by Violet Duke
Now what was she supposed to be doing again this morning?
The info was on the very tip of her brain when her world tilted and she found herself covered from shoulders to knees by six feet of rumpled, sexy, sleepy man…who began kissing his way down her body to obliterate every last functional thought in her mind.
And he would’ve been successful, had it not been for the second helping of loud, angry alarm clock.
With a heartfelt grumble, he grudgingly rolled away to let her get out of bed, all the while giving her the cutest petulant male pout ever.
The man just didn’t realize how adorable he was.
Doing her best to avoid looking directly at him—lest she miss her meeting completely—Xoey headed over to her closet to get dressed.
Only to have a low, slow whistle accompany her on her journey.
Spinning around quickly, she grabbed the nearest pair of panties to slip over her hips when her sleep-foggy brain finally realized she’d been walking around buck naked.
“That is the sexiest reverse stripper dance I have ever seen,” he hummed in appreciation, his bemused bedroom eyes watching her with languid, sleepy lust.
“You know, you could at least pretend to look away so I can get dressed in peace.”
His expression told her that was possibly the craziest thing to ever be uttered in the human language, before he proceeded to continue ogling her until her entire body was blushing from the attention.
Two could play at that game.
“I’ll be back in an hour.” She blew him a kiss and swiftly scooped up all his clothes from the ground. Before dashing to the front door with her bounty. “Feel free to rock one of my thongs and shorty tees if you get hungry and need to leave the apartment for sustenance,” she called out before she yanked the door shut behind her.
Halfway down the stairs, however, she felt a needle of guilt when she remembered she hadn’t gone grocery shopping in a week. She didn’t want the man to starve. Sighing over her kind heart and magnanimous generosity, she jogged back up and cracked open the front door to throw in a peace offering for him to wear.
His socks.
Well, one of his socks.
His instant bark of laughter echoing around the apartment had her smiling all the way down to the brewpub.
After dropping his clothes in a pile on her office desk, Xoey headed to the side employee entrance for her meeting with one of her new produce vendors. Humming the entire time.
It was a good morning.
An hour and a half later, she returned to find him in exactly the same spot she’d left him, dozing away like a content cat. Glancing at the clock with a concerned frown, she hopped on the mattress edge to wake him up. “Sorry my meeting ran long. Are you going to be late for work?”
He rolled onto his back and gave her quite the eyeful as his flexing muscles rippled out a lazy stretch. “I told my staff I’d be coming in late because you hid all my clothes. I’m not sure if it says more about you or more that they didn’t even ask a single follow-up question.”
Xoey beamed, before getting very distracted when his next stretch revealed even more skin.
“Hey, Isaac?” she asked softly, her eyes tracing over the lines of his body still hidden under the thin sheet.
His eyebrows lowered in hungry expectation. “Yeah?”
Her fingers drew a lazy treasure map down his exposed abdomen. “Where’s the sock?”
The glint in his eyes challenged her. “Come find it.”
She eventually did find it.
A few times.
* * * * *
FOR THE SECOND TIME that day, Xoey found herself being woken up prematurely. Only this time, it wasn’t her alarm. It was her phone.
And the flashing caller ID name on the screen had her jolting up out of bed.
“Vivian? Is everything okay?”
“Xoey, thank God. I didn’t know who else to call. Darcy was in a car accident.”
“Oh my God.” Xoey jumped up to get dressed. “Is she okay? Is Blake okay?” Just the thought of her friend Darcy and her son Blake injured was enough to send her into a panic.
“Darcy’s in surgery now. Blake wasn’t in the car.”
Xoey sat on the bed and held her hand to her heart, vaguely registering that Isaac was behind her stroking her back in comfort. “What can I do? Are you heading to the hospital now? I can meet you there.” Darcy and her sister Vivian lived a few hours north of Cactus Creek. If she left now, she could beat the afternoon traffic.
“Actually, I’m with Hank and the kids out East visiting his parents. The first flight I could get was the redeye tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll go to the hospital and find out what I can. Which one is it?”
“They won’t tell you anything because you aren’t family. But actually, it’s Blake I’m worried about.”
Xoey was back to panicking.
“He’s at home with the sitter, but she’s in a bind. After I told her about the accident, she did offer to spend the night, of course, but the thing is, she wasn’t even supposed to watching him for more than a few hours today. She has her LSATs in the morning and if she misses them, there’s only one more she can take this year—ˮ
“Say no more. I’ll be right there. I’ve served drinks to a lot of pre-law students over the years; I know all about needing that second test in case you don’t pass the first one. I can be at Darcy’s house in two hours. Do you want me to take Blake over to see his mom?”
“I don’t know how bad her injuries are or how she even looks.” Vivian’s voice shook. “I don’t want Blake to be traumatized if he doesn’t have to be. I’ll head straight to the hospital from the airport and call you when I know more. If you could clear your schedule tomorrow too and be on standby to bring him by—ˮ
“Of course, anything you need. I’m heading out right now. I’ll have my cell with me the entire time, call me if you get any news. Or even if you just need to talk, you hear?”
“Thanks, Xo. I just can’t believe—” Her voice broke again. “They say there’s spinal damage.”
Xoey’s heart leapt up to her throat. But she kept her voice fiercely modulated. “Just stay positive, Viv. Darcy’s a fighter, always has been. You just try and get some rest and I’ll see you in the morning.”
The second she hung up, Xoey started throwing things in an overnight bag, keeping busy so she wouldn’t have to think of her friend lying on a surgery table somewhere possibly paralyzed. Looking up, she saw Isaac was already dressed as well. “A really good friend of mine was in a car accident. Her son is home with the sitter, but she can’t stay overnight so I’m going to stay with him and take him to see his mom at the hospital tomorrow.”
Her hands flew up to try to keep her brain from exploding out of her head. “I have two hours to get there. Should I bring him dinner? Do I even have enough gas to make it that far?”
People brought casseroles for this sort of thing, right? Dammit, why didn’t she know how to make casserole?
Two strong arms wrapped around her like steel bands and instantly she felt a wave of bone-deep comfort. “Calm down, sweetie. I’ll come with you so I can run out and get dinner or whatever else you need.”
“But don’t you have to head into work?”
“Nope. The only thing I have to do today is be by your side.”
Grateful, she turned and clung to him for another minute, knowing without a doubt that she wouldn’t want anyone else at her side right now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“XOEY!”
Isaac couldn’t do anything but grin when he saw the owner of that boisterous little voice come flying across the living room to the front door.
Understandably, the ride over had been a somber one. He and Xoey had been prepared to do whatever it took to keep the little guy’s spirits up tonight, but as it turned out, just the sight of the excited eight-year old running toward them was enough to cut through the gloom and bring a big genuine smile to both t
heir faces.
“Hey B.W., what’s shaking?” called out Xoey as she knelt down to catch his flying hug. “Holy moly, you’ve gotten even taller since I saw you last.”
“And I lost more teeth, too!”
Of course with said missing teeth, it came out, ‘teef.’
Xoey chuckled. “That’s a good look for you, bud.” She hung up her jacket and stepped aside to do introductions. “Isaac this is Blake. I call him B.W. for short, or sometimes Bubba when he’s being a goofball. But most folks just call him Blake.”
Isaac leaned down to give him a fist bump while Xoey went to go chat with the babysitter. “Hey Blake. Cool shirt.”
“You like transformers too?”
“Sure do. When I was a kid, I think I owned every Autobot and Decepticon ever made.”
“Cool! Do you still have ‘em? Can I see them sometime? I’ll show you all the ones I have! I don’t have too many Decepticons though because mom and Aunt Vivvy think they look too mean.”
Isaac tilted his head and ran through his childhood memory banks. “Isn’t the one you’re wearing a Decepticon?”
“Xoey got this for me!”
Of course.
“To be fair, I didn’t know about the ‘too mean’ thing,” defended Xoey. “I just liked his bling.”
The poor kid. “I’ll play Transformers with you, buddy.”
Blake bounced up and down in excitement. “Do you know how to play football too? You have big muscles; you look like a professional football player.”
Xoey ruffled his hair. “B.W. just finished up playing his first year of Pop Warner football.”
“Good man.” Isaac nodded approvingly. “I played in Junior Pee Wee when I was your age too.”
“No way! Can you help me practice for next season? Coach said he thinks I might make a good quarterback if I practice some more. Xoey throws with me sometimes but she throws…uh, kind of um…short. Yeah, that’s it. She throws a little short.”
The kid was just too cute. Great manners for an eight year old.
Xoey feigned mock outrage. “Did you just accuse me of throwing like a girl?”
Isaac leaned down and stage whispered, “It’s actually not because she’s a girl, but because that’s how she thinks it’s supposed to be done…you know, because she’s a Chicago Bears fan and all.”
Now Xoey’s outrage was real. And absolute. “Blasphemous!” She looked at Blake and grinned evilly, “Hey Blake. What’s the worst team you can be?”
“The Packers!” he called out immediately with a big smile and two thumbs-down hand gestures.
Isaac slapped both hands to his chest, feeling true and physical pain. “What are you teaching this boy?
Xoey snickered.
* * * * *
AFTER AN AMAZING dinner of tamales and a Mexican casserole they’d all devoured, Xoey was in the living room with Isaac setting up their sleeping quarters while Blake was sound asleep in his room. Luckily, Darcy had a futon sofa which expanded out to a full size bed—and if memory served, it was pretty darn comfortable.
“Man, Blake’s mom can cook.” Isaac looked back at the counter with the cooling leftovers almost wistfully.
Xoey chuckled. “Why don’t you have seconds? There’s plenty left.”
He sighed. “No, I’ll leave it for Blake. That kid eats as much as I do.”
That wasn’t too far from the truth. “It comes in waves though. Some weeks he’s a bottomless pit, and others, he finishes half a sandwich.”
“Sounds like you know them pretty well. How have I never heard about them?”
Xoey thought about that for a second. “I guess I don’t talk about ‘em much. They’ve been by Cactus Creek to visit me. Probably only twice since I’ve known you though. Actually, once a few months back, I do remember bringing Blake over to your gym while Darcy and Vivian were shopping, but you were out on an errand. The other time, I think we were just busy with some kid stuff at the town center.”
“Well, I’m glad I got to meet him today; he’s awesome. I hate that he’s going through this. His mom sounds pretty great.”
“She is. She’s probably one of the coolest women I know. She actually paints faces at carnivals and kids’ parties. And she’s also published a bunch of fun novelty cookbooks.”
“Yeah, Blake was telling me about some of her creations when he was getting ready for bed. You can tell he’s really close with his mom.” He shook his head sadly. “Broke my heart to watch him get the news from his aunt tonight. He was devastated.”
Xoey grabbed a pillow curled up on the futon next to Isaac. “Poor little guy was trying so hard to be brave. I even heard him comforting Vivian on the phone.”
“God, that’s one great kid.”
“His mom did a fantastic job raising him.”
Just then, soft footsteps padded down the hall toward them. “Xoey?”
“Hey B.W. what’re you doing up, bud? You okay?”
Blake shuffled his feet and stared down at the carpet. “I…I’ve never stayed in my room when mommy wasn’t here…”
Xoey felt her heart squeeze tight. “Well you know what? Since you don’t have school tomorrow, why don’t we all sleep out here tonight instead?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’ll be fun. We can get out the sleeping bags from the closet and throw some sheets over the chairs to make a tent. How’s that sound?”
“Awesome!”
“Okay, you go get the flashlights and your pillow and blanket. I’ll go get the rest of the stuff.”
Blake pivoted and sped off to his room.
“You’re really great with him,” commented Isaac, flipping the futon back up to the sitting incline before heading over to bring over some dining chairs.
Xoey smiled. “I was just channeling my inner Darcy.”
A half hour later, they’d tied four big sheets together to create a giant tent in the center of the living room with unzipped sleeping bags, comforters, quilts, and about twenty pillows of all shapes and sizes arranged under it to make a cloud-like fortress.
Xoey was just finishing up making them all ice cream sundaes when she heard Blake and Isaac do one last belly dive onto the pillows under the tent, before Isaac called an ‘old man time-out.’ While they were catching their breath, Isaac asked Blake what other stuff he liked to do for fun on the weekends.
“I help Mom with work sometimes. That’s super fun. We try out new foods and experiment with new recipes. My Aunt Vivian is always saying that isn’t a real job but I think it’s the coolest job ever. My friends do too. For show and tell, they always want to see pictures of the stuff me and Mom make. Oh! And for Valentine’s Day, Mom made my whole class giant rice krispie treats wrapped in foil so they looked like monster-sized chocolate kisses!”
Isaac chuckled. “Your mom is definitely the coolest.”
“Totally! She’s always doing fun stuff like scratching a secret message onto the skin of my banana in the morning so it shows by lunch time. And she always draws faces on my marshmallows before we put them in my hot cocoa. That’s my favorite.”
By the time Xoey returned to the living room with the sundaes, it was clear Isaac was nothing short of enamored.
After finishing their sundaes, Isaac and Blake announced they would clean up because Xoey did the cooking. They both leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek before walking their sundae glasses over to the sink.
Suddenly, Xoey could see it.
House, kids, dog, matching wedding rings.
And most importantly, no phantom looks from her past muddying it all up.
The only ‘look’ making her heart race was right before her eyes, not ten feet away.
Coming from Isaac.
And it felt…right.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE NEXT MORNING, with Blake buckled into the booster seat that Isaac had run out and bought late last night for the backseat of his truck—Xoey hadn’t even thought of that—they made their way to the ho
spital. Vivian had booked it straight over from the airport and called a half hour ago with news that Darcy was awake and stable.
Thank God.
The minute they got there, Blake raced his two little legs over and skidded to a stop at Darcy’s bed. Instead of barreling into her with his standard runaway train hug that he reserved only for his mom, he sat himself on the edge of her bed and carefully patted her arm, all the while watching her face with no small amount of worry.
She looked pretty banged up.
But she managed a big smile for Blake, before pulling him into a one-armed hug. That was all it took for Blake to sag with relief and finally break down into tears.
Xoey watched Darcy’s eyes tear up as well as she made soothing sounds and stroked his back in comfort. “I’m fine, baby. Mommy’s just fine.”
While Blake undoubtedly had no idea that patients didn’t normally wear bright knit caps post-surgery, Xoey knew what that likely meant. She went over to whisper quietly in Vivian’s ear. “Did she suffer brain injuries as well?”
Vivian’s shaken nod was an arrow to Xoey’s heart. “Brain and spine. They still don’t know the extent of it. She’s being stubborn and holding off on the pain meds for now so she can stay awake for Blake, but the doctors say she’s definitely in excruciating agony.”
Xoey believed it. She could see saw stark, bleak pain streaking across Darcy’s features. The woman looked like she was being tortured.
The abrupt, pleading look following shortly after was all it took for Xoey to step forward and gently pull Blake off of his mom. “B.W., I just realized we forgot the card you made for your mom in the truck.” Behind her back, she slid Isaac the card in question.
Isaac didn’t miss a beat. “You want to come back with me to go grab it, buddy?” he asked as he covertly tucked the card under his jacket. “Then we can stop by the gift shop downstairs on the way back and get some stuffed animals to liven the room up for your mom.”
