Vivian (4 page)

~*~

The sun was too bright, Vivian thought as she drove from the townhouse she’d been staying in, to the old house on Main and Pine. The back of her car had suitcases piled in it. Suitcases of nonessential things that had been salvaged from the house after the tornado.

When she’d mentioned to the girls that Penelope was moving in with Brock and they’d move to the old house, the girls had been giddy. They couldn’t wait to have the bedrooms they’d helped decorate for Penelope.

Vivian, on the other hand, wasn’t sure she was ready to move on—again.

For nearly eight of the ten years she’d been married to Adam she’d lived in the small rundown house on the outskirts of town. But that ended when a late summer tornado blew the overgrown tree into the house. Still, she couldn’t be more grateful that no one was home.

She and her girls were safe and living in a borrowed townhouse. But it was time to move on again.

It would be another three weeks or so before the other bedroom would be done so she could live in it. The contractor couldn’t work until all of the daycare kids were gone for the day. For now, it looked like she and the two girls would be huddled up together. But that was okay. They were her strength and her sanity.

When they pulled up in front of the old house with the
Our Little Ones Daycare
sign out front, Penelope was standing on the porch with her hands on her oversized stomach.

The girls squealed to be let out of their seats, which Vivian did as quickly as she could. Both girls ran to Penelope, which tugged at Vivian’s heart in a few different ways.

They loved Penelope. She was, she supposed, like an aunt to them. An aunt who happened to be carrying their sister or brother. A lump formed in her throat. Adam’s baby.

Vivian opened the back of the car and began to tear out the suitcases. She thought she had a grasp on her feelings. But no. Clayton had to begin to ask questions and stir things up in her that she didn’t want to admit were there.

She’d suppressed them so much she didn’t realize she was angry or hurt as much as she was. She was mad, sure. Adam Monroe had screwed her over. He hadn’t taken seriously the vows they took or the plans they’d made. He took two more wives and was having a baby with another woman.

She thought better of it as she threw another case out of the car and onto the ground.
He
wasn’t having a baby with another woman—no—
she
was having a baby with Penelope.

It had become her responsibility and not his.

And the flood of tears broke and she didn’t want that.

She looked around to see that no one was there, then she leaned against the car and wiped away her sadness.

Penelope wasn’t her responsibility. All three of Adam’s wives had chosen to stay where they were and work together. She could have left. She could stay angry. But she didn’t want that.

The vibrant noise of children’s laughter came from behind the house. But there were more giggles and laughs than her daughters.

She grabbed a suitcase in each hand and walked up the front walk and steps into the house.

Penelope fussed in the toddler room. It seemed to be something that calmed her, Vivian thought.

“
Are the girls out back?”

Penelope nodded with a delightful smile. “With Stephanie and Charlotte.”

She could feel the blood drain from her head. “Clayton is here?”

Penelope shook her head and blonde curls bounced around her rosy cheeks. “He went with Brock to get some supplies to work on the bedroom.”

“
Why? I thought we had a guy doing that.”

“
It fell through. Brock and Clayton are going to do it.”

Vivian tried to control her breath, her anger, her sadness—her lust.

Why did this man just keep coming back around? She didn’t need his meddling into her life.

She carried the cases to the bedroom upstairs and set them down. Her mind cleared. Clayton North was a decent man that was all. Had she forgotten that they existed?

He was entrusting his angels in their care. She understood that he’d want to know they were taken care of. What better way to do that than to get to know the people taking care of them—personally?

As she set the cases on the bed, her mind wandered back to their conversation the night before. She’d been prepared for him to take his daughters and leave. Instead, his daughters were there, running with her daughters, and he wasn’t there—at the moment.

Vivian sat down on the bed and let the air in her lungs whoosh out of her. He trusted them. Forget what Adam Monroe had done to all of them or what his mother threatened to do. Forget that someone had broken into the house a few weeks ago. He trusted.

Dear Lord, what could she accomplish if she had just a little bit of that trust?

Voices echoed up the stairs. Vivian rose from the bed, wiped her eyes, and sucked in some courage. In that moment of clarity, she knew she needed a friend like Clayton North in her life. Married or not, the man was opening her eyes to the world around her. It was time she took life by storm. No more hiding in rundown houses and bowing down to evil mother-in-laws. No more feeling bad that her husband thought so little of her. It was time for Vivian Monroe to take charge of her life and she owed that to the man who now stood outside the bedroom door smiling at her.

“
Good morning,” he said in a tone that brought fresh air into her lungs. “Did you sleep well last night?”

Vivian smiled—genuinely smiled. “No. I tossed and turned all night long. I couldn’t sleep at all.”

Clayton gave her a slow nod of consideration. “You seem very chipper for not getting any sleep.”

She did, didn’t she? “Just had an
ah-ha
moment. I guess I’m feeling good.”

“
Want to share?”

Vivian thought she just might want to until she saw Brock moving about in the bedroom across the hall. “I do. Maybe later.”

Clayton flashed that sexy grin that usually made her insides turn to goo. Today, however, it filled her with warmth. She liked that.

“
Maybe you can share with me over dinner. You did say you’d go with us for pizza tonight.”

Vivian sucked in more of that courageous air. “You’re right. I did. You offered up a family night. I look forward to spending time with your family,” she said and then walked out of the room and down the stairs to gather more of her belongings.

Clayton watched her disappear. She was a mystery, this one.

When he turned back into the other bedroom, Brock was sizing up the room. His hands were on his hips and his head nodded as though he were having a conversation in his head.

“
What are you thinking?” Clayton set down the bag from the hardware store.

“
That closet goes right up into the attic. What if we opened it up? It could almost be like a loft. Their own living room.”

“
Why not just use the steps in the hallway?”

“
Well, because they’re dangerous. They hit Sam in the chest and missed me by inches. Besides, it’s closed up that way. If we open this up it would be roomy. Airy.”

“
And cold.”

Brock smiled and held up a finger. “It needs insulation. Probably a new window too. I think I’ll talk to Vivian and see what she thinks.”

“
You can do all that?”

Brock shrugged. “I don’t know if I can do it all, but my dad and my brother sure can.”

“
They’d do that for her?”

“
Of course,” his brows narrowed. “That’s what family does. They’ll be here in a few weeks when the baby is born. I’ll call him tonight and see what he thinks.”

“
They seemed to have really taken to Penelope. Your family that is.”

Brock smiled. “Yeah, what’s not to like about her though? She’s perfect.”

It was evident that this man standing in front of him was smitten and one hundred percent in love. It was nice to see. A man who came from a solid background and could show love. That in itself was a gift.

Clayton heard steps coming back up the stairs and when he looked out Vivian had her hands loaded down with more boxes and suitcases. He hurried out to take some of the load.

“
I got this one,” he said trying to relieve her arms of one of the boxes.

“
I had it.”

“
I can help.”

She dropped the items on the bed. “Why is that? Why are you always around to help?”

“
I think I said yesterday, that’s what friends do.”

“
Right. You said that. But it’s a little freaky how you’re always right where I need you.”

“
Freaky? I’d say it’s lucky.”

“
Hmmm,” she let out a grunt as her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out and looked down at the text message that had arrived.

Clayton watched her read it, assumingly over and over again. Her cheeks had grown red and her jaw twitched, she was clenching it so tightly.

“
Everything okay?”

Her eyes moved back to his. They’d grown dark—and angry.

“
Everything is fine. I don’t need you to pick up the pieces of everything. You can’t fix everything. I don’t even know you.”

She shoved her phone back in her pocket and walked out of the room.

Clayton tucked his hands in his pockets and took a moment to relax. She really did need some help to get through all of this.

Vivian’s hands shook. She was hiding in the bathroom downstairs just watching them shake.

She looked down at the text message one more time.
I haven’t forgotten about you.

Sweat beaded on her brow. With the back of her hand, she wiped it off and looked into the mirror. Maybe they weren’t safe there anymore.

The text had come from Adam’s mother’s phone. Just as the text had the night someone had broken into the old house.

She was going to have to tell Amelia about this. Penelope was too fragile right now. But, damn, she thought. She was going to need to tell Clayton too and he was going to have to pull the girls’ enrollment.

There was a knock at the door. “I have to go potty,” a small voice called.

Vivian pulled herself together and opened the door. Emma rushed past her and into the bathroom. She let her have her privacy, but she stood just beyond the door. What about the girls? Her girls weren’t safe anymore.

Chapter Four

Could they fit more video games into a small pizza parlor? Clayton was happy, though, to see that there was an old Ms PacMan game in the corner.

He sat at a table for six, but so far only he and his girls had arrived. He was beginning to wonder if Vivian had changed her mind.

“
I’m hungry. Do we have to wait?” Stephanie whined.

“
Go ahead. If we don’t eat, it’s going to get cold.” He dished out a slice of cheese pizza to each of the girls and then watched the door, just as he’d been doing for a half hour already.

After forty-five minutes, Clayton finally had a slice of cold cheese pizza.

It was obvious that things weren’t going the way he’d hoped they would with Vivian. It was quite obvious she was blind to the fact that he was interested. Okay, he could handle that. He hadn’t come to Parson’s Gulch to find a woman. In fact, that had never crossed his mind. He didn’t want another woman—ever. Or that’s what he’d kept telling himself. But then he’d met her.