by Lacey Legend
But he still needed a job. He’d never get a loan for a house if he was unemployed. Checking the clock again, he saw that he was going to have a few extra minutes, so he made the decision that it was time to get a job and he knew exactly where he was headed.
“Yeah, I worked in Elliotsville for a few months as a mechanic. Here’s the number if you’d like to give them a call for a reference.”
Mason wasn’t aiming low at this point, he needed an impressive job and he needed a good amount of money. Going to a couple of towns over was the best decision he could make because they had the big car dealerships. Big car dealerships meant way more money and also the possibility of raises and that was something that Mason would work hard for.
The manager just stared at the card in his hand, flipping it over and over trying to make sense of this boy who had walked into his dealership in what Mason considered his best clothes, but he was sure the manager thought were old and disgusting. The man looked back at him and stared hard.
“What would you check first if the engine was making this noise?” The pudgy man started making noises with his mouth, and Mason knew exactly the sound the man was thinking of.
“The water pump,” he answered.
Again the man quizzed him and again Mason answered easily. After the fifth question the man finally smiled.
“You know your stuff; come into my office.”
Mason followed the man inside where he proceeded to tell him the history of the dealership and the cars they sold. He didn’t much care to hear about it, but if this meant he was one step closer to landing a job, he knew he’d listen to the man talk all day. Which he was starting to feel was a real possibility when the man finally stopped talking and stared at Mason again. He was preparing himself for more questions but instead the man pointed one stubby finger in his direction across the man’s big oak desk.
“I like you. We don’t normally bring people on like this and I’m still going to call your reference, but I think we can find a spot for you here.”
Mason couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. The relief he felt was completely amazing. He had a job and it was going to be a good job. There would be enough money to take care of his daughter and Adam without a worry. He’d be able to handle all of it.
“Thank you, Sir, very much. I appreciate you taking a chance on me and I promise that I won’t let you down.” Mason reached across the table and shook the man’s meaty hand.
“I think we’ll be glad to have you on board with us. Come on in Monday to sign all the papers and we will hammer out the details.”
Mason left the dealership like he was floating on air. He couldn’t believe that had worked. He never dreamed the manager would even see him, let alone give him a job on the spot. Maybe things would look up for him after all. So many years were spent working his fingers to the bone to watch everyone else succeed, maybe it was finally his time after all.
He thought of his mother then and wished she was here to see everything that was happening. He wished she was there to see just how smart Adam had gotten and to see Mason get a real job. She’d love to see the house looking in such great condition, and most of all she would be so excited to know she was about to have a granddaughter. He was sure after years of boys and all of the ruckus, a girl would have been excitedly welcomed.
If there was one thing he wished he could change about his life it was the loss of his mother. As much as he tried to block it from his mind, it hurt that she’d destroyed her own self and he had only been able to watch.
He missed the mother he’d grown up with and he wished that Adam had gotten to see her the way he had; she was such a wonderful woman. If only he could have changed the past, knowing what he now knew. Of course he knew that if he could have changed the past, then the loss of his mother wouldn’t be the only thing he would change.
Kelsey would be the other spot in his life that he wished he could go back and fix, but it wouldn’t be her pregnancy that he would have changed. It was him leaving that he would take back if he could.
He thought of that night often and pictured a million different scenarios about how it could have played out. If she had just said something, anything at all, or if he hadn’t jumped to conclusions and just left her, or if her text had said something different… anything at all that could have changed the course of the future. But there was nothing he could do, no going back. The only thing he could do was move forward.
As he drove to pick up Adam, he had a crazy thought. Maybe it wasn’t too late. After all, they didn’t seem to be getting married any time in the near future, maybe there was a chance he could win her back. He knew he wasn’t in her league, and he knew he’d never be able to offer her the life that Alan could, but with his new job and the hope of a new home, he knew he could offer her a decent life.
And that’s what he’d try to do. There was no point in living life in the past, not when things could still be changed for the future. Yes, she had a ring on her finger, but she wasn’t married yet—there was still time. For the first time in a long time, Mason felt a genuine full smile on his face. It felt strange to him, like something foreign.
He knew he was on the right track and he was going to make it happen. He’d be father of the year to the baby, work his job, get a new home, and show Kelsey that he could be everything that she needed.
He knew he wasn’t the only one that felt the fire that burned between them. That night, Mason tossed in his bed as he dreamed of Kelsey. Since he’d come back to town, he hadn’t dreamt of her, not once, which was odd because he dreamed of her often while he was on his journey away.
But since he’d seen her again, it was as if he didn’t need to dream about her because he knew just how close she was. It was so vivid, so clear, that when he woke up he knew exactly what he had to do.
They were doing nothing but holding hands and pushing a stroller through a park, but it was the heavy feel of her hand that lingered when he woke up, the smile that was stuck like a picture in his mind, her laugh that rang like bells, and he knew that was the life he wanted.
He didn’t want anyone else raising his daughter and he didn’t want any other man holding Kelsey as she drifted to sleep at night. That was the life that he wanted and he knew after that dream that he would do anything he had to so he could have it. He knew he had some time before she got married, and he was going to dedicate himself to being the man that she needed him to be.
*
The entire drive back home, Kelsey had felt like a complete fool. She had felt so much when she’d kissed him and she had thought he had felt things for her too. But she’d been right all those months ago when he’d left, he had just been using her. He’d actually told her it was a mistake and she should leave. That was one of the worst things she could have heard. But that was the end of it, she wasn‘t going to let him hurt her anymore.
When she got home, she changed everything. She was even going to pretend that she didn’t know about Alan’s little lie. After all, he only did it because he wanted her to have a great life and he wanted to protect them. He couldn’t be faulted for that, could he? No, she wouldn’t fault him for wanting to give her a good life. In fact, she’d thank him for it. And she knew exactly how to thank him. When she arrived at home, she started to make calls and plans immediately.
She was not going to give herself any room to back out. Her mind was made up and that was the end of it. Mason was going to be a permanent part of her past. Of course he couldn’t be a part of her past in her everyday life, but he would be in her heart. When he came home, she was pacing anxiously in the living room waiting for him. Alan walked through the door and the words bubbled out of her mouth before she had a chance to think twice.
“Let‘s get married right away.”
Alan paused and looked at her skeptically. “What about the big wedding you wanted? What about wearing the wedding dress?”
When Kelsey had agreed to marry Alan, both she and her mother had
agreed that the wedding should be after the baby was born. This way she could fit into a fantastically designed dress and look like the bride her mother had always pictured. Kelsey had quickly agreed to put off the wedding for a while on the premise that she wanted the picture-perfect wedding.
The truth was the thought of marrying Alan had scared her completely. Every day that she thought about it a small panic flooded her. If she could put it off long enough then maybe she‘d finally get used to the idea and maybe even get excited about it. After her encounter with Mason, that day was today. But she knew she’d have to convince Alan that getting married was really what she wanted to do.
“We can still do the big wedding as planned, but I want to be married before she comes. And since she can really come at any time, I want to get married at the courthouse. Just you and me and some witnesses.”
Alan was still looking at her skeptically and she knew that she wasn’t sounding like the girl he thought she was. Truthfully though, the idea of just a small wedding appealed to her. She didn’t need the dress or the flowers, the fancy food or the bottles of champagne. All she really wanted was the right man. And it appeared that Alan would be as close as she would get. He may not be the man she wanted, but who said that the one you wanted was the right one?
Maybe the man you want and the man who is right for you are two different things. What if life was funny that way? Allowing you to meet a man that you want, even though you don’t have any idea why, but he’s all wrong for you. And then you meet the right man but your mind is so wrapped up on the wrong one that it doesn’t allow him any room in your heart.
That seemed to be exactly what she was going through. After their kiss, she couldn’t deny any more that she wanted Mason. She couldn’t figure out why at all, because there was nothing about Mason that was right. But she wanted him anyway and her wanting him left no room for Alan. He was the one she should be with and she knew it. Marrying him would take away any possibility of thinking about Mason.
Once she was married, she felt that her wanting would subside because she’d have made a commitment and her word was something she wouldn’t break. But that wasn’t something she could tell to Alan. She’d need to convince him another way. Her mind spun with excuses and reasons she could give him. In the end, she knew the best way to convince him of a quick wedding. She hated what she was about to do, she hadn‘t been this kind of girl in months, but she had no choice.
Kelsey let her eyes well up with tears and she bowed her head in apology.
“I want my daughter to be born into a proper family. Not the mess that I created for her. She deserves better and it’s all my fault.” She put her hands over her eyes and began to shake her shoulders as she cried.
Immediately Alan was at her side, putting his arm around her shoulders and making soothing sounds. In truth, she didn’t really feel that way—that her daughter needed a proper family. Of course, it would have been nice if she’d been married then had her first child but that’s not what had happened and she was just fine with it.
Sometimes she sat and wondered where the Kelsey she’d always been had gone and who this new girl was that replaced her. But Alan needed to think she was that same girl, he needed to think that her reputation and money meant as much to her as his did to him. He needed to believe that they were still the same type of people.
As he tried to console her, she cried harder. She had to admit her acting skills were quite good at the moment.
“Okay darling, we will do it your way,” he finally conceded and kissed her forehead.
She’d won. Triumph flowed through her. She was going to marry Alan, soon, and put all of her feelings for Mason completely out of the picture. She wouldn’t think of his kiss or his touch. She’d certainly have to forget about the way his eyes scorched her soul and focus only on Alan’s kind eyes.
Wrapping her arms around him she held him tightly. Tomorrow, everything would be different. She would call her mother and explain the situation, well, technically explain her lie, and then they’d pick a courthouse date and it would be finalized.
The following morning, when Alan left for work, Kelsey let herself lay in bed a little longer, basking in the relaxation that her plan was causing. Already she was feeling better. Knowing she was getting married immediately made her completely force any thought of Mason from her mind.
After all, as a married woman, she certainly couldn’t be dreaming about the bad boy from her past. Reaching over, she grabbed her cell phone from her dresser and dialed her mother’s number. With as much excitement as she could muster in her voice, she explained that she simply couldn’t wait any longer and wanted her daughter to be born into a family.
Just as expected, her mother was thrilled with her choice and started in on planning right away. There were caterers to call and of course a decorator. No dinner party was ever complete without center pieces so the ones for her after-ceremony dinner would have to be amazing.
“Why are we having an after-ceremony dinner?” Kelsey asked.
Her mother just made a “tsk” noise over the phone as if the answer to the question was so obvious. “Well we will have to do something to celebrate the occasion, and since you won’t be having a big celebration right away, we will have to make it as nice as possible.”
Kelsey could see the point that her mother was making and she actually found it very sweet, the fact that her mother wanted to give her only daughter a nice night for her wedding. At least it would have been nice if her mother hadn’t continued talking.
“We will make the dinner party so exclusive that everyone will be jealous that they didn’t get an invite.”
Grateful that her mother couldn’t see her roll her eyes, she sat frustrated on the other end of the line. The dinner wasn’t about celebrating a big day in her only child’s life, it was about creating an exclusive party and making her family even higher on The Vines food chain.
When was her mother ever going to learn that reputation wasn’t everything? That there were other things more important, like her daughter, her soon to be born granddaughter, love? While Kelsey sat there fuming, her mother rattled on about the details of everything. She decided, without any of her daughter’s contest, that the wedding would take place the following Friday afternoon with only family in attendance, then the dinner party to follow immediately after.
Kelsey didn’t have it in her to argue. She knew Alan would love the idea because he thought the same way her mother did. Reputation, exclusivity, and money. Not that long ago, she felt that way too, was it the hormones of pregnancy that were making her see things differently?
Was it Mason? Had meeting him and learning about him made her see things differently? Maybe he had—maybe that was why she’d met him. Kelsey had never been one to believe in fate. Her parents always teaching her that whatever comes into your life is because you’ve done it yourself, there was a new part of her that wondered if meeting Mason had been for a purpose.
She rubbed her blossoming belly and knew that there was of course more than one reason that she’d met Mason—he’d changed her life in the most major way possible. But maybe he’d also changed her too. One day, she thought, she’d have to thank him for that.
*
Mason felt excellent the next day, like he was walking on air. He had a new job, Adam was doing well in his daycare, and he realized that he had the woman of his dreams right in from of him. Of course, he was going to have to work hard to win her over, but had time on his side and he wasn’t going to let her go without fighting. The day felt so good in fact, that when Adam woke up, he had a brilliant idea.
“Do you want to go get some waffles for breakfast?”
Adam rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at him skeptically. “Will they be like Judy’s waffles?”
Mason had to smile even though it crushed him to think about it. Adam had loved it there and Judy’s waffles really were the best. Maybe one day he’d be able to convince Kelsey to go take a trip there, or
maybe even move. The possibilities felt so endless that instead of feeling sad at his thoughts, he was actually feeling excited about where his life was going to go. Finally it felt as if things were falling into place.
“They probably won’t be like Judy’s, but we’ll just put extra whip cream on top. How’s that?”
That made Adam smile and he raced back to his room to get changed.
The boys ate their waffles—which weren’t bad, but certainly not Judy’s—and then decided to walk down Main Street. It was a nice Saturday and it felt good to look in the shops down the street and know that soon enough he’d be able to afford those things. That he’d be able to have the life that was on display in the windows of the shops.
While walking past one, he had to do a double take as he saw Kelsey in the window. He smiled broadly as he knew that fate was taking over his life. For a moment, he just stood and watched her talk to the sales woman. She was nodding along and biting her nails, which he knew very well meant she was nervous.
Her mother stood beside her nodding also but smiling widely. Kelsey really was a beautiful woman and he hoped that he would be able to win her back—watching her just confirmed everything he’d dreamt of the night before.
The sales woman reached off the rack and pulled off a couple of fancy-looking white dresses and Mason felt puzzled for a moment. They were too nice looking to be for just any party, they almost looked like something a bride might wear. But why would she be looking at something like that?
Without even thinking, Mason rapped his knuckles against the window and Kelsey whipped her head around and it may have been his imagination but for a moment he though he saw her eyes light up. Next to her, Kelsey’s mother’s eyes darkened quickly and she gave him the same look she did the night he had shown up at the party unannounced.
Kelsey gave her mother and the sales woman the signal that she’d be right back and she walked out of the store.
“What are you doing here?” she asked immediately.
