Pitchfork in the Road

by M. J. Schiller

  “She shook it, didn’t she?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Zack snatched it back. “You’re awful.”

  I cast my eyes down. “Whatever.”

  “Zack, since you’re here, why don’t I show you my new office.” He and Dani had built on, adding a pantry and an office for Dad.

  Zack’s gaze drifted to me. He was thinking what I was thinking. Dad wasn’t really interested in showing Zack anything. He wanted to rake him over the coals about something.

  “Dad?”

  “Sure,” Zack said at the same time.

  As he passed me, I hissed, “He doesn’t want to show you his office.”

  “I know,” he whispered back. “I can handle it.”

  Before he got too far beyond me, I offered, “I can put that gift under the tree for you.”

  He moved it to the other side of his body. “No way.”

  “Smart man,” my dad commented as he held the door for him. He gave me a smile. Not a reassuring smile, but a wicked I’m-having-a-private-talk-with-your-boyfriend-and-you-can’t-come smile.

  Zack’s ass was grass.

  Chapter 22

  Zack

  I knew I was in for it. But I was a grown man. I wasn’t afraid of Zoe’s dad.

  Okay, not very afraid.

  Dani was at the sink in the kitchen washing dishes. She turned as I entered.

  “Zack.” She took in her husband walking behind me. “What’s going on?”

  Mr. McCord brought a hand down on my shoulder. It was strong. I gulped. “Just showing Zack my office.”

  Dani twisted her head so she could follow us with her eyes. She reached for the towel on her shoulder hurriedly and tried to dry her hands off. “I can come with you.”

  “No. That’s okay. We’re good.”

  Shit. He’s definitely going to chew me out.

  I looked wistfully over my shoulder at Dani as he opened the door for me. Maybe she would be the last person to see me.

  I stepped into the office and lost my apprehension for a second. “Wow.” I spun around. Floor to ceiling book shelves spanned the wall opposite his roll-top desk, and half of the walls connected to it. I stepped over to move the suspended ladder in front of them along its tracks. “You guys did this yourself?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah. It really wasn’t too bad. Except for that corner.” He pointed to the one nearest the kitchen. “I didn’t figure out for the longest time that the kitchen’s walls weren’t square, and it kept messing up my calculations.”

  I nodded, surveying it.

  “Have a seat.”

  If this were a movie, this would be the point where the bone-chilling music played. I took one of the wing-backed chairs in front and set the gift box on the ground to the right of me. I was surprised he didn’t go behind his desk, but chose instead to sit in the chair next to mine.

  “I’d like to have a talk, if we could?”

  I nodded, my throat suddenly too dry to speak. It’s your office.

  “I think I made it clear the last time you came to the house…Zoe and you, that was her decision. And I see she’s made the choice. She chose to let you in. To make herself vulnerable to you again despite the fact you tore her heart out before.”

  He waited for me to speak, but what could I say? He was right. I hurt her before. I dropped my head, trying to figure out a way to make him understand I had no intention of letting that happen again.

  He tapped my knee. “But I also see that, since you guys have been back, Zoe is the happiest I’ve seen her in years. I mean years.”

  I looked up. Maybe a chance still existed for me to win him over. He studied me with those lawyer eyes of his, then leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “You know, Zack,” he twirled his wedding band around his finger, watching it. “Zoe and I have a special relationship. It’s something you may understand better if you ever have kids of your own.” He switched to moving his ring up and down.

  “When my first wife, Gina, left, it was just me and Zoe.” He chuckled and sort of grimaced at the same time. “I was working my ass off. Going to law school, doing the roadie thing with Chase every so often…” He was referring to rock star Chase Hatton, who he grew up with. “I even had a bartending gig at one point.” He reached up to rub the back of his neck, as if even now he could still feel the yoke of all that work. “Whenever I was at home, that time I treasured above all else.” A smile crept over his face. “I’d be dead tired, shuffling in my parents’ front door, but then I’d see Zoe…. Oh, man. I can’t explain to you what joy she has given me over the years. In those first dark times, she was my one hope for better days. She represented all that was good and right with the world.” He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head and stretching his legs out. “Even later, as things got easier, I relied on her a lot. Maybe too much. She knew me. Knew when something bothered me. Knew what to say to make it better.”

  I thought about how she did the same for me. Made everything right. He gazed at me. I never realized how intense his eyes could be at times. Mad, sure. Intelligent, sure. But the way they appeared at this moment must be how they looked while he gave a passionate closing argument in a courtroom. He shifted back to his original stance, arms on knees, hands folded now. Our knees were only inches apart as he leaned in.

  “Zack. We all make mistakes. I’d be a hypocrite to say I haven’t. But it’s what we do to remedy those mistakes that shows our true character.” He sighed. “I’ve been too hard on you. To be honest, I’ve been too hard on you right from the start. But what you have to understand is, it was nothing personal. No one could ever be good enough for my Zoe.”

  I nodded with a smile.

  “But, as hard as it was to see the way you hurt Zoe, I appreciate now that you were doing it at the time because you thought it was what was best.” He tilted his neck. “Honestly, part of me thought it would be good for you two also. To have time apart, to maybe date some other people.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Dani stuck her head in. I couldn’t see her, but I would bet Zoe wasn’t far behind. Dani cast her gaze first on her husband, then on me, before speaking. “Everything all right in here?”

  “We’re just having a little talk,” Mr. McCord answered. “We’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  “Okay,” she said doubtfully. “Are you coming back to dry?”

  “Can’t Zoe help you?” Footsteps retreated behind her. Zoe was out there all right.

  “Uhh…” she glanced over her shoulder, then stepped in the room, closing the door behind her, but still grasping the doorknob, as if she wanted to be prepared for a quick escape. “Zoe is busy…making some…hot chocolate for her and Zack.”

  “Really?” He smiled, and his face softened. “We’ll be there in a few moments.” A second of unspoken conversation took place between them, then she spun around and left, leaving the door open. His eyes followed her. He got up and went to the door, paused briefly, and closed it. He returned to his seat and took a breath. “Well, clearly we’re wanted out there, so I’ll quit rambling and get to my point. “You don’t know when you’ll meet the love of your life, or how….” He chuckled. “If you and Zoe are meant to be, and you happened to meet early in life—” he shrugged “—well, that’s just how it is. In a lot of ways you may have spared yourself a mound of heartache.”

  “Umm…I think we’ve had plenty of that.”

  He nodded. “True, true. I amend my earlier statement.” He paused. “What I’m trying to say—and seem to be having an uncharacteristically hard time of spitting out—is, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all the grief I’ve given you over the years. You’ve stood by Zoe through some of the worst days of her life. You’ve always had her best interest in mind. You’ve dodged bullets, and bruised knuckles for my daughter’s safety, and I haven’t treated you fairly. I wish you two all the best.”

  He stuck out his hand, and for a moment, I was too shocked to take it. As we shook, I said, “I appre
ciate you saying that, sir. I love your daughter very much and I will do all I can to make her happy.”

  He rose. “I know you will, son.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s say we get in there before those two come up with some other scheme to invade my office.”

  I smiled, relief making the air much easier to breathe. “Yes, sir.”

  Hours later I was curled up on the couch reviewing the conversation in my head and the stairs creaked. I flipped over to see a very Zoelike form on the stairs.

  “Zoe?”

  “Shh.”

  Definitely Zoe. No one else was that bossy. She tiptoed over and in a stream of light not kept out by the curtains I saw she wore what I was pretty sure was one of my old Lincoln Southwest T-shirts. She stopped in front of me with her back to me and sat on the edge of the couch. I scootched over and lifted the blanket and she curled her legs up to lie beside me on her side. I wrapped my arm and the blanket around her.

  “You really do want your dad to bash my brains in, don’t you?”

  “What did he say? I’ve been waiting all night to talk to you.”

  “He…apologized.”

  “What?” she said in wonder.

  “I know.”

  There was a moment of silence. We listened to the sounds the old house made. The icemaker clunking, the furnace kicking on, the washing machine running in the basement….

  Her voice broke the relative quiet. “Do you think he may be sick?”

  I chuckled. “I sure hope not.”

  “I mean, that’s unprecedented.”

  “Yes. It is. It’s a lot of “un” things. Unexpected, unheard of…and really, unnecessary. I’ve always understood he was tough on me because of his love for you. Although it did help to have it explained some.” I hugged her closer and my whole body relaxed next to her.

  “He only told me like a zillion times how happy he was we were here and how much he misses me.”

  “I know. I’m glad we came.”

  “Me, too.” She tried to flop on her back and I shifted again to try to make more room, lifting onto one elbow so I could peer into her face. “But this sleeping separate thing is so not-dope.”

  “Yes, I know.” A memory struck me. “You know, it was on this very couch I first kissed you.”

  She reached up and stroked my face. “Yes, I know.”

  And there was nothing to do but kiss her. And kiss her again. And again.

  She rolled back over, and I slid my arm under her to wrap it around her body. She snuggled into me and I kissed her ear. “You feel so good.”

  “Mmm.”

  Time ticked away.

  “Zo. I think you need to go back to your bed.” She flipped over to look at me. “If your dad catches us, he won’t be nearly as understanding as your Uncle Kyle and Aunt Sam were when they caught us on the couch.”

  “Mmm. True.” She sat. “You know Myles will be down here at about four a.m.”

  I chuckled. “I figured as much. That’s okay. This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”

  She bent to kiss me softly. “Yes, it is.”

  Chapter 23

  Zack

  Myles came bounding down the stairs. I groaned. It seemed like my eyes were only closed for seconds.

  “Merry Christmas,” he said as he charged past the couch to the stockings.

  I sat up on my elbows and threw a look over my shoulder. No hint of pink in the sky. I picked up my phone. Four-oh-one. Damn, Zoe was good. “Are you sure you’re supposed to get into that?”

  He slid the candy cane he just stuck in his mouth back out. “Mommy said the stockings were fair game, but I couldn’t open any presents until they got up at seven.” He brought his stocking with him and plopped into one of the chairs by the couch.

  “You know that’s three hours away?”

  He swung his heels up onto the table. “Yup.” It reminded me so much of Zoe’s older brother, Scott, I had to smile. He wore footie pajamas. I loved those things.

  He crossed his arms. “So. Are you and Zoe getting married?”

  I nearly choked. “What?” I sat, fully awake now.

  “Are you getting married? Uncle Kyle told Daddy someday you may want to marry Zoe and he better get used to the idea.”

  “He did?” He must have come straight from the bar. The idea warmed me. A man of his word.

  He sucked on his candy cane noisily. He’d already whittled it down to a fine point. “So? Are ya gonna?”

  “Well.” I looked at him. “What would you think if I said I might want to?”

  He shrugged. “Are ya gonna live here?”

  “No. We’d get our own place.”

  “Then I guess it’s all right with me.” He slid down the chair onto the floor for some reason. His voice rose from the end of the coffee table. “Aren’t you going to check out your stocking?”

  “I don’t have a….” I glanced over at the fireplace. Dani had made everyone a stocking at some point, and now I saw one had my name on it. I got up and crossed to it. Myles made some loud thud that sounded like limbs flopping on the ground. I whirled around to investigate and he was rubbing his elbow.

  “I’m all right.” He folded his hands on the end of the coffee table and watched me.

  “You be careful with that candy cane in your mouth, bud. If it gets jammed into your throat, it could do some damage, or you could choke.”

  He pulled it out and examined it. “Okay.”

  I turned back to the stocking. A Victorian couple skated across a frozen pond on the front. The back was a rich red velvet. It was pretty cool. I looked at all of the tiny x-like stitches. It must have taken her forever to make those. I was touched.

  “Well, come on.”

  I’ll admit, the bulges in the stocking made me curious. “I don’t know. Maybe I should wait until—”

  “She said stockings were fair game,” Myles said matter-of-factly. I twisted my head to peer at him. He gestured with an arm. “Go on. See what’s in there.”

  I slid it off its hook and brought it over to the table. Myles sat up straight, riveted to my every move. I reached in and plucked out some candy.

  “Come on,” he said impatiently. “Dump it.”

  I frowned at him, but upended my stocking. For a second, I was afraid it made too much noise.

  Myles leaned forward. “Wow. You got a lot of stuff.”

  A package about the size of a carton of cigarettes lay among the candy. I glanced at the tag. It was from Dani.

  “Open it,” Myles insisted.

  “No. I’m waiting until later.” I noticed something in the midst of my chocolate tin soldiers and Santa Clauses. I picked it up. It was a mini-flashlight with a medal Z attached to it. Zoe. Clever, she could use it, too.

  “That’s from Zoe, isn’t it?”

  I eyed him. “Yeah. How did you know?”

  “You’ve got that goofy look on your face.”

  I reached over and rubbed his hair, hard. “I do, huh?”

  He giggled. “Yes.”

  I glanced up the stairs, worried we were being too loud. “Listen. How about—” I picked my phone up “—you play some games on my phone while I—”

  “Do you have Candy Crush?”

  “Uhh…no. I don’t think so.” I clicked through screens.

  He hung his head. “Darn.”

  “What about Angry Birds Space?”

  He brightened. “That one’s okay.”

  I handed him the phone. “Okay. Good.”

  He immediately started playing. I watched him for a few seconds, then lay down.

  Thank you whoever designed Angry Birds.

  Zoe

  It was the cutest damned thing. As I came down the stairs I could see two piles of candy next to two discarded stockings, with a bunch of tin wrappers in front of Myles and Zack snoring on the couch.

  Myles must have heard me. He blinked, and looked up, probably hoping it was Dani and Dad. “Thank God you’re here.”


  “Shh.” I told him, coming down the rest of the way. “What’s the problem?”

  “I need a charger. Bad.”

  “Oh, go get my purse. It’s on the table.”

  He jumped to his feet and pounded off.

  I crouched beside the couch. Brushing Zack’s hair back, I called out his name.

  He took a deep breath and stretched, blinking his eyes open. “Hey.”

  Dad and Dani came down the stairs, followed by Scott and Tabby.

  “Good morning,” Dani called out.

  “Mommy! Daddy! We can open presents now.” Myles started to dash for the tree.

  Dad curtailed him. “Hold on. Let us get some coffee in us first.”

  “And I’m throwing some cinnamon rolls in,” Dani added as she pushed through the kitchen door.

  Zack touched my hand. “Thanks for my flashlight.” He craned his neck to give me a quick kiss.

  “Oh. It was just a little something.”

  “It’s very sweet. I love it. Thank you.” He sat up more. “And Dani made me a stocking.” He handed it to me.

  I ran a hand over the stitch work. “It’s only been sitting there since before we came home.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  I laughed. “Nope. I can’t believe you didn’t see it. I noticed it right away.”

  Forty-five minutes later, wrapping paper flew. Zack still sat on the couch, only Dani joined him at the other end and Dad sat on the arm of the couch next to her, one hand over her shoulder. Scott claimed the chair next to them, and Tabby pulled up a dining room chair next to him. Myles. Well Myles was everywhere. He wore the Nerf vest I got him and threatened to never take it off. A stack of clothes boxes teetered near me with stuff Dani and Dad gave me, the Kindle Zack surprised me with, along with the perfume I’d asked for and some beautiful diamond earrings. Zack had one of the sweaters I’d gotten him draped across his lap and had just opened a Cobra key chain Dani put in his stocking.

  “Ahh. This is cool. Thank you very much.”