Running on Empty (Mending Hearts, #1)

by L. B. Simmons

  “Well, why don’t you let me make that decision, Alex? That’s all I ask.” He offers me a soft smile and squeezes my hand in return.

  “Alright, Blake.” I take my hand back and use it to push myself off the couch. “But don’t blame me when we’re eighty years old and you have to stop by my house every day to help me clean litter boxes. I plan on being one of those old ladies with like a hundred cats. Just remember this moment when that becomes your inevitable future.” I give him a huge smile and walk to where Blake left his Wii remote and push the “A” button to turn it on.

  “But for now, all I ask, is for you to work your magic and get me into this game. We’ll play doubles,” I say giving him a wink of my own.

  Evidently there’s a John Hughes marathon on VH1 which is freakin’ awesome…for me anyway. Blake and I have now taken over the TV and are watching one of my favorite movies of all time. Some Kind of Wonderful. Sigh.

  I love Watts. There’s something about her that I really identify with for some reason, I always have. I don’t know if it is her tomboy persona, her tough exterior, her mad drumming skills, or the fact that she told the evil Amanda Jones… “You break his heart, I’ll break your face.” Probably all of the above.

  My favorite scene in the movie is the end…of course. When Keith gives Watts the diamond earrings. Walking down the street she asks him how they look and he says, “You look good wearing my future.” I used to live for that line, yet every time I see that movie randomly on TV, I never get to hear it. It never fails that my children somehow manage to distract me.

  Well not today! I have Blake here to distract them.

  So as the movie starts to come to the end and I see Watts walking down the street crying with Keith running up behind her, I scoot to the edge of my seat in anticipation. When he kisses her, I smack Blake on the shoulder repeatedly out of pure excitement. He looks back at me like I’m crazy.

  “I can’t help it Blake! I never, ever, ever, get to see this part. You know I love it!” He rolls his eyes and sighs. “Yes, Alex, I know you love it. I know the scene by heart thanks to you. It’s stuck, right here,” he points to his head, “in my brain, taking up very important space that could have actually stored something useful.”

  I roll my eyes. “It is useful, Blake. You never know when you need a good line to use on the woman of your dreams.” I wink at him. “Now you have one ready for use. Now shush! He’s gonna say it!”

  I eagerly turn back to the TV, writhing with excitement, when right on cue, the girls run into the room screaming something about the computer and sharing.

  “No! No! No!” I jump up to look for the remote…thinking maybe I can pause it. “Blake, do you know where the remote is?” I literally grab Blake with one hand and pull him up off the couch. I start pulling up the couch cushions…nothing.

  Blake’s laughing hysterically.

  “Mommy! Kyndall and Nycole won’t let me play my games. They aren’t shaaaaaring!”

  “Mom, she’s been playing on it since we got in there! She is lying!” Nycole’s voice gets a whole octave higher at the end.

  “Am not!”

  “Are too!”

  I tune them out, dropping to my knees to scan for the remote under the couch. I see a few candy wrappers and a couple of eating utensils. Where in the world –

  I look up at the TV and see the credits beginning to roll. I sprawl out face down on the floor, fighting the overwhelming urge to kick and scream and wail and roll around …Kinda like Rylie when she doesn’t get her way. Just as I feel like giving in to the tantrum temptation, I hear Blake addressing the girls.

  “Hey! Let’s play hide and seek! I think that would be safer than sticking around here right now.” I continue laying on the floor in defeat. “One…two…three…” The girls squeal and run out of the room. Blake sits down next to me. I can feel him staring at the back of my head.

  “Don’t even start with me, Blake. You know that’s my favorite part. I never get to hear my favorite line. Ever. Is it really asking too much? It’s like they have radar or something.” I lie there for a couple more seconds. “I’m selling them Blake. So don’t get too attached.”

  He chuckles. I push myself into a seated position right next to him. “I’m serious, Blake.” I stare forward at the wall…specifically the crayon drawn hand holding stick figures that have been there for a couple of months now.

  “So this isn’t the time to go into the fact that those people are called actors? And how that is what you call a movie? And that it’s not real?” He puts his arm around me. We sit in silence a couple of seconds before Blake yells, “…ninety-nine…one hundred! Ready or not, here I come!”

  What? I totally knew he never really counted to one hundred when we were kids!

  Cheater.

  He jumps up and rustles the hair on the top of my head. “Don’t worry Alex. Since it’s a movie, you can buy it at this thing called a store –” Lucky for him, the doorbell rings, cutting him off.

  “Harlow! Yay!” the girls scream as they run, all tripping over each other trying to be the first to reach the door. Shortest game of hide and seek ever. How come I never get that lucky?

  “Girls! Be careful!” I shout at them getting up off the floor. I roll my eyes and let out a sigh while looking back at Blake. He just grins while following the girls to the door.

  “Who’s there?” all three girls shout.

  “The big bad wolf to bloooow your house down!” Harlow shouts back through the other side of the door.

  “Not by the hair of our chinny chin-chins!”

  The girls giggle as they open the door and throw themselves at Harlow so hard she almost loses balance. She wraps her arms around all three of them affectionately, giving them all kisses on the tops of their heads before letting them go.

  I glance back at Blake, standing behind me. “Now you know how it feels to be yesterday’s news,” I say with a teasing grin on my face.

  “They’ll be back. They ALL come back,” he jokes while reaching down to grab Rylie who’s already made her way back to him in the two nanoseconds since I took my eyes off of her.

  He flashes her a huge smile before meeting my eyes again. “See?”

  I give him a smirk and turn back to the door. I greet Harlow with a big hug of my own. “I missed you. Thank God you’re back. These children have completely abandoned me while you were gone. At least I know you still love me.”

  “That I do, sweetie. Now let me see that hand,” she firmly states while releasing me from our embrace. I hold it up to show her and watch as the corners of her mouth turn down in obvious disapproval. She immediately looks over my shoulder at Blake.

  “You and I are gonna have a chat. Seriously.” She shoots him a dirty glare.

  “Yikes,” I say with a giggle, “I’m outta here. I’ve already been injured once this weekend. No way am I getting caught in the middle of this.”

  Blake sets Rylie down, obviously noting the seriousness of her tone. I watch Harlow grab his arm and lead him away from the door. She then pulls him down the hallway into my bedroom and closes the door. Jeez, overdramatic much?

  “Um! Blake’s in trouble, Blake’s in trouble,” the girls sing in the doorway. I hear them all “shh” each other as they tiptoe after them. Shaking my head, I turn to close the door.

  When the door is almost shut I hear, “Hey, Alex.” I look up just in time to see Trace approaching the door with Harlow’s overnight bags draped over his shoulder. Oops…

  Opening the door, I let a little giggle escape. “You still out there? I thought you snuck in behind Harlow,” I say in an effort to cover up the fact that I had completely forgotten about the man standing outside my house.

  “Nope.” He chuckles. I’m pretty sure my cover up didn’t work as planned.

  I attempt to give him the same “innocent/apologetic” eyes my girls use on me. Either it works or it’s just really that bad because his chuckle turns into a laugh. I plaster a huge smile on
my face and I let him in the door. I lead him into the living room, passing the hallway that leads to my bedroom. I make eye contact with the girls, who each have their ears up to the door, and hold my finger up to my lips reminding them to be quiet so they can hear. If I can’t do it myself, might as well send in my troops to get the job done.

  “Where’s Harlow?” he asks setting the bags down on the floor by my couch.

  “I think she’s chastising Blake right now. Don’t worry, if she’s not out in a minute, I’ll go check for collateral damage,” I say to him, heading to the kitchen. “Want something to drink? Eat?”

  “Nope, I’m good. We ate on the way here.”

  I slow down a bit in an attempt to have him follow me. I don’t know him that well, but I would prefer to keep him out of earshot. I have no idea what’s going on, but the look on Harlow’s face told me she meant business.

  He eventually catches up and falls into step with me. We enter the kitchen and I grab my glass from off of the sink. Filling it with water, I grab some ibuprofen and swallow them down with a big gulp.

  I take the glass with me and motion for him to have a seat at the table. “How was the trip?” I ask full of curiosity.

  “It was good. I took Harlow dove hunting with me this morning before we left. My cousin has a place right outside of Dallas. So I took her over there to show it to her. We got up pretty early. Around five o’clock this morning. She was wonderful about the whole thing though. It’s hard to find a real morning person.”

  “Ha!” I immediately cover my mouth as I let out a giggle. I have spent a lot of mornings with that woman and one thing I know without a doubt is Harlow is not a morning person. Like, not ever.

  Eyebrows raised in surprise, I look at Trace. “Sorry. I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting Harlow ‘the morning person’. Are you sure we’re talking about the same Harlow?” I bring my knees up to my chin and place my feet on the chair.

  He laughs a deep laugh and nods his head. “Yeah, I’m sure. Unless you know some other curly headed, hot tempered woman, who has no mental filter named Harlow?”

  I let another giggle. “Nope, that’s definitely her.”

  I hear the girls shriek loudly. I just barely catch sight of all three of them running through the living room screaming and laughing loudly. A second later I hear the slam of one of their bedroom doors.

  I smile at Trace who looks back at me, face full of surprise. “Those are my wonderful children who you’ve not had the luxury of meeting just yet. Once I make sure that Harlow isn’t going to kill them, I’ll bring them out for a meet and greet if you’d like.”

  Trace shakes his head. “Actually Alex, I’ve got to get going. I need to get some of this stuff in my new apartment. It’s looking kind of bare in there. I was going to take Blake off of your hands for a while and give Harlow a break, seeing as though loading my furniture is pretty much all we’ve been doing this weekend. I’m sure he’ll need a ride home anyway; I don’t see his bike out there anywhere. He drove you in your truck right?”

  I suddenly find myself both shocked and saddened that Blake is leaving. I guess I didn’t realize he would be going so soon. I was hoping he would be here for dinner. I was going to have the girls make him a cake, as a thank you for helping me these last two days. I take a deep breath to force down the soccer ball in my throat. Seriously, I must be hormonal right now. There’s nothing to be this upset about.

  “Yeah, he did. I can’t drive right now so he’ll definitely need a ride. Thank you for offering,” I say politely.

  I look up from Trace to see Harlow and Blake walking into the kitchen arm in arm. When did they get so chummy? He must have used his charms on her too, just like he did with the girls. I guess no one is immune to them, not even Harlow.

  Very interesting.

  Still completely confused, I give them both my best fake smile as they walk up to the table. “Trace is going to take Blake home, I think, right Trace?”

  “Yeah, I think so. If that’s okay with him,” he says looking at me. He then turns toward Blake and adds, “Sorry buddy, I need your help moving some of my heavier furniture. My cousin and Harlow helped me load it, but I’m gonna need help unloading it. That okay with you? Then I’ll drop you at your place.”

  I watch as Blake looks at Harlow and as Harlow looks from Blake to Trace. Then Harlow gives Trace a look I know well, the ‘we are so gonna have a talk later’ look. What the hell is going on? I feel like I’ve landed in some weird episode of The Twilight Zone. Trace looks at Harlow with his eyes wide. “What?”

  “Nothing, honey,” she says a little too sweetly. “Alright, well, you boys get out of here then. I need my girl-time with Alex.”

  Trace and I both get up from the table and all four of us walk into the living room.

  Blake stops by the couch and turns to me. “I need to change and then we’ll be off. I’m pretty sure most people are out of their pajamas by this time.”

  I look down and laugh to myself because it didn’t even dawn on my until this very moment that we are both still in our pajamas.

  “Um…evidently not in this house.” I motion toward the bedroom. “I moved your clothes into my room. They’re in my armoire on the bottom shelf. You can change in there or in the bathroom.”

  “Thanks.” He turns to walk to the bedroom. “I’ll only be a minute and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

  This is not how I planned the rest of the day going. I really wanted to watch Pretty in Pink with Blake – next up in the John Hughes marathon, play some more tennis – because I wanted a rematch… I know his last serve was out, and make him his “thank you” cake.

  This sucks.

  I turn to Harlow to ask her if she wants to watch Pretty in Pink with me, but she and Trace are evidently knee deep in a very involved conversation. Sighing loudly, I make my way across the living room to go find the girls. They’re going to be just as happy as I am about the turn of events.

  “Girls!” I shout walking down their hallway. I open Nycole’s and Kyndall’s room and see all three of them all setting up for a tea party. Even Nycole. I take a second to observe them, because I have a feeling this is the last time they’ll be in this good of a mood for the rest of the day. And quite possibly tonight. Harlow and I definitely have our work cut out for us.

  “Girls.” Three sets of eyes land on my face. “Blake has to go now, so I need you to come say goodbye to him. Be sweet and tell him thank you for being such a big help, okay?”

  Immediately, Rylie’s eyes begin to tear up, but I can tell she’s trying to be strong. Frowns on all of their faces, they slowly put down their tea cups and walk out of the room. Following them into the living room, I see Blake exiting the bedroom in the same clothes he wore yesterday. Yep – he still looks as good as he did then.

  Immediately, Rylie runs across the room to Blake and he opens his arms to catch her. He gives her a big bear hug and then gently sets her back on her feet. He crouches down to the floor so he can look Nycole and Kyndall in their pitiful faces. “No sad faces, girls. Remember, we have a date for breakfast soon.”

  He extends his arms to each of the other girls, one on each side, and squeezes them tightly – with Rylie right in the middle. “Promise me that you’ll help your mommy as much as you can. No fighting – deal?” They all nod their heads at him. “I’ll be getting reports from her. I expect to get only good ones. And if I do, I might bring something super special to our next breakfast date, okay?” The girls continue to nod at him as he rises from the floor. They each hug his legs and turn to look at me.

  “Why don’t we watch some TV girls? Harlow? Can you put something on for them?” I’m starting to feel bad for Trace having to listen to Harlow ramble on. And seeing as though I know very well how it feels, I figure I’ll toss him a bone and attempt to distract her. She looks up at me, gives me some version of a smile, then looks at the girls giving them a real smile. I’m so gonna figure out what’s going on if it kills me. I tur
n to look at Blake.

  He clears his throat and jerks his head toward the door. “Um, Alex – can I have a minute?”

  “Sure,” I say in my pretend happy voice. I follow him to the door where he stops and turns around. He puts both arms around me, giving me a gentle hug. When he pulls back, he puts his hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes. I get the feeling that he wants to tell me something.

  “What?” Maybe his response will shed some light on what exactly has been happening since Harlow and Trace arrived.

  “Nothing, Alex,” he says moving his face right in front of mine. “Listen, I just want you to know that you can call me if you need anything. I know Harlow’s here to help you if you need it, but I really want you to know that you can call me anytime. For anything…or for nothing at all. This weekend, well, it’s been one of the best weekends I’ve had in a really long time. I’m just sorry I had to mangle your hand in order for it to happen.”

  He flashes me a brilliant smile and I think my heart literally just skipped a beat. God this man is beautiful. Especially when about two inches from my face. I shake my head to regain clarity.

  I clear my throat because all of a sudden it feels like I’ve swallowed a bucket full of sand.

  “Blake, spending the last couple of days with you, I’ve had the most fun I have had in years. Even though my hand was mangled and I seemed to cry…a lot,” I say with a little giggle. “This weekend, well – it made my heart feel whole again…if that makes sense.”

  I wrap my arms around his waist, place my ear against his chest, and say quietly, “Thank you, Blake. You’ve helped me more than you could possibly ever realize.”

  Through his chest, I hear a long exhale before he answers. “Alex, I would do anything for you. I hope you know that,” he says with his chin placed on the top of my head.

  Squeezing him tighter, I chuckle lightly.

  “Well if that’s true…then promise me you won’t let the girls use the whole freakin’ bag of chocolate chips next time.”