“Zeke? It’s John Casey, principal at over at the elementary school.”
Okay. “Hey John, what’s up?”
“It’s Max. He’s got a stomachache and Maddie isn’t picking up the phone.”
Shit. “Is he all right?” My heart raced and I sat straight up, ready to do whatever was necessary.
John laughed. “He just has a tummy ache, Zeke. But I do need you to come get him.” I must have paused for too long because John sighed. “Couples fight, Zeke. The longer you’re together, the more often it’ll happen. Some nights you’ll sleep on the couch and others in the doghouse, but you’ll work it out.”
Though I didn’t have his confidence, I understood his point and appreciated the advice. “Thanks, John. I’ll be right there.”
Max sat beside me in the truck with excitement shining in his big blue eyes. His blond hair was a mess, sticking up all over his head like he’d been running his hands through it all day. “We gotta get flowers!” The urgency in his voice pulled me up short.
“What?”
“Flowers,” he said again like I was the kid and he was the adult. “Mama loves flowers, especially the purple ones that smell good. They’re her favorite.”
I understood what he was saying, but not why and I frowned with a shake of my head. “We need to get you home, Max. Straight to bed so you can rest up.”
“I’m fine,” he sighed like a beleaguered teenager and rolled his eyes. “Mama went to get fabric for more dresses so we have plenty of time.”
Okay now I was officially confused. “Plenty of time for what?”
“Zeke,” he whined. “To make it so mama isn’t sad anymore.”
Damn, Maddie was right. No one told the truth or broke your heart like little kids and their honesty. What in the hell was I supposed to say to that? “And, uh, how are you gonna do that?”
“We are,” he insisted, his little hands landing on my forearm when I pulled into a parking spot on the main drag. “You and me. Together. We can make my mama happy again.”
“And to do that we need flowers?”
“Yeah, Zeke. Flowers.” He nodded and rolled his eyes. “The purple ones that smell good,” he clarified just in case I forgot.
“Okay then, let’s go.” We drove a few blocks to Belle Fleur and went inside, grabbing too many bouquets of jasmine and lavender. I hoped she liked them and I realized as we got back on the road that Max might have given me a way back in. “Now what?”
“Food. Mama always says that food makes her happy.”
I smiled because that was one of the things I loved about Maddie. She enjoyed her food, ate with an abandon that was sometimes erotic in nature. Sure she worried about her curves as much as any woman but it never took away from her enjoyment of the plate in front of her. “Okay then, let’s get food. What would you suggest good sir?”
He giggled and fell back against the passenger seat, kicking his little legs with such energy and enthusiasm I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. Eventually his laughter quieted and his expression turned serious. “Mama loves ice cream and Chinese food.”
I smiled to myself at his earnest words, wondering how in the hell I’d gotten so lucky that a kid like Max wanted to help me. I knew I didn’t deserve his confidence or his mama, but I wanted them both which meant I would take his help. Every piece of wisdom he chose to impart. “Okay, let’s get the ice cream first. Butter pecan, right?”
He bobbed his head in an exaggerated nod, smile stretched from ear to ear. “She’ll be happy that you remembered.”
I didn’t think she would but that was my problem, not Max’s. The trip to the grocery store was relatively uneventful aside from a few sideways glances from the town’s busybodies, probably wondering why Max and I were together when I wasn’t sleeping in the same house as my wife. “Should we get two?”
“We should get three!”
I thought it was a bit much but when you were trying to win back the woman of your dreams, nothing wasn’t too much. “Okay, but let’s get a chocolate one. Lesson one Max, girls love chocolate.”
His little nose twisted up adorably and he held my hand as we walked towards the counter. “Mama loves chocolate too. She’s always nibbling on little bits of chocolate when she gets sad or worried.”
I hoped like hell she didn’t eat chocolate often, at least for those reasons. On the way back home, because that’s what Maddie’s place was to me, I listened to Max’s little boy chatter. He talked about his favorite topics—space and dinosaurs—while I navigated the way home.
“Do you play a sport, Zeke?”
“No kid, I don’t. When I was younger I played basketball and a little bit of baseball but I wasn’t as good as most of the guys on my team. Are you interested in sports?”
He shook his head. “Not really but all the boys in my class are.” He sighed heavily, like there was something weighing on his mind. “Do you think I should play football?”
“Not if you don’t want to.” I stepped from my truck and helped Max down, smiling when he took my hand as we climbed the steps and went inside. “There’s no reason to do something that doesn’t make you happy just to fit in, Max. You won’t be happy and you’ll waste your time doing something you don’t like.”
Inside, Max tore away from me and dropped his backpack before kicking off his sneakers and running to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway and smiled sheepishly. “I forgot the ice cream.”
“I’ll take care of the ice cream, kid. Maybe you should get your pajamas on and we’ll chill out on the sofa.”
“Can we have man sandwiches?” His big blue eyes were so hopeful that I couldn’t say no to my patented man sandwiches that I piled high with pastrami, turkey, Swiss cheese and lots of dill pickles. It wasn’t a sandwich for a kid but Max loved it.
“Only if you promise to relax.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “I don’t think a man sandwich is what you need with a bellyache.”
Max blew out a long breath and climbed onto the sofa with his legs folded under him. “Promise you won’t get mad?”
I frowned. “Why would I get mad at you? Did you eat your mom’s stash of candy and that’s why you have a bellyache?”
“No,” he giggled and looked a little sad he hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t have a tummy ache. I lied ‘cause Mama would be out of town and I wanted to help you.”
“Why do you think I need help?”
“Because you don’t live here anymore.”
Ah shit. I took a seat beside him, unsure what to do so I put my hand on his shoulder. “I don’t want you to worry about that Max, that’s between me and Maddie. I appreciate the thought, though.”
“Are you gonna go away too?”
“Nope. You’re my buddy. For good. Now go get changed while I order the Chinese food.”
Max’s face lit up at that he jumped off the sofa, calling out Maddie’s favorites over his shoulder as he raced up stairs as fast as his little legs would carry him. While he was upstairs, suspiciously quiet, I made two man sandwiches although one of them was a pint-sized man sandwich. I ordered enough food from the only Chinese food restaurant in town and Max and I settled onto the sofa and watched TV.
Max climbed up onto the sofa and snuggled close, sitting his plate over his legs the same way I did, one leg crossed at the knee. “Why’d you put tomatoes on this,” he asked with a big pout.
“Because little boys with bellyaches need vegetables.” He wanted to argue but I gave him a look similar to what I’d seen Maddie use and he grumbled a little, but at the sandwich while we watched one of the Marvel movies he loved so much. I couldn’t focus on whatever battle of good and evil waged on the screen because it felt good to be back home.
Where I belonged.
The place looked exactly as I remembered it. Neat and tidy with just a few hints that people lived here like overturned kid sneakers by the door, a throw blanket balled up in the corner of the large sofa and a pair of Maddie’s sexy stilettos under
the coffee table. My shoes should be right beside hers.
Where they belonged.
I got so lost in thought that it took me awhile to realize Max had fallen asleep. It was only the soft weight of him that grew heavier by the minute as he fell deeper and deeper asleep, that told me he’d give up on the movie and the sandwich. My sandwich was gone and I was restless but I knew what needed to be done. “Let’s you to bed, buddy.” Kids were so fragile that I now understood why parents were so overprotective of their children. It made me appreciate and love Maddie more and, unfortunately, it made me resent my own parents even more.
Max sighed softly and wrapped his little arms around my neck, a sleepy smile on his face. “Don’t forget to make me brush my teeth,” he grinned and I grinned in response.
“Don’t forget to brush your teeth, little man.” I set him down in his bathroom and watched him brush his teeth like an old pro.
“Good job. I’ll tell Mama you made me brush my teeth. And eat my vegetables.”
I laughed and scooped him up again because his eyes were drooping and his head had started to bob. Besides that the kid was trying his best to help me get his mom back. That was a plan I could get behind. “All right Max, get some sleep and I’ll see you again soon.”
“Promise?” Big blue eyes opened on me, so hopeful and expectant but also prepared to be let down.
“Yeah Max, I promise. See you soon.” In an unconscious move, I kissed his forehead and left him to his nap. The kid had so much energy that it was hard to remember he was just a little boy who wanted a father figure and someone to make his mom smile.
I could do that.
Hell, I would do it.
I cleaned the kitchen and took a seat just as the Chinese food arrived so I rose to pay and stuck it in the oven to warm so Maddie wouldn’t have to nuke it when she returned home. I was halfway through a documentary on superstorms when a key turned in the door and opened. Maddie walked in, looking beautiful and disheveled in a knee-length green dress and a yellow sweater with those sexy little eyelets that showed just enough skin to tempt me. She froze when she saw me. “Zeke, what are you doing here?”
I stood and smiled. “Max had a bellyache and the school couldn’t reach you, so they called me.”
“Is he all right?”
“He’s fine, I think he accepted a few too many pieces of candy from one of the cool kids at school. We ate a sandwich and he fell asleep.”
“Did he-,”
“Yes Maddie, he brushed his teeth. Don’t worry. He’s taking a nap.” Her shoulders slowly sank back down to a normal level as she relaxed in waves. “There’s orange chicken in the oven for you.” The bewildered look on her face was breathtaking.
“Why?” She dropped a large bag of fabric on the floor and hung her purse up on the wooden rack behind the door. Exhausted. Gorgeous.
I went to her and cupped her cheeks, inhaling the sensual scent of her floral perfume. Her big brown eyes were dark and sensual, her pouty mouth parted on a soft gasp as my fingertips slid along her silky flesh. “Because, Maddie, I would do anything for you.” I bent low and brushed my lips against hers gently, and with more willpower than I knew I possessed, I stepped back with a smile. “See you real soon, Maddie.”
Yeah, a big gesture was definitely needed.
Maddie
“What in the hell did that kiss mean?” Zeke had brushed the softest, most sensual kiss of my life against my lips and that was after he’d taken care of a sick Max all afternoon and then left my favorite dinner warming in the oven. “And why did he vanish? Again.”
Vivi sighed but when she spoke I could hear the smile in her voice. “Maybe it means that things aren’t as over as you’re trying to convince yourself they are.”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. That couldn’t be it. “It was probably just habit because he was back in the house and helping me out with Max. Zeke was just trying to comfort me. That’s all.”
Vivi laughed out loud and I frowned at the phone. “Sounds like you’re trying hard to convince yourself that it’s true.”
She was right. Absolutely right. “You suck,” I told her seriously and that only made her laugh harder. “It doesn’t matter. I haven’t heard from him in three days.” That’s how I knew it was a fluke. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t on my mind. Constantly. It didn’t help that the whole house along with High St. Fashions smelled like a field of lavender and jasmine. All because of Zeke.
“You haven’t?” The skepticism in her voice drew me up short.
“Okay,” I sighed. “In a way I have heard from him. He’s been sending these little notes. At home and at work.” Some were sweet, and some were so hot, I couldn’t hold the paper without burning my fingertips. “But that’s it.”
“And that’s not enough?”
“It’s not that, Vivi. I don’t like games and it feels like that’s what he’s doing. He feels guilty or something and I don’t want or need his guilt.” If Zeke wanted to be with me he would do more or make some concrete efforts to apologize for starters.
“I think you’re lying to yourself, Maddie.” That was Vivi, honest to a fault.
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me while I kept busy hanging up a new shipment of slacks and blouses. “Vivi, one kiss and a few letters won’t make up for the fact that Zeke emotionally abandoned me after begging me to come with him. He let his family attack me and then didn’t have the balls to not just stand up for me, but to apologize for it!” I was getting worked up again when I promised myself I wouldn’t. New York was nothing but an awful memory and I vowed to keep it in my rearview. Permanently.
“Maybe the letters are his way of apologizing.”
That brought to mind the letter that was currently burning a hole in the pocket of my jeans. I refused to read it because I wasn’t some hormonal teenager. I was an adult with a full life, with responsibilities that did not include pining after some coward. A totally hot and funny and sweet coward, but a coward nonetheless. “We’re adults, Vivi. Apologizing is how you fucking apologize.”
The line went silent and I wondered if my outburst had offended her. It was possible though unlikely since Vivi was the one with the tendency to cuss like a sailor. “Whoa, you’re serious.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.
“I am. I let myself listen to my heart when it came to Preston and it steered me wrong. He wasn’t excited about the pregnancy from the moment I told him but I let myself believe it was fear. It was a big change and that eventually he’d come on board. He never led me to believe that, but I believed it.” I swiped a tear at the memory of the young fool I’d been back then. “Same thing with my parents. I can’t, no, I won’t do that again.”
Tyson’s cries sounded in the background and though I felt terrible, relief swamped me. “We’re not done with this conversation but I love you too much to make you listen to this hungry monster while he wails. Talk later.”
“Bye,” I practically whispered and returned to the task of unpacking the new shipments of clothes. I got lost in the mundane task while I mentally designed new dresses for the fabrics I’d gotten in New Orleans this week. It had been a long but productive day but Zeke’s appearance had tossed a wrench into my creative flow.
The bell above the door sounded and my shoulders fell, which wasn’t a good thing for a shop owner and I gave myself a mental pep talk. “I’ll be with you in a moment!” Two deep breaths and big bright phony smile later, I stroke into the front and stopped. “Bastian, what can I help you with today?” As far as I knew the town lawyer was single so there was only one reason he would come see me.
“I have some news and I thought it best if I delivered it in person, Maddie.” His permanently somber expression, as always, dimmed his dark good looks and made him seem dour when he was actually very pleasant.
“I’m listening.” Arms crossed defensively, I braced myself for whatever he said next.
“The building has been sold.”<
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Damn, that wasn’t what I expected to hear and my sense of dread grew even stronger. My head fell forward and my legs wobbled, forcing me to grab on to the counter to steady myself. “Okay. Do you have any idea what they plan to do with the space?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t been told much, but I have a letter here.” He pulled it from the inside pocket of a sharp navy blue jacket and held it out to me.
“Just give me the highlights,” I told him, refusing to grab hold of the envelop.
“Maddie,” he insisted, pushing the letter closer to me. “Read the letter.”
“Fine.” I snatched it from him and shoved it into my back pocket along with the other letter. What in the hell was with all the letters, did I got to sleep and wake up in the nineties? “Thank you for letting me know.”
He stood there with the same blank expression I usually appreciated in a town where no one hesitated to tell you their opinion, whether you asked or not. I resisted the urge to lean across the counter and tighten that tie around his neck. “Read it now, please. I’m under strict orders from my client to make sure you’ve read the letter.”
And now I was officially pissed off. “Whatever.” I snatched the envelop from my pocket and tore the side off, tipping it over until the paper drifted to the glass counter. The writing was vaguely familiar only miles neater, I realized as I unfolded it and began to read.
Mads,
This is yours no matter what else happens between us, because I am in awe of you. Your strength and your courage astound me every damn day. Your brilliance makes me proud that Aunt Mae’s terrible sorcery gave me a chance to exist in your orbit.
I’m sorry for too many things to list here, but I need you to know that I am so, so sorry that I wasn’t the man you needed me to be in New York. I always knew you were too good for me, and now you know it too.
Consider this a very, very belated wedding gift.
Accidentally On Purpose: An Accidental Marriage Boxset Page 32
