Palmer: A 2nd Generation Marked Heart Novel

by M. Sembera

With a loud exhale, I shoved my phone back in my pocket, started up my car and drove it onto her driveway.

  Joie held the front door open for me as I walked up to it. I suppose she was expecting me to apologize or at least feel guilty but come on, we both knew neither of those was about to happen.

  “Have you lost your mind?” she fussed at me as she blocked the doorway.

  “No.”

  “What if I had called the police and said someone was parked outside watching me?” she questioned with her hand on her hip.

  “Why would you do that if you knew it was me?”

  “Palmer.”

  “Joie.”

  Appearing frustrated, she fussed, “You’re not stepping inside this house until you explain yourself.”

  “But you already invited me in,” I reminded, flashing her a smile.

  “No, I asked if you would like to come inside and if you do you’d better start talking.”

  As always, the best offense is a good defense.

  “You know, you used to text me and let me know how you were doing.”

  Appearing shocked, she questioned, “That’s your excuse for basically stalking me?”

  “I’m just sayin’.”

  With a quick nod, she replied, “I see. I guess it never occurred to you that you could call or text me.”

  “I never had to before,” I griped at her, feeling a tad ridiculous for not thinking of that to begin with.

  To be fair though, my stalkery started when she wasn’t talking to me.

  “You know what? I thought it was kind of sweet when I saw your van parked down the street the night I drove Doup’s car home. Then, I figured you missed me because we weren’t talking when I started seeing your car everywhere I went. But this parking two houses down from mine, everyday, shit is getting frickin’ creepy and I’m going to need you to knock it off. Okay?”

  Of course it sounds bad when you say it like that…

  “Okay.”

  Joie stood there blocking my way with a serious expression for another full minute before letting me in.

  Still seemingly put out with me, Joie sat down on the living room couch, picked up the remote and twitched the TV off.

  “Really, Palmer, how on earth could you think stalking me was a good idea?”

  Shrugging as I walked to the couch and sat down next to her, I replied, “It was making me crazy not knowing if you were alright or not.”

  “Of course, you’re a crazy stalker. That explains everything. I feel much better now, thank you.”

  “I never said I was crazy and I’ve only ever stalked you.”

  She tilted her head to the side and glared at me.

  “Alright, the truth is, I really miss you.”

  Blowing out a short breath, she admitted, “Look, I miss you too but things are different now. It was really hard not to call or text you at first even though I was mad at you. Then, I realized that it was like a bad habit I needed to break. I’m going to be someone’s mother in a few months and I need to focus on other things.”

  Did she just call me a bad habit? That’s rude.

  “What ‘other things’ require so much focus that you can’t still hang out with me, like before?”

  “Just things. Gah, what difference does it make.”

  I took a moment to stare at her before asking, “Is it because I kissed you?”

  Her cheeks turned the best shade of pink, heating my insides as she looked away from me.

  “Is it?”

  Rolling her eyes, she shook her head but I knew I’d hit the nail right on the head.

  “It is, isn’t it,” I laughed, watching the flush of her cheeks darken.

  Clearing her throat, she stated, “That may be a slight factor.”

  Biting the side of my tongue to keep from smiling too wide, I assured, “If it puts your mind at ease, you made it very clear that kissing you was a bad idea.”

  “It was a bad idea,” she insisted.

  “That’s what I said.”

  “You really shouldn’t have.”

  “I know.”

  “And you won’t do it again?”

  “Nope.”

  “Because I’m pregnant and that’s… I don’t know, weird. Right?”

  “Whatever you say.”

  Her expression seemed to contradict the tone of her voice and the look in her beautiful blue eyes.

  She sat there quietly for a few minutes with an indecisive look on her face.

  With a hesitant expression, she offered, “Since clearly you didn’t have anything better to do today, other than stalk me, you want to hangout for a while? Maybe watch a movie?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mom and I sat behind the counter at Legacy Ink waiting for Joie and Aunt Penny to return. We both checked our phones every few minutes for word from Joie’s ultrasound. I never would have imagined that waiting to find out the sex of a baby would have me so worked up. The anticipation was getting to me. I found myself trying to be rational about what was taking them so long and praying that everything was okay with Joie’s baby.

  As the minutes continued to tick by, I stood up and began tapping my hand against the counter.

  “What’s taking so long?”

  Mom shrugged, saying, “Maybe they stopped for lunch.”

  “Doesn’t it seem like it’s taking too long?”

  “Seriously. Relax. You’re making me anxious,” mom fussed before informing, “I’d hate to see what you’d be like if it was your kid.”

  Giving mom a dirty look, I smarted, “If it was my kid, I’d be there with her, now wouldn’t I.”

  And don’t think for a second that I didn’t consider inviting myself along.

  Before mom could respond, Aunt Penny burst into the shop with Joie right behind her.

  Aunt Penny wasn’t just smiling she was beaming with happiness.

  Hooking her arm around Joie’s, she exclaimed, “This is the best news ever!”

  “I’m having a girl,” Joie shared with a blissful smile.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched my aunt skip up to the counter.

  “I’m getting a girl,” Aunt Penny chanted the whole way, stopping when mom began to laugh. “You know it’s not your baby, right?”

  “I know that, Liv,” she spouted before announcing, “Four brothers I had to endure growing up and then I had boys…” Pausing for a moment as her eyes welled up with tears. “You know I love William and I miss him every day.” Then shaking off her moment of sadness, she continued, “I’m finally getting my girl. I earned her. I’m having a granddaughter and she’s a girl!”

  Smiling at my aunt’s enthusiasm, I glanced over at Joie as she informed, “She even got them to print her out her own ultrasound picture.”

  “Can you believe they didn’t want to at first? I had to tell that girl that I wasn’t leaving until she did,” Aunt Penny shared, holding a picture up by its top corners.

  Mom looked at her like she was crazy. “You know you could have just made yourself a copy here.”

  “That’s hardly the point.”

  “Okay, grandma, did y’all eat yet?” As Aunt Penny shook her head, mom offered, “Palmer’s got an appointment in about forty minutes but if we hurry we can get a table and be back in time. I’ll text Charlotte and have her meet us. My treat. Joie?”

  Joie gave my mom a soft smile as she declined, “I’m not very hungry. I’ll stay here so y’all don’t have to rush.”

  “Yea, I’m good too,” I added, looking forward to it being just me and Joie in the shop.

  Without asking us twice mom and Aunt Penny were out the door and on their way to lunch.

  I couldn’t help but smile. If there was any doubt in Joie’s mind concerning her baby and happiness, I was sure Aunt Penny had put it to rest.

  “A girl, huh,” I said as she made her way over to where I was standing.

  Joie fumbled through her purse before setting it do
wn.

  “You okay?” I asked, watching her hand shake as she set her ultrasound pictured down on top of the counter.

  When she didn’t answer, I leaned around her to see her expression. Her bottom lip was poked out and she looked like she was about to cry.

  Instinctively, I wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her to me. I placed my hand on the side of her head and guided her cheek against the inside of my shoulder. My first thought was only to make her feel better but she felt so good in my arms. I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against the top of her head. When her arms slid around my waist I tightened my hold on her. Feeling her belly between us, I remembered why I was holding her in the first place.

  “Did you want a boy?”

  Her voice was muffled as she replied, “I’m happy she’s a girl.”

  “Is everything okay with her?”

  Nodding into my shirt, she replied, “Yes, she has everything she’s supposed to have.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  Leaning her head back, she looked up at me and shared, “I saw her. There was this monitor in there and I saw her. It was like my heart just exploded with love. What if I’m not enough for her or can’t give her everything she needs?”

  “You never have to worry about that because...”

  Glancing at the ultrasound picture, I read Baby Girl Chevalier printed across the top and swallowed down everything I was about to say.

  “Because, Roe’s gonna be a really good dad and between the two of you she’ll have everything.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded.

  “Plus my family has that whole village raising a child mentality,” I assured as I let go of her and took a step back.

  “True,” Joie replied in a bit of a better mood than before.

  “Although you might want to consider limiting her exposure to Wren. She’s a bad influence.”

  “You think Wren is a bad influence?”

  “If you were havin’ a boy, I’d say different but since you’re growin’ a little girl in there, yes. She’s definitely a bad influence. You’re gonna need to make sure Wren doesn’t corrupt her.”

  Rolling her eyes, Joie laughed at me.

  Because we celebrate things in my family with food or alcohol, sometimes both depending on the occasion, Aunt Penny and Uncle Seth invited everyone, including Joie’s dad, over for dinner. Her mom was still on ‘vacation’ somewhere off the coast of Cozumel and obviously couldn’t make it.

  I truly believe that if Aunt Penny had figured out how, she would have died the pork roast pink. From the balloons on the front door to the flowers, plates and streamer inside it was like baby girl wonderland at their house. It was a good meal and a good time. Brooks left before dessert and a rousing conversation Uncle Auggie started about how, if we’re not careful, the girls will start outnumbering us. Which led to a men versus women debate that everyone at the table participated in. It ended when Aunt Charlotte smacked the fork out of Uncle Auggie’s hand and smooshed a pink cupcake in his face for stating all women have a crazy streak. To be fair, even though he lost the argument, she kind of proved his point.

  All evening I’d watched Joie and Roe sitting next to each other. At first I thought it would be hard for me since Joie always sat next to me. As it turned out, it didn’t bother me at all. Not once did she bump him with her shoulder as she laughed or pick food off of his plate like she did when she sat next to me. They were happy, don’t get me wrong, Roe even smiled a few times when they were talking about their baby. It wasn’t awkward either. They just didn’t seem like a couple about to have a baby, to me. It made sense seeing as Joie said they weren’t together. What didn’t make sense to me was how he could look at her, sitting there so perfectly beautiful and rare, knowing she was carrying his baby and not be falling all over himself stupid for her.

  After dinner, I helped take a few plates to the kitchen before Aunt Penny not so subtly urged me out back to talk to Roe.

  Walking up behind him as he sat in a lawn chair, looking up at the stars, I asked, “How ya feelin’ there, big papa?”

  When he didn’t answer, I grabbed a chair and pulled it next to his.

  Holding out my hand, I offered, “No hard feelings, man. For real, I was outta line the other day.”

  Roe reached over and shook my hand with a nod before returning his focus to the night’s sky.

  “Are you prayin’ that she doesn’t come out lookin’ like you?”

  He cracked a humored smile before sharing, “I heard her heartbeat. We saw her too but hearing her heartbeat, that was my favorite part.”

  “Yea? I bet that was pretty cool.”

  Nodding, he replied, “It was.”

  We sat there silent for a few minutes before I stressed, “Man, you really need to pick up a vice or two.” Roe turned his head and arched an eyebrow at me. “I’m just sayin’. Sittin’ out here under the stars, talkin’ about babies, we need to man this situation up with a beer, glass of whiskey or a cigar. Somethin’ to make me feel like we’re not fixin’ to start huggin’ each other and shit.”

  Shaking his head at me, Roe laughed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  December was a big deal at my house. Christmas was my mom’s favorite holiday and dad always went all out on the decorations. Not to mention, it’s the month I graced this world with my presence. I was born at one minute after twelve Christmas morning. Technically, I was a Christmas baby but we celebrated my birthday on Christmas eve because mom felt it was wrong to take away someone’s birthday experience just because it fell on a major holiday. She was cool like that and whatever she wanted dad was on board with the majority of the time.

  By Christmas eve Joie was almost seven months. She still may have had three months to go but I felt like I was going to pop every time she walked into the room. It wasn’t like I had a thing for pregnant chics but damn. She was already the most delicious woman I’d ever seen. Joie pregnant was like the tastiest meal you can think of, plus an appetizer, dessert and the mint they leave after you pay. All I could think about every time I looked at her was what a feast she would be if I just had the opportunity to dine.

  I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. I’m starting to think all these repressed urges are having an adverse effect on my mental state. Either that or I’ve develop some type of food fetish.

  While most everyone was in the house, Roe and I stood on the porch with First trying to convince him to propose at the party instead of Christmas morning. I felt like I had played a pivotal role in him and Tansy’s finally getting together. Roe helped too, a bit. It stood to reason that we should get to witness their first step toward sealing the deal, in matrimonial type way that is. Besides, it was fun. First was easy for me to work. All it took was knowing the right buttons to push.

  “You said you wanted to do it in front of the family,” I reminded him.

  First gave a loud sigh as he shared, “I meant my family.”

  “What’s up with that? Now we’re not family enough to be counted as your family?”

  Roe chimed in, adding, “That’s rude.”

  “Right?” I agreed before saying, “Guess we know where we stand with him.”

  “I thought y’all weren’t talking to each other?” First griped looking back and forth between me and Roe.

  In mock offence, I replied, “We made up. ‘Cause we’re family.”

  “I don’t even have it with me. It’s wrapped under the tree at my parents’ house.”

  “So, go get it.”

  “No.”

  “Why not? Unless, you think she’s gonna say no.”

  “I’m doing it tomorrow morning and she’s not going to say no.”

  “That’s what I’m sayin’. What’s one day?”

  “He’s scared,” Roe stated.

  “I’m not scared!”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I gave him an unconvincing, “Okay,” giving that button one final push.

  “Gah damn, as
shole,” First growled under his breath as he turned and stepped off of the porch.

  “Where are you goin’?”

  “To go get the damn ring.”

  “Well, make it snappy, I want you to do it before the cake. That way everyone has time to focus back on me. It is my party, ya know.”

  Fast walking to his car, First held his hand high above his head and shot me the finger.

  Roe and I walked in the front door still smiling from antagonizing First.

  We barely made it through the living room when Tansy looked at us and asked, “Where’s First?”

  “He went back to the house.”

  “Why?” she questioned with a concerned expression.

  Roe continued to the kitchen as I shrugged my shoulders at her.

  “I hope he’s feeling okay, he’s been acting weird all week,” she shared with Joie and Wren who were sitting next to her on the couch.

  I didn’t notice at first but Wren had her hand on Joie’s stomach while they were sitting there.

  “You know that’s a kid, not and arm rest,” I teased, taking a seat on the ottoman in front of them.

  Joie giggled, saying, “We were trying to get her to move for Tansy. So far, she only does it for Wren.”

  Wren displayed a superior grin as she informed, “That’s right, she already loves me. I’m going to be her Auntie Wren.”

  “Yea, I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?” she questioned with a harsh glare in her eyes.

  “‘Cause unless somebody’s got some serious explaining to do, you and the kid are cousins.”

  “Nobody likes a smartass,” she spouted as I laughed.

  Joie rolled her eyes at me before assuring, “Dalilah will call you whatever you want her to.”

  “Dalilah?”

  She nodded, rubbing her belly. “Roe and I decided last night. Dalilah Roisin Chevalier.”

  “Nice,” I replied, doing my best to ignore the sting of jealousy I felt hearing that she was with Roe last night.

  With a disappointed expression, Joie glanced away from me.

  I wasn’t sure what was bothering Joie but I couldn’t shake what was bothering me.

  “So, she won’t move for anyone but Wren, huh? Not even Roe?”