Croc's Return (3 page)

However, she did long for the day that she could tell Benny at the supermarket to take his job as a cashier and shove it in a very nasty spot. As for her nighttime waitressing, despite the late hours, that job she enjoyed, even if some nights her ass was slapped a few too many times for her liking. At least those nights meant good tips.

Renny snuck up behind her best friend, counting on the chortles from the twins to hide her approach.

Then she made Melanie jump. “Having fun again, are we? And yet you’re thinking of popping the third?”

Visibly jarred, Melanie whirled. “Dammit, Renny, don’t sneak up on me like that. I think I just wet myself.”

The twins took that moment to listen to their mother, and their mouths made the roundest O of surprise, but not for long before they went into spasms of giggles, Rory chortling, “Mommy peed her pants.” A pause then a yell from Tatum, “Again.”

Melanie glared at her brood. “It’s a good thing you’re cute or else...”

Before anyone could think Melanie was a witch of a mother, it should be noted that she doted on those boys, and while she did mock-threaten them, she was the first to encourage them to explore the world. In other words, climb. Just not the furniture in the house. Her poor curtain rods couldn’t handle any more abuse.

“Tickle monster attack!” Melanie yelled before diving at her boys. They scattered, high-pitched squeals along with the thump of bare feet on wood floors. Her friend wiped her arm across her forehead. “Whew. Those two are way too full of piss and vinegar today.”

“A little wound up, were they?”

“More like unhinged,” Melanie grumbled. “Must mean a storm is coming.”

“When isn’t a storm coming?”

“Good point. Given the silence, I’ve only got another minute or two before I need to hunt them down. The last time they disappeared for more than five minutes and were quiet, they slathered hand soap in the hallway and were using it as a slip and slide.”

The antics of Rory and Tatum never failed to entertain. Luke didn’t tend to such wildness, although, of late, his moods were more erratic. “How was Luke today?” Renny asked before kneeling by her son. He pointedly ignored her, the crayon dropped on the table so that he could thumb his Nintendo DS. He loved that toy, which made the scrimping she’d done to get it for him for Christmas worthwhile. But while he loved the game, it was now also a weapon he used to shut her out.

Ever since he’d begun school, her son had changed. Her shy and cuddly son now no longer wanted her to hold his hand in public, and he no longer crawled into her lap for stories.

He’s only four.
So young, and yet very much his own person. A little man without the guidance of a father, something he’d only begun to notice.

His immersion in the big wide world of the public school system meant he got to see how the world worked. How other families lived. Not quite five years old, but perceptive for his age, he’d finally asked her not long ago the one question she never wanted to answer.

“Who’s my daddy?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Luke had fixed her with a stare. “Other kids have a daddy. Who’s mine?”

Did a no-good jerk who’d taken off and never looked back count? What about a guy who couldn’t run away fast enough, breaking her heart while, at the same time, leaving her the biggest trial and treasure of all?

A son.

A son who had resorted to the silent treatment when she copped out and said, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Weak. So weak.

Parenting fail, and yet telling him the truth now would not change anything.

For all intents and purpose, Luke’s daddy was—

“Did you hear? Caleb’s back in town.”

Crouching didn’t prevent the words from shaking her balance. Renny wobbled as she sucked in a sharp breath. Did something of her shock show in her features? Something must have because Luke finally deigned to look at her and asked, “What’s wrong, Mommy?”

Wrong? Nothing. She didn’t care what Caleb did. “Nothing is wrong...” She paused before saying baby. Last time she’d used the endearment, Luke was none too pleased. All part and parcel of him growing up. She could remember hating it when her dad called her drools. Only to wish he’d kept calling her that later in life. The time before her mother’s death, before the drinking and the finding of God, were the years she tried to remember. Not what Daddy became after.

Renny realized her son was staring at her, having noticed she’d lost her train of thought. She quickly gathered herself. “I’m hungry, bug, are you? And since I won’t have time to really cook supper for us tonight, what do you say we hit Bayou’s Bite for a bucket of shrimp and fries before we go home?”

“You just wanna go home so you can leave me with Wanda.” His lower lip jutted in a pout.

Way to slather on the guilt.
No need, baby. The guilt’s always there.
She pinched her son’s chin gently. “Sorry. I know I’ve been working a lot of hours lately. As soon as they hire some more people, I will have more time to spend with you.” The promise she feared breaking only served to increase the guilt that gnawed at her, a nagging self-doubt that Melanie had been playing lately.

Her friend would never say anything in front of the kids, but Melanie’s eyes clearly reminded Renny of the talk they’d had recently, given the bills were arriving bigger and faster than her paychecks. Broken muffler. Then a tire. The stove that died. Clothes and shoes for Luke. He was outgrowing things so quickly.

“You should go after him for child support,” Melanie had said to her on the phone just last week. “He owes it to you.”

“Caleb made it clear he wanted nothing to do with our baby.” The jerk couldn’t even be bothered to reply to her letters. She wasn’t going to beg him or his family.

“You have to admit that doesn’t sound like the Caleb we know.”

Yeah, well, the Caleb she knew wouldn’t have just decided one day to abandon family, home, and girlfriend to join the army with barely any notice, just a text message saying,
I enlisted. Don’t wait for me
.

As breakups went, it had sucked.

And now Mr. Jerky-Pants was back, and she really didn’t care. Now, could her foolish heart stop its ridiculous little flutter?

“What are you doing this weekend?” Renny asked as she watched Luke put on his shoes. God forbid she should offer to help. The little boy disdain was so clear, but her heart broke every time he said, “I can do this by myself.”

“Doing?” Scrunching her nose, Melanie made a moue of distaste. “Andrew is making me go to some kind of corporate picnic they’re having in the Glades behind the institute. As junior VP, he has to be there, which means, as his wife, I have to go. And wear a bra!” The travesty.

“Sounds like fun.”

“Don’t mock me. You know how I hate the swamp.” Melanie’s lips turned down. “The humidity kills my hair. An hour spent straightening it so it can turn into a giant fuzzball the moment I set foot in the bayou.”

“I like your frizz.”

This time, Renny earned the glare. “You shut your mouth, girl with the perfect, straight blonde hair. I swear, you could be outside in a hurricane and you still wouldn’t need a brush. I hate you.”

Wearing a smirk, Renny flipped her ponytail. “I hate you, too, and yet I’d still trade in a heartbeat. Although, I will warn you that the saying is false. Blondes do not have more fun.” She grimaced.

“Only because someone won’t get someone to do something so she can have a life and do, you know, other someones.” Melanie arched her brow as she referenced things obliquely.

Renny’s mature reply was to stick her tongue out.

Having caught the final act, Luke sighed and, with a very put-out voice, said, “Mom. That is so immature.”

She blinked at him then looked at Melanie. “Isn’t he too young to use that tone with me? And that word? Who taught him a word like immature?”

“I blame YouTube,” Melanie said. “It is the root of all evil and that rude fruit show.” Renny went to step out, but Melanie leaned out after her and said, “Hey, so you didn’t say what you were doing this weekend. If you’re bored tomorrow, feel free to come to the picnic. I could use moral support.”

“I thought those were called mint juleps.”

“No drinking allowed.” Melanie rubbed her belly.

“Are you…?”

“Not yet. But we’re trying. I just went through my rounds of testing at the institute, and we’ll be starting fertility treatments soon.”

Opposite breeds in the shifter world had a harder time producing offspring than the same kind. With Melanie’s inner animal being a panther, and her husband a bear—even if a poor excuse for one—they needed all the help they could get. However, because they had to keep their secret, just going to a regular doctor was out of the question. Lucky for Melanie, part of Bittech’s purpose was to help shifters with medical conditions under the guise of pharmaceutical testing of the natural ingredients found in the bayou.

“Are you sure you’re ready for a third one?” Renny asked softly. She knew things weren’t exactly great between her best friend and her husband.

A moue twisted Melanie’s lips. “I love being a mom. Although, I wish Andrew was more keen on being a dad. Don’t get me wrong, though, he loves the boys.” Said a touch more brightly than necessary.

Trying to convince Renny or herself?

Now wasn’t the time to push. She’d wait until they could spend a few hours together killing a carton of cookie dough ice cream and listing all the faults with men. “Well, I hope you get pregnant, just so I can enjoy the desserts.” A pregnant Melanie was a sweets craving and cooking one. As her best friend, Renny got to taste and take home many of the results.

“I’m going for a girl this time. A pair, if we’re lucky, to make sure the numbers are even. Get off the kitchen counter. No more cookies!” she bellowed. Turning a sweet smile on Renny, Melanie, who possessed some kind of satanic blood to switch personas so quickly, asked, “So will you come tomorrow as my plus one?”

“I have a pile of laundry to do. And groceries. And…”

“And this is why your life is so boring. Stop being so damned responsible for once and do something fun.”

“I’ll think about it.” Although Renny wasn’t sure a company picnic was her type of fun. Besides, Melanie had an ulterior motive. An extra set of legs to hunt her precious imps down.

Speaking of whom…

Matching mischievous faces peeked and waved goodbye from between their mother’s legs.

Renny blew them kisses, and they recoiled with harmonized, “Eews!”

To more shouted threats of “Don’t you dare lock the bathroom door,” Renny left with her son.

While Luke could open the car door and get into his booster himself, even buckle it, she still supervised. Surely this much autonomy for this age was wrong.

With her son safely strapped into his booster, she got behind the wheel of her older model car, something that came off the production line more than ten years ago. As she drove the road home by rote, she reflected.
Maybe I should take Luke to the picnic instead of the laundromat tomorrow.

The free food at the picnic and the entertainment value might make up for the fact that she’d have to do the laundry one of her free nights the following week. At least for groceries, she could take Luke on Sunday. He liked it when she raced the cart down the aisles and then jerked to a halt before anyone caught them. Every time, he would fiendishly giggle as she emerged from the aisle looking prim and proper.

Or at least he used to. Her son didn’t giggle so much anymore.

Not since she’d started working all those extra shifts and ignored the question in his eyes.

Hard to avoid him when you lived in a space that was only a few hundred square feet. Luke had the bedroom while she got to sleep on the couch. But it should be noted it was a damned comfortable couch.

Space wasn’t the only issue. The apartment she and Luke called home wasn’t exactly awash in amenities—a tiny electric stovetop, but no oven, a small fridge, and a single sink for dishes, but it was theirs, clean, and, best of all, affordable.

Because no way am I asking Caleb for money.

Her pride wouldn’t let her beg that way.

However, looking over at Luke’s short-cropped brown hair, she had to wonder.
Is my pride more important than my son?

The music thumped, strong enough to vibrate against the skin, a hard bass beat, and that was all that was really needed for the girl up on stage to strut her stuff. Leaning back in his seat, Caleb eyed the dancer’s red leather boots. They looked new and still gleamed with that store-bought shine. Genuine pleather, unlike his snakeskin boots. Authentic skin, he might add. One of the few mementos Caleb had brought back from his time overseas.

The woman on stage wore a minimal amount of clothing. Actually, at this point in her routine, all she had left other than her boots was her thong. Less panty than a tiny scrap of fabric just enough to cover her shaven mound. As for her breasts, they shook and shimmied to the beat as she gyrated, still wearing a flirtatious smile.

For a moment, her gaze strayed to Caleb and then locked. He saw her eyes widen in recognition. She shot him a come-hither smile and a quick-winked invitation.

Cute, but not his type, and that was without even knowing who the hell she was.

As Caleb turned away to see what else was happening in the strip club, Daryl nudged him. “Would you believe that’s Bobby’s little sister?”

“Fuck off. That’s Hilary? Damn. Last time I saw her she was wearing braces and Bobby’s old football jerseys.”

“She grew up while you were gone. Hell, you should see my own sister. She’s Miss Melly Homemaker now. She’s even talking about popping kiddo number three.”

“Damn, she’s got kids?” Last time Caleb had seen Melanie, she was in her last year of high school. “Is your sister still with what’s-his-name? That dude whose dad owns that big ass company in the area. Some kind of bio-medical research lab.”

“Andrew? Yup. He’s now a CEO with the company. Making good dough, too. My sister is living in that new swanky subdivision just outside of Bitten Point.”