Drunk Dial

by Penelope Ward

  “I’d just hoped she’d come around by now.”

  “I know. To be honest, I really did, too.” He wiped a tear from my cheek and tried to brighten the mood. “Can we talk about how amazing you look?”

  “My makeup is runny.”

  “We’ll fix it.”

  “You’re gonna fix it? My makeup lady is long gone.”

  “Sure, I can do it. Sit down.”

  I did as he said. Landon then sat down in front of me and twisted the end of a tissue that he’d had in his pocket to dab the sides of my eyes. He was wearing a white shirt beneath the champagne-colored vest and had his sleeves rolled up.

  “Where’s your eye stuff?”

  I grabbed the makeup bag and took out the mascara and liner. “Here.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  I breathed in and out, trying to calm down as he reapplied my liquid liner. I really could’ve done it myself, but honestly watching his tattooed arm moving across me as he did up my eyes—this was just too amusing to stop.

  “Who needs a bridesmaid when I have you?”

  “Too bad we couldn’t call Lana. I bet she’d know how to do your makeup.”

  I snorted. “You’re gonna make me cry tears of laughter. You’ll have to do me all over again.”

  “I like the sound of that.” He placed the cap back on the liner. “There. How’s that?”

  I turned to look at myself. He’d done a pretty damn good job. Add “using the groom as a makeup artist” to the list of unconventional things about this wedding.

  Smiling at him from behind me in the mirror, I said, “You make everything better. I may have really gotten gypped in the mother department, but I got the best husband in the world.”

  “I love the sound of you calling me your husband, and I’d kiss the shit out of you right now if I didn’t care about messing you all up again.” He flipped me around and said, “Fuck it” before planting a big kiss on my lips.

  Landon and I stayed in the room alone together for the rest of the hour. He had to keep fixing my makeup because either I was crying, laughing, or he was kissing me again.

  Finally, there was a knock at the door.

  Marjorie stuck her head in. “The priest is saying it’s time.”

  He took my hand. “Are you ready?”

  Nodding, I said, “When I walk down the aisle, try to pretend like you’re seeing me for the first time.”

  “Pretend I didn’t just do your makeup? I bet I’m the only groom who can say that.”

  “You probably are.”

  He kissed me lightly on the lips, so as to really not mess up my lipstick this time. “I love you, Rana.”

  “I love you more.”

  Hand in hand, we entered the foyer of the cathedral, and for a quick moment I thought I might be seeing things.

  Beth was standing there with her hands on Lilith’s shoulders. For the first time ever, Lilith looked nervous to see me.

  “Thank God,” I could hear Landon whisper behind me.

  She was wearing a beautiful, white dress and had flowers in her hair.

  I could barely get the word out, “Hi.”

  “Do you need a flower girl?” Lilith asked.

  Walking slowly toward her, I said, “There’s only one position open for that, and it’s always only ever had your name on it.”

  “You did promise me.”

  “I did.”

  “Don’t cry,” she said. “You’ll ruin your makeup.”

  “It’s okay. I can redo it,” Landon said as everyone momentarily turned to him.

  Lilith called him out on it. “What?”

  “Never mind the makeup,” I said as I wiped my eyes and hugged her. “I don’t care about the stupid makeup.”

  Seeming a bit uncomfortable, Beth smiled. “We got stuck in traffic. We thought we would miss it.”

  Looking up at her while still embracing Lilith, I mouthed, “Thank you.”

  “Of course.” Her eyes lingered on mine as she gave me a look that only she and I could understand as two women unified in our love for this little girl.

  “I would’ve stopped the whole thing and started over for you, Lil, if you’d gotten here late.”

  She gazed up at me in admiration. “You look really pretty.”

  “So do you.”

  “This was the only white dress they had at the store. I didn’t know you were wearing beige. That figures. Anyway, I got it at Macy’s. I know that’s where my grandmother used to steal from.”

  “You read the book?”

  She blushed a little. “Yeah.”

  Beth looked at her. “We’ve read it several times.”

  My father, who’d been talking to some relatives, finally emerged. His eyes lit up when he spotted Lilith.

  She must have recognized him immediately when she said, “Hi, God.”

  Papa held out his hands then cupped her cheeks. “Lilit.” He then pulled her into a hug.

  It was the first time my father had ever held his granddaughter. I couldn’t think of a better wedding gift than to be able to witness that.

  And suddenly, I wasn’t the only one crying anymore. Landon had lost the battle against his own tears upon the sight of my father holding her.

  I asked Lilith if she wouldn’t mind walking down the aisle with Papa and me. It was another unconventional thing to add to the list.

  With my father on one side and my daughter—yes, my daughter—on the other, I made my way toward Landon that day, feeling more complete than I had in my entire life.

  LANDON

  TWO YEARS LATER

  Heaven to me was a lazy Sunday on Eastern Drive with a warm breeze. Sundays were my only days off, so I basically lived for them.

  With the Michigan summer upon us, Sundays became even sweeter. The weather was reminding me a little of California. A feeling of bittersweet nostalgia would always emerge whenever I’d think back to my days out west.

  Rana and I sat on the bench that I’d built out in front of our house. I’d constructed it so that we’d have a front and center view of all the happenings, particularly as they pertained to a certain thirteen-year-old. We watched as Lilith scooted up and down the street with one of the neighbor boys named Jayce.

  I’d love to be able to say that Lilith had fully come to terms with the fact that Rana was her birth mother, but their relationship was still a work in progress. They still very much had a big sister, little sister dynamic. I wasn’t sure that would ever change. Things were complicated as of late because as a teenager, Lilith had reached a rebellious stage. Rana was especially sensitized to every move Lilith made, determined to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble with boys.

  I’d also love to be able to say that Rana’s own mother showed up at our door and that by some miracle, they’d reunited, but that never happened and likely never would.

  And I’d especially love to be able to say that Rana and I were holding our first born on this beautiful day, but my wife suffered a miscarriage at twelve weeks—about six months after our wedding. We were devastated but vowed to keep trying without stressing out too much about it. We had faith that God would give us a baby when the time was right in the same way that he’d brought us together.

  Basically, I’d love to be able to say that everything turned out perfectly in our world, but such is life. It wasn’t perfect. But it didn’t have to be, either.

  Rana never did end up learning to drive. As much as she loved parking lots, she kept chickening out every time I tried to take her on the freeway. She also hadn’t gone back to school yet because she kept changing her mind about what she wanted to study. As of now, she continued to be a career belly dancer, which wasn’t a bad thing because honestly, she was born to shake that ass. Somebody had to do it. And I loved watching it.

  Sunday was also the day Lilith spent at our house, and lately she preferred to spend more time gallivanting around with Jayce than hanging out with us. That pissed Rana off until I reminded her that the
y were basically us at that age, doing the exact same things on the exact same pavement. We didn’t hang out with our parents, either. My understanding of that fact didn’t mean Jayce was safe from me, though. He’d face my wrath if he so much as laid a finger on her. Lilith was basically screwed with two sets of parents and a crazy grandfather constantly up in her business. Hopefully, someday she’d realize how lucky she was for that.

  Speaking of the crazy grandfather…remember the sex dungeon idea Rana and I toyed with for the garage? Yeah, that never happened because Eddie was now living in it. He’d gotten kicked out of his apartment, so we took him in. There was good and bad to that scenario. The bad? Rana and I couldn’t have sex as loud as we wanted because the man heard goddamn everything. (Couldn’t say “goddamn” either because he’d crucify me.) But we did have a kickass vegetable and flower garden happening, since he spent all of his time during the day working on the yard. The outside of our house also had more religious statues than the Vatican.

  We watched as Lilith sat on the top of the handlebars of Jayce’s bike while he wheeled her around.

  Rana didn’t take her eyes off them when she said, “You know what she asked me this morning?”

  “What?”

  “She wanted to know why she should forgive me for my mistakes when I wasn’t able to forgive my mother for hers. She wasn’t saying that I didn’t deserve her forgiveness. She was more trying to make a point, I think, that I should probably look up Shayla. I think she’s curious about her mysterious, thieving grandmother.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “I told her that forgiveness was a two-way street, that you couldn’t forgive someone who doesn’t want to be forgiven.”

  “That was a good answer, baby. Not everyone deserves to be forgiven.”

  Rana changed the subject quickly like she often did when we brought up her mother. “I think she likes him…Jayce.”

  “Don’t say that shit. I don’t want to have to hurt him, and I’m sure he wants his teeth.”

  “I’m scared he’s gonna hurt her.”

  “She’s not you. I know it’s hard to believe that sometimes, considering how similar she is to you. The same things you went through may not necessarily be her experiences. But regardless, she has to live her own life and learn her own lessons, as hard as that might be for you to accept.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “You’re right. But why couldn’t she have stayed ten forever?”

  “At least you know you’ll be able to be there for her no matter what happens. And I’ll be there to fuck up whoever messes with her.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Eddie emerged from the garage holding an apple and a knife.

  “Sup, old man,” I teased.

  He took a look at my face and said, “Why you no-shave?”

  “Rana likes me scruffy, and I like annoying you, so win-win.”

  He knew I was kidding. Getting him riled up was one of my favorite pastimes. I’d wear the man bun on occasion just to fuck with him, too. All of it was done out of love. Truthfully, Eddie had become like a second father to me, and there was nothing I wouldn’t have done for him. We also played some mean card games together when Rana worked at night.

  Lilith came skipping toward us. “Can I have some money? Jayce and I are going to the store.”

  “What do you think, I’m your bank, Sassypants?” I said, taking out my wallet.

  She stuck out her bottom lip. “Please?”

  Before I could even get my money out, Eddie was already handing her a five-dollar bill.

  “Thanks, Papa,” she said before running away.

  Rana got a kick out of the fact that Lilith had Eddie wrapped around her finger. He’d been so strict with Rana when she was growing up, but all Lilith had to do was look at him, and she’d get whatever she wanted.

  I yelled after Lilith, “Spoiled!”

  The three of us watched Lilith and Jayce leave on their bikes.

  When they were out of sight, Eddie mumbled, “I no-like this boy.”

  “You wouldn’t like any kid within three feet of her.” I chuckled.

  He nodded. “True.”

  Rana stood up and started to head into the house.

  I hollered after her, “Where are you going?”

  “I have to check something in the house. I’ll be back.”

  With Rana inside and Eddie fixated on his apple, I grabbed the Rubik’s Cube I’d been playing around with earlier.

  After about ten minutes, I hit a breakthrough where I almost had all of the sides matched. Concentrating, I turned one of the corners forward in slow motion and couldn’t believe my eyes. It finally happened. I’d finally color matched all six sides of the cube.

  “Holy shit!”

  Eddie reprimanded me. “Watch the mouth.”

  “You don’t get it! I just matched all the colors. It took me fifteen years.”

  He seemed underwhelmed.

  I had to tell Rana. Jumping off the bench, I ran inside of the house and found her in the bathroom with the door open.

  “Baby, you’re never gonna believe this, I—”

  “I’m pregnant.” She was holding a white stick.

  “What?”

  “I came inside to check the test. I had peed on it just before we went out front. I had a feeling it was going to be positive because I was late. I’m never late. I wanted to know for sure before I said anything…didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

  My body was shaking with excitement. I had no words. This was the last thing I’d expected to hear. “We’re having a baby?”

  “Yes!”

  I took her in my arms and held her. Rana felt even warmer than usual, our contact never more electric now that I knew she was carrying my flesh and blood inside of her. The miscarriage had unfortunately taken away my ability to envision our baby just yet. I wouldn’t allow myself to go there prematurely, but I couldn’t help my excitement that this had finally happened for us again.

  I whispered into her ear, “This is the happiest day of my life.”

  “Is it weird that I’m afraid to tell Papa?”

  We’d never told him about the previous pregnancy, so he never even knew we’d lost a baby. But we vowed that if it happened again, we would share it with him, because he seemed to have a direct line to the man upstairs, and Eddie’s prayers meant a lot to Rana.

  “He’s gonna be ecstatic.” I smiled. “Actually, he’s gonna make a damn good live-in babysitter, too.” There was something I’d wanted to ask her. “Hey, if it’s a boy, I was thinking of the name Brandon. B for Beverly, R for Rana and then Landon…Brandon. Do you like it?”

  “I love that. It’s brilliant. I think it has to be Brandon if it’s a boy.”

  “Unfortunately, Lana is already taken if it’s a girl.”

  She belted out in laughter. “That, it is.”

  I rubbed her stomach. “If she’s a girl, we’ll have to come up with a name for our daughter that’s as beautiful and exotic as her mother.”

  “What were you rushing in here to tell me anyway?”

  “Oh.” I reached for the Rubik’s Cube that I’d left on the sink. “I did it. I matched all the colors. But it seems pretty insignificant now.”

  “It’s a sign.” She took it and smiled. “Things are finally going our way.”

  Life definitely wasn’t perfect. But there were moments in time that absolutely were. And this was one of them.

  In many ways, our story was a lot like the Rubik’s Cube—colorful and complicated. It took years to work it out, but then suddenly like magic, on a random Sunday, everything all came together.

  Dear Readers,

  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Drunk Dial. Would you like an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek at my next co-written novel with the amazing Vi Keeland releasing on September 18, 2017? Just click to sign up for our mailing list, and you’ll receive an EXCLUSIVE look at our sexy, standalone novel, Dear Bridget, I Want You!

  Rea
d Chapter 1 of Dear Bridget, I Want You right now!

  I always say that the acknowledgements are the hardest part of the book to write and that still stands! It’s hard to put into words how thankful I am for every single reader who continues to support and promote my books. Your enthusiasm and hunger for my stories is what motivates me every day. And to all of the book bloggers who support me, I simply wouldn’t be here without you.

  To Vi – I said this last time, and I am saying it again because it holds even truer as time goes on. You’re the best friend and partner in crime that I could ask for. I couldn’t do any of this without you. Our co-written books are a gift, but the biggest blessing has always been our friendship, which came before the stories and will continue after them. (Who am I kidding? We won’t ever stop writing.)

  To Julie – Thank you for your friendship and for always inspiring me with your amazing writing, attitude, and strength. This year is going to kick ass!

  To Luna –Thank you for your love and support, day in and day out. I so look forward to your homecoming this year. Eddie’s prayers will continue to guide you all the way home. Bring on Christmas!

  To Erika – It will always be an E thing. I am so thankful for your love and friendship and support and to our special hang time in July. Thank you for always brightening my days.

  To my Facebook fan group, Penelope’s Peeps – I love you all. Your excitement motivates me every day. And to Queen Peep Amy – Thank you for serving as the Peeps admin. and for always being so good to me from the very beginning.

  To Mia – Thank you, my friend, for always making me laugh. I know you’re going to bring us some phenomenal words this year.

  To my publicist, Dani, at InkSlinger P.R. – Thank you for taking some of the weight off my shoulders and for guiding this release. It’s a pleasure working with you.

  To Elaine of Allusion Book Formatting and Publishing – Thank you for being the best proofreader, formatter, and friend a girl could ask for.

  To Letitia of RBA Designs – The best cover designer ever! Thank you for always working with me until the cover is exactly how I want it.

  To my agent extraordinaire, Kimberly Brower –Thank you for believing in me long before you were my agent, back when you were a blogger and I was a first-time author.