Score (Gina Watson) (6 page)

“Up you go.” He knelt in front of her and inspected the scrape on the back of her arm. “Hmm, looks like regulation grade road rash. You should be okay.” He turned her arm to expose healthy skin and bent to place a kiss on it. “All better?” Sarah nodded and he stood. Her cherubic face looked up at him.

“Will you be my daddy?” she asked.

He looked over to Chloe. At Sarah’s question, the inner corners of her brows rose and her lips parted slightly. Chloe made several attempts to speak, but no words came from her twitching lips. She shook her head. He guessed the little girl was trying to come to terms with her father’s illness. He knelt in front of her and removed his sunglasses.

“Sarah, I would be honored to be your daddy, but your father needs you right now. He needs you to be strong and happy. I’ll be here and so will Chloe, but you need to hug and kiss Steve as much as you can, okay?”

“Okay, but he doesn’t hug or kiss me like you do.”

Tears immediately fell from Chloe’s big doe eyes. She knelt with them. “Sarah, your father wants to hold you very badly, but he can’t because he’s sick. Honey, look at me.” She pushed Sarah’s hair out of her eyes. “He can still hear you and he sees everything you do. He loves you, sweetheart. And he’s so very proud of you.”

Riley, the younger of the two girls, asked, “Miss Chloe, why are you crying?”

“It’s okay, Riley, I’m just talking with Sarah.” Looking back to Sarah she added, “I want you to tell me you’ll hug and kiss your father bunches.” Chloe wiped at her eyes.

“Will that make you happy?”

“Yes, very happy.”

Cal rubbed Chloe’s back in support.

“Miss Chloe?”

“Yes, Sarah.”

“Is my Daddy going to heaven soon?”

Chloe’s body shuddered and the tears ran steadily from her eyes. “Yes, sweetie. Soon he won’t be here like he is now. You understand that, don’t you? That’s why you must love him while he’s here. Your daddy needs your love. You must squeeze and hug and kiss him bunches and bunches.”

Cal felt her compassion and love radiate out to the girls.

“Okay, I’ll hug and kiss him bunches.” She giggled. “I’ll tickle him too.”

Chloe smiled. “That’s great. And you too, Riley. You hug and kiss your daddy bunches too.”

Riley nodded again and again, her ponytail bopping up and down like the tail of an excited dog.

Cal handed Chloe a handkerchief. She ran her finger over the embroidered initials. “Caleb Dean St. Martin,” she whispered. She tipped her face up at him with one brow raised. “You carry hankies?”

He shrugged, “I have allergies.”

She started to laugh, deep bone-cleansing laughter. He chimed in and so did the girls.

Chloe had always been a humanitarian, fighting for the weak. At school she would place herself in harm’s way to diffuse a fight or argument, even if it meant she had to suffer the attack. As he watched her with the girls, he thought about the fragility of life. And he thought about what she’d said about his father, about how he should give a little. He could do that, couldn’t he? What would it hurt to appear interested in the family business? It could hurt some, but hell, it hurt being at odds with his father. He decided her idea was worth considering.

After the zoo they dropped the girls at their house and went by his apartment to pick up clothes and toiletries. Now that he’d found Chloe, he couldn’t bear not to be around her. At her apartment they settled in for the night, with Cal at Chloe’s desk utilizing their computers to review the film.

He worked for two hours and stood to stretch. He walked to Chloe at the dining table and put his arms around her. She’d been working on constructing a large communication board. On the board were clear pictures of the LeBlanc family and of him and Chloe and even the LeBlanc’s cat, Sir Thomas. She’d made three columns: pronouns, verbs, and adjectives. A lot of the words on the board conveyed an emotion.

Cal pointed. “What’s this?”

“It’s a new board for Steve. He doesn’t use the computer anymore; I think it has become too laborious. But with this he can use an eye gaze to express mood and desire to his friends and family. I’m going to introduce it tomorrow. I thought it might help Sarah if she could see him communicate by using his eyes.” Chloe shrugged. “It may not work, but I thought it worth a shot.”

Cal pointed to the board again. “So does Steve understand all of this?”

Chloe nodded. “That’s the worst part about Lou Gehrig’s disease—the mind remains unaffected.”

He had no idea it was that way. He knew Steve tracked movements with his eyes but he just lay in the bed. So his brain was unaffected, yet he was trapped inside a useless vessel. Cal was immediately humbled. He didn’t know how Chloe was able to remain motivating and positive as she watched his decline from day to day. She was a light wherever she went, shining especially bright where it was darkest. She always had been.

Using his camera phone, he took a picture of Chloe as she explained the board. Then he stroked her hair. “It’s amazing what you do for them. You’re wonderful.”

He bent and kissed the top of her already shaking head.

“I feel like I’ve done so little. Some days I feel utterly hopeless. I can only imagine what the girls and Sharon must feel.”

“I think the last time I saw Steve was two years ago. He had worked with dad on some real estate endeavors. He looked so normal. I had no idea his body had become so… so debilitated. I thought whatever he’d been diagnosed with was going to progress slowly, or I imagined he was going for a treatment—a cure. When I saw him, I was devastated. We can get so busy living our lives and not thinking about our health. It just kind of put things into perspective for me.” He sat across from Chloe. “I don’t know what I would do if that happened to me. I don’t know how Sharon is dealing with it all. I wouldn’t be able to cope if my spouse were deteriorating in front of me and there was nothing I could do.”

Chloe studied her board and nodded. “I’ve thought the same thing. I think Sharon knows she has to be strong for the girls, but I know she cries at night when she’s alone and I have the girls. I can see it in her face the next day.”

Cal reached across the table to clasp Chloe’s hands. “This weekend I’m going to visit my father.”

Chloe smiled. “In Whiskey Cove?”

“Yeah. I’d love it if you’d come too.”

“I’ll be there. How long has it been?”

He let his breath out slowly and leaned back in his chair. “Too long… I guess about two years since I’ve been home. Anyway, this weekend dad’s throwing some kind of mixer for casino bigwigs. They’ve completed another mega-structure.”

“Is that the attitude you plan on having while you’re there? Sort of a Debbie Downer, isn’t it?”

She grinned and stuck out her tongue. Cal leaped from the dining room table just after she did it, but he was still too slow to catch her. He finally managed to corner her in the living room. He tackled her to the floor and tickled her senseless.

“Ahhhhh. Cal stop. I’m gonna pee, I swear it.”

He stopped, but pinned her beneath him. He moved her silver-blond curls from her face and gazed into her eyes. He left a peck on her nose, each eyebrow, and each eyelid as he made his way slowly to her lips. He took her bottom lip between his teeth and sucked. She removed his shirt before removing her own shirt and bra. Then, wordlessly, he sucked at her nipples until they grew hard and needy. They removed each other’s shorts and underwear. He leaned against the couch and she straddled him, slowly pulling him into her warmth. Once he was fully sheathed inside her, she started to undulate up and down on his cock. With his hands on her hips, steadying her, they made slow, sweet love, banishing his vague fears about illnesses and meeting with his father.

≈

The closer they got to the St. Martin Ranch in Whiskey Cove, the more tense Cal became. Chloe cleared her throat. “So… does Mr. St. Martin know you’re coming to this mixer?”

“He does not.”

Chloe raised her brow. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

Cal thought he knew why. He didn’t want to think it was the only reason, but he didn’t think he’d have been able to take any rejection or condescension his father may have hit him with, so he’d opted to not share his plans. “I just didn’t get around to telling him.”

Chloe nodded and pressed her lips together. “Will any of the other boys be here?”

Jesus, why was she asking him all these questions? It made him nervous; his palms had started to sweat. “I don’t know.”

She grasped his hand. “Cal, talk to me.”

Couldn’t she see he didn’t want to talk about it? Didn’t even want to think about the reception from his dad.

He sighed. “Some of them will be there. Cory will be. Of course Camp will be at the forefront of all the festivities since he works for my father. I think Logan is serving his special
Good Doctor Brew
in honor of the occasion.”

“I’d heard Logan opened a craft brewery. I’ve yet to try the beer. Is it good?”

“Oh yeah, it’s real good. He’s got his bestseller that he makes with special hops he gets from Germany. It won the US Open Beer Championship. And before you ask, yes, that’s a real award and it’s a big fucking deal.”

“Is that the one called
Kidney
?”

“No, it’s the
Spleen
brew.”

“A doctor turned beer brewer—that’s funny. I heard there’s a
Penis
and a
Vagina
brew too.”

“That’s actually true.”

They laughed together.

When they pulled into the long driveway, Cal parked under an old pecan tree, cut the engine, and looked toward Chloe. “I want to thank you for coming with me. I don’t think I would have done it otherwise.”

Chloe put her palm to his cheek. “I’m glad you’re home.”

Cal pulled their bags from the back and motioned for Chloe to move toward the house.

At the front entry, Cal opened the heavy double doors and they walked through. He tossed their bags at the bottom of the winding staircase and they crossed the marble foyer to the kitchen. When they rounded the corner into the kitchen, Cal froze. Alyssa sat on one of the stools. Chloe greeted her and appropriately asked what Cal couldn’t get out.

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m here with Cal.”

Alyssa eyed Cal coolly. No,
coldly
. Fuck! Cal knew he should have told Chloe about the bet. He’d started to a number of times, but things were going so well he wasn’t ready for the fight he knew they would ultimately have and that would be within her right to begin.

Alyssa shrugged. “And I’m here with Logan.”

“Logan!” Cal said a little louder than he intended. “What happened to Cory?”

“I wouldn’t know. I told you, I’m here with Logan.”

This was so not good. “So is Cory here then?”

“I may have seen him out on the lawn.” She waved at the wall of windows at her back.

He peeked out onto the lawn and did in fact see his father dictating directives to Cory and Logan. He desperately wanted to speak with Cory, but there was no way he was leaving Chloe alone with Alyssa. Alyssa seemed quite unhappy about something. He would guess things had not gone well with Cory and that she was in full retaliation mode and now poor Logan had been dragged into Cory’s no-strings-attached sex life. Cory was older than Cal by eleven months, but he could have been the youngest if they went by sheer maturity.

Feeling anxiety twisting his muscles, Cal turned to Chloe. “I guess we should go out back and say hello to my father.”

Chloe smiled. “Sounds good.” She jumped down from the stool she’d been sitting on and told Alyssa she’d see her around.

Alyssa replied, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

What an absurd line, given the circumstances. Chloe was nothing like Alyssa—to Cal’s utter relief.

They made their way out onto the lawn where the bandstand had been setup for the festivities. Cal looked at the handsome man with eyes so similar to his own. His father was tall and sported a thick head of nut-brown hair that had started to gray at the temples. He had big dimples and a large, toothy smile. Cal knew he would look the same in thirty years. As soon as his father saw him, he greeted him with a smile.

“Son, it’s been entirely too long since you’ve been home. What do you say we put our differences aside?”

His father reached an arm out and Cal went toward it. His father hugged him with ferocity, squeezing the breath from Cal. Cal choked up.

“So great to see you, son. And who is this you’ve brought with you? Is that little Klepto Chloe?”

“Dad!”

“Oh, come on. Chloe knows I’m joking.”

Chloe went into the waiting arms of Clifton St. Martin, and he squeezed her tight. “Don’t you, girl.”

Chloe smiled. “Yes, sir, but just for the record, I’ve told Mrs. St. Martin multiple times how sorry I am about stealing her tulips.” She clasped her hands and lightly lowered her head. “It’s no excuse, but they were exquisite.”

Cal’s dad threw his head back and laughed. “Chloe est tres belle.”

Looking at Chloe, Cal responded, “Oui pere, elle est tres belle.”

Chloe smiled and blushed. Cal was aware that Chloe knew enough French from living in these parts to know they were discussing her beauty.

His father regaled Cal with updates regarding his commercial contracting business and Cal realized he was genuinely excited for his father’s success.

Cory joined them and their dad put his arm around each of his youngest sons.

“Did you hear, our Corrigan’s got the entire town in an uproar? The women, that is.”

Cal hitched a brow at Cory. “I may have heard something about it. Did you know one of his most recent disastrous conquests is now sharpening her claws on Logan?”

More laughter erupted from Cal’s dad. “Oh, to be young and feel love’s sting.”

“I’m not so sure this has anything to do with love.”

Cory folded his arms across his chest and looked down his nose at Cal. “You don’t need to act so high and mighty. Sometimes what you do isn’t an act of love either. Wasn’t there some sort of bet you had going?”