Second Chance at Love (Love Conquers All) (10 page)

“Mommy don’t do—”

“Shh, baby, don’t interrupt me. I need to get this out,” Donna gently chided. “I felt like the worse mother, worse person in the world. After listening to my story, Patrick still wanted me. He even talked me into talking to a counselor and reaching out to you and Starr. It just so happened that your fast behind sister beat me to the punch when she and Kevin showed up on my doorstep.”

Karen burst out laughing, Donna joining in with her. “Now tell me what’s going on with you.”

Swirling the spoon around in her ice cream, Karen began to tell her mother about Dom and his pursuit of her for months. “Mommy he’s so good with the kids and they adore him.” Donna couldn’t help but to laugh when Karen shared with her how the children put her on the spot by pleading with her to ask Dom over for their own special holiday.

“Well did you ask him?”

“I did.”

“And what did he say?”

The smile in Karen’s voice was clear as a church bell ringing on a sunny Sunday morning. “He agreed and said he wouldn’t want to be any other place but with me and the kids.”

“Hmm, Dom sounds like he wants a future with you and your children.”

“I know. But Mommy, I’m so scared. What if things don’t work out?”

Hearing the uncertainty in her daughter’s voice made Donna wish she was there to hold her. “Baby, do you feel in your heart Dom is a good man?”

“Yes.”

“Do you feel that he would do anything to intentionally hurt you or the children?”

“Of course not,” Karen all but snapped.

“Okay, I’m going to let that little outburst slide because you have some issues of the heart going on,” Donna teased.

Karen laughed. “Sorry Momma Bear.”

“Apology accepted. Now one last question, if Dom had turned the kids’ offer down to spend Christmas Eve with you guys as a family, would that have bothered you?”

Wow, what a loaded question. Yes, it would have bothered her something awful. A tiny part of her didn’t want to broach the offer with him because if he had said no, he was spending the holiday with someone else, she would have been crushed. She wanted to believe that it was her children who would have been hurt by the rejection. But in all honesty, she would have been just as hurt.

These last couple of weeks his presence in her home was something she looked forward to. If he wanted to spend every evening with her and the kids it wouldn’t be too much for her to take. She would take it and take it gladly. Whenever he was around, there was a sense of balance. It was as if the atmosphere somehow shifted and the four of them together became one.

“Yes, it would have bothered me.”

“Baby, I think you found the one.”

Every five minutes Kyle and Ashley took turns peeping out the living room window. It was Christmas Eve afternoon and Dom hadn’t arrived yet. He was supposed to show up around twelve-thirty. It was going on two o’clock. Neither one of them wouldn’t dare speak the unthinkable. He had always kept his promise when it came to taking them out. So why hadn’t he come yet? Had something happened? Had they done something wrong?

Ashley sidled up next to her brother. “Mr. Dom hasn’t showed up yet?”

“No,” Kyle answered, his voice just as blue as his sister’s. “Ashley, do you think he forgot about us?”

Wiping a tear from her eye, she sniffed, “I hope not.”

Bringing a box of ornaments from the basement into the living room, Karen abruptly stopped in her tracks. Her babies practically had their noses pressed to the window. For over an hour they’d been moping around with long faces. She empathized with what they were feeling. Dom hadn’t so much as called to say he was running late or to cancel.

See, this was the very reason why she had doubts about getting involved with Dom. And now she was regretting letting him get close to her children. It was killing her to see her babies so dejected. If Dom had bailed out on them, she had to make the best of a bad situation.

Putting on her best smile, Karen called out, “Come on guys and help me take this stuff out of the box.”

With identical slouching shoulders, the children made their way over to their mom. Opening the box, Kyle began to pull out an array of colorful ornaments. Ashley went to the large box that held the artificial tree and began tugging on it.

Letting a corner of the box flop open, Ashley looked at her mom with sad, watery eyes. “Mommy, do you know where Mr. Dom is?”

Kyle stopped his rummaging through the box as he turned expected eyes on his mother. Karen wanted to kick something. She didn’t want to be the one to extinguish the small glimmer of hope she saw in his dark eyes.

Breathe girl, breathe. This has got to be the worst Christmas Eve. When I see that jerk I’m going to cuss him out like he stole something from me.
Karen wanted to lie and tell her babies that he would be there any minute. But she couldn’t do that. She had tried calling him on his cell phone, but the calls just went to voicemail. If he changed his mind, he could have at least had the decency to call.
Coward.

Going to her children, Karen took them by the hand and sat them down on the sofa. She had to break the news that Dom most likely wouldn’t be coming to spend the day with them. Karen let out a deep breath. She knew this whole new holiday thing was a bad, bad idea.

This was so hard. All week Ashley and Kyle had gone on and on about their special holiday plans with Dom. They’d even come up with a menu of cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, pepperoni pizza, french-fries and milkshakes. Oh, Dom was going to feel Karen’s wrath…big time. His not showing up brought back bad memories of her and Starr, waiting hours for their dad to show up for some special occasion. She remembered the sad look in her mother’s eyes as she struggled to tell them their father wasn’t coming.

This is it.
She was cutting Dom out of her children’s lives. No way would she subject Ashley and Kyle to being disappointed because he decided he had something better to do. No way would she have her kids blame themselves, thinking they had done something to keep him away. Besides, it wasn’t like Dom was their father. What responsibility did he have when it came to her children? None. So for that very reason, whenever he did show his face, she was completely cutting him out of their lives.

“Listen guys, I don’t think—”

The ringing doorbell interrupted Karen.

Kyle and Ashley nearly knocked each other over as they jumped up and ran to the front door. Kyle tried to reach for the lock on the door, but his older sister was much quicker. Pulling open the door, both the children squealed in delight. “Mr. Dom!”

Dom laughed, catching the children as he was almost plowed to the ground. Hugging the children close he glanced over their heads to see Karen sitting on the sofa. The hard glare she sent him told him she was not happy with him at all. “Hey! How’s it going?” Dom was just as excited to see the children. Before they could answer, Dom said, “Hold on a minute. I got something.” Disappearing outside onto the porch, he returned with a beautiful, lush white spruce Christmas tree.

“Wow! A real Christmas tree! Look Mommy it’s a real tree! It’s beautiful!” Ashley exclaimed, practically skipping all over the place. Kyle ran over to Dom, his tiny arms struggling to pull the huge tree into the house.

Arms across her chest, Karen continued to glare at Dom. “Yes, it is beautiful,” Karen dryly responded to her daughter’s exuberant outburst. The smile she wore was forced.
How dare he show up almost two hours late, no phone call, no nothing and act like everything is fine?
And how dare those little traitors she carried for nine months and labored in agony to bring them into world defect to the side of the enemy? Weren’t they like two seconds ago moping around with long faces and tears in their eyes? Well guess what? She wasn’t letting him get away with having them waiting and wondering if he was coming or not.

Oh damn, I messed up.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Dom that the smile Karen wore didn’t make her gorgeous dark eyes sparkle or dimples pop. Gingerly placing the tree on the floor, Dom cleared his throat. “Karen, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?”

“Sure.” Pivoting on her heels, Karen all but stomped off to the kitchen. She certainly couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. If the little traitors wouldn’t be brokenhearted, she had a good mind to kick him and his big ‘ol Christmas tree out the door.

“Guys, me and your mom will be right back. I just have to talk to her about something,” Dom told the children as he left the room.

“You think Mommy is mad at Mr. Dom?” Kyle nervously inquired, hoping his sister would answer no.

Ashley nodded her head. “Yup, she’s mad.”

“How do you know?”

“Because that’s just how Auntie Starr looks at Uncle Kevin when she’s mad at him.

“Oh.”

Before Dom could get good across the threshold, Karen turned on him hissing like a cornered cat. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here two hours late. Do you know how upset we were, thinking you weren’t coming?”
Did I just say we? I meant the kids.
Well, whether she meant it or not, it was too late. She had said it and couldn’t take it back. The last thing she wanted was for him to know how much the thought of him not showing up had hurt, making her feel unwanted.

When he hadn’t shown up on time, she had gone off by herself to nurse her bruised feelings in private. Wiping down the countertops, rearranging the spices in the cupboard, sweeping the kitchen floor, and making an extra pitcher of sweet tea hadn’t soothed her hurt feelings.

Taking the few steps to close the gap between them, Dom settled his hands on Karen’s hips, gently pulling her toward him. “Baby, I’m sorry I’m running a little late.”

“A little late!” Karen angrily huffed. “You need to learn how to tell time, Dominic Peretti, Jr.” She wanted to push him away, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. His big, rough hands felt so good touching her.

Dom chuckled. “Oh man, using my full name. I must be in serious trouble.”

This time she did push. “What’s so funny? There’s nothing funny about me and my children thinking you had stood us up.”

Refusing to let her go, Dom pulled her even closer. Leaning down, Dom buried his face in the crook of Karen’s neck. She smelled of lavender and vanilla. On impulse, he darted his tongue to steal a quick taste. She tasted sweet, just as he thought she would. “Babe, I would never do that to you and the kids.”

Closing her eyes, Karen softly gasped. She wanted to be angry with Dom, but was finding it hard to hold on to her anger. How could she when he was making her feel so good? Making her feel desirable. Letting her head fall back, she gave him free access. She didn’t recognize the soft moans as her own as he gently nibbled her fragrant flesh.

“What took you so long and why didn’t you call?” Karen queried in a breathy voice.

Dom’s lips tenderly kissed Karen’s neck, slowly making their way to her lips. “I was rushing this morning and forgot my phone. Then I had to go pick up the tree.”

His partial explanation came to an abrupt end as he took Karen’s mouth in a hungry kiss. He had meant to be gentle, but the moment Karen eased her arms up around his neck, opening her mouth and allowing him to freely explore, he didn’t hold back. The kiss was leaving them both breathless. Coming up for air, he further explained in a seductive murmur, “And then I had to get Ashley’s and Kyle’s gifts.”

“Oh,” was all she said. What else could she say? The man had broken her down.

Tilting her chin up to meet his gaze, Dom gently stroked her delicate jaw with his thumb. Her skin felt like velvet against his touch. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or the kids. I should’ve called you to let you know what I was up to. I wanted to surprise the kids.” A crooked smile curved his lips. “Kyle told me you never had a live tree.” Hunching broad shoulders, he confessed, “I thought it would be nice if the kids had one this year.”
And every Christmas we spend together
he wanted to say.

Karen turned the side of her face into Dom’s palm, kissing it. She had let her emotions get the best of her, thinking the worst of Dom. Here this man had been thinking about her babies and she hadn’t even considered giving him the benefit of the doubt. Instead she had bit his head off. “I’m sorry. Do you think you can forgive me?” she whispered, biting her bottom lip waiting for him to answer.