he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it, heat simmered in my veins. Whatever hormone my body was suddenly kicking out, I needed to bottle and sell. This shit was an aphrodisiac so potent it might just save the black rhino from extinction. Plus, Pete’s voice was just downright sexy, and listening to it for the next hour sounded delicious.
“Okay, fire away. Hey, there’s no key. How do you start this thing?”
“Push down on the brake then press this red button.”
“That’s different.”
“Convenient, too. You can leave the key right in your purse.”
Rather than roaring to life like Myrtle, the engine started almost silently. “Okay, now what?”
“Press this green button for drive, or slide back this little tab for reverse.” When I engaged the latter, a video screen complete with a digital runway pattern, popped up. “See, ya don’t even have to worry about hittin’ anything. Almost like a computer game.”
“Amazing.”
After maneuvering around our parking area, I pointed the monster towards the long driveway and, under the assumption that it weighed several tons, stomped on the accelerator. It rocketed towards the road like a bullet. “Whoa, didn’t expect that.”
“Pull onto the highway, and I’ll show ya a trick.”
Once cruising past houses and shops, Pete pressed yet another button, and the word sport appeared on the dashboard in blue. Almost instantly, power surged through the engine, and suddenly the behemoth accelerated like a sports car.
I grinned at Pete. “Loving that feature!”
“I know, right? It’s got a nine-gear transmission and all-wheel drive. You couldn’t squeal the tires on this model if ya tried. Plus, you can drive it on the beach and not even notice the difference.”
“Anita’s gonna love this.”
“I imagine so,” he said quietly.
I started telling Pete about my week—repeating much of it since we’d spoken on the phone at least once daily. “Oh, and Beth knows I’m pregnant.”
“So, I can tell people now?” His smile went supernova. Thus far, with the exception of a very elite few, my pregnancy was top secret. From everything I’d read—all the stories of heartbreak and loss, I’d learned it was best to wait until the first trimester had fully passed in case something went wrong. In a matter of days, Pete would be free to shout it from the rooftops, and let me tell you, I was planning on wearing hearing protection that day.
“No, my little sperm donor, you may not. She just knew. I suppose my chubby cheeks, fat butt, and the sheer amount of food I ingested gave it away. Beth doesn’t miss much. Wow, these seats are really comfortable.”
“Cushioned leather, adjustable lumbar support, plus they’re heated and air-conditioned.”
“For real? This is like driving the space shuttle. I feel so tall. I can see everything. No wonder Anita likes sitting up so high.”
“Ya like it, huh?”
“For a monster SUV, it’s awesome,” I said as we flew passed Havelock. His hopeful expression made me smile. “You want one, don’t you? It’s probably time to trade in your jeep, anyway. I’m sure Coastal Architecture could use the write-off.”
“That’s a thought.”
“I wonder how much one of these costs.”
“A lot. But worth it.”
♥
Tiny American flags hung from every mailbox on Possum Trot Road. Once past the cave-like entrance to Anita’s private drive, yellow ribbons dotted the verdant jungle like exotic birds. With an impressive family tree abundantly laden with war veterans, several cousins currently serving overseas, and those, like Pete’s father, who’d fallen in peacetime, yellow seemed more than appropriate.
Of course, when we emerged into the wide plot of land I affectionately called “The Anita Compound,” red, white, and blue took over, coloring every square inch not currently occupied by parked vehicles. Balloons, tied to anything that didn’t move, bobbed lazily in the light breeze. The basketball goalpost was wrapped in a thick cord of lights that would blink those same colors from dusk to dawn. The fireworks show promised to be even more spectacular than last year’s.
I smiled to myself. There was no way it could be—not for us, anyway. Through intermittent kisses, Pete and I had watched it from the dock last year, more awestruck that we were once again in each other’s arms than by the bright colors reflecting off the glassy cove. That night was in all ways perfect.
“Where should we park this beast? Do you think Kirk wants it in the driveway?”
Pete’s expression blanked for a second, but then he said, “That’ll work.” I pulled in beside Anita’s cherry red, heavily chromed, super-sized pickup truck.
“Well, look at this fancy thing,” Anita said, smiling hugely as we slid out. “When did y’all get this?”
Because it was clearly a surprise, I decided to go along with whatever bullshit Pete spouted.
“It was just delivered Wednesday,” he replied. Ah,nice and evasive.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” I gushed, winking at Pete.
He smiled zealously and nodded. “It sure is, Susie-Q.”
Her eyes flicked from Pete’s to mine, and she grinned toothily. “I thought you liked sports cars, Susan.”
“Me? I’d never own anything else. But this…this drives just like one, doesn’t it Pete?”
“A Maserati on stilts.”
She ran her hand across the bumper greedily. “Lord, I’d love to have me one of these. If my husband parked this in my driveway, why, I’d just die. Now that’d be what I call treatin’ a woman right. Don’t you agree, Susan?”
“Completely.”
“I’m gonna talk to Kirk. It’s about time to trade in my ride.” She patted her truck like a horse, and then said, “C’mon, y’all, it’s hotter than sin out here.”
We followed her into the heavily air-conditioned foyer, immediately consumed by a swarm of relatives and friends. After backslaps and hugs from many, Kirk handed Pete a beer, grimaced, and then grumbled something about dragging some boy behind his truck. Said boy, a very attractive teen with jet hair and piercing eyes, couldn’t keep those baby blues off Taylor. He tracked her every move, practically salivating, while, unbeknownst to him, a truly dangerous predator tracked his. Pete winked at me and mouthed, Young love.
Anita placed a drink in my hand. Her “Anita surprise”, guaranteed to knock you flat on your ass, as it had me several times before, was akin to pink toxic waste. One sip would surely kill the creature growing inside me.
“Try it, Susan. I added something new to my secret recipe. See if you can guess what.” I looked to Pete for a quick save, but he’d already fallen into deep conversation with Kirk.
I, um…you know what? I think I’ll start out with water. My stomach’s been acting up lately.” No lie there.
“Yew want a Bud Light? That’ll settle it right down.”
“Just water, please.” She raised an eyebrow and gave me a full Mayo Clinic cat scan before returning with a giant glass of ice water.
“Let me know when you’re feeling ready,” she said, taking a substantial sip of her patented concoction. “I definitely want your opinion.” Then, turning on a dime, she yelled, “Tina! Didn’t see yew there, girl!”
Tina greeted her warmly, and then looked at me like I was a disease. I was still pissed about her Facebook bachelorette party posts, and she was still pissed about my being pissed. Business as usual, I suppose. I offered her a fake smile; high school all over again.
After a wonderful boat ride down the Trent River—one in which I didn’t hurl even once, we gathered on Anita’s generous deck for the traditional feast of grilled hot dogs, baked beans, and fifteen kinds of chips. I was busy stuffing a third hotdog into my mouth when John Stevens, ruler of Eastern North Carolina’s domestic car empire, plopped down in the
folding chair Pete had just vacated.
“How’re ya likin’ your new car?”
“What new car?”
“The SUV? I don’t deal in foreign makes, but I’d do about anything for Pete, and I know people over in Raleigh, of course.”
“You mean Anita’s new car,” I corrected.
A confused look mottled his features. “Kirk’s got his eye on a F-150, but he ain’t made me an offer yet. He thinks I’ll drop the price if he hems and haws enough.” He snorted out a laugh. “That ain’t gonna happen. No, your car’s as fine as they come,” he continued. “It’s next year’s model. Couldn’t be more loaded with features. Soon as it arrived, my buddy parked it in his showroom ’til Pete could take possession. Got three offers the first day. Your husband sure treats ya right.”
“Wait! You’re telling me that thing is mine?”
He laughed loudly. “Well, yeah. Who else’s would it be?”
I swear to you, steam poured out of my ears like a train engine. “Pete Walsh!” I screeched, hopping up.
“Yeah, Susie-Q.”
“We need talk. Now!” His happy and slightly inebriated expression bled into one ready for war.
John shouted, “I didn’t ruin the surprise, did I?”
Pete crossed his arms and nodded.
“Sorry, man. Thought you’d already told her.”
Anita burst out laughing. “Yeah, me, too. Susan, he got you good.”
I took a very deep breath and let it out slowly, channeling a moment when I didn’t want to murder my husband. “He sure did,” I said, offering them both a tight smile. Then I gave Pete a scorching glare, pointed to the screened door, and marched right through Anita’s house to the front yard.
“You, you bought me that thing?! What the fuck, Pete?”
“Susie-Q,” he said, in his most placating tone.
“Don’t ‘Susie-Q’ me! You know what? Don’t even talk to me.” I stomped down the driveway and then stormed back again.
“Let me get this straight. You bought me a car without talking to me first. A super expensive, luxury SUV. How could you possibly think I would want this? It’s like, it’s like—” I gasped and covered my mouth. “It’s a mommy-mobile. You bought me a mommy-mobile?!” I sputtered. “Why didn’t you just stab me in the heart with a damn minivan—or worse, a station wagon?”
“I debated the wagon,” he responded—quite casually, I might add. “It sits lower, though, so you wouldn’t be able to see out as well.”
“How dare you!” I hissed. “How dare you force a car like that on me? Take it back! I won’t have it!”
“Ya will,” he said flatly, assuming his I’mnot budging an inch pose.
“I won’t,” I snarled, assuming mine. “This is an abomination!” I scowled at the SUV and rocked back on my heels, failing to find any rhyme or reason to Pete’s warped thinking. “Why?”
“It’s safe. It’s the safest car on the road.” His face flushed. “The very safest!”
“My car’s safe.”
“It’s fine, but this one’s better.” He followed me on my next trek to the road. “I need you to have this.”
I turned on him. “You ‘need’ me to? How could you do this?” My eyes brimmed with hot tears. I was still crying at the drop of a hat, which made me just so flippin’ happy. “We’re partners now. We make decisions about big purchases together. We didn’t need a new car, and even if we had, I can promise that thing would not have made the short list.”
He looked mildly chagrinned—no, not even that. Then he huffed in exasperation and stared off into the overgrowth. “I knew this would happen. I knew we’d go round and round about it for months. I’d win in the end, I promise ya that, but in the meantime, I’d be worried sick every time ya got behind the wheel. Worried about your safety. Worried about the baby.”
I scoffed but then paled. He’d never worried about my safety before. My arms erupted in goosebumps. Was this a glimpse of my future? I was the light in his eyes—the one who put that struck-stupid grin on his face. But once this child was born, would I be relegated to a glorified nanny—someone whose sole purpose in life was to raise his offspring? Would I become…my mother?
Shoulders slumping, I numbly walked back inside and mounted the stairs to the most remote room in the house—the one which Pete and I had shared the first time he brought me here. When I opened the door, I was sucked into a hormonal maelstrom. Taylor was half dressed and under “the boyfriend”, who was wearing a pair of swim trunks, loosened at the waist. He hopped up as if those trunks were on fire, and she dove for her tank top.
I glared at the boy as Taylor hurriedly put herself back together. “Miss Susan—” she whimpered, her terrified eyes pleading for discretion. At that moment, I really didn’t give a crap what they were doing, as long as they did it the fuck somewhere else.
“Scram,” I ordered, slamming the door behind them. Flopping onto the overly-used mattress, I curled into a ball. I was going to lose him. I would lose him to this thing growing inside me. It would become the love of his life. I let loose and sobbed mightily.
“Susan,” Pete whispered, pulling me into his chest. He kissed the top of my head repeatedly. “I’m so sorry I made ya cry. I thought you’d be happy once you got all the yellin’ out of your system.” I tried to push him away, but he locked me in his arms and continued showering me with kisses. With nowhere to move, I finally sank into his chest and wept openly.
Eventually, he pulled back to look at me. “I love you more than anything in this whole world. I’ll protect you to my last breath. Don’t ya see? I’m just tryin’ to keep ya as safe as possible. That’s all I want. You. Safe.”
His expression then became deeply grave. “You don’t know how many nightmares I’ve had about your wreck. You can’t know what it did to me, seein’ you in that hospital bed hooked up to those machines, your face all bruised, your ribs cracked. And to’ve crawled through that car, all twisted and mangled, glass everywhere, the roof caved in. It didn’t even have side airbags,” he said with disgust. “It put the fear of God in me. Right in me. And lately, those nightmares have come back with a vengeance. If anything ever happened to you…” He sighed. “Just…just drive the car. Do it for me.”
“And the baby, right? Don’t forget the baby,” I whispered, still stinging.
“For me.”
He found my lips and kissed them gently. “You hold my heart in your hands. You hold my very soul,” he whispered, taking a ragged breath. “I hope ya know that.”
Fresh tears welled, spilling down my temple and onto the soured sheets.
Just then, the door opened, and a giggling Tina, towing John Stevens behind her, burst into the room. “What the hell are y’all doin’ here?” she demanded.
I eyed them both. “We could ask you the same.”
Pete stood and helped me up. “It’s all yours. C’mon, Susie-Q, I know a better place.” I wiped my tears on his t-shirt, and then followed him downstairs. The light was fading, and there was a thrill of excitement in the air. The fireworks would begin soon. We headed for the deck to find my purse.
“Where’ve y’all been?” Anita asked, looking over my surely disheveled self.
“Makin’ out,” Pete replied with a wink.
“Oh. Well, y’all grab a seat somewhere. Fireworks’ll begin shortly.” Eyeing me, she then said, “Susan, yew look like yew could use a drink.”
In a momentary lapse in judgment, I took the pink concoction she offered and swallowed a giant gulp. A loud gasp rose above the chatter.
“Susan, the baby!” Mona screeched.
Silence. Except for the teens splashing around the dock below, pure, unadulterated silence.
Pete’s face lit up like the evening’s pre-game show, and Anita let out an echoing whoop. I whipped around and gaped at my best friend, who was now covering her mouth with both hands. Beer foam dripped down her husband’s hand and onto his shorts as he shook with unbridled laughter. And guess who
was suddenly the man of the bloody hour?
Pete was tugged into a melee of back slaps and congratulatory hugs, while I stood aghast, the butt of yet another joke. I decided right then that I hated this deck. And thanks to my new vat of simmering hormones, my indignation quickly dissolved into tears.
Let me tell you, nothing brings women running like a good fit of tears. I was surrounded by females, hugging me, tutting over me, and asking all kinds of highly personal questions. I periodically shot daggers at my very proud, soon-to-be a daddy, evil, buying me a stupid car I did not need, wretched husband. He dodged most of them, but then turned fully to me, his grin fading. I’m sorry, he mouthed.
I hate you, I mouthed back.
Pete slowly swam through the sea of well-wishers. Just as he reached me, Anita’s whistle pierced the air, stilling us all. “Alright, y’all, pay up!”
Men dug out their wallets and slapped tens, twenties, and fifties on the condiments table. Anita tallied the bills, glared at Mike Herring, who grudgingly handed her a Ben Franklin, and then stacked the money into a neat pile.
She climbed up on the bench behind her and spoke like a state senator. “As all y’all know, it’s a rare day when I lose a bet.” She grinned smugly at the crowd, making eye contact with each and every loser, and then hopped down, crossed the deck, and placed the wad of cash in my hand. “Susan, Pete, this is for the baby. Congratulations!” She popped up on her toes and squeezed me tightly, and then punched Pete in the arm. “And that’s for not tellin’ me sooner.”
♥
A golden glow spilled from the rising garage door, and the security lights tripped as we neared the house. I parked the monster beside my Audi, amazed that the damn thing even fit inside.
“I suppose you expect me to sell Lucy,” I snipped. In my choppy sea, I was still riding waves of anger, embarrassment, and general pissedoffedness. That car had been the only light in a time of great darkness, and I was loath to part with her. Especially for this tank-sized, plush leather, air condition-seated, rolling environmental disaster—eco-mode be damned!
Back Where I Belong: A Wonderfully Witty and Completely Absorbing Love Story (Susan Wade Series Book 3) Page 25
