The Geek and His Artist (44 page)

Simon couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing. All those years he’d stuck with a man not even his father? The pure fury of what he’d gone through, of the truth that was sinking in, of what The Bastard had just confirmed, made him see red. “You killed her?” Simon managed.

“Of course I did! You didn’t think she was smart enough to actually try to kill me, did ya?” He shook his head, laughing, and Simon fisted his hands at his sides to keep from doing something he’d regret. “It was easy enough to take the knife from the counter and turn it on her. I shoulda killed you at the same time, save me a mess of trouble!”

Simon heard sounds in the distance but he wasn’t sure if it was sirens or some kind of noise in his ears.
Keep him talking, keep him busy
. “You didn’t kill me. Couldn’t manage it, could you?” he asked, a little desperately. “Needed a punching bag, someone to cook and clean for you, didn’t you?”

“Punching bag! You’re stupider than I thought! It was discipline! It was my right!” he roared and started forward again.

Simon stood his ground, braced himself, and lifted his fists.

Before The Bastard could close the last few feet, the campsite was surrounded by flashing lights and sirens. “Put your hands up!” a voice shouted behind Simon.

Simon started to raise his own hands higher before his brain caught up. Jimmy’s arms were around him a second later, and right behind it, a policeman in a dark blue uniform was crossing the grass.

Everything turned chaotic. The Bastard was pushed onto the ground, put in handcuffs, and dragged to one of the police cars. Another man in uniform came up to ask Simon questions, but the adrenaline that had kept him upright and fighting seemed to have drained from him, and he couldn’t focus on a damned thing. He heard Jimmy say some things, but couldn’t really make out the words and didn’t even try.

Another uniform came up, and it took Simon a moment to realize it was a paramedic trying to check him over. He gave in, but only because Jimmy wouldn’t let go of his hand. The EMT only found a little bit of bruising and said he was in shock, which relieved Simon. The last thing he wanted was to go to the emergency room.

Jimmy sat with him on the bench of the picnic table as the others tore down their camp. He’d tried to insist that they didn’t have to leave, but none of the others were really interested in camping after what happened. He wanted to help, but it took Lindsey stuffing a can of Mountain Dew into his shaking hands and a strongly worded threat that she’d flash him her boobs if he didn’t stay put before he finally gave in and let them pack everything up.

The ride home was taken in silence. Simon couldn’t seem to pull himself together enough to say much. He kept thinking about the fact that The Bastard wasn’t his father. How did he not know that? How had his mother never told him? Or had The Bastard lied?

Once they’d dropped off Deck, Lindsey, Ronnie, and Bailey, they turned toward home. It was almost two before they pulled up in front of the house. The second they did, the door opened and Mom flew down the steps. Before Simon even stepped onto the curb, he was in her arms.

“Oh, baby, are you okay? Did he hurt you? You must be so shaken up!”

Simon swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m… I’m okay, actually. They, uh, they heard his confession.”

Her eyes widened and she looked over at Jimmy, who nodded. “Yeah. Ronnie kept the phone on and the line open to 911. They heard him admit to killing Simon’s mother.”

“Holy shit!”

Simon giggled. After everything, that struck him as too funny. The giggles turned into chuckles, which morphed into full-bellied laughter. But as he came down from it, the terror, the reminder of his mother, all of it crashed in on him, and the tears came next.

But Jimmy’s mom—his mom, now—just held him through it, right there on the street. “It’s okay, baby,” she kept murmuring to him, over and over. “It’s over. It’s all over. He’s gone.”

Jimmy stood on his other side, kissing his hair and running a hand over his back. Their combined comfort helped slow, then finally stop the torrent. Mom handed him a tissue she’d produced from somewhere, and he blew his nose. Then she turned him over to Jimmy, who wrapped both arms around him and kissed his forehead.

“Better now?”

Simon nodded. “Yeah,” he said, voice still thick with tears.

“Let’s go get some sleep. We can deal with the rest tomorrow.”

Simon nodded again and let Jimmy guide him up the steps and into the house. Dad greeted them, told him how great it was he was okay, and hugged him, and Simon had to fight the tears all over again.

They finally made it to their bedroom, and Jimmy helped him undress. Simon simply felt drained and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and fall asleep in Jimmy’s arms. A few moments later, he got his wish, settling under the covers against his fiancé.

He was asleep in no time.

J
IMMY
WAVED
at Sean and Kip as they crossed the room. Sean returned it, and Jimmy turned back to Ronnie, who was still speaking. “So, yeah, you’re really sure about all this?”

“Dude, you’ve been asking me this for three months now.” Jimmy was trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “I’ve told you. Yes. I’m sure.”

Ronnie frowned and sipped his Coke. “Do you really think being married is going to make that much difference when he goes to college?”

Jimmy nodded, watching Simon greet Kip. “Yup. His counselor said that he’s going to need as much stability as possible. He warned us it’ll be hard, since we’re so young, but when I pointed out about my parents and sister, how they married young and would be support for us, he said that would help. I just can’t help but think if Simon knows I’m not going anywhere, all the other changes will be easier to deal with.”

Ronnie appeared to consider it, then nodded. “I guess I can see that. I hope it works out for you. I can’t even begin to imagine getting married yet.” He shuddered.

“Not even to Bailey?” Jimmy asked, amused.

Ronnie rolled his eyes. “I like her. She likes me. We have fun, but I don’t see us together forever.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t think she wants it either.”

Jimmy nodded. “That’s fair.” He looked at Simon again and grinned when Mom came up to hug him. Simon looked a little embarrassed but returned it, then greeted his mom’s sister, Aunt Stacy. Jimmy couldn’t help but be impressed by how well Simon was handling things. “He’s got a lot of counseling yet,” he murmured.

“I’d be surprised if he wasn’t in counseling for the rest of his life, after everything The Bastard’s done,” Ronnie said.

Jimmy shook his head. “No. They don’t think he’ll need
that
much. But it will be a while yet. Even with the confession and The Bastard being in jail.” He shrugged. “But he’ll get it, he’ll deal, and come out the other side. He’s the strongest person I know.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Ronnie sipped his Coke again, and Jimmy sighed.

“I better rescue him. Aunt Stacy can be a bit… overbearing.” Jimmy had to go around the mass of tables filling the center of the party room his parents had rented, so it took him a little longer than he would have liked to reach Simon’s side. “Hello, Aunt Stacy.”

She looked a lot like his mom, though shorter and thinner. Stacy didn’t have kids, choosing instead to spoil her nieces and nephews, and had always put her looks ahead of everything else. She had perfect makeup, perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect everything, and were it not for the fact that she and Mom looked so much alike, Jimmy never would have guessed they were related. Mom, though certainly not
sloppy
, refused to worry so much about looks.

“Oh, look at you!” Aunt Stacy crowed. “Don’t you look handsome! You two are so
cute
together!”

Jimmy wrapped an arm around Simon and pulled him close. “Thank you.”

“I can’t believe you’re getting married so young, though! When is the wedding?”

Simon stiffened a little, and Jimmy knew he was getting tired of justifying their decision. He tightened his arm a little in comfort. “Next month.”

“Oh.” She blinked at him. “So soon?”

“With the party today, we’re keeping it small. We’d like to be married and settled before school in August. And that way we can use the cruise at the end of next month as our honeymoon.”

She was nodding but still looked disappointed.

“Don’t worry, Stace, you’re invited. We just haven’t sent the invitations out yet. We’re still finalizing the details,” Mom said, rescuing them.

“Oh! Oh that’s good. Are they registered?”

“Registered?” Jimmy asked, looking confused.

Mom laughed. “No, no, nothing like that. They’re staying with us for a while yet. But donations to their honeymoon wouldn’t go amiss,” Mom said, pointedly.

Jimmy’s face heated. “
Mom
,” he groaned.

“Shush,” Mom said, taking Aunt Stacy’s arm and steering her to the bar.

Jimmy watched them go and shook his head. “Hey, let’s go talk to Sean and Kip. They’ll be more fun,” Jimmy said, kissing Simon’s temple.

“God, yes,” Simon groaned. “I had no idea you had enough people to fill the big party room at a Dave & Buster’s.”

Jimmy grinned. “Sorry. You sort of inherited a big family.”

Simon shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

Jimmy frowned and pulled back to study Simon’s face. “Are you okay? Do we—”

“No, no, I’m okay.” He smiled and cupped Jimmy’s face. “Really. He’s in jail, he’s not going anywhere. Mr. Cochran said if he ever got out of jail, it’d be a miracle. That…. That’s behind me. I mean, yeah, I’m still working on stuff, but really. I’m better.”

“If you’re sure….”

Simon nodded. “Yes, I am.” He paused, and Jimmy soaked in the smile on Simon’s face. “I love you. I can’t wait until our wedding, can’t wait for the honeymoon. I can deal with the family. I
have
a family now.”

Jimmy felt the tension ease. “I love you too. I can’t wait to make you my husband.”

Simon grinned. “Me either, only another month. Now, let’s go see Kip and Sean.”

“One more minute,” Jimmy murmured, then pulled Simon close. He cupped Simon’s face, then caught his lips in a soft kiss. He never got tired of the thrill that went through him when Simon returned his kisses like in that moment. He hoped he never would.

J
IMMY
YAWNED
as he opened the door to his classroom while balancing his briefcase and coffee cup. He managed to get inside and the light switch flipped without disaster. He dropped his briefcase on his desk, then stopped to take a long drink of his coffee.

With the caffeine starting through his system, he pulled out the grading he’d done the night before, and as he did, an envelope fell out with it. Frowning, he sat in his chair and picked it up.

The front simply said: “To my geek.”

He started to open it, but before he could manage, the first of his students filed into the room, and one girl plopped down on the edge of his desk. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Did you want something, Rach?”

The fifteen-year-old tugged on a dark brown curl and gave him a pleading look with her deep emerald green eyes. “Uh, Papa said I’m s’pposed to apologize.”

Jimmy raised
both
eyebrows at his daughter. “Oh? For?”

She bit her lip. “Uh, I uh, didn’t do my homework for you.”

Jimmy blinked at her. “Why?”

“Uh, well, I—” The rest of her words were lost in a mumble.

“What?”

She blushed, and if he wasn’t annoyed at the moment, he’d think it was adorable. She mumbled again.

“Rachel Wendy Bennet,” he said, warningly.

She sighed. “I didn’t understand it.”

“And you didn’t ask me… why?”

“’Cause you’re my
dad
.”

“That makes no sense, Rach. Amy asked me.” He blinked at her.

She made a face. “My sister’s a kiss-ass. So’s my brother, but he’s still in middle school. Anyway, you’re not supposed to show favoritism.”

“Language, Rachel,” he admonished and raised an eyebrow. “How is helping you understand something you don’t get showing ‘favoritism?’ And I’ll point out
you
picked
me
to be your teacher.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not my fault all the kids think you’re some sort of teaching god,” she muttered, looking a little disgruntled.

Jimmy snorted. “That’s not getting you out of it. Since you don’t want favoritism, you’ll get the zero, apology or not. And you’ll do a second assignment tonight—because I’m your dad and not for class—to make sure you get it. Remember what happened when Kip refused help in fourth grade?”

Rachel shuddered dramatically. “He spent the entire summer working on math problems.”

“If you don’t do the extra work and you’re
lucky
, you’ll only have to retake geometry, Rach. If I decide
not
to be nice, whether you retake it or not, you’ll spend your mornings every day working on it over the summer, as well.”

“That is so not fair!” Her green eyes widened. Jimmy stared at her without responding, and after a long moment, she blew out a breath, cheeks turning red. “Uh, you’ll help me?”

“After dinner tonight, we’ll take some time to go over stuff. Okay? Don’t do this again.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she murmured and hugged him. He pulled his little—not so little—girl in and hugged her back. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Love you.”

She nodded. “Love you, Daddy. Oh, Papa also said you’re supposed to open the card before class.” With a mischievous grin, she kissed his cheek and went to her seat.

He shook his head and watched her get settled. All three of their children had turned out to be an amazing combination of his and Simon’s genes. Amy, the oldest, had Simon’s blonde hair and Jimmy’s deep chocolate eyes. Rachel looked like her Aunt Amy, only with Simon’s nose and green eyes. And Kip had Simon’s long, narrow face, Jimmy’s dark hair, and the most amazing hazel eyes they’d ever seen that shifted between a light brown similar to Jimmy’s and the bright green of Simon’s depending on mood. All three of their children were spoiled and adored, and their Papa Simon had more to do with that than even Daddy Jimmy did. Jimmy would never be able to thank Amy enough for helping them have such three amazing children.