by Noelle Hart
“There's only been one so far. A couple got into a fight and started throwing their food at each other. The other diners caught some of it. Man you should have seen the dry cleaning bill! It might have been okay but then the woman stuck the man with a fork in his hand and he had to be hustled over to emergency. It was pure chaos.”
The twinkle in Will's eye told Kylie he'd enjoyed every minute of it. She appreciated his sense of humor. “Well at least she didn't stick the fork up his...” She paused, aware of little ears listening. “... in his, er, bottom end.”
Both Will and Max roared with laughter.
The petting zoo area was devoid of people and animal feces was pungent in the air. The powers that be had built little shelters for the animals and most had bedded down for the night. Two llamas, one black, the other a reddish brown, sat huddled together on a bed of hay in a corner. A mother goat nibbled on some kind of feed while her kid playfully rammed his tiny head against her rump.
Max climbed onto the fence railing while Will and Kylie leaned against it. “Look Dad, a baby goat.” They watched as the little creature scampered toward them at the sound of Max's voice. The kid pushed his nose against the railing and bleated, looking for a handout.
“Aw man, I wish we had some food. What do goats eat anyway?”
“Hay mostly,” said Will, “and grains. When they're on farms with pasture land they graze, like cows. But I think this little guy is still drinking milk off his mother.”
“Ew, that's gross.”
“Don't knock it kiddo. Your mother breast fed you until you were three months old.”
Max's eyes glazed. “You mean I... I...”
Kylie rescued him. “You got the best nourishment a mother can give her son, that's what. That's why you're so strong right now.”
Max grinned and flexed his arm muscle for her. She oohed and awed appreciatively while Will, in the background, flexed his much larger, more impressive bicep, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I see you got your milk too,” said Kylie, amused.
“Didn't you know, I'm a body double for Schwarzenegger; sometimes Stallone too.”
“Yeah, right, Dad!”
“Don't believe me? Here, feel this.” Max obligingly squeezed Will's arm. “Solid like a rock.”
Max giggled. “Just like your head!”
Will grabbed Max in a head hold and reached around to tickle him mercilessly. Screaming and laughing like a hyena, Max struggled in his Dad's embrace.
“Do you give you little ankle-biter?”
“I give, I give!”
Will let go and Max collapsed onto him, both still laughing.
Watching, Kylie felt her heart tumble. This was how it should be between father and son. Clearly they adored one another, a natural and healthy mutual love with jokes and laughter.
Although park lamps lit the main areas, nightfall had descended, bringing with it a chill. Tall firs towered overhead blocking out the moon while an owl hooted softly.
“Okay,” said Will as Max clung to his side, “it's time to go. Did you bring your car, Kylie?”
“No, I ran all the way from the apartment.”
“That's clear on the other side of the park and then some. My Jeep isn't too far, we'll give you a lift. And before you object, it's gotten a little spooky out here so I insist.”
Compounding his words, a scuffing noise emitted from the dense bushes behind them.
“What was that?” Open wide, the whites of Max's eyes glistened. He reached for his Dad's hand.
Eerie silence.
“Who's there?” Will called out, pulling Max in close. He motioned for Kylie to follow suit and took her hand in his free one.
Nothing. But the air crackled with tension; someone was watching them.
“Let's go,” said Will. They took off at a fast pace holding hands, all of them glancing back.
As they put some distance between the zoo and the parking area, Kylie took one last look back. A man stood in a pool of lamp light, watching them. She stopped as did Will and Max and they all turned to see.
Kylie's stomach hitched. It was Drew. She'd recognize that cocky stance anywhere.
“Is that who I think it is?” asked Will in a whisper.
Max heard him. “Who do you think it is?” he also whispered.
Kylie blew out the breath she'd been holding. “It's nobody,” she said for Max's sake. “Just some guy looking for a cheap thrill.”
Max was puzzled. “What does that mean?”
Will said, “It means he likes to scare people. That's why I don't want you walking around on your own, not just here but anywhere, got that?” He leaned over and whispered in Kylie's ear. “And that goes double for you.”
“Weirdo!” yelled Max, but the man had disappeared.
*
Max sipped chocolate milk and watched a cartoon on TV in Kylie's living room, while she and Will shared a pitcher of iced green tea at the tiny dining table.
Will frowned. “So he's been harassing you in the grocery store and at work, and now he's putting a damper on your jogging. What kind of creep hides in the bushes outside of a petting zoo for crying out loud.”
“The kind who wants to make my life a living hell.” She'd brought him up to date about Brad Humphrey running interference for her. “I'm going to have to confront him.”
“Not alone, you don't. At the very least do it with a lawyer beside you. The guy is fixated on you.”
A small maniacal laugh slipped out. “Jolene thinks I should tell him he's not the father after all. I'm thinking there's some logic in that. But there's the issue of a paternity test. He might insist on one.”
“That's neither here nor there right now. He can't do anything until the baby's born. Even then he'll get stuck in legal red tape. The real problem here is to keep him away from you. He seems to be running on some kind of toxic mental fuel. You shouldn't be alone with him anytime, anywhere.”
“Agreed. Let me ask you, what would you do if you found out you'd gotten someone pregnant and she told you she didn't want anything more to do with you? That she wanted to raise it on her own.”
To his credit Will didn't blurt out a quick, tell-her-what-she-wants-to-hear response. He mulled it over. “I'd offer to help pay for the kid's upbringing. Ask her to keep her mind open to visiting rights.” He paused, then added, “But first I'd have to know the kid wasn't going to be given up for adoption or end up in a bad situation.”
“Such as?”
“Drug addiction, psychotic behavior. Violence.”
“What if you were in love with her?”
“Obviously it would hurt, but if she didn't feel the same I'd have no choice but to move on.”
“So you and Max's mother are tight?”
“Not tight. Just easy going friends with a mutual interest.”
Exactly how it should be between single parents, thought Kylie. “I don't know how I missed this side of Drew's personality before I was intimate with him.”
“People with an agenda can be sly. Once they get what they want their ugly side rises to the surface. You're lucky this happened before you actually married him.”
“I'm a big believer in love before marriage, and I'm not in love with him. He's a good looking man and he literally charmed the pants off of me, but he's killed any chance of love between us.”
Will felt for her. It was a frustrating situation. With a baby on the way she needed tranquility so she could get through the pregnancy in a healthy state. “Have you eaten anything?” he asked.
“No. Come to think of it, I'm famished.”
He got out his cell. “I'll have Lyle send us something over. Any preferences? Food allergies?”
Kylie's stomach growled at the thought of food. “Jolene says he makes the best curried chicken. What do you think?”
“I think it's coming right up. Why don't you go shower and Max and I will get things ready down here.” He made the call to the diner while Kylie went upstairs.
She heard the clatter of plates and a child's laughter and it felt right to have Will and Max in her home. Pulling on jeans and a t-shirt, she ran down the stairs to the sight of Jimmy bringing in two large aromatic bags.
“Hi Mr. Delaney.” He held out his hand to Kylie, his eyes sparkling with intrigue. “It's Kylie, right? We met at the barbeque.”
She shook his hand. “How are you?”
“Busy. Lot's of deliveries so I've got to get going.”
Will grabbed Jimmy's hand, inspected a fresh scrape across his wrist and knuckles. “What's this?”
“Just a scratch. Some asshole in a silver convertible cut me off when I tried to pull up in front and I nearly dumped the moped. He's still out there sitting in his car, staring up at the building. Kinda creepy.”
Will and Kylie exchanged a look. “Probably just waiting for someone,” said Will. “Have Eileen clean this up and put some iodine on it.”
Jimmy gave him a salute. “Sure thing, boss.” With a wave he was gone. Both Kylie and Will moved the window blind and peered out. Sure enough, Drew's car was parked directly under the apartment.
“You realize now that he's seen you with me,” whispered Kylie, “you're officially involved.”
Will looked down into her eyes as they stood sharing the same peephole. Kylie felt her heart leap as her nerve endings tingled to life. “I think I'm already officially involved,” he said, his tone husky. She watched the blue in his eyes soften to smokey gray as passion filled them.
“What are you looking at?” demanded Max.
Will blinked, then quickly shut the blind and turned Kylie toward the kitchen. “We're just making sure Jimmy doesn't wipe out on his moped.”
“Jimmy promised me a ride. He said he was going to ask you if it was okay. Is it, Dad? Is it okay?”
Thank God kids are so easily diverted, thought Kylie, listening as Will laid down rules involving the right setting with a helmet. The table had been set and Will placed several take-out cartons in the center.
They feasted on the best curried chicken Kylie had ever tasted. It came with basmati rice and a variety of miniature roasted vegetables with herbs. Dessert was a creamy Neapolitan mousse that had Max licking his plate, with Kylie doing the same in his honor. That earned her an appreciative laugh from Max and a big grin from Will.
Afterward Will loaded the dishwasher while Kylie pulled out her Monopoly board. They played a noisy, raucous game that went on for over an hour. Thanks to some clever coaching on Will and Kylie's part, Max came out the champion. High fives gave way to sleepy eyes and Will laid Max on the sofa with a pillow and blanket.
Kylie went to the window. Drew was still out there, undoubtedly having worked himself into a state for the past two hours. It made her stomach roil.
With Max hard asleep on the sofa, Will joined Kylie. “I'd like to go out there and have a word with him,” he murmured.
“I'd like to go out there and wring his neck. But that would make me just like him, wouldn't it?” She turned, deliberately closing the blind slat. “He's reduced my life to sneaking up fire escapes and looking over my shoulder. I'm the one who needs to speak with him. I'm going to call him and set up a meeting in a public place. That way he can't pull anything physical on me and I can let him know in no uncertain terms that I want him out of my life.”
Will saw resolve and determination settle over her and realized she was a fighter who would stand up for herself. She'd make one helluva great mother to the baby she now carried.
Will handed her his phone. “Here, use my cell. If he tries to return the call he'll be blocked again.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure you're going to block his number?”
“I'll block it, don't worry.” Just not right away, he mused.
She took the phone and punched in Drew's number, went to the window.
He took a moment to answer. “Yes?”
“It's me, Kylie.”
She watched as his body went rigid in his seat.
“Who's phone is this?”
“Does it matter?”
He abruptly changed his tone of voice. “I'm glad you called. I want to tell you how sorry I am, for everything. Please, can I come up?”
“That's a definite no. We can...”
“Why? You're not alone, are you.”
There it was, the whining tone she'd so recently been introduced to. Quickly he tried to retract it. “I mean, you're entitled to have company.” Another head spinning reversal. How could she have missed this so very crucial aspect of him while they'd been dating?
“Whether I have company or not is none of your business. The point is, I want to meet with you, Drew. I'll see you at The Dancing Pig in the Village in thirty minutes on one condition: you leave now.” It was a thriving local pub within walking distance for her but just far enough away so that Drew would drive.
She ended the call and watched him glance up at her window, then slowly pull away from the curb.
“Okay,” she said to Will, “now's your chance to leave. Sorry, but you'll have to wake up...”
“It's mid week. The Dancing Pig won't be that busy.”
“Busy enough. I'll just have a quick word with him and then come straight home.”
“Are you taking your car?”
“I'll walk. That way I can...”
“...be a target for him when he comes out all mad and wants to run you down. Kylie, think this through. I could take you in my Jeep. You'd go inside, have your say, then you'd come out and I'd drive you home. It's a safer option.”
He was convincing and more important, giving her a choice. The opposite of the kind of commanding and insisting that went against the grain.
She nodded her assent. Then, “What about Max? Is he old enough to stay on his own here?”
They both looked at Max snoring softly, his face angelic in sleep.
“He'll be alright,” said Will, “but why don't I have Jolene cut work early tonight and come home?”
“Who'll cover her?”
He thought about her trainee, Lillian McFarley. There wasn't anyone else and this was important. “I've got someone in mind.”
He made the call to the diner and Jolene was on her way. She arrived in record time on her sleek ten speed and they filled her in on their plan.
Jolene pulled Will aside. “Are you sure about putting Lillian on the floor tonight by herself? She's not ready.”
He looked at his watch. “There's only a few hours left on your shift. It'll be okay.”
Within five minutes Kylie and Will were out the door while Jolene fretted over Lillian's incompetence as well as Kylie's dilemma.
*
The Dancing Pig was outfitted like the inside of a barrel, curves and all, reminding Kylie of a hobbit house. There was a central bar with stools and lacquered wood tables all around. A few patrons enjoyed drinks at the bar but most sat in groups at the tables working on pitchers of beer. The no-smoking rule was in effect but the air was tinged with the pungent smell of hops.
Kylie found Drew at a table mid way down sipping a cocktail; no beer for him.
He rose when she approached and pulled out a chair for her, polite behavior intact. His clothes were rumpled and he wore a five o'clock shadow. It seemed as though his emotional state was being held shakily in check.
Kylie sat and when the waitress approached, ordered cranberry juice.
Drew raised his glass in salute. “Good to see you're taking care of our baby,” he commented.
“I'm also taking care of myself, which includes avoiding men who cater to their dark urges.”
“Wha
t's that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I'm only here to reinstate my request to leave me alone. I'm asking you nicely. It would be great if you could see your way to honoring my wishes.” There, she'd said it. Couldn't be clearer.
His tone was eerily calm. “Looks to me like you've already found somebody to replace me. Am I right, Kylie?”
“Drew. Really? Skulking in the bushes at Beacon Hill? Isn't that a little beneath a man whose career requires a corporate wife?”
“You're avoiding the question.”
“And you're avoiding my right to privacy. Yes I have friends, ones who care about me and don't take out their frustrations on innocent women.”
“Innocent? You think you're fooling me? You're a slut, Kylie. You came on to me strong and I tried not to take you up on it, didn't I? But no, you insisted on seducing me.”
His slide from nice to nasty made her head spin again and only solidified her resolve. A slut now. It was mind boggling that a man who thought of a woman as a slut would want to marry her. No logic in that whatsoever.
“I don't think you're remembering things right. You compared me to a whore when I wore that dress so I accommodated you and changed. Then you turned around and in your own words, wanted to take the dress for a spin. Is it coming back to you now? Let's cut to the quick. Thanks to your lack of responsibility and my poor judgment, I'm pregnant. That doesn't automatically mean that you own me. If you can hit me once, you can do it again. I'm not willing to risk a second act.” So much for telling him the baby isn't his, she thought bitterly. But she wasn't a liar and wouldn't degrade this child by telling the father he wasn't one.
Suddenly he was nice again. Before she could snatch her hand away he reached across and took it in his, gently but firmly.
“I want us to be a family. I'm sorry I slapped you. It was really just a tap, nothing more. It won't happen again.”
She tugged her hand out from under his. “That so-called tap produced a huge welt and bruise that lasted well over a week. Everyone who saw it was appalled. And what about that ear bite in the grocery store? That hurt! I get the feeling you're just getting started, Drew. You need to nip this in the bud. I don't want to be anywhere near you.”
