Games of the Heart (56 page)

“What’s goin’ on?”

We jumped apart like guilty children and both of us looked to the door to see we were so in our moment neither of us heard Fin come back in.

Fin’s eyes narrowed on Rees then on me. “Why are you guys crying?”

I waved my hand in the air then dashed it on my face and explained, “We’re girls. Today was full of drama. After a day filled with drama we do three things. Eat until we feel sick. Throw a tantrum. Or collapse into tears. Sometimes it’s a combo of two, bad times it’s all three. Trust me, honey, we picked the best one.”

Fin scowled at me and I didn’t know if he was doing that because he was pissed about the possibility I made Rees cry or just pissed two girls he loved were crying and as a boy who was mostly a man he pretty much knew he had no power over that.

Then he asked, “Are you guys done crying then? ‘Cause I need to get Reesee home before Mr. Haines gets pissed at me for bringin’ her home late.”

I looked to the clock over the microwave and saw it was twenty-three minutes to nine. He totally had enough time. He just wanted to make sure he had the time to make sure his girl was okay and, probably, give her a goodnight kiss which would make certain she’d be okay.

I looked at Rees and she must have felt my eyes because hers came to me. “I’m okay if you’re okay.”

She nodded, dashed a hand on her cheek and her lips quirked into a little smile that was seriously cute.

“I’m okay, Dusty.”

“I think you both did so well in the kitchen, Thursday night is taco night every week,” I informed them, stepping back to indicate I was done with creating a girlie scene.

“Great,” Fin muttered and I bit back a smile.

“Sounds good to me!” Clarisse chirped.

I held her eyes. Then I lifted my hand and blew her a kiss.

She replied by giving me one of her big, beautiful smiles.

Then I turned away, calling, “’Night Rees. See you in a bit, Fin.”

“’Night Dusty,” I heard Rees return to my back.

“Later, Aunt Dusty.”

I walked upstairs to Kirby’s room, grabbed my cell, lay with my back on the bed and called Mike.

“Hey, Angel,” he answered.

“Had a breakdown in your daughter’s arms about Darrin,” I announced.

“Shit,” he muttered.

“Just so you know, when she’s home soon, if you see her eyes puffy, she cried with me.”

“Shit,” he repeated on a mutter.

“It’s all good,” I assured him.

“You wanna come over?” he offered.

“I come over any more, I’ll be living there.”

This was met with silence.

I figured this was partly because Mike was harking back to the fact that since we got home from Texas, this was true. Unless Rees was at the farm and I had to chaperone, I was at his house (with Fin). In fact, the schedule normally was that Rees came over to study with Fin after school then when Mike came home, we all went to his place to eat dinner and hang.

I also figured the silence was due to the fact that I was currently scoping out apartments. I shared liberally my apartment hunting in The ‘Burg stories with Mike, a pastime I had no idea would be so fruitless and annoying. These stories never failed to put him in a bad mood not because they were fruitless and annoying to me. No, it was because he loved me and I loved him. It was because he loved to spend time with me and he knew I loved spending time with him. It was because he knew I was having a time of it with all the crap swirling around me and he liked to be close to make sure I was okay and if I wasn’t, to make me okay. It was because he loved to have sex with me and knew I loved having sex with him. And it was because we liked sleeping in each other’s arms.

If he had no kids, I had no doubt the offer to move in would have been extended.

Since he did, and Mike was the kind of Dad Mike was, this was not going to happen for a while.

Which
he
clearly found a tad bit more than annoying.

Mike ended the silence with, “You want me to come over?”

“I’m good, honey,” I said softly.

This was again met with silence and this silence surprised me.

When it stretched, I called into it, “Mike?”

“Jesus, fuck you’re right next fuckin’ door.”

Right. Mike didn’t shy away from cussing but he sprinkled his curse words abundantly when he was seriously pissed. And he was pissed because I told him I’d been crying and he was too far away to do anything about it even though he was right next door.

“Honey, I’m good. Promise,” I whispered.

“Like to see that for myself, Dusty,” Mike replied.

Seriously, no kidding, I loved this man.

“Okay, then, give it half an hour. Fin gets back, I’ll head out,” I gave in.

“Why half an hour?”

“Um…” Shit! “Just wanna see if Kirb has got his homework done and is settling in for the night.”

Silence then, “Bullshit.”

I pressed my lips together.

More silence then, “Half an hour, Angel.”

He was
such
a good Dad.

“Half an hour, babe.”

There was even more silence then, “Wanna be face-to-face for this but can’t wait ‘cause, you cryin’, I gotta know. If you say yes, I’m not waitin’ half an hour. Fin can have the back gate, I’ll drive over.”

There it was. Mike knew the back gate ploy. Though, he was a guy. I wasn’t surprised.

Mike kept talking. “Today, did Denny come up for you?”

I drew in breath.

Then I said carefully, “Maybe a little.”

“Shit, I’m comin’ over.”

“Mike,” I said hurriedly. “Only a little. I’m okay.”

“You went somewhere today, sweetheart. I saw it. I’ve given you time. Time’s up.”

“I’ll be over in a half an hour.”

“Dusty –”

“Mike, honey, I’ll be fine and you can make it all okay in half an hour.”

Again I got silence.

Then he announced strangely, “Givin’ it two more weeks.”

“Giving what two more weeks?” I asked.

“Until I have a talk with the kids about them understanding Dad having Dusty for sleepovers.”

My stomach curled and it felt nice.

“You in?” he prompted.

“If they are,” I answered.

“They will be,” he muttered.

I grinned.

“Is now a time I’m allowed to go shopping for bribes for your kids?” I asked.

“No,” he answered and I chuckled.

“Right,” I murmured through my soft laughter.

“Half an hour, Dusty,” he ordered and my smile stayed in place.

“Half an hour, gorgeous.”

“Later.”

“’Bye.”

I touched the screen on my phone. Then smiled at the ceiling.

Then I heard my mother shout, “Kirby, honey, do you have your homework done?”

To which came an exasperated, “Yeah, Gram!”

Now Kirby had Fin, me and his grandmother asking every night if his homework done.

Obviously, from his tone, he was over it.

And I thought that was funny.

So I burst out laughing.

Stealth Kisses

M
ike stood leaning against the kitchen counter with his mug of coffee in his hand staring at his kids at the table, No eating breakfast, Rees’s hands moving on her phone and he was wondering how the fuck to say what he had to say.

Shit.

It had been two weeks since Fin’s fight. Two very long weeks.

He had to say it.

Shit.

“Kids, gotta have a word before you get to school,” he announced and No kept shoveling cereal in his face though he did spare Mike a glance before his eyes went back to his cereal.

Reesee had her head bent to her cell, texting Fin no doubt, and she muttered, “Yeah Dad?”

He opened his mouth.

Then he closed it.

Shit.

Fuck it.

“Tomorrow night, you’re goin’ to your Mom’s house. As you know, Dusty and I are adults. What you don’t know is that when you’re at your Mom’s, Dusty stays here with me. But this time, when you get back, Sunday night she’ll be spending the night. And from here on in, we’ll see, but a couple of nights a week she’ll be sleeping over.”

No shoved another spoonful of cereal in his mouth and to his bowl garbled, “She should just move in.”

Mike blinked and he did it slow.

Reesee’s phone binged in her hand and she mumbled, “Yeah, totally.”

No gave Mike his eyes and he informed him of something Mike already knew. “There’s like, a trillion people livin’ in that house and one bathroom.”

Rees looked at her brother. “They have a half bath downstairs,” she corrected.

No looked at his sister. “Yeah, but you can’t shower in a half bath. It would suck huge havin’ to share a shower with, like, a trillion people.”

“Totally,” Rees muttered, her eyes dropping back to her phone, her thumbs flying over the keypad, her ability to multitask coming apparent when she kept talking. “Fin’s like,
totally
over sharing his room with Kirby.
Totally.
He hates it.”

“I’m there,” No muttered to his bowl then shoveled more food in but still spoke through it. “I had my own space then
wham!
I didn’t, that would so suck.”

“And Dusty’s livin’ outta suitcases,” Rees stated then hit a button and looked at her Dad. “That’s gotta be old. It’s been
weeks.
”

No put his spoon down, picked up the bowl and looked to Mike. “She’s over here practically every night anyway. And your room is huge and you got your own bathroom. That would be a huge step up for Dusty.”

“And you have space in your closet,” Rees added. “When she was teachin’ me how to do my makeup, I saw all her clothes and she has a lot but you have a big closet. You barely use even half of it. They would
so
fit in there.” Her phone binged, her eyes went to it and she finished, “Though, most of them were on the floor. She’s kinda messy.”

Mike felt his lips twitch.

No was engaged in drinking the milk from his bowl and once he accomplished this, he looked back at his Dad and he smiled a slow, lazy smile. “She’s around, she’s on the rota and I only have to vacuum and dust every
fourth
week instead of every
third.
”

“That would rock,” Rees muttered, her thumbs moving over the keypad again. “Though, she doesn’t seem to be real hip on cleanin’.”

Mike felt his lips twitch again.

No got up with his bowl and spoon to take them to the sink, pointing out, “And it would be totally lame, her gettin’ an apartment somewhere when the farm is right next door. They already started working the fields. If she has to help with the plantin’ or she needs to do her pottery, she can just walk right over there if she lives here. She doesn’t have to drive from wherever.”

“And she finds someplace,” Rees added, “she moves there then when you guys get solid she only has to move back here.”

When they get
solid?

Jesus.

No rinsed his bowl while muttering, “Jacked, total waste of time.”

“And money,” Rees stated and her phone binged again.

“Crap!” No exclaimed, opening the door on the dishwasher and shoving his bowl in. “I forgot my chemistry book.”

Rees was up and grabbing her book bag off the back of her chair. “I’ll meet you in the car.”

No shoved the dishwasher closed and replied, “Cool.” Then he hustled to the door saying, “Later, Dad.”

Rees came to Mike and got up on her toes to kiss his cheek, phone still in both hands, attention mostly on it, mouth muttering, “See you tonight, Daddy.”

She kissed his cheek and wandered out, thumbs going over the keypad.

Mike stood where he stood exactly as he stood for the last five minutes, silent, leaning against the counter with his coffee mug in his hand, eyes aimed at the kitchen table. He did this for a while. Long enough to hear Rees open the door to the garage. Long enough to hear No run up the stairs then down them. Long enough to hear No shout, “Outta here, Dad!” Long enough for No to be out of there and Mike to hear the garage door go up and No’s beat up, piece of shit car backing out, the garage door going down and the kids driving away.

His first thought was it was time to trade No’s car up. He’d been responsible. No tickets. No accidents. That thing was going on a wing and a prayer. How Mike would find the money for that and Reesee’s school, he had no clue. But it was time.

On his second thought, he burst out laughing.

Then he took a sip of his coffee as he pulled his phone out, scrolled to Dusty and hit go.

She answered on ring two.

“Hey, gorgeous.”