Like Slow Sweet Molasses (29 page)

“She’s
at the loft.” Chance added for his aunt’s benefit, “I’ll get them settled in
and come back here to spend the night.” He watched Kelsy’s face fall. “Get your
jacket. Let’s go.”

Chapter Eighteen

Chance
was willing to go to any lengths to make his daughter happy, but, excluding
Angela from his life and sleeping in the same house with her mother weren’t
going to happen. He buzzed the garage door open bringing the car to a stop as
the door dropped behind them. Kelsy was out like a shot and dashing upstairs.
He remained in his seat cursing the gods that conspired against him. When he
left his vehicle, he did so with very little in the way of spirit to climb his
way up. His ex-lounged comfortably in his chair, dressed or undressed,
depending on the point of view, in one of his tee-shirts. Their idol
worshipping daughter sat at her feet like she bowed before a goddess.

“Make
yourself at home,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What?”
Tina asked, sparing him a look. “Did you say something?”

“Mom,”
Kelsy attempted to commandeer the conversation.

“Yes,”
he intruded. “We need to talk.”

“I
bet you never had fried turkey,” she continued excitedly. “Dad fried one today.
Talking about de-lish.”

“About
Kelsy.”

“Hey,
I speak English, you know.”

Tina
uncurled. “Kelsy’s earned a punishment.” She unseated her daughter to pull the
ottoman over and extended her long legs across the soft leather. “We could cut
her allowance. Or ground her.” She toyed with them both. “On second thought, I
vote to take her cell away. That would get her attention.”

“Mom,
please.”

Chance’s
observations summed up the threats as a game regularly played. “This is
serious, Tina. Our daughter ran away from home…cross country to be exact…on a
whim.” He sat on the sofa where he monitored everything.

“Oh,
Brock, really. She wanted to see you, that’s all. To spend extra time with her
father.”

“At
the risk of her life, Tina. Wake up. That stunt was dangerous. We’re lucky it
ended the way it did,” he scolded.

“It’s
called spontaneity,” she corrected. “Something you never had.”

He
gauged his temper and chose his words carefully. “I’ll not do this in front of
Kelsy, Tina. Your idea of a parental conversation and mine are at odds.” He
leaped to his feet. “I’ll leave you two for the night. I see you’ve already
imposed yourself in my territory.”

“Always
the same. Running away from controversy, Brock,” she accused. “Where are you
off to tonight?”

“Probably
Angela’s,” Kelsy arraigned.

“I’ll
be at Aunt Belle’s.” Pointedly to his daughter, “Watch your mouth, young lady.”

“Angela?
She must be special to have her own jar of jelly in the refrigerator.”

Chance
winced.

“Hit
a nerve, I see.”

“Angela’s
none of your business, Tina.” He warned, “She is not a subject open to
discussion with you.”

Kelsy
blurted, “She’s black, Mom.”

For
once, he saw the words slapped right out of his ex-wife’s mouth. She was
speechless. But, not for long.

“A
petite, hourglass-figured somebody? Almond-shaped eyes that spangle when
insulted? Drives an old heap,” she finished her description. “Is that Angela?”

Chance’s
heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach. Yet, he held his tongue.

Tina
relished the job of jabbing him. “Came by earlier today. Wanted to know if you
were home.” She scooted to the chair’s edge, stood near him, reached up and
ruffled the hair on his head. “I told her you were…” she watched his temper
rise, “unavailable.”

Chance
took several steps around her giving her the once over and headed towards his
bedroom. He drew up, thinking better about packing his satchel in anger. The
last thing he wanted was to hurt his daughter’s feelings. She was destined to
misconstrue the reasons with unfounded suppositions of her own. His meager
belongings already at Aunt Belle’s would have to do.

In
a fatherly move, he hugged Kelsy close, kissed her cheek and started to the
door.

“Dad?”
she called cautiously. He turned. “I love you.”

Chance
backtracked. “I love you, too.” He smoothed dyed black hair from her face remembering
her bouncy red curls of childhood. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tina disrespected
his feelings enough times for him to know the short fuse burned quickly. She
was the mother of his child. “I’ll lock up when I leave.”

“We’re
leaving tomorrow.” Tina’s voice stopped him on the stairs.

“Our
time isn’t over, Tina. School doesn’t start until Monday,” he reasoned.

Kelsy
looked from her father to her mother. “Dad’s bringing me back on Saturday,
Mom.”

He
supported her statement. “I’ve already purchased the airline tickets.”

“I
came to get my daughter,” she worked up to a rant. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“You’re
upset, Tina,” he cajoled. “Sleep on it and we’ll talk tomorrow.” He eased the
rest of the way down the stairs, checked the security of his concealed room and
left the warehouse with one destination in mind.

Angela’s
drowsy eyes popped open to the sounds of branches brushing her bedroom window.
His voice drove home the point—he wanted in and—Chance wouldn’t give up until
that happened. She sat up to put the current happenings in perspective. His
mission was to gain access to her home. Well, she wouldn’t let him into her
heart ever again.

“Angela.”
The undertone sounded desperate. The window above his head rose. “Let me in.”

She
heard a plea wrapped in a command. Then he said the wrong thing.

“I
need you.”

“Oh,
I’ll let you in alright.”

She
shuffled into her robe, straightened her spine for the fight and charged to the
door. He was there waiting when the locks turned. Angela stepped aside and he
entered only as far as she leaned on the door. Quietly, the door shut them in.
They stood in a muted beam of light from outside that spread through the glass
insert. As a precaution to him getting the wrong impression, she bundled the
folds of her robe in front of her chest.

Chance
had to test the waters. He moved one step closer for an unresponsive kiss to
her unyielding lips. Her hands never let go of the fabric of her robe. That
didn’t deter him and the pressure he applied as he closed in on her body caused
a tender moan to escape. “I’m prepared this time.”

The
words were glacier water encasing her entire body. Never uttering a sound,
Angela snatched open the door as wide was it could go. Chance wrestled it
closed, forcing her hand. “I’m through with you.”

“No,
you’re not,” he contradicted. “You love me and you’re angry
at
me. But,
you’re not through
with
me.”

“I
don’t feel well enough to play this game, Chance.”

“Even
in the darkness I know your signs, Angel. You want me as much as I want you.”

“I
want you…to leave.”

“All
you have to do is ask the question, Angela. I’ll give you an honest answer.” He
traced her lips with his finger.

“I
don’t believe you know the definition of the word.” Her resolve broke down. “I
won’t go through this again. I promised myself I wouldn’t.”

“I’m
not your former husband, Angela. I didn’t cheat on you.” Her body lost a little
of its iciness.

Angela’s
ears heard what he said. Regrettably, her heart denounced his words. “I saw
what I saw.”

His
mouth was next to her ear. “I heard what you saw and also saw the same myself.
Now, let me tell you what you really saw.”

“Are
you telling me…” she breathed short, shallow breaths. “…I didn’t see a gorgeous
half-dressed woman in your place?”

“No,
that’s not what I’m saying,” he objected. “I’m saying you saw my ex-wife who
made a surprise visit to collect Kelsy. It’s the holiday and the hotels are
booked.”

“It
appeared to me she wanted to collect more than Kelsy.” Angela broke his hold.
“It’s not worth the trouble, Chance. I won’t have anyone with an appetite for
rebound affection from an ex turning to me for dessert.”

“Angela.”
He brushed her arms with feathery touches. “Yours is the only affection I want.
I wasn’t home when you came by. I dropped her off and left. Did you know that?”

“No,”
she uttered surprised. “Unavailable is what I was told.”

“I’ve
been unavailable to her for years.” He kissed her again, feeling her ice maiden
persona melting against him. “I love you and although dessert sounds good—I
want the full course meal.”

“It’s
not the right time, Chance.” She rebuffed his advances.

His
hands coerced her to close the distance between them by roaming from her neck
down to her buttocks. “It’s time, Angel. You can feel that it is.”

Her
forehead butted his solid chest. “I need more time, Chance.” She had a couple
of issues—one shameful enough to sanction her refusal. The other weighed in due
to her physical incapacitation because of the procedure.

“Your
body says otherwise.” His assault persisted. “Give me what we both want. Let me
love you tonight, Angela.”

“There’s
something you must know if I consent to this.”

His
heart quickened for he thought it meant an admission of her guilt.

“I’ve
not been intimate with anyone since my divorce,” she confessed.

“I
know you’re kidding.”
How about this last week?

“Are
you calling me a liar?”

He
measured his response to her question. “Things have come full circle, Angel.
It’s your turn to be honest.”

“You
are accusing me of fabricating the truth?” She still rested fully on his body
and was well aware of the deflating aspect of his posture.

“You
and I both know you weren’t in Chicago over the last few days. The only thing I
don’t know is…who were you with?”

A
chill caused Angela’s body to shudder violently. She knew what caused the
seizure-like shakes and kept mum when he quickly found the switch to flood the
room with light. Hugging her upper body tightly simply made her trembles more
pronounced. Little by little, the shaking subsided enough for her to meet his
alarmed eyes. “Let yourself out.” Her gait straddled the aisle to the stairs as
she left him openmouthed. “I’m going back to bed. Alone.”

Chance
pounced with the speed of an agile cat. “What the crap just happened, Angela?”

“Nothing
really,” her teeth chattered as she spoke, “if you overlook being accused of
having a tryst by the man who claims to love you.” She endured his examination
as he walked around her, closely inspecting her features and could no longer
meet his eyes when he paused to stare into her face. “I can’t stand this,
Chance. Please…leave me alone.”

“Are
you ill?”

“You
know,” she said. “I actually began to think loving again was a good thing for
me. Letting go of the past to stake my claim on the future.” Sadly, she added,
“I was a fool to allow anyone to get this close again.”

He
used the back of his hand to test her forehead. “You don’t feel hot. Maybe,
just a little warm.”

“It’s
nothing, Chance. Probably coming down with the flu. You’d better leave before
you catch it. You wouldn’t want to contaminate your family with the bug.” Her
fingers melted to the front of her robe.

“I’ll
help you upstairs.” He went to brace her body against his only to receive the
cold shoulder treatment. Angered, now, he challenged, “You want to continue
this discussion? Alright. When I spoke to you the Friday I left to get Kelsy, I
overhead a male voice ask you a question. You passed the exchange off on a
passerby. I know that wasn’t the truth.”

A
strangled laugh sounded, the strident vibration foreign to her ears. “A male
voice in the vicinity and I’m a whore?”

“Angela,
I didn’t call you that,” he countered. “I just want the truth from you. Where
were you? And with whom?”

“You
are not my keeper or my warden. I come and go as I please.”

Her
flippant answer riled him. “No. I’m no one deserving of your faithfulness. Only
the man who professes to love you beyond any faults.”

“My
faults…like sleeping around?”

“My
ex-wife pinned down the market in that arena. Always complained I was away from
home too often. Well, I guess she got lonely enough to seek companionship.” He
wished he hadn’t kicked that ball in her corner. It was out of his mouth and
poisoning the air before he could stop. “You didn’t last a day.”

“Doesn’t
it count for something that as soon as I got back to town I ran to you before
even going home?” Her head dipped. “To have your ex-wife confront me about
peddling myself to you. I was nothing more than a woman-of-the-night as far as
she was concerned. Now, to have you brand me with the same label.” Angela came
up for air. “I respect me more than you do. I love you, Chance. I just don’t
like you very much. And love minus like is unimaginable in my book.”