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“Excuse me, do you and I need to have another talk this morning? Neither of us know it’s Dad. What would happen if I opened the door, and it wasn’t a nice person? It’d be putting both of us in danger. Waiting one more minute longer isn’t going to hurt you or Dad. In fact, he’d be thankful.” Von does not like what I’m saying. He’s huffing and puffing. Oh, the joys of parenthood.
“This is stupid,” he smarts off. Yep, now I get to be the bad guy. I love this for me.
“Couch, now. We’ll talk when you can use nice words, and the pool can wait until you apologize.” I take a deep breath and close my eyes, praying for some kind of calm and guidance. When I open them, Von is sitting on the couch, legs swinging, arms crossed over his chest, attitude in full effect.
I look through the peephole. Sure enough, it’s Mace. That isn’t always the case, and while we live in a relatively safe neighborhood, bad things can happen to good people. I open the door and step outside, closing the door behind me.
“Rough morning, I take it?” Mace asks, stepping closer. His lips touch mine, once, twice, and by the third time, I give him all of my weight. My hands wrap around his waist, and I kiss him like he’s my lifeline, when in all actuality that’s exactly what Mace is. “I’m assuming you heard?” I ask, my head going to his chest, placing my ear over his heart and resting it there.
“Oh, boy, did I ever. I’ve got a good feeling he’s trying to push your buttons to get what he wants. Von’s going to have to learn that we’re a team. You want to handle this together?” He kisses the crown of my head before we pull apart.
“I think that would be best. He’s not usually like this.” We both know that’s the case; I feel like it needs to be said just the same.
“I know that. Let’s go take care of our boy, siren. Then why don’t you grab one of your books, sit your pretty self on the porch, and watch your guys?” He winks. It’s a great idea and one I’ll probably take.
“Alright. Fingers crossed he’s thought about his actions.” Mace opens the door for me, following close behind me. When we make it to the living room, Von stands up immediately, a completely different kid than he was just a few moments ago.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. I’ll do better next time.” You’d never guess he’s still in day care, only because his birthday is later in the year, so we still have to wait for Kindergarten the following year, but the intelligence factor and the way he talks put him at an age group that I ever thought possible.
“Thank you. I appreciate the apology, Von.” I walk towards him, dropping to my knees, and his little body wraps around mine to give me a hug. “Go say hi to your dad, okay? And have a good time at the pool. I know you’ve missed him.” I kiss his cheek. He gives me one right back, and then he’s running towards Mace.
“You’ve done a great job with him,” Mace mouths over the top of Von’s head, not letting him hear the words, and as much as I’d like to take full responsibility in raising our son, Mace had a hand in it before shit went to hell, and so have our parents and friends.
“Thanks,” I respond in the same way. The two of them break apart. Von picks up his bag and stops by my side one last time, hand going to mine. “Love you, Mom. See ya later, alligator.”
“Love you. After a while, crocodile,” I reply.
Mace’s eyes cut to mine, he nods, then looks over my shoulder towards the porch. No words need to be spoken. In his own little way, he’s not asking for me to take time to relax; he’s telling me to, and I’m going to do exactly that.
NINETEEN
Mace
It’s been a Monday,that’s for sure, coming off a fucking spectacular weekend that ended with a Sunday night sitting at Tyra’s table after she made dinner and offered an invitation for me to join them. I wasn’t an idiot. I took the invite, ate with my family, cleaned up the kitchen along with the dishes, and had Von help me. It was a great two days, even when Von had an off moment, one that didn’t last long, and I didn’t delve deeper because Tyra handled it like the amazing mother she is. All I did was reiterate that even if we think we know the person, we’ve always got to be aware of our surroundings because at the end of the day, our safety is important. After that, we slathered our bodies in sunscreen, waited for it to dry, and laid out our towels on a table with an umbrella. I wasn’t sure how long Von would last out in the sun after having a busy start to the weekend at my parents’. So, if he needed a break, at least this way, he’d be out of the sun for a little while. My main goal for yesterday was to spend some much-needed guy time with Von and give Tyra a break. From the glances she and I exchanged, it looked like that’s exactly what happened.
Today is a different story. It was time to right some wrongs, and that’s what I did as soon as my meetings were over this morning. One being with an insurance company, giving me the bad news that it would take thirty days to get everything up and running. The other was good news. My partner was there today, giving me the news that we had a few future employees to interview. That leads me to now, standing in front of Celeste’s place that she shares with Wylder Hayes, the man who’s helped my son when I was too busy being a dumbass. This is after stopping at Tyra’s parents’ house, apologizing and letting them both know I was doing everything in my power to repair our broken marriage as well as family. At first, I thought her mom was going to smack me silly. She didn’t, though, pulling me in for a hug and telling me, “I knew you had it in you.” Tyra’s dad gave me the look then stated, “You mess up with my daughter and grandson again, good guy or not, I know a few guys who wouldn’t mind helping me bury you in a shallow grave.” He shook my hand. All was said and done.
“Jesus, Mace, don’t just stand there and not knock. Come in,” Celeste states, opening the door just as I was about to do what she accuses me of not doing.
“Hey, Celeste, thanks for making the time to see me.” her husband, Wylder, comes up behind her, placing his hand on his hip.
“Mace, this is my husband, Wylde.” I hold my hand out to shake his. He sizes me up, not that I blame him. I’ve got a lot of repairing to do, and I know this is one of the many.
“Nice to meet you,” I say. He shakes my hand, squeezing it in his grasp. I’m not an idiot. A handshake says a lot about a man, and I’m not going to be a pussy about it, so I make sure nothing is written across my face and do the same right back to him.
“Likewise. I’m off to work, unless you need me to stay?” he asks Celeste as the two of them back up to let me inside. I don’t move, though, feeling like an intruder in the conversation they’re having without words. I’m glad Celeste found something like Tyra and I once had. I just hope like hell Wylde doesn’t screw up like I did.
“I’m fine. I’ll see you later. Drive safe.” I avert my eyes while they wrap it up, looking at the skyline of Nevada over their shoulders.
“See you soon.” My gaze sweeps back to them. “Mace, hope you know you got a woman who is willing to forgive you, but man to man, I wouldn’t let that woman go.”
“I’m not planning on it, not ever again,” I tell him.
“Good, I’ll see you around, then.” He walks out of the penthouse, in a suit, custom-tailored like my own. The one downfall of being an attorney is the clothes you’re expected to wear. That’s going to change once my law firm is open and ready. If you’re not seeing clients, then wearing something casual will definitely happen.
“Mace, it’s good to see you. Do you want anything to drink, food?” Celeste asks. I make my way inside, following her to the kitchen, where she moves towards the fridge.
“Thanks, it’s good to see you too, and I don’t need anything. I appreciate you taking my call and making time for me on your day off.” That’s how it works at the spa Celeste owns. The days Tyra has off, Celeste is there, and vice versa. I know there was a mention of going in as partners at one point in time, but I’m pretty sure it was around the time shit hit the fan with our divorce, and Tyra didn’t want to commit to it when she wasn’t sure where things were going to land.
