by Natalie Ann
“Mr. and Mrs. Strand, what about you?” Principal Acker asked.
“We’ll deal with it,” Kenny’s father said, sending his wife a look that Landon interpreted as “This is your fault and keep your mouth shut now.” “Can we take Kenny home now?”
“By all means. We’ll get both children.” Landon waited while the Strands left the room. Before Chloe was brought in, the principal said to him, “Between us, I’m deeply sorry for this incident. I’ll do what I can to make sure Chloe’s situation is understood, but I’d need permission from you to do that.”
“Meaning you want to tell the other kids that Chloe’s mother died and she doesn’t know who her father is?” He wasn’t sure if that would make matters worse or not.
“I’ll leave it up to you to talk to Chloe, but I really think the other children should know. Most are very sympathetic and would have welcomed her more warmly if they’d known. And there will be no mention of her father. If Chloe chooses to explain him, she can. All they will be told is that her mother passed recently and you are her guardian.”
“She doesn’t need their pity.”
“I think men think that way. Even adults. Children are different, trust me on this. Think about it and let me know. Until then, Chloe can’t return to school until Monday.”
“Thanks,” he said, then waited for Chloe to be brought in.
The minute the door opened, Chloe walked in, her hair all over the place, her face red, not filled with tears, but anger.
“Come here,” he said, holding his hand out for her. Chloe ran to him and put her arms around his waist. That made up for some of his frustration.
When they got in his SUV, she asked, “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
“Violence isn’t tolerated. You know that.”
“But what he said,” she argued.
“Was wrong. But one thing you have to understand about life is, people are going to say mean things to us all the time. We need to learn how to deal with it without violence.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, tears coming into her eyes.
“On the other hand, had he attacked you first, you are well within your right to do what you did and I’m damn proud of you for standing up for yourself. Just don’t tell anyone I said that.”
She smiled at him and he laughed. He shouldn’t be laughing too, but it was the only thing he could think to do. Parenting sure the hell sucked now and again.
Hard Day
Kristen was waiting on a customer when the door opened. As always, she was good at multitasking and glanced up quickly. The deliveryman walking in with flowers had her grinning. More for Olivia since she’d given birth to her son, Nathan, a week ago.
She lifted her hand and waved the guy back while she pulled out the necklace that her customer wanted to see.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the flowers and setting them aside for now. When another employee was done she nodded her over. “Can you take these back to Olivia’s office? I’ll let Finn know more have arrived for him to get this week.”
The store remained busy, which always warmed Kristen’s soul. Not just for the commissions that she’d be getting, but the excitement of the sale and the thrill of meeting new people.
Bumping elbows with the wealthy.
Making her feel like she could fit in with these clients, even if she knew that would never be the case.
All those years wishing she had more than she had. Wanting to be someone better than what she came from.
It was wrong of her, but she couldn’t help it. She’d built this dream world around her to escape all the chaos in her life.
Her mother’s wild and wacky ways. Her father’s stubbornness. Her lack of possessions when her friends had more.
Did she want to be a psychologist to find out why she wanted what she didn’t have? No. That answer was simple enough. Just like she’d told Landon, people will always have more and you’ll never catch up. She went to find out why she never seemed to be happy in life in general.
It took her a long time to figure that out. Or to at least accept it.
Then why was she still looking for something with a man that she might never have?
A normal relationship? What was that anyway?
She had a great guy who was a standup person. Who was doing all the right things. Who said he loved her. Correction...said he felt the same as her—on the same page. And yet she still wanted more.
Did that make her selfish? Or needy? An attention grabber like she’d been accused of before?
Why couldn’t she just be happy with what she had? Why did it never seem to be enough?
Then she wondered why she thought that because she was happy right now.
Happy with her job. Happy with Landon. Even happy with her relationship with her mother.
But she still just wanted something more even though she’d told herself to stop doing that.
Maybe a weekend away with Landon would help.
That wouldn’t be too selfish, would it? To see if they could have a little time away from life?
Not even a weekend. Just a night. At her place. On her bed. Hmmm, yes, that was what she’d ask him.
“Kristen.”
She turned to look at Sue who had taken the flowers to Olivia’s office earlier in the day. “Yes.”
“I just went to grab the deposit bag out of Olivia’s office and noticed those flowers were for you, not Olivia. You didn’t see your name on it either, did you?”
“No,” she said, grinning. “I hadn’t. I’m so used to Olivia getting them. Geez, I better go back and check them out.”
She dashed to Olivia’s office, eager to see them. They had to be from Landon.
No one had ever sent flowers to her at work before. Not even flowers to her house.
The only flowers she’d ever gotten in her life were corsages for a prom and even then she’d picked them out herself.
She opened Olivia’s office and walked over to the vase, pulled the green tissue paper away and saw the dozen red roses there. Beautiful.
She lifted the card and opened it up, read the note: “Thinking of you. Missing you. Just want you back.”
What?!
She flipped it over and saw Steve’s name on the back.
No way. This had to be a joke. What part of “we are over with” didn’t he get?
She pulled her phone out of her pocket ready to text him and told herself no. Not to encourage him. Not to interact with him at all.
Not to even bait him like he probably wanted.
She picked the flowers up and walked to the back of the store and dumped them in the trash can.
An hour later she drove to Landon’s for dinner. They tried to have dinner together a few times a week. Tonight she was bringing Chinese takeout to give him a break from cooking.
“Hey,” she said, walking in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. He grabbed the bags out of her hand and walked to the kitchen. “Where’s Chloe?”
“She’s in her room. She’s being punished right now,” he said.
“Punished?” she asked. That was a first. “What happened?”
He sighed. “She is being suspended for the rest of the week from school for fighting. I’m sure I’ll have to ground her or something, but not sure what. It’s not like she hangs out with friends or has video games for me to take away from her. She doesn’t do much but read and play in her room.”
“Back up,” she said. “The fighting? Chloe? She barely says boo and she got into a fight with another girl?”
“Nope,” he said, grinning and then wiping it from his face. “She kicked and tossed a boy to the ground.”
Kristen laughed and then put her hand to her mouth. “Sorry, that was wrong of me to laugh. I’m dying to know what caused it.”
She listened while Landon told her about the day he had. “So you see my dilemma.”
“Yeah, that is a hard one. She did what any normal adult might do. Well, not throwing the kid to the ground,
but standing up for herself. And she still got punished.”
Kristen wished she’d had the guts to stand up for herself as a kid when she was picked on for being different. For not having enough. For her mother’s actions.
Instead she tried to be someone she wasn’t.
“We had a talk about violence not being the answer. That she’s going to have to learn to pick her battles and resolve them better than that.”
She thought of all the times Steve got violent on the track. How she hated it. How it was childish and embarrassing. Why did he have to pop into her head at the worst times?
She’d considered telling Landon of Steve’s visit and then the flowers and realized he didn’t need to know. It wasn’t that big of a deal. She could handle it on her own. He had enough on his mind without her adding to it. He might be turned off or annoyed if she had problems he thought he might need to solve on top of Chloe’s issues.
“What did she say to that?”
“That she knew. That she understood but she was so angry.”
“Maybe she is getting comfortable enough that she isn’t hiding what she is truly feeling anymore. I guess that could be good or bad.”
“I thought of that too,” he said. “I also realized that my mother’s visit could have prompted this too.”
“How so?”
“Aside from the fact my mother had to go and say what she did. Put that little bug in Chloe’s ear about something happening to me. She saw the fighting, the usual yelling that always went on around anyone in contact with my mother. She showed some anger herself that day when she defended me. I didn’t think anything of it, but now that is twice in a short period of time.”
“You didn’t tell me that. That she defended you.” Why wouldn’t he have said that?
“So much had happened that day, it just slipped my mind. Nothing more than that.”
She accepted that answer for the moment. “So now what?” she asked. “And we should get her down here for dinner too before it’s cold.”
“I’ll go get her. Any ideas on a punishment?” he asked her.
“Did you ask her what she thinks the right punishment would be?” she asked.
“No. Why would I? Most kids would say nothing,” he said, laughing.
“Not all. She seems like a smart kid. She knows what she did is wrong by the sounds of it. You two had a nice talk too. See what she says. What she learned from this.”
She went about pulling out plates and putting the dinner on the table while Landon was upstairs. When the three of them were at the table, Chloe finally said, “You heard, didn’t you?”
“I did,” she said. “It sounds like it’s been a hard day for you. Now you get a few days off of school.”
Chloe’s bottom lip came out and started to tremble. “I don’t want to be home from school. I like school. Now I’m going to get behind in my work.”
She glanced over at Landon. “I guess that is a punishment in itself, isn’t it?” she said.
Chloe nodded her head. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. I promise. I’ll walk away next time,” Chloe said to Landon.
Landon pushed the food closer to Chloe. “You have a right to speak up and defend yourself. But you need to do it with words.”
“Not mean words either,” Kristen added.
“I’m not mean. I would never say anything like Kenny did or does.”
“That’s good to know,” Landon said. “Part of being an officer is to be able to diffuse situations. I know you might think I fight because of the martial arts, but I don’t. I never do. I’ve never had to use it for anything other than tournaments. I use my words more than my actions and that is something everyone has to understand and learn in life too.”
Interesting, Kristen thought. She’d never put much thought into Landon fighting one way or the other even though she hated it from Steve.
Maybe because it was different with Landon. He knew right from wrong. He wasn’t childish. And he was...standup like she’d said before.
“Will you teach me how?” Chloe asked her uncle.
“I will. But it’s not something you can learn in a class. Not something you learn all at once either. It’s life lessons. It’s things we learn every day, even as an adult.”
And those words put Kristen right in her place again. That you’re never too old to keep learning about yourself in life. Or those you love.
Got Her Wish
Kristen got her wish. She and Landon were going to have a night to themselves.
At her house.
In her bedroom.
Handcuffs included if she had her way.
She didn’t tell him to bring them but hoped the heck he remembered.
Chloe was at a friend’s for a sleepover. Her very first, and though Landon was a bit nervous, she knew, he was also happy that Chloe wanted to go to the birthday party for the night.
Now they just had to hope Chloe stayed the whole night. But if she didn’t, then Landon would go get her. She knew that was a possibility, so she was going to make sure they took advantage of the time they had alone.
“Are you cooking dinner?” Landon asked when he walked into her apartment. “I thought we could go out.”
“I’m cooking. It’s cold and miserable out. I’m glad it’s finally February and the month is short. But it’s the worst month of the winter. March can’t come soon enough.”
“It’s only February second,” he said, laughing. “You’ve got twenty-six days to go.”
“Don’t put me in a bad mood,” she said, reaching for him and pulling him close, her hands going under his jacket that she hadn’t given him a chance to remove. She just wanted to get her hands on his body.
“What are you doing?” he asked when she was feeling all around his hips and pockets. “Are you looking for something?”
Her lips were in his ear. “Maybe,” she said.
“I’ve got them. Don’t worry. You don’t think I’d forget, did you?”
“I had hoped not.” She stepped back and let him take his jacket off and hang it up. “You don’t think differently of me for wanting that, do you?”
“Hell no,” he said. “It’s sexy. It’s fun. And it’s something we don’t seem to get much of. Sometimes I feel like we are this old married couple.”
She didn’t know what to think of that comment. “In a bad way?”
“Not good or bad. There is comfort in that. But then I wonder if we are missing out on the new couple action many get too. You know, my messy life and all.”
“Let’s not talk about your messy life. Or mine. I don’t have a problem with it any more than you have with mine.”
Nor did she want to tell him she’d gotten two text messages from Steve the past week and had ignored them. She wanted to change her number, but if she did that, then she’d have to tell Landon about it. He didn’t need that headache.
“Your life is far from messy. At least now. Anyway, what’s for dinner? It smells good.”
“Just sauce and meatballs. I wanted something easy. I’ve got some bread and a salad to go with it. We can eat whenever we want to.”
“In that case,” he said. “Dinner can wait. Though I’m pretty sure Chloe will be fine all night long, I’m not taking the chance, and since I just dropped her off, I think we are good for a few hours.”
“I like the way you think.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her room. “Wait. You know what you need.”
He shook his head and walked back over to his jacket. “Meet me in your room. I’m not dressing up in uniform. I didn’t bring it and don’t play those types of games,” he said, laughing at her.
“Same here. It never crossed my mind. Just want to feel a little helpless tonight.”
“You’re far from helpless, I can tell you that much.”
She was glad he thought that. She’d always felt she could handle anything tossed her way. If he felt she was that way, then she’d done a good job portraying it.
“So I’ve got a little something special for tonight. A few things actually, but the question is, what do we do first?”
“Special, like what?” he asked, tossing the handcuffs on the bed. He’d put the key on the bedside table. Her body filled with something close to molten lava instantaneously. A heat she’d never felt before. It started in her chest and pooled between her legs and almost made her toes tingle and curl.
“I’ve got a cute little outfit that I bought. You know me and shopping. A little bit of...whipped cream too.”
“The outfit can wait until later,” he said, pulling his shirt over his head. “The whipped cream can come out now. I’ll go get it.”
She laughed. He thought exactly like her.
She got undressed and was just climbing on the bed when he walked in with the can in his hand. He put it next to the key.
Her eyes stayed glued on his while he pulled the rest of his clothes off. He really did have one hell of a body on him.
A fighter’s body with a warrior’s heart. A gentle heart. A caring one. A loving one.
“Your eyes are almost glowing. It makes me feel like I’m the only man on the face of the earth.”
“You are the only man in my eyes,” she said.
“You always know the right things to say.”
She’d never thought so before. “I’m hoping you know the right things to do.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said.
He climbed on the bed and covered her body with his, his mouth going to hers, their fingers interlacing together.
His body was hard, his heart soft, he was everything she’d always wanted from a man. Not just in the bedroom, but in life.
She had to keep telling herself to push those thoughts aside.
They’d only spoken of their feelings that once. It’d never come up again and she’d been afraid to do it herself.
His mouth left hers, moved down her neck, over her chest and latched onto her nipple. She loved that he paid so much attention to all the parts of her body. That he cherished her in ways that other men had never done before.
He wasn’t a selfish lover by any means.
“Landon,” she said.
