Heartwood (37 page)

After a couple of minutes of searching, I found Stacy at the hostess station, lecturing a waitress on the difference between sexy and sleazy. I stood behind the eagerly nodding girl with my arms folded across my chest. When Stacy dismissed her, the waitress scurried away.

She tossed her head back and arched her back as if trying to stretch to counteract her swelling belly. She looked like she had a volleyball stuffed in her shirt and was so damn cute she made me sick.

“Ugh. Some peoples’ kids! No one needs to see your thong when you’re serving them baked beans.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.” I replied. “Ready to go have some birthday cake?”

She shook her head, and her long hair tumbled around her. Without looking up from her station chart, she tapped her pen against her lips. “We’re too busy. Y’all start without me.”

“You want me to tell Eva and Logan that Aunt Stacy’s too busy for their birthday?” I laid it on thick and she sighed, wearing such a guilty expression I almost apologized.

“I suppose they can manage without me for forty five minute,” she conceded.

“Lovely.” I grinned. “We saved you seats.”

The three of us all finally made it into the side room where our private party was in full swing. Joe sat between his dad and Mason on the far side of the table. He and his dad looked chummy, and the recent way Joe had opened up to him touched me. I wasn’t sure of the details, but I knew James had a lot to do with our salvation. I hoped they’d continue to rebuild their relationship, since it was obvious to me that Joe had a gaping hole in his heart where his father should have been.

Joe bounced our big boy on his knee, and Logan seemed completely contented hanging close to Daddy while the other kids ran around like animals. I noticed Logan had his blankie clutched in one hand and was eating a piece of birthday cake with the other. Blue frosting covered his chubby face and I just shook my head and sighed. Joe spoiled those two rotten, and you can bet he’d be taking them to the dentist when the time came to fill all their cavities.

Mac sat across from Joe with his arm around Kelly. He was telling a story that had the entire table engaged in uproarious laughter. Kelly looked up at him as he spoke as if she hung off his every word. The two of them had been in particularly good spirits all night. I wondered if they planned to move in together soon. With Francis shacking up in the widow Campbell’s boat house, Mac was practically living above Joe’s shop on nights he didn’t have Malcom Jr. anyway.

“There you are!” Kelly spotted me, her brown eyes sparkling. “We’ve been waiting on you to start presents.”

“‘Bout time, baby.” Joe stood and tossed Logan over his shoulder, fireman style. Logan giggled maniacally, and I shook my head.

“If he throws up, it’s on you,” I stated.

Joe looked over his shoulder at Logan.

“Literally.” He quipped, and I couldn’t help but laugh at his joyous expression. He flipped Logan around into his arms so that he could hold him properly, kissing his frosting covered face. Logan looked over at me and grinned with teeth the shade of blue jeans.

“Mama!” He called, as if I’d been lost at sea and he thought he’d never see me again. He held out his arms for me. “Pwesens!”

“You think we should open presents?” I asked in an overly excited voice. As a quick aside to Joe, I muttered. “Grab the wipes and I’ll go round up the birthday girl.”

“Eeeeva!” Joe called playfully over the roar of the crowd. I spied my little girl’s bouncing blonde curls as I neared the far end of the table. She was playing some version of tag with Jamie. Eva spotted me and her hazel eyes flew wide like a teenager who’d spotted a patrol car outside a kegger. She squealed and hurried away, disappearing around the corner by the restrooms with her cousin Jamie trailing close behind.

No longer amused, I barked out in a much sterner voice. “Eva Rose!”

“Damn, girl! You sounded just like mom right there.” Mason’s wry smirk inspired me to slap him playfully on the back of the head.

“Shit.” He complained, rubbing the back of his Bruce Willis style-buzz cut. “You hit just like her, too.”

“That’s not true. If I’d have hit you, you’d be lyin’ on the floor.” Mom gestured with her fork from her place at the head of the table. Joe snickered and I pointed to Logan, who was reaching out for Mason’s beer bottle. He snagged it in his tiny hands and lifted it like he was going to take a swig. With lightning reflexes, Joe snagged it away.

“Not for a few more years, son.” He deadpanned. “You’re two years old, not twenty one.”

We gathered around and Kelly handed me the first present. A glimmer caught my attention and I shoved the gift at Joe and jumped to my feet.

“Kelly!” I exclaimed. “What’s that shiny rock on your finger?”

She froze like a deer in headlights and Robin and my mother gasped.

“We didn’t want to steal your thunder, kid.” Mac drawled, taking Kelly’s hand. He was glowing suddenly, and as Kelly nuzzled him, she looked positively radiant. “I asked her to marry me last night.”

There were a few minutes of pandemonium, and Sanchez took off to check the bar for champagne. Everyone was on their feet hugging and jockeying for position to congratulate the happy couple. I saw Joe shake Mac’s hand and Mac pulled him in to whisper something. Joe nodded and flashed him a dazzling smile.

I was overwhelmed with love for him in that moment, and I glanced down at my own wedding rings. As I admired them, I couldn’t ignore the scratches on my band. Joe had offered to buy me a new one or have them polished out, but I refused. Like the scar on his temple, it served as a reminder of what we’d endured. I wore it like a badge of my private victory, and didn’t see ever fixing it.

The fervor had finally died down, and we’d just started opening gifts when Lisa and Jay arrived. They looked a bit frazzled, muttering about traffic as I handed them drinks. Joe wandered up and gave them a hard time about being fashionably late, and Lisa cocked a sassy eyebrow at him.

“Don’t get testy just because you have a facial disfigurement and now you have to come down and rub elbows with the rest of the common folk, Joe.” She replied. There was a pause as it sunk in to everyone present that she’d just joked about the two inch scar that was the only visible evidence of his altercation with Draven. Jay and I exchanged bemused glances. Knowing Lisa like we did, we expected nothing less.

“I still think you’re hot, Joe.” Granny called out from the far end of the table, breaking the awkward silence. Moments later everyone was laughing.

IT TOOK ME three trips to carry in all the toys Logan and Eva scored at the party. Meanwhile, Molly carried in both twins one at a time, which was no easy feat as they were both fast asleep and totally dead weight.

“Is that everything?” I asked, but she shook her head.

“Blankie.” She mouthed, cradling Logan closer. As I ran out to grab his blankie from the car seat, I ruminated about a recent conversation Molly and I’d had regarding our son. Eva was already completely potty trained, but Logan showed no interest. Though Robin assured us that girls are easier to train that boys, we were still apprehensive. We understood that a lot of kids weren’t potty trained by age two, but to see such a marked difference in interest raised red flags. In addition, Logan couldn’t sleep without his blankie, and sometimes woke screaming as if he had night terrors. He was such a sweet and happy kid during daylight hours, Molly had serious concerns that all that time alone in Draven’s funhouse had permanently traumatized him.

We discussed it with our pediatrician, and she assured us that children were very resilient and the Logan would have no memory of the brief event since he was so young. I know this didn’t totally alleviate Molly’s fears, but she told me she chose to believe the doctor was right. Logan was such an easy going, happy boy, I wanted to believe it as well.

As for my wife, the countless hours she’d spent with Dr. Greene had been invaluable. She’d started a daily medication for depression shortly after our breakthrough, but she wanted to wean off of it now. Our couple’s counseling really helped us identify some destructive patterns and we’d both committed fully to doing the work.

When we showed up at our first appointment hand in hand, Dr. Greene seemed thrilled.

“You two deserve better than this. It was an unfair blow to suffer period, but so early in your marriage...” He shook his head and his eyes were sympathetic. I could tell he’d been thinking about Molly’s story, and it disturbed him.

“Enough with the sad eyes, doc.” I sighed, having had my fill of that for a lifetime before Molly and I were even an item. “We need help, not pity.”

So we talked. We worked. We went when we were sick, too busy, or weren’t in the mood. We went when we were feeling great and wondering if it was necessary. Dr. Greene praised our efforts, and eventually he’d scaled us back to bi-monthly appointments. Very recently, we’d been instructed to make all appointments monthly check-ins. We were excited by the development, and hoped to use the free time for a regular date night.

I had date night on the brain when I entered Logan’s room. I came to a sudden stop clutching his tattered yellow blankie in my hand. I watched as Molly paced slowly with him, humming a lullaby. Seeing her with him that way, reminded me of the eery dream I’d had while they were missing. I’d forgotten all about it until that moment. I remembered Jess being in the dream and tried to recall what she’d said to me.

It’s not your fault.

I nodded to myself as if I’d just solved some great riddle. None of it was my fault. It wasn’t Molly’s either. We’d both been to hell and back a few times. And we might hit rough patches in the future. But as I watched her gently lay our son in his toddler bed, I knew with unwavering certainty that we were going to be okay. No matter what lay ahead of us I was with the girl I was meant to be with.

She crept in my direction and we left his room together. As we crossed the living room in the direction of the kitchen, we glanced around at all the gift bags and boxes.

“We’re gonna need a bigger house.” She joked, her bright smile inspiring me to touch her.

I stopped, wrapping my arms around her waist and pressing my forehead to hers.

“Still love me even though I have facial disfigurement?” I couldn’t get the question out without a small chuckle.

“You’re as handsome as ever. Just ask my grandmother.” She joked, but when she saw my expression waver, she seemed to realize that I was genuinely concerned.

Backing me up against the pantry door, she traced her thumb over the scar. She followed it up by pulling my face down so she could graze the scar with her lips.

“Joe...there is nothing sexier than this scar.” She replied, her eyes boring relentlessly into mine. “Every time I look at you it reminds me just how far you’ll go for me and the kids.”

I accepted the kisses she showered me with and gripped her tightly against me. Our tongues danced, and when we broke away from the kiss, our breathing was labored. I pulled her against my chest, wondering if she could hear my hammering heart. I hoped so, since every inch of it belonged to her.