Once Upon a Valentine’s

by Holly Jacobs

  “Time out.” He made the motion from basketball. Hand over fingertips. “We’re not going to discuss Andy.”

  “No, we’re not. It’s way too cold to discuss anything out here. I’ll talk to you again next week at the Safety Awareness Program.”

  She put the key in the lock and twisted it, then withdrew it and opened the door. “Again, thanks.”

  “Wait. I know it’s been a while since you dated, but you’re forgetting the most important part.” And before she started analyzing and debating it, he leaned down and kissed her.

  He expected a short, good-night buss on the lips.

  It couldn’t be much after six, so all he expected was a good-afternoon kiss. That’s all he’d intended. Quickly, the kiss escalated from peck to passion.

  At first, he suspected Carly wrapped her arms around his neck as a way of steadying herself, as she stood on tiptoe to allow the kiss to deepen.

  Moment by moment, they tasted and explored each other.

  Then Carly stepped backward through the open door without breaking contact, and Chuck willingly followed, kicking the door closed behind them.

  And still they kissed.

  She dropped her purse to the floor with a thud, and Chuck reached behind him to lock the deadbolt.

  Carly started to kick off her boots and started wiggling out of her coat, then broke their kiss long enough to say, “You, too.”

  Part of him—the part that liked to think of himself as a nice guy—thought he should call a halt. As Carly kept pointing out, it had been a long time since she’d dated.

  The other part of himself won out and he obliged her, slipping off his leather jacket and tossing it on the floor.

  “My room?” she asked.

  That stopped him and the nice-guy-part kicked into over-drive. “Carly, are you sure?”

  “No, and I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to discuss it. I want you. Now. Naked.”

  That was clear. At her words a mental image of both of them naked flashed through Chuck’s mind and all he wanted to do was forget any nice-guy worries. Still, he found himself saying, “I don’t want you to wake up regretting—”

  “You’re afraid of commitment, remember? That makes you perfect. You’re used to having unemotional sex. No strings to get tangled up in. I want you,” she repeated.

  He knew he should walk away because he knew that Carly Lewis was not a sex-on-the-first-date sort of woman.

  She wasn’t a casual-sex kind of woman.

  She was the type of woman you took home to meet your mother.

  Yet he wanted her despite his reservations.

  She took his hand. “Don’t make me beg, Chuck.”

  “Carly, I’m trying to be a nice guy.”

  “I don’t want a nice guy tonight…I want you.” She laughed at her own joke, then tugged him toward the stairs. “One night, Chuck. No commitment. No ever-afters. Just you and me.”

  “Carly—”

  She dropped his hand. “Unless you don’t want me.” The openness, the teasing evaporated, and in their place, Carly’s wariness returned. Maybe it was more than that. Maybe it was resignation. As if being rejected was what she expected.

  That look on her face tore at him. Needing to dispel that concern immediately, Chuck swept her into his arms—she weighed next to nothing—and carried her up the stairs. “Do I want you? I’m about to explode with wanting you.”

  “Oh, man, I feel like Scarlett O’Hara.”

  “Frankly, my dear…” He kissed her again as he topped the stairs. “Which way?”

  “Straight.”

  He carried her into the bedroom. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected. Something serviceable, utilitarian. But what he found was greens, bright yellows and pinks. Lace and flowers.

  A room that looked completely and decidedly feminine.

  “You can set me down now, Chuck.”

  “This room isn’t what I expected.”

  Carly sighed. “What is it about me that makes everyone so surprised that I like girly, lacy things, or that I enjoy doing crafts? See that afghan on the bottom of the bed?”

  There was a white afghan with yellow and pink flowers accented by green leaves that sort of stuck up all over it. “Yeah.”

  “I made that. And the throw pillows, and the curtains. I enjoy that kind of stuff.” Carly’s bristles were back in place.

  Chuck immediately tried to undo whatever his unthinking comment had done. “I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  “You didn’t. I’m used to it. I didn’t mean to throw a damper on things by getting defensive.”

  “Carly, I don’t think you could throw a damper on anything.” So, saying, he leaned down and kissed her again, his hands moving toward her waist then upwards, cupping her breasts. “I want—”

  The doorbell rang, and even from all the way up in the bedroom, they could hear loud, hurried thumps against the door as well, as the bell convulsively kept ringing. “Can we ignore it?”

  “Probably not.” She kissed him firmly, then straightened her clothes. “Hopefully, I’ll only be a minute.” She hurried from the room.

  Chuck stood in the middle of the uber-feminine bedroom. He thought he had Carly Lewis pegged as an impulsive, passionate woman. And he was sure he was right. Although here in this room, remembering her handmade card for Anderson, he had a growing sense that there was more to her. Much more.

  CARLY PICKED UP HER coat and Chuck’s and put them on hooks before she opened the door to find Dean and her kids. “Uh, I thought you were keeping the kids this weekend?”

  “I was. But I have an important last-minute meeting out-of-town.”

  Rhiana scowled as Dean offered up his excuse. “Ha. Don’t listen to him, Mom. His meeting is with her.”

  Carly didn’t have to ask who her was. “Gayle?”

  Rhiana nodded. “She gave him a surprise weekend at some dumb grown-up love nest, and he’d rather be with her than us and take us to Cleveland for Grandma’s birthday. That’s fine, ’cause we don’t want to be with him either.”

  “That’s enough, Rhi.” Carly looked at Sean who hadn’t said anything. “You okay?”

  He nodded.

  Carly thought about sending them to their rooms, but she knew that Chuck was still upstairs. “Fine. Both of you head into the living room. I’ll be right in.”

  She turned to her ex. His expression while Rhiana ranted gave her all the information she needed. “Really, Dean? You’re blowing off your mom’s birthday?”

  “She didn’t even know we were coming, so she won’t miss us. I sent her flowers.”

  Carly wished she was surprised, but she wasn’t. She’d always felt bad that Dean treated his mother so casually. Not that Darlene Lewis had liked Carly, she’d never known why. But still, she felt bad. She’d have to be sure the kids called tomorrow. Speaking of calling…

  “You should have called, Dean. What if I had plans and wasn’t here?”

  He snorted. “Come on Carly…” His sentence trailed off as he looked at some point behind her.

  Carly turned and saw Chuck coming down the stairs.

  “Thanks for letting me use the bathroom.” Chuck walked up next to Carly then put his left arm around her and extended his right hand to Dean. “Hi, I’m Chuck, and you must be Dean.”

  Dean didn’t take Chuck’s extended hand. Instead he turned to Carly. “Who’s he?”

  “A friend—not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Oh, come on, honey.” The endearment rolled off Chuck’s tongue as if he’d used it a thousand times. “Good old Dean here is ditching his weekend with the kids in order to go have a tryst with his girlfriend. I’m sure he can handle the idea of your being in a new relationship.”

  Dean’s eyes narrowed as he studied Chuck. His frown said he didn’t like what he saw. “How long has this been going on?”

  Carly shot a warning look at Chuck, who seemed totally unrepentant, then turned to Dean. “I met Chuck the
day I burned the couch. Maybe it was fate. I’d put my past and my bitterness to rest and there he was. Perfect timing.”

  “I was the first cop on the scene. I’m sure you don’t remember. I mean, I saw you there, slinking to the fringes of the crowd, looking embarrassed to be there, but not quite sure you could leave.”

  “You’re a cop?”

  “Yes. And both Carly and I would appreciate it if you gave her a little more warning if you’re not going to live up to your visitation agreement. We’d been out. If you’d come any earlier, no one would have been home.”

  “Oh, sure. I’ll do that. I’d better be going now.” Dean took a few steps toward the living room. “’Bye kids. See you next week.” He stepped out onto the porch. “Thanks, Carly.”

  “Don’t thank me, Dean. I can’t believe you’re going to squander your weekend with the kids, that you’re going to pick your girlfriend over your own mother. But then, you never did really appreciate the idea of family.” She shut the door on him and turned to Chuck. “Thanks. You shocked him, honey.”

  “I know you were married to him, but pardon me if I say that man’s an ass.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” She felt a bit lighter, knowing that Chuck was on her side. Almost immediately, though, her heart broke as she thought about the kids. It was one thing for Dean to hurt her and quite another for him to cause the kids pain. “Listen, I’d better get in there and see about soothing them.”

  “I’ll leave you to it. Can I see you again this week?” he asked as he put on his coat.

  She nodded. “Let’s talk the logistics at the next program presentation.”

  “Great. See you Tuesday.” He glanced around and leaned down and kissed her.

  It was a short kiss, but it left Carly feeling all weak-in-the-knees and girlishly breathless again. It made her want to forget every scruple, every reservation, and be with this man.

  “I’m sorry we were interrupted,” she whispered.

  “Me, too. Next time the coast is clear and you want to throw caution to the winds, I hope you call me.” He paused, then added, “I really hope you call me.”

  He paused again. “Soon. Very, very soon.”

  Carly laughed. There was something about Chuck. He made her laugh. He made her feel…

  That was it. He made her feel. But right now, she had her kids to think about. “When the coast is clear, I’ll make that call.”

  He leaned down and gave her another quick buss. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  He left. Carly peeked out the window and watched while he got in his car, then took a second to collect herself before she went into the kids. “So, what are we going to do tonight?”

  “Who was that who just left?” Rhiana asked.

  “A friend. He’s in charge of the Safety Awareness Program. We talked about how my first two sessions went and how to improve next week’s—”

  “That’s not all it was, though, right? Not just a business meeting?” Rhiana pressed.

  “No.” Carly wasn’t sure how to answer. She didn’t want to give the impression that Chuck was someone who would impact the kids’ lives, because he wouldn’t. She was going to do her best to see their paths didn’t cross again. “We went out to a late lunch first. It’s so busy at the schools that there’s no time to eat. And seriously, even if there was, I don’t do cafeteria food.”

  “Not me,” Sean said. “I love it. Mystery-meat Mondays. Tuna-surprise Tuesdays…”

  Rhiana wasn’t going to get sidetracked at the thought of cafeteria food. She’d zoned in on Chuck and wouldn’t be put off course. “Great. First Dad chooses his girlfriend over us, and now you’re going to have a new guy, too.”

  “First, Chuck’s not exactly my new guy. He’s not the kind of guy I’d even remotely consider. And secondly, I would never, never ever pick someone else over you two. I may date in the future, but you guys are my priority. Always.”

  “Sure,” Rhiana said.

  Sean had been willing to discuss cafeteria food, but was totally silent about Chuck, which seemed worse to Carly. At least Rhiana was venting. Sean was holding in everything that mattered to him. Mystery meat was so much easier for him to talk about than the fact his parents had divorced. That worried Carly.

  “Listen, I know things have changed for you two. Your dad and I split, I went back to school and got a job. And change is hard. It’s hard for me, too. If I could build a perfect world for you, I would. But if I did, it would be a lie. Life isn’t perfect, it’s messy. Things happen. Good things. Crap things. You have to take whatever happens and make it work. That’s all you can do.”

  “Yeah, you and Dad breaking up was crap.” Sean glanced at her to see if she was going to yell about him using a normally forbidden word.

  “You can say that again,” Carly told him.

  “Crap, crap, crap…” he chanted.

  “Gee, Mom, way to go.” Rhiana sounded exasperated, but a small smile played at the edge of her lips. “He’s never going to stop saying it now.”

  “Crap, crap…”

  “It’s a limited time suspension of the rules,” Carly clarified for Rhiana.

  Sean stopped. “How limited?”

  Carly glanced at her watch. “Two more minutes.”

  “Crap, crap…” he started chanting as quickly as possible.

  What the heck, Carly thought, and still watching her watch, joined in, “Crap, crap, crap…”

  Rhiana gave them both a you’re-crazy look, but eventually, she gave in to temptation. “Crap, crap, crap…”

  “Time’s up,” Carly announced when the two minutes had passed. “And just to be clear, that’s it for that word, Sean.”

  “Next time Dad does something stupid can we have another crappy minute or two?”

  Maybe a good mother, a proper mother, would never have started crappy minutes, but it had allowed Sean to vent. It had given all three of them a much-needed release.

  “Yes. But I’m the Queen of Crappy Minutes, and I will decide when they’re invoked.”

  “But we can request them?” Sean pressed.

  “Come on, Sean, you’re in seventh grade, not third,” Rhiana complained.

  “And I’m older than both of you, Rhi,” Carly said. “And I can tell you, seventh grade or early thirties, everyone needs crappy minutes. And yes, Sean, you can request them.”

  “Okay.”

  For an instant, Carly thought he might hug her, but while Sean might not be too cool for crappy minutes, he was too cool to hug a mom. Good thing for him that Carly wasn’t above hugging him. She leaned over and pulled both kids into her embrace. “I love you both. More than anything.”

  “Oh, gross. Mom germs. Ugh,” Sean screamed.

  “Maybe I’ll get a camera and take pics of us all hugging. I could open a MySpace page.”

  “Oh, gee, Mom,” Rhiana cried in horror. “You wouldn’t?”

  “Then I could ‘friend’ every kid from Erie Elementary and show off my pictures.”

  “Mom,” they both cried in horror.

  “Geesh, no sense of humor,” she teased as she let them go.

  Suddenly serious again, Rhiana asked, “Hey, what about poor Grandma?”

  “Dad’s such a dork,” Sean muttered.

  “We don’t use that kind of language,” Carly reminded him. “Well, not without express permission, and never about your father. Whatever he is, whatever he does, he’s still your father. Nothing’s going to change that. As for your grandmother, I was going to say we’d call tomorrow, but it’s not even seven. Why don’t you call tonight? That way you two can be the first to wish her a happy birthday.”

  “If Dad’s not going to Cleveland, she’s going to be all alone.”

  Carly shouldn’t feel bad. They’d never been very close. Yet, she did sympathize.

  No one should be all alone on their birthday. She mentally calculated everything she had to do over the weekend, and knew there weren’t enough hours to get it all done no matter wha
t, so what would blowing a few more hours matter? “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. If the weather’s not bad, why don’t you see if she wants to meet us in Mentor for lunch?”

  Mentor, Ohio, was about halfway between Cleveland and Erie. Just a bit over an hour away.

  “Really, Mom?” Rhiana asked.

  “Sure. Why don’t you call her and see if she wants to?”

  Sean ran over to her and hugged her, all of his own volition. Rhiana followed suit. “Thanks,” they chimed in unison and then sprinted away to find portable phones so they could both talk at once.

  Carly could take her books and study while the kids spent time with their grandmother. Somehow she’d make it all work.

  And what about Chuck?

  Given what her days looked like, how was she ever going to find a moment for him…a moment she very much wanted to find?

  Chapter Six

  The following Friday, Chuck waited for Carly after what was their fourth Safety Awareness Program presentation. “Any chance you’re open for dinner tonight?”

  He hadn’t really had a chance to talk to her on Tuesday. She’d hurried out because one of her kids was sick. He’d wanted to call. Really wanted to. But he hadn’t. Mainly because he really wanted to.

  He’d planned on playing it cool today, but obviously couldn’t quite manage cool.

  Carly smiled. “Wish I could. I have to pick up the kids, get them ready to go to their dad’s. Dean’s coming about seven. It’s going to be quite the battle to get them to go because Rhiana hasn’t forgiven him for last weekend. He called a few times this week, but she wouldn’t talk to him. And though Sean did, he wasn’t overly enthusiastic.”

  “I can’t say that I blame them.” A father who only had weekends with his kids, and would freely give up spending time with them in favor of a girlfriend…he didn’t get that. Or a man who had a wife like Carly and would mess it up by cheating on her…he didn’t get that either.

  She shrugged. “I guess it’s obvious to everyone that I never really understood Dean, but I really don’t understand how cavalier he is about spending time with the kids.” She took a deep breath, as if calming herself. “But I can’t control what he does. Neither can Rhiana. She’s going to have to learn that he’s her father and she has to make peace with it. I keep telling her she can change her mind, can change her outfit, but she’s stuck with the two of us as parents—warts and all.”