Cross Country Chaos

by Lesli Richardson

  Kelly took a deep breath to collect her thoughts and calm herself. “Look, you boys have a right to know certain things that will affect you. But whatever does or doesn’t happen in the future regarding Mart isn’t one of those things we need to discuss now. If you enjoy spending time with him, great. Just take everything at face value.”

  “I saw him kiss you.”

  Argh! “Paulie. I know you think you’re twelve going on twenty, but I have news for you, you need to drop this.”

  He smiled. “Okay, Mom.”

  She knew that wasn’t the last she’d hear on the subject.

  By the time practice ended and Mart showered and changed, a few early arrivals had filtered into the arena.

  “We’ll eat upstairs.” He led the way to the elevators, Paulie and Denny right behind, Kelly in the rear.

  The hostess knew Mart and had a reserved table waiting. “Right this way.”

  Kelly nearly choked when she saw the prices. Mart took her hand. “My treat, remember?”

  “You’re doing it again.”

  “Reading your mind?”

  She nodded.

  “Your eyes nearly exploded. I didn’t need ESP for that.”

  After eating, they made their way to their seats, an accessible box near center ice. Kelly knew the tickets must have cost a fortune.

  It was a good game, and the Bolts won. They stopped for a late dinner before Mart took them home. She sent the boys inside and sat on the porch with him.

  “I can’t thank you enough for a wonderful day.” The boys hadn’t mentioned their father since practice.

  He took her hand. “I can’t thank you enough for a wonderful night last night.”

  “I wish you could spend tonight, too.”

  He smiled. “That makes two of us, but I think it’s too soon.”

  She nodded. “Especially after this afternoon. I don’t want to do anything David could try to use against me later.”

  “You think he would?”

  “I don’t know. I hope not.”

  “I hope he’s not that stupid.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I love you, Kelly.”

  Her throat hitched. “I love you, too.” Now that it was out in the open it was easier to say, but still stopped her heart every time he said it. He loved her! Her! “Can you come over tomorrow? I’ll cook dinner.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Kelly was prepping supper when Paulie yelled for her from the front door.

  “Mom, we need you!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Denny’s tires are flat.”

  Tires? Plural?

  Crap. She wiped her hands and went outside. Denny sat on the front porch, out of his chair, examining his rear wheels. She knelt down and looked at the tires.

  “What did you do?” Both were flat, with a huge thorn stuck in one.

  “Mom, I told him to stay out of that vacant lot, but he wanted to explore. I think he got thorns in them. There was a bunch of cut brush around.”

  Denny glowered at his big brother. “You’re a fink, Paulie.”

  She looked at Denny. “You know, sometimes you should listen to your brother. Those were brand new, and I don’t have any spares. I know the bike shop’s closed already. And they’re closed Mondays. What am I supposed to do for you for day camp tomorrow?”

  “Sorry, Mom.”

  “Well, you’re obviously not going anywhere for the rest of the day unless you do it on your bike. You’ll have to be late to camp tomorrow so we can find a bike shop that has wheelchair tires. And you’d better stay out of that lot from now on!”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  She returned to the kitchen, wishing school started tomorrow instead of the week after next, trying to remember where she was in her dinner preparations when the phone rang.

  Argh! She grabbed it. “Alexander Asylum. Two-for-one special on rubber rooms today.”

  “Kel?”

  “Mart, I’m sorry. It’s been an afternoon. Hi.”

  He chuckled. “That’s okay. Do you need me to stop and get anything?”

  “No.” Then she said, joking, “Not unless you’ve got two sets of twenty-four inch wheelchair tires and tubes hanging around.”

  “Sure.”

  She thought he was teasing. “What?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Back up. I was joking.”

  “You don’t need tubes and tires?”

  “No—I mean yes, Denny does. Wait. You’ve really got some?”

  He laughed. “Let’s handle one question at a time. Do you need anything from the store for dinner?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. Now, what happened to Denny’s tires?” Kelly related the events, and Mart laughed. “So you do need two tires and tubes?”

  “You’ve got some?”

  “Yeah. I use the same ones. Do you have tire spoons, or should I bring those too?”

  “What?”

  “You don’t know how to change his tires, do you?”

  “I usually run them by the bike shop. Patty’s husband has done it, but I don’t have any spares. I was going to get some, but I just had those put on last week.”

  “The bike shop probably makes a fortune off you. I’ll hook you up with the vendor I use. Much cheaper. I’ll bring my tools and change them.”

  She hesitated. David didn’t change Denny’s tires. In fact, more than once he’d brought Denny home with flats or low from slow leaks. “Really?”

  “He can’t run around on flats.”

  “No, but—really?”

  “Well, running on flats isn’t good for the rims and—”

  “No, I mean really, you’ll bring tires and tubes and change them for him?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Why?”

  Mart was quiet for a moment. Then his tone softened, grew serious. “Kelly, he needs them, I have them, and I can do it. It’s not a problem.”

  “I don’t want to bother you—”

  “Stop,” he said firmly. “You’re not a bother. The boys are not a bother. I don’t volunteer to do things I don’t want to do. If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have said it. You can take me at face value.”

  She realized she was gripping the phone tightly and loosened her hold on it. “Thanks.”

  His voice softened. “No problem. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.” She hung up and stared at the phone. True to his word, Mart was there in less than an hour. The boys were playing Uno on the front porch when he arrived. He called Paulie to his van. “Bring that toolbox for me, please.”

  “Okay.” He did while Mart grabbed a small cardboard box and an air pump and put them in his lap, then wheeled onto the porch. “I hear we’ve got an explorer.”

  Denny sat on the small wicker divan. “Yeah. Mom’s mad.”

  “I’m not mad,” Kelly said. “I’m aggravated. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”

  Paulie had the toolbox. “Where do you want it?”

  “Set it here.” Mart looked at Denny. “I think you’re old enough to learn how to change your tires, don’t you?”

  Denny looked at him. “Really?”

  “Yep.” He turned to Kelly. “Can you get us an old blanket or something to sit on?”

  “Sure.” She brought one and spread it out for them. Mart got out of his chair and had Denny pop the wheels off his own chair.

  “Paulie, you need to learn this, too. He could have trouble, and you might have to help him, so you need to know how to do it…”

  She wanted to watch but couldn’t leave the stove unattended. A half-hour later, they had one tire changed and were working on the other. Denny and Paulie tag-teamed it while Mart looked on and offered advice and encouragement.

  She leaned over Mart, a hand on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear so the boys couldn’t hear. “If this is your version of foreplay, it’s working.”

  He turned. “Yea
h?” She nodded. “Hell, if I’d known you were that easy,” he whispered, “I would have flattened his tires myself.”

  She stifled her laughter and returned to the kitchen. When she went to call them for dinner, she found the three of them shooting hoops in the driveway. She stood in the doorway watching them, enjoying the scene.

  Yet she couldn’t silence the disquiet within. Nothing Mart did or said, but her own deeply ingrained fears.

  And David’s voice floating back. Why would he want to be with you? Why would anyone want to be with a self-centered bitch like you?

  She had to quit giving David rent-free space in her head.

  But could it really be this…easy? Was it possible to have a great guy drop into her lap, fall in love, and have these kinds of feelings for him without there being some horrible secret waiting to pop out and ruin it?

  Kelly enjoyed watching Mart build a relationship with the boys. They liked him, and their playful “man talk” back and forth throughout dinner on a variety of topics amused her. She thought back to when she was married to David. Even on the nights he was home, he never had the kind of relationship with the boys that Mart already had.

  She sent the boys to get their baths while Mart helped her with the dishes.

  “It really shocked you I offered to change his tires, didn’t it?”

  She looked away and nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “I’m not used to it, that’s all.”

  “What, someone offering to do something for you?”

  “Not without strings attached.”

  “Kelly, he needed tires.”

  “Mart, it’s not you, okay, it’s me.”

  “That didn’t sound good.”

  She closed her eyes and composed her thoughts. “I didn’t mean it like that. That came out totally wrong.” She looked at him. “You’re going to need a lot of patience with me. I hope you’ll stick around long enough until I get my head on straight.”

  He pulled her to him and put his arms around her waist. “Patience is something I have an abundance of.”

  ** * * *

  They gathered in the living room to watch a movie. Kelly sat on the couch next to Mart, his arm around her, her head resting against his shoulder. When it was over, she put the boys to bed and collapsed on the couch next to Mart. He patted his lap. “Put your feet up.”

  She did, and he massaged them. “That feels so good,” she moaned.

  “It’s supposed to.”

  “Talk about magic fingers.”

  “Babe, you have no idea.”

  She laughed. “You are a naughty man.”

  He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Want to punish me?”

  She laughed again. “Don’t tempt me any more than you already are.” He fell quiet for a long moment. “What?” she asked.

  “I know I can come on pretty strong. Don’t let me push you, okay?”

  “Now who’s talking crazy?”

  “I don’t want to scare you away.”

  She sat up and kissed him. “If you can put up with me, I’m damn sure not going to run away.”

  They reluctantly ended the evening. She helped him get his toolbox into the van. “What’s your schedule like this week?”

  “I fly out Tuesday morning. I’ll be back late Friday.”

  “Oh.” She felt a sharp stab of disappointment. He had a life, a job. She knew he couldn’t spend every waking moment with her.

  “Do the boys have swimming tomorrow?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe I can drop by for practice. I should get back into it. I’ve been slacking the past couple of months.”

  The thought of seeing him in a swimsuit was nearly as good as seeing him naked. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I’ll try to get over there.” He leaned in for a good night kiss. “If I can’t make it, I’ll call.”

  She reluctantly let him go. “I love you.”

  His broad smile lit the night. “I love you, too.”

  She tried to quiet the voice inside. It didn’t want to shut up, tenaciously ticking off all the possible reasons it shouldn’t work between them. Always in David’s rough, growling tone. She hated it and hoped she could eventually silence it.

  Her greatest fear was the boys getting hurt if it didn’t work out. She was a grown-up—she could handle it. Her boys had been through enough. Especially Denny. They didn’t need extra heartache on their plate.

  But why couldn’t it work? Nothing Mart said or did gave her any reason to believe he was anything but what he appeared to be—a genuinely nice, sweet, generous, handsome guy who wanted someone in his life as much as she did.

  Why was she so scared?

  She fell asleep holding the pillow Mart had used during their night together, wishing it was him.

  * * * *

  Kelly saved Patty a lounge chair at swim practice the next afternoon. She hustled up, out of breath. “Thanks. Traffic was a killer.” She started to say something, looked at Kelly, and smiled. “Spill it.”

  “What?”

  She sat. “You guys had your date this weekend. Tell me!”

  Kelly fought a losing battle against her ear-to-ear grin. Patty let out a low whistle. “Girl got game!”

  “Girl got more than game.”

  Patty scooched her lounge chair closer. “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “Tell me, dammit! How was he?”

  “Do you really expect me to kiss and tell?”

  “Duh!” Kelly feigned indignation. Patty shook her head. “I don’t expect the Penthouse Letters version, but as your best friend, you owe me.”

  “Let’s just say David never had me making the kinds of noises I made the other night.”

  Patty gasped, then giggled. “He’s that good?”

  “He stayed Friday night. My mom kept the boys.”

  “Hallelujah, she’s alive. What’s next?”

  Kelly shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re going to see where it goes.”

  “Does your mom like him?”

  “We’d already be married if it was up to my mom.”

  “That’s a good sign.”

  “I need to take my time.”

  “Don’t let what David did to you screw up your chance with Mart.”

  “I’m not going to rush into something and have Mart turn out to be someone he’s not and then the boys get hurt.”

  “You mean you get hurt.”

  “The boys love him already, Patty. I need to take my time. He said he’s willing to take this as slow as I want.”

  “You slept with him.”

  “I am a big girl. I can sleep with a guy.”

  “You haven’t slept with anyone since David, and that’s been over two years.”

  “There hasn’t been anyone I wanted to sleep with.” Left unsaid, no one who wanted to get seriously involved with a woman with a kid in a wheelchair. To her, that was a deal-breaker.

  Not a problem with Mart. Obviously.

  “Don’t push him away, Kel. I have a good feeling about him.”

  “You’ve only met him a couple of times.”

  “Yeah, but I saw the way he looked at you at the swim meet. He’s in love with you. I haven’t seen puppy dog eyes like that since Dan found out when we were dating that I liked to fish and knew what stink bait was.”

  Kelly turned toward the pool. “He said he’s in love with me,” she whispered.

  Patty threw her arms up in the air. “Yes! What did you tell him?”

  “I told him I’m falling in love with him.”

  “Bullshit. You’re head over heels already. So what happened?”

  “Saturday, he took us all to watch his sled hockey practice, surprised us with tickets to the Lightning game.”

  “Really? Neat. Bet the boys liked that.”

  “It was fun.” Kelly paused. “He came over yesterday afternoon, I cooked dinner. He even changed Denny’s wheelchair tires and
played with the boys.”

  “Did momma get some play time, too?”

  “Patty!”

  “Oh, please. You’re not shocked.”

  Kelly grinned. No, she wasn’t. “He may stop by practice today.”

  “Really?”

  Kelly nodded. A few minutes later, Mart’s van pulled into the lot. He hesitated at the pool gate, scanned the deck. Kelly waved, and he wheeled over. He was bare-chested, a towel draped around his neck. His Speedo swim shorts were skintight and came to mid-thigh.

  Patty fanned herself. “Jeezus pleezus, he’s a god!”

  “Hush, you.”

  Mart rolled up and kissed Kelly. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” She admitted the sight of him conjured wonderful memories. Especially running her hands over his back while he was—

  “Where’s the boys?” he asked.

  Kelly pointed to the lane. Greg saw them and waved from across the pool. Mart lifted a hand in reply and handed his bag to Kelly after getting his goggles. “I’d better get in there and cool off before I embarrass myself,” he whispered, smiling.

  Kelly put a hand on his thigh and leaned in. “You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about, mister.”

  He kissed her and rolled over to the lane Denny was swimming in. He locked his brakes and quickly dove in.

  Patty leaned over. “If I wasn’t married, girlfriend, I’d do him in a heartbeat.”

  “Shut. Up.”

  “I would! Did you see the abs on him? And those arms. Rrrrowr!”

  “I didn’t have to see them, I got to run my hands all over them. And yes, they’re as good as they look.” The two women dissolved in a fit of giggles.

  Patty watched Mart’s swim practice as intently as Kelly. His arms cut through the water, smoothly pulling him along. His flip-turns looked nearly flawless considering he couldn’t use his legs. His inability to kick didn’t slow him down much. Kelly knew he lapped the pool much faster than she ever could on her best day. Her throat tightened as she watched his back and shoulder muscles ripple under the water, his strokes fast and steady.

  Then again, they weren’t really critiquing his form as much as they were panting over his body.

  Patty leaned in close. “Honey, if you don’t marry him, I’m liable to divorce Dan and chase him down myself.”

  “He’s a wheelchair racer. He’s fast. You couldn’t catch him.”