The Better Man (Chicago Sisters)

by Amy Vastine

  Lisa took them out back to the playground where Simon was hiding inside the tunnel slide. The adults couldn’t reach him from either end without getting in the tunnel with him. Everyone was afraid of Simon’s reaction if they got too close, so they called Kendall instead.

  Kendall knelt down and looked up the slide. Simon was tucked in sideways, his head buried between his knees. “Hey, baby, it’s Mommy. Can you come out and talk to me?”

  His little head lifted and his tear-stained cheeks were almost too much for Kendall’s heart to handle. She wanted to go back in that school and shake those boys. Shake them until they were crying, too.

  “Come on out, honey.” She reached a hand up for him to grab. Simon shook his head. The fear not only silenced him but froze him in place as well. “Just slide down to me. I’m here.”

  She was so focused on Simon, she didn’t notice Max had climbed to the top of the slide until she heard his voice at the other end of the tunnel. “Hey, dude.” Simon’s head turned away from his mom. Max had taken off his suit coat and was busy unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt. “Mind if I try out this awesome slide? Maybe we can knock your mom over when we get to the bottom. Wanna try?”

  Kendall bent back down and saw Simon nod ever so slightly. Max went in headfirst, reaching out to grab Simon as he slid on down. Kendall backed out the bottom and Simon’s black gym shoes popped out first. A heartbeat later, he dove into Kendall’s waiting arms.

  How would she ever survive raising this child? The world was not always a nice place, and there was nothing she could do about that. It was the very worst thing about being a parent. You could love them and treat them right, but you couldn’t make the rest of the world do the same.

  “I love you so much. I am so sorry those boys said those things to you. They are in big trouble for using mean words.”

  “Take me home,” he whispered in her ear. “Please, Mommy.”

  It was like a knife in the chest. She kissed his head, conflicted to say the least. Her heart demanded that she get him out of there, while her head said if he left now, he’d never come back.

  “Don’t let the mean words win, baby,” she begged. She could feel him shaking his head no.

  Behind him, Max had ungracefully gotten out of the slide and back on his feet. He had a piece of mulch stuck to his pant leg. He gave her a sad smile. He mouthed, “Should he stay?”

  Kendall shrugged one shoulder. All the counselors she’d ever taken him to would say yes, but she wasn’t feeling too confident in her ability to make that happen. He was holding on so tightly.

  “So, Simon, you going to show me around?”

  Surprisingly, Simon let go of his mom. He turned around to face Max but leaned against Kendall, needing the comfort the contact provided them both. He motioned for Max to come closer so he could whisper. Lisa was still standing nearby.

  Max crouched in front of Simon, who proceeded to give him an earful. When the little boy was finished, Max nodded. “I get it. I’d want to go home, too. But you know what would be even better than that?” Simon shook his head. Nothing was better than going home to him. “Showing those kids you’re brave like your dad and finishing your day.”

  Simon shook his head. Max was sweet for trying, but it was highly unlikely Simon could recover from an episode like this. Far less traumatic situations had sent him into a tailspin. It also didn’t help that Max brought up Trevor. The word “dad” in and of itself was a trigger.

  “Your mom and I could stay for a little bit, make sure things are good. Then we could come back and get you after school. I think I would take a brave kid like that out for ice cream.”

  Simon didn’t shake his head. It was almost as if he was considering Max’s offer.

  “Mommy, too?”

  Kendall had to stop herself from gasping. The shock of hearing Simon’s voice registered all over Lisa’s face as well. It was the very first time the social worker had heard Simon speak.

  “Yeah, Mommy, too. But you have to pay for her.”

  Simon smiled. “I can’t pay for her. I have no money!”

  “You have no money? What the heck?” Max stood up and looked around. “Don’t they pay you around here? A dollar for every word you spell right or something like that? What kind of school is this?”

  Simon laughed and Kendall wanted to cry. “They don’t pay the kids for school! They only pay the teachers.”

  “What? Only the teachers? But they have the easy job. You have to learn, that’s tough.” Max glanced at Lisa. “Seriously? Not even a quarter for saying the alphabet?”

  “Sorry,” Lisa said, shrugging and handing him his coat.

  Max let out a dramatic sigh. He tossed his jacket over his shoulder. “Fine, I’ll pay for your mom, too. But she can’t have sprinkles. Only us guys get sprinkles.”

  Simon turned to Kendall. “Okay, Mommy?”

  If ever there was a moment she wished she could bottle, it was this. Simon had never recovered this quickly. His bravery was worthy of the biggest ice cream sundae with sprinkles they could find. Max, on the other hand, deserved so much more.

  “Okay,” she managed to say without crying her eyes out. She kept the tears from falling until Simon took Max’s hand and led him back into the building.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “THANK YOU,” KENDALL said to Max as he held the door to Sato’s open for her. She laughed at herself. “I feel like that’s all I’ve said to you for the last twenty minutes.”

  It had been. She’d said it fifteen times once he started counting and probably said it fifteen times before then. She acted like he had rescued Simon from a burning building or something.

  “You don’t have to thank me. Especially for what happened back at the school.”

  Kendall spun around, her ponytail swinging from side to side. “I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for that.”

  Making people happy by figuring out what they needed and getting it for them was basically in his job description. “You needed some help, and hanging out with Simon is hardly heroic.”

  Her brown eyes locked on his and drew him closer. She had this way of making him feel vulnerable by simply being that way herself. It was unnerving. “I will return the favor someday. Anything at all, I’m there for you.”

  “The only help I need is getting my ex to let me see my son as much as I’d like.”

  “Divorce is tough, huh?”

  “Divorcing her was easy. The hard part is figuring out how to be divorced and still parent our son together.”

  Kendall seemed intrigued. “She’s not letting you see him?”

  “We haven’t lived in the same state most of Aidan’s life. She remarried and thinks her new husband is a better dad than me, so she’s trying to get the courts to give her sole custody.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair,” she said with a frown. “What makes the new husband a better dad than you?”

  Katie would say it was his presence in Aidan’s life. Max didn’t know Jason Michaels well enough to say what credit he deserved. He’d never admit it to his ex-wife, but Max was somewhat grateful Jason was so willing to take in another man’s child. Having been raised by a single mother who had dated enough jerks, Max knew all about men who wanted nothing to do with somebody else’s kid.

  “I think her desire to get rid of me has more to do with how little she thinks of me than how much she thinks of him.”

  “It’s so hard to believe you aren’t a great dad. The way you are with Simon...you’re a natural.”

  Her confidence in him seemed a bit misguided. Simon was an amazing kid. Getting along with Simon was effortless.

  “I have a custody hearing soon. My lawyer says I should be fine.” An idea popped in his head, one that made him feel like he was taking advantage of Kendall. She would probably do any
thing for him in this moment. He couldn’t believe it when the words came out of his mouth. “All I need is some people who will testify to the fact that I’m a decent guy.”

  Kendall took his hand and squeezed it between both of hers. “I could do that,” she offered eagerly, like he knew she would.

  Besides the guilt, fear niggled at the back of his mind. Max didn’t ask for help. It wasn’t in his nature. Other people tended to let him down. He also hated that relying on someone else made him vulnerable. Kendall already made him feel vulnerable enough. Opening up to her was too easy, and that scared him.

  “You don’t have to,” he said, giving her an out.

  “I’ll tell any judge how good and kind you are, just tell me when and where.”

  Guilt and fear be damned, he’d take all the help he could get to win against Katie. “Thanks.”

  Her face broke into the most beautiful smile. “Maybe you’ll let me get sprinkles on my sundae.”

  “Maybe,” he said as she dropped his hand. “Probably...okay, fine. I was going to let you get them anyway.”

  “See, I knew you were a nice guy.” She was being light and silly, but Max still felt that unease in the pit of his stomach. He hoped he was a nice guy and not some manipulator. The line was a fuzzy one.

  * * *

  KENDALL BIT HER lip and stood on tiptoe under the tree where they had promised Simon he could find them. Craning her neck, her eyes scoured the crowd of children exiting the elementary school. Max spotted Simon’s shaggy-haired head first. The little boy hung back, a perfect imitation of his mother, scanning the sea of students as it merged with parents and caregivers. Kendall waved and his face lit up at the sight of her.

  Simon dashed down the steps of the school, leaving the other children with their brightly colored backpacks in his dust. He jumped into his mother’s arms, completely unashamed.

  “You ready to get some ice cream?” Kendall asked, letting him go.

  Simon nodded and smiled up at Max. “Can I get two scoops?” he asked, his voice much quieter than usual.

  “Two scoops?”

  “Let’s just be grateful for one, mister,” Kendall said, her tone firm.

  “I was going to say why not?” Max said, to Simon’s delight.

  Kendall grinned, shaking her head as she grabbed Simon’s hand. He was probably spoiling him, but Max figured Simon needed a little spoiling after the day he’d had.

  Max still remembered how it felt when two boys had called him a bastard back in the sixth grade. They said his mom probably didn’t even know who his father was. His mom had read the principal the riot act, even though Max had broken one kid’s nose and given the other a fat lip when all was said and done. Sometimes she was cool like that.

  Later that night, she gave him the only photograph she had of her and his dad. She said he was the most handsome man she’d ever met. Max still had that stupid picture, even though he hated the man in it. He kept it to prove his father did, in fact, exist. Of course, considering the man never cared about him, getting ice cream probably would have been better.

  The Chi-town Chilly Cow was a little ice-cream shop nestled between the dry cleaner Max used and an upscale furniture store that sold couches and tables that looked like they were from the future. The Triple C—as Kendall called it—was decorated top to bottom, front to back in cows and cow print. It had been around for over twenty-five years and was where Kendall used to come after soccer games when she was young.

  “My sister Lucy convinced the owners to go all organic a couple of years ago, before it was super trendy. I thought for sure they’d go out of business, but organic everything is all the rage now. The owners were able to retire early and handed over the business to their son last year.”

  “Do we get some sort of discount for knowing her?”

  “Ha! No chance.” Kendall lowered her voice and leaned closer. Max inhaled; she smelled sweet like vanilla. “But get this, they love her so much that my sister, who doesn’t even eat ice cream because God forbid she put cow’s milk in her body, can eat here for the rest of her life for free.”

  “I can tell you aren’t bitter about that at all,” Max said, stifling a laugh.

  “At least extend the offer to her relatives who do eat ice cream,” she complained. “Otherwise what’s the point of the gesture?”

  Given the passion in her tone, Max figured it was in his best interest to agree, even though he figured a little establishment like this couldn’t afford to give away ice cream too often. “Absolutely. It’s pointless otherwise.”

  “Right?” She seemed so pleased to be supported.

  Simon tugged on his mother’s jacket and whispered his order in her ear. Sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries were added to everyone’s dish because they were celebrating and Max wanted Simon to know it. The young woman behind the counter was dressed in head-to-toe cow print, and she was slower than organic molasses. Poor service was Max’s pet peeve, but anyone forced to wear a uniform that bad deserved a raise, so he tipped her the coins from his change.

  The place was uncrowded this time of day. Simon still chose a secluded booth in the back with a checkerboard painted on the tabletop. He simultaneously set up the board game and devoured his ice cream. Apparently this was the incentive to offer up. Perhaps his aunt Lucy should take note.

  Mother and son played checkers while Max indulged in his salted-caramel-with-hot-fudge sundae. Organic or not, this stuff was amazing. He watched Simon double-jump two of Kendall’s black checkers. She was carefully letting him win like any good mother should. For every one of his checkers she’d capture, she’d let him get two of hers.

  Max would never discount how difficult Kendall’s life was, but moments like this one made it look so easy. Kendall and Simon laughed and wore smiles Max wanted to capture and hold on to for when the two of them were both eaten up by the darkness. Kendall and Simon had lost a significant part of their family, but carried on side by side.

  “I can’t believe you beat me again,” Kendall said when Simon jumped her last checker. Max smiled as she invited the winner over to her side of the booth to collect his prize—several kisses all over his face.

  “Maybe you can beat Max,” Simon said. His blue eyes fluttered but stayed firmly fixed on Max.

  “I don’t know. I’m pretty good at checkers and your mom just got schooled by a first grader. No offense,” he said to Simon.

  Kendall’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”

  “What?” Max laughed. “I’m just speaking the truth.”

  “Oh, it is so on.” Kendall started setting up the board. Something told him she wasn’t going to be so easy to beat.

  Sure enough, she was a checkers master this time around. Every time Max thought he was setting her up to get jumped, she’d trap him in more ways than one. She almost had him, but he wasn’t kidding when he said he was good. Kendall groaned when she could tell her defeat was imminent.

  “Winner!” Max jumped her last checker and threw his hands up in the air, victorious.

  “I’m pretty sure you cheated,” Kendall mumbled.

  “Don’t be a sore loser.”

  “I’m not, but I was killing you. Your massive comeback is fishy, admit it.”

  Max’s mouth dropped open. “That is a lie. There was nothing fishy about my comeback. You opened up that side for my guy to get through!”

  “Are you going to give Max kisses because he won?” Simon asked, completely putting an end to their playful argument.

  Kendall’s cheeks turned petal-pink. What he wouldn’t do to feel the heat of them under his lips. Max shook his head, shocked at his own thoughts. Why would he think about kissing Kendall? Romance between the two of them was a complication she’d certainly never welcome into her life. She’d been very clear about the fact that he might look lik
e her husband but, aside from that, they were nothing alike. He wasn’t her type.

  But the way she looked at him told him maybe he was wrong.

  “I’m not going to kiss Max,” she said, her gaze shifting to the table. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

  “Oh, she’s got to win to kiss me, buddy,” Max said to let her off the hook.

  Her eyes lifted back to his. Suddenly, the idea wasn’t so objectionable. “Kissing you is that great, is it?”

  “I’ve been told I’m a very good kisser. The best by a few.”

  Her giggle was almost as cute as she was. “That sounds like a challenge,” she said, setting the checkers back on the board.

  Max had to throw this game. Letting her win was the only option now that the thought of her lips on his had settled in his mind.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” The voice from the front of the parlor made all of their heads turn.

  Katie and another woman stood in line with Aidan and a little boy about his age. She whispered something to her friend before making her way back to where Max sat. Simon practically climbed into Kendall’s lap and his mouth seemed to be sealed shut.

  “You can’t leave work on time to make it to your visit with your child, but you can hang out with someone else’s son in the middle of the day? Jason’s going to love this.” She pulled out her phone and started texting her husband, Max assumed.

  “Kendall, this is my ex, Katie. Katie, this is Kendall, the interior designer for the restaurant.”

  Katie’s laughter was mocking. “You’re going to try to pass this off as work? Are you joking?” She gave Kendall a once-over. “He’s not worth it, trust me. What’s funny is this probably is work to him.”

  “That’s enough.” Max stood up and put himself between Katie and the booth.

  “You’re so predictable, Max. What’s the angle with this one? What do you want from her? Just scratching an itch, or are you hoping she’ll take some money off her final bill for the work she’s doing at the restaurant?”