Delivered Through the Storm

by Nicole Garcia

  After tapping lightly on the window to get Aiden’s attention, he finally turns to face me and I wave. He returns the gesture and puts his bowl down on the floor before disappearing out of view. The door unlocks and I’m met by a set of twinkling blue eyes staring up at me.

  “Hi Ryder!”

  “You remembered my name.”

  “I always remember my friend’s names. You are my friend, right?” He shifts from one foot to the other, his voice tinged with disappoint, clearly afraid of what my answer might be.

  I flash him a smile to ease his uncertainty. “Absolutely little man.” He beams and starts to dart away until I call him back. “Aiden, wait!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Where’s your mom?”

  “She’s giving my brother a bath.”

  “Do you think you can go get her for me?”

  “She said to wait for her in the living room until she was finished. You can wait with me if you want.”

  “No, I think I’ll go wait in the…”

  “C’mon.” Before I have a chance to kindly decline his offer, he grabs my hand and pulls me over to the couch to sit down. Well, I wasn’t going to turn him down and have him feel bad. That’s my excuse for making myself completely comfortable on this couch and I’m sticking to it.

  Aiden rushes to pick his bowl up off the floor and races to the kitchen, throwing it in the sink. Milk splashes all over the counter, but he doesn’t give it another thought before he decides to hop up on the cushion beside me and starts to jump up and down. There is no way my heart can take another near fatal accident with this boy. I reach into my pocket, pulling out a portable game system. Being dyslexic, I’m always doing something to improve my thinking process and reading, so I purchased this system to practice on while on breaks. The guys at work think that I’m an overgrown child playing video games, only that is far from the truth. In my spare time I’m doing everything I can to keep my brain sharp with puzzles, trivia, math problems, and I.Q tests. Maybe something like this would help keep Aiden focused. I can definitely give it a try.

  I grab the remote control and turn off the T.V., handing the game system over to him. “Would you like to help me with something?” He jumps one last time, landing on the arm of the sofa, almost falling off the side. I dart forward and grab his arm, pulling him gently onto the seat next to me. “Aiden, please sit down.” I inhale a deep ragged breath and let it out in a rush. When Madison gets out here, I’m going to insist she line the entire house with bubble wrap for this kid.

  He takes the game from my hand and looks at it intently as I turn it on. “Sure, what do I have to do?”

  “I can’t figure out this puzzle and I need your help finding where this piece belongs. Can you help me?”

  “I can try.”

  “Awesome. You work on that and I’ll go clean the kitchen for your mom.”

  “Okay.”

  He doesn’t look in my direction when he answers because he’s too fixated on the task I gave him. Mission accomplished. After wiping the spilled milk off the counter, I hear some rustling in the hallway and a very naked baby toddles into the kitchen. I scoop him up as Madison rounds the corner carrying a diaper in one hand and clothes in the other.

  She gasps, holding her hand to her heart. “Holy shit!”

  “Shit.” Caleb yells from my arms.

  “Fuck…” Realizing she made another mistake by blurting profanity in front of her child, she hurriedly places her hand over his mouth before he has a chance to repeat what she said and snatches him from my arms.

  “Shit.” Caleb squeals excitedly.

  She bows her head in shame and moans. “Great. Total mom fail.”

  I laugh. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, it happens. I guarantee he’ll hear much worse when he starts going to school.” Her eyes pin mine and for a brief second, I feel a little uneasy. She sure does have that angry mom glare down to a science.

  “What do you know about kids?” She turns and sets the baby down on the floor, putting on his diaper. “And what are you doing here anyway?”

  “My job. You have a package you have to sign for.”

  “So why are you inside my house instead of waiting outside the front door?”

  “Aiden let me in.”

  “Aiden is not the adult in this house. Do you normally take orders from seven-year olds?”

  “Are you always this crabby in the morning?”

  “Yes.”

  I flash her one of my famous wicked smiles, the kind that tends to make the ladies go weak in the knees. “Good, because I find it very sexy.”

  She pulls Caleb’s t-shirt over his head and he squirms away from her, running into the living room to sit next to his brother. She straightens, pointing at my face. “Don’t do that.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I arch an eyebrow at her. “Don’t do what?”

  “Smile at me like that.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I smirk, knowing full well what I’m doing.

  “Yes you do. Guys like you know exactly how to get what you want from women.”

  “Guys like me?”

  “Yeah, good-looking guys with killer smiles that know the right words to say to get into a woman’s pants. Well, I have news for you, you are so barking up the wrong tree because I am not interested.”

  I lean over the counter, crowding her personal space and wink playfully. “You think I have a killer smile?” She swallows hard, her cheeks becoming pinker by the second. She says she’s not interested, but her heavy breathing and body language are telling me something different. Her eyes dart away from my heated gaze. I place my finger under her chin and gently turn her head so she’s looking at me. “I think you’re beautiful.” My softly spoken words cause her eyes to turn glassy and she slowly blinks before pulling away from me. How long has it been since a man told her she was beautiful? Obviously way too long considering her reaction.

  She clears her throat and huffs. “Please. Save your sugar-coated words for some other blonde bimbo who’ll fall for that line.”

  I don’t reply. In fact, I smile at her tenacity. She’s strong and the anger burning in her eyes has my dick aching for her. I’m not insulted by her words because I know her irritation isn’t directed toward me. Okay, it may be a little bit, but I know deep down someone hurt her bad and this is her way of releasing some steam. Although I can think of another very pleasing stress reliever, I stand there, allowing her to use me to alleviate her anger. I don’t mind. Seeing her mad, stomping around the kitchen, straightening the counter that I just cleaned is kind of hot.

  Walking away from her, I go into the living room and pick up the box. I carry it over to the counter, placing it in front of her. I hand her the electronic pad to as she gives me a disapproving glance, watching me out of the corner of her eye while she signs for the package. She hands it back to me and lifts the box, shaking it before putting it down again.

  “It’s empty.”

  “Who would send you an empty box?”

  “I don’t know.” She furrows her brows forming a deep V between them. “And why are you still here? I signed for it. You can go now.” She turns toward the living room and yells for her son. “Aiden are you ready to go?” When he doesn’t answer, she calls his name again as she makes her way into the living room. “Aiden, do you hear me calling you? Where did you get that?”

  “Ryder gave it to me. I’m…”

  She takes the portable game system from his hands and brings it to me in the kitchen. She shoves it in my chest. “Don’t give my son anything without asking me first. He shouldn’t be playing videos games that are going to rot his brain and exacerbate his disorder.”

  “Lighten up Mad. He wasn’t…”

  “Mad? You haven’t known me long enough to call me Mad. You don’t know me at all. To you, I’m Ms. Moore.”

  I smile inwardly. She’s so damn hot when she’s angry. I want to swoop in like a large bird of prey and claim my s
weet prize. Though now may not be the most opportune time to do any swooping. I’ll just wait for a later time to do that.

  “Excuse me Ms. Moore, but I didn’t give Aiden video games to play. He was doing a puzzle that I asked him to help me with.” I take her by the elbow and pull her to the side, out of Aiden’s view and whisper. “He was jumping on the couch and almost fell again. I was trying to keep him busy while you were getting the baby ready. Where is his father and why isn’t he here helping you take care of his son?”

  “Why don’t you ask whatever slut he’s too busy fucking that question.”

  I knew I had no right asking her about Aiden’s father. It just baffled me as to how a man wouldn’t be there to take care of his child, who obviously had special needs that should be attended to. But shit, when she blurted out that fact, it shocked the hell out of me. What man in his right mind would cheat on his wife? Especially if she’s as beautiful as Madison. I want to hug her, kiss her, hold her in my arms and tell her everything will be okay. I reach for her, placing my hand on her folded arms, but she sidesteps me, turning her back on me so I can’t see the pain in her eyes that I know is there.

  “Can you just leave please?”

  I stand behind her, resting the palm of my hand on her shoulder and she doesn’t pull away from me as I expected she would. “I’m sorry Madison. Any man who doesn’t treat his wife with the respect she deserves and abandons his kids when they need him is a coward.”

  She sniffles, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. “I’m not his wife. We’re divorced so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “It does to me.”

  “Well it doesn’t to me, okay? It’s over and I really don’t want to discuss it anymore.”

  ”Okay.” I drop my hand to my side, not wanting to upset her any more than she already is. She shouldn’t be upset in front of her boys. She should be happy and smiling and I was a complete jerk for saying anything to begin with. “Look, I didn’t give Aiden a video game without asking. I thought keeping him busy with something he’d have to sit and think about would keep him occupied for a while.”

  She spins on her heels. Clearly still mad. “You should have asked first. I have him on a set plan to organize his time and educational needs to keep him on track.”

  “What was he diagnosed with?”

  “What do you care?”

  “C’mon Madison.”

  “He was diagnosed with ADHD two years ago. Everything he learns, or plays, or occupies his time with has to be taken seriously for him to stay focused.”

  “Which is why I gave him my game system. I can almost guarantee it will help him stay focused. He’ll learn and still being able to have fun without feeling like he’s actually doing work.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I can assure you I do.”

  “Oh yeah, do you have kids?”

  “No.”

  “Do you have a college degree in special education?”

  “No.” I bite out. Anger begins to build in my chest listening to her condescending tone. I may not have a fancy college degree, but I’m not stupid. That little note in her voice that’s saying ‘what do you know, you’re just a delivery driver’, has me boiling.

  “Then what makes you such an expert about my son’s learning disability?

  “Because I’m dyslexic!” I blurt out, without giving it a second thought. This is something I have never shared with anyone except Quito. I wasn’t planning to share it with her at all. No woman wants to be with a dimwitted idiot, and the way she’s looking at me now is exactly what she thinks I am. I turn to leave. I’m so angry. So damn mad I was weak enough to divulge the one piece of information about myself that I’ve always kept hidden.

  I hear her footsteps tapping against the hardwood floor catching up to me in the foyer. He hand gently grazes my bicep, which stops me dead in my tracks. I don’t turn to face her. I can’t look her in the eyes because of how embarrassed I am right now. Her sweet peach scent is overwhelming my senses and for a split second I’m no longer thinking about leaving, but I have to go. I can’t pursue her knowing she pities me. I’m not even looking at her and I know that’s exactly what she feels for me. Fuck that shit. I open the front door and walk out onto the front porch and she grabs my arm to stop me from descending the stairs.

  “Ryder stop. Where are you going?”

  “Back to work. I’m late.”

  “Don’t you think we should talk about…”

  I pull out of her grasp, finally looking at her. “There’s nothing to talk about. Like you said, I don’t have kids or a college degree so there’s nothing I’ll be able to contribute to you or your son’s life. Have a great day.” I say snidely and stomp over to my truck.

  I speed down the street, not thinking about where I’m going or where the next stop on my route is. I need to blow off some steam so I drive about fifteen minutes away to Overlook Park where I park the truck. I hop out of the truck and stroll down the long path that leads to a few benches at the end of a picnic area. I don’t sit. I lean over the metal railing, glancing at the tiny waves sparkling along the top of the lake. The crisp air fills my lungs and I exhale slowly. This is my favorite spot to come to where I can be alone. Not many people want to make the long trek down here. Most everyone that comes to the park has children, so they spend their time in the playground area.

  I take my time as I think about how I handled things this morning. I shouldn’t have been so cold to Madison. If anyone could understand my situation, it would be her. I let my own insecurities get the best of me as usual. It’s taken me years to develop my cocky personality to a point that it’s become a part of who I am. It’s the only way to deflect attention from all my other imperfections. I thought I had been doing a good job of it until I had to go and open my big fucking mouth about my learning disorder to the one person who I didn’t want to share that with. I probably would’ve told her eventually, maybe. But, I damn sure wasn’t ready to tell her anything about myself when we’d only spoken twice.

  I shake my head and run my cold fingers through my hair. I sure messed up this time. I doused any chance of being with her before things even got started. Why this is bothering me so much I don’t know. I couldn't care less what any other woman thinks about me. Not that I would tell them anything personal; if they’d find out some other way, so be it. Who cares? But Madison is different. For some reason I want to be accepted by her. I don’t want to see pity in her eyes reflecting back at me. I want to see the same fire burning in them as I had when our eyes first met. I knew then she was something special and I still do. Only now I have to forget her and move on because there’s no way she will ever talk to me again; not after I was harsh with her this morning.

  Chapter Eight

  Madison

  “Damn it.” I curse into the air, watching Ryder’s truck speed away. I feel awful for the way I treated him. He was only trying to be helpful and I insult his intelligence. He must have to go through that every day. I didn’t want to hurt him. I was just so mad about Mitch’s call last night, I couldn’t think of anything but how I was going to break the news to Aiden. Ryder was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I should’ve thanked him for his help and advice instead of throwing his kindness in his face like it didn’t matter. I wish he would turn back around so I could tell him how much his sincere words meant to me. I knew he was being sincere. I’ve become an expert at determining people’s expression of pity to those who were being honest. I get the pity look quite often when I mention I’m a divorced mother of two. So, when Ryder said he was sorry, I really did believe him.

  I like Ryder more than I ever thought was possible at this stage in my life. I mean let's face it, I’m a divorcee with two small children, what man in his right mind would want to be with a woman that came with so much baggage. I know if it were me, I don’t think I would be able to handle a situation like that. It would take someone very special to accept another
man’s children wholeheartedly. I just don’t know if that man is Ryder. Let’s not get things confused. I think he’s the hottest man I have ever seen in my life and there is definite attraction between us, but is he truly interested in me or is he an expert sweet talker trying to get into my pants. I really don’t know how to feel. I would love to get to know him, what woman wouldn’t, but that is something that isn’t feasible at all. I have no time to spare to fraternize with men I don’t know. Besides, between going to work and taking care of the boys, I barely have any time to sleep. I walk around most of the day like a zombie as it is. But, it would be nice to do something for myself, maybe even something I desired. Maybe a one-night stand with a hot delivery guy would do the trick. No, definitely not. What the hell am I doing entertaining such a reckless idea like that? It must be the guilt and lack of sleep causing me to be delirious. I must be going out of my mind. Hell, as far as that goes, I don’t have the spare time to go crazy either.

  A cool breeze blows through the air, brushing my long hair off my exposed shoulder. Goosebumps rise along the bare skin and I rub them away with my hand. I rush back in the house, slamming the door behind me. Shit, it’s cold today. My choice of wardrobe won’t do on a day like this. I walk toward the back of the house to my room to change, but am temporarily distracted by the box still sitting on the kitchen island. I wasn’t going to bother with it until I came home, only my curiosity is getting the best of me. I lift it and shake it again. Nothing. I set it back down and see there’s no return address on it. I grab a knife from the kitchen drawer cut a slit through the tape on top of the package. When I get it open there’s a note secured to the bottom of the box that reads:

  THIS BOX IS EMPTY.

  LOVE, TYLER

  Next to Tyler’s name is a smiley face. I don’t know whether to be amused or infuriated at what he did. He intentionally mailed me an empty package for the sole purpose of having Ryder come to my house again. That sneak. I hurry to my room to change and grab my phone out of my purse. I dial Tyler’s number, but he doesn’t answer. I hang up and dial again. As soon as he picks up the phone I give him hell. “Tyler, what would possess you to…”