The Lost Days (Prairie Town Book 3) (19 page)

“That’s nice.” She grabbed the gallon of milk to put in the fridge and noticed the way Justin was staring at Nick. 

What is up with him?

“Justin, sweetheart, can you bring me all the cold stuff to put away?”

“Yes, Mama,” he mumbled.

“Cold stuff. Yum.” Nick snickered.  “Do these gummy bears belong to you, little guy?”

She turned around upon hearing Justin’s grunt and watched as he snatched the bag from Nick’s hand and turned away from him, his nose scrunched up.

“Justin Coy Spencer!”

He winced and froze in place, slowly lifting his gaze to meet hers. 

“Apologize this instant.” Her heart cracked when tears became evident in her son’s eyes.

But he wasn’t sad; he was angry.

Dropping his shoulders guiltily, Justin turned back around to face Nick, but he did not look at him.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay.” Nick’s smile never faltered.  “I wouldn’t want to share my gummy bears with anybody either.  We’re good, Justin.”

Trying to keep her breathing calm, she waited for her son to face her again and she tried her best to convey her disappointment through a simple glare.

She hated being mean to him.  It wasn’t something she ever wanted when it came to the relationship she had with her kids, but he had to understand his behavior was unacceptable.

Is he acting like this because Nick looks different from us?

Oh, she couldn’t even begin to fathom it!  She wasn’t raising a Rose.  There would be no such nonsense beneath her roof.

“Go to your room.” She pointed a shaky finger towards the stairs.  “Now.”

He blinked and a tear slid down his cheek, but he didn’t say another word as he clutched his bag of candy and stomped out of the room.  He stomped all the way up to his room and she winced when his door slammed shut.

That
definitely
wasn’t typical behavior for her boy – what was going on?

An awkward silence fell upon them as she hugged her arms around herself and closed her eyes, breathing in calming breaths.

She almost hated to open her eyes and see the look on Nick’s face. What if he decided never to come back?

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.  “And I totally understand if you want to tuck tail and run.  I don’t know what got into him.  He’s normally such a good boy, and—”

“Shush.” A finger pressed to her lips, silencing her.  The scent of Nick’s cologne, and a hint of sweat, infiltrated her nostrils as he stood before her.

Gathering her courage and opening her eyes, she was shocked to find him smiling down at her.

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” He cocked his head to the side.  “If my mom had brought a new man around the house, I probably would have acted the same way.  He’s just a kid, Kelly.”

“A new man...? Oh, God.” Her suspicions were confirmed and she suddenly felt like the most horrible human being on the planet. 

What if Justin ended up despising her?

And this is precisely why dating will never be an option,
she decided.

No one’s happiness would ever be a higher priority than her children’s, not even her own.

“Hey.  Don’t worry.” He framed her face and slid his thumb over her bottom lip.  “I get it.  I would never do anything to cause strife between you and your kids.”

“You’re not...it’s not like that...I...” She groaned and decided to drop it.  It was no use anyway.  “I really am sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” His warm lips touched her forehead lightly and then he pulled away.  “We’re done for the day anyway.”

Her heart sank.  “I was going to invite you to stay for dinner, but that might not be such a good idea now.”

“Dinner? For us?” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.  “How sweet of you, Kelly Spencer.  You’re a doll.”

“A doll obviously unaware of her child’s feelings.” She felt like she could cry.  What kind of mother was she if she couldn’t pick up on her child’s distress?  How long had Justin known about Nick, and how long had he been angry over it?  “I swear I didn’t know.”

“Try as you might, Mama Bear, you’ll never know everything.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her gently.  “Every little boy keeps secrets.”

“I never want him to keep secrets from me.  He can tell me everything; I’ve always told him that.” She sighed against his chest and relaxed a little.  “We’re supposed to be buds.”

“Well, I’m not a parent so I can’t tell you anything about that.” His fingers slid down her spine and she shivered.  “But what I can tell you is this: you’re doing a great job.  You’re a great mom.  Just give him some time.”

“All I have is time,” she murmured, tilting her head back to peer at him.  Her heart skipped a beat as she decided to admit something. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“You have?”

Damn her heart for battling her mind.  She’d already decided this wouldn’t be able to work, hadn’t she?  Justin was upset and she needed to work through that before she even entertained the idea of trying to take the next step with Nick.

Stupid, stupid heart.

“Yes.” Wetting her lips and sucking in a deep breath, she pushed up on the tips of her toes to kiss him.

But he avoided her kiss and she caught his jaw instead, wave after wave of humiliation and rejection slamming into her.

“I’ve missed you, too,” he whispered.  “But I need to get home right now.  I forgot about...something I need to do.”

Uh huh.

She did her best to hide the hurt she felt as Devin popped his head through the doorway. 

“Hey.  You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Nick stepped away from her and cleared his throat.  “Got everything put up for the night?”

“Yep.  We’re good.” Devin’s eyes moved to her and he frowned.  “You okay there, Kelly?”

“I’m...”—she cleared her throat and tried again—“I’m fine, thanks.”

“We should probably get home then.  She’s got to fix dinner for the oompa loomps.” Nick headed for the hallway and she reached out to grab his wrist without thinking.

“Can I...can I have just a moment?” She asked, unsure if it was directed at Devin or Nick.

“I’ll, uh, wait for you in the truck.” Devin gave her a small wave.  “See you later, Kelly.”

“Bye, Devin.” Waiting until he disappeared, she quickly stepped in front of Nick and gazed at him, suddenly unsure of what she’d wanted to say in the first place.

“What is it?” His dark, beautiful eyes studied her.  “What’s on your mind?”

“I...” Oh, it was foolish to confront him for not kissing her, wasn’t it?  There was no law saying he had to kiss her when she wanted it.  There was no rule, at least not that she was aware of, saying that just because they’d kissed before meant they had to kiss again.

I’m being stupid.

“I hope you won’t go away upset over Justin’s behavior.” She frowned.  “He’s a good boy, Nick.”

“Like I said, don’t worry about it.  I know he’s a great kid.” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and let his lips linger there for several seconds.  “He’s yours.”

And then he was gone, and she was alone.

Her heart felt like it had plummeted into her stomach in a sickening way; her hands trembled as she fought to finish putting up the groceries. 

All the while, Nick and his hesitation to kiss her attacked her brain and caused her a pain she hadn’t experienced in nearly nine years—back when she thought Patrick liked Loretta Brown instead of her.

Was she being petty?  Was she acting like a teenager grieving over unrequited love?

“Stupid,” she stated beneath her breath.  “You are being stupid, Kelly. Stop it.”

Turning off the lights and making sure the door was locked, she headed up the stairs to reconcile with her first-born.

It was going to be a long night, she knew, and it would be filled with many, many questions she wasn’t sure she’d ever get the answers to.

N
ick

Rock music blared through the speakers of the stereo system as he finished up with his daily workout in his home-made gym.  It wasn’t much, not by a long shot, but it got the job done.

He’d distanced himself from Devin by disappearing into the basement and turning his music up as loud as it could go; not because he was mad at the guy, but because he felt like total shit for dodging Kelly’s kiss.

The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel like he didn’t
want
to kiss her, but he was trying to be a gentleman.

What Kelly didn’t know was he’d just finished sucking Devin off and he wasn’t the kind of guy to spit.  So, when he heard her pull up and ran to greet her, the taste of Devin’s cum was still on his tongue, and no matter how down and dirty he could get when it came to sex, he didn’t want to kiss her without her knowing where his mouth had been.

It was usually really hot to kiss someone after performing oral sex, but it wasn’t her body he’d had his mouth on, and it was rude not to have her in the loop.

He was just trying to be considerate.

And now she probably hates me.

He dropped one of the weights back onto the concrete floor and sighed, and then he dragged a palm over his sweaty head.

Remembering the rejection in her sad blue eyes made him feel like the worst person on earth.

She may never want to see me again.

That thought crushed him.  They’d made a lot of progress in their relationship—not as much as with Devin, obviously—but progress nonetheless.  What if trying to do the honest thing ended up costing him a potential lover?

“Shit.”  

He stood from his workout bench and walked to the other side of the room, peering out one of the small rectangular windows just in time to see Mrs. Harrington walk around the corner of her house with a watering can in tow.

Smiling, he witnessed her nightly routine of watering the brightly colored flowers surrounding her porch.

It reminded him so much of his mother.  She’d loved flowers almost as much as she loved him.

His chest tightened and ached as her face came to mind and he bowed his head.

Poor little Justin Spencer was not very different from him.  He remembered what it was like growing up without his father.  There were just things his mother couldn’t answer, though she really tried her hardest.

The missed opportunities of playing catch in the backyard, or working on an old engine with his pops would have been nice, but he’d somehow managed to grow up to be all right, hadn’t he?

That poor kid.

He didn’t let Justin’s cold glare or stiff behavior get to him; he totally understood.  The kid felt protective of his mom, and maybe a little territorial.

I was the same damn way.

Even though a new man never entered his mom’s life, he had often thought of how he’d react if she suddenly brought a stranger home and tried to make him a part of their little family.

I would have shown him who the man of the house was.

If only Kelly realized that.  If only she knew that it was perfectly natural for a little boy to behave in such a way, especially when he was used to being the only man in a woman’s life.

Maybe he should have stayed longer.  Maybe he should have told her
why
he couldn’t kiss her at that very moment.  Maybe...just
maybe
...he needed to go back to her house and make things right before it was too late.

That’s what I’m going to do,
he decided as he turned off his stereo and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 
I’ll make it right.

Turning off the lights and heading back upstairs, he began planning out what he’d say to her.  He’d get on his fucking knees if he had to.

There was no way in hell he was going to let Kelly go to bed thinking he didn’t like her anymore.

“Hey.” Devin popped up at the top of the stairs and nearly caused him to jump out of his skin.

“Holy...what have I told you about doing that?” He clutched the towel between his hands and tried to calm his racing heart.

“Sorry.” Devin grinned sheepishly and stepped out of his way.  “I, uh, just wanted to let you know my mom is stopping by in a few.”

“Your mom?  Why?” It came out a lot harsher than he intended, but Mrs. Rose had been promising to visit Devin for weeks and still hadn’t.  He tended not to trust people who couldn’t keep their word.

“She’s bringing me some more stuff.  She said I might want to have it.” He shrugged and walked into the kitchen.

Nick followed him.

“So...is she finally coming or will she cancel at the last second?  She seems to be good at that.” He mumbled.  Opening the fridge to retrieve an ice-cold bottle of water, he glanced in Devin’s direction, awaiting a response.

“I think she’s really coming this time.” There was hurt in Devin’s eyes.  “She just got caught up the last time.”

‘And the time before that,” he remarked with a roll of his eyes.  “Your mom seems to get easily distracted.”

“Yeah.” Devin dropped his head and shrugged.  “Something like that.”

Aw, damn it. Why did he have to mope like that and make him feel bad?

Quickly forgetting about his thirst that needed quenching or the shower he definitely needed to take, he placed the bottle on the countertop and took the three steps necessary to pull Devin into his arms.

Holding Devin’s scrawnier frame against his own, he heaved a dramatic sigh and patted his back gently.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing his cheek noisily.  “I know your dad is a dick and she probably can’t sneak away often, but it really bothers me to see you get your hopes up, only to be disappointed when she’s a no show.”

“It’s not her fault,” Devin replied, his voice muffled against his chest.  “I just worry about her.  I don’t know...how he treats her.  What if he doesn’t treat her right?”

Pulling back slightly to gaze at him, he frowned.  “You think he abuses her?”

“I don’t think it would surprise me.” Devin’s eyes lit with anger as his fingertips dug into Nick’s sides.  “He did something to me.  I may not remember it, but I know he did it.  Who’s to say he doesn’t do it to her, too?”

“Oh, hell no.  That’s not going to work.” Nick released him from his grasp and turned to snatch up the water bottle as his nostrils flared.  “I will not sit by and allow any woman to be abused.”