Vivian (7 page)

When his lips left hers, they skimmed across her jaw line to her ear where she caught the sound of his moan and breath. She pulled him in tighter.

His lips then traveled down her neck to the crevice of her collarbone and a lightning bolt of nearly orgasmic pleasure ripped through her.

Her fingers now dug at the collar of his shirt. It was hard to breathe they were pressed so hard together, but every moment had an ending. This one ended when a loud thunder of “Let it go!” came from the living room as all four girls sang with the movie.

Vivian felt his body jolt in a chuckle as he nuzzled his face into her neck.

“
Impeccable timing,” he breathed the words into her ear, but he didn’t let go of her.

“
Is this smart of us?”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m very lousy with giving hints.” He nipped her lips with a kiss. “I’ve been interested in you since the minute I came to the door looking for daycare.”

“
I’ve never talked so fast in my life,” she laughed remembering the day she’d become some smitten little girl.

“
You blew me off at the barbecue.”

“
You wear a wedding ring.”

And then, as if he’d forgotten all about it, he moved his hand so he could see it. “So I do.”

“
I wasn’t going to wreck your home.”

He brushed his fingers through her hair. “I’m fairly sure you just helped me build a new one.

~*~

Vivian stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. It had been nearly eleven o’clock when they’d left Clayton’s house. Now it was well past one o’clock and she couldn’t sleep at all.

Her body still buzzed. Her skin was still warm. Her heart felt full.

It had taken her a few hours to realize what it was that she really felt—she was happy.

She’d expected that the girls would have to be pulled from his house, but it had been her. They’d sat down with the girls to finish watching the movie—because they simply couldn’t trust themselves alone.

As soon as they’d sat down on the couch both sets of girls had climbed up and joined them. Clayton had draped his arm across the back of the couch and laid his fingertips on the back of her neck.

Even in her bed—alone—she could still feel his touch on her skin.

All four girls had fallen asleep piled on them. As the movie played the credits she and Clayton had simply sat there gazing at each other. The girls slept between them.

It would have been so simple to let the girls sleep, to sneak away, and sleep in his arms. But they both knew that wasn’t going to work.

She closed her eyes. They’d both been broken. What if it wasn’t real, these feelings they were having. What if they broke each other more?

Vivian rolled to her side, rearranged her pillow, and tried to get comfortable.

She couldn’t have been asleep more than a few moments when she heard the pitter-patter of little feet and a small hand reached up and touched her arm.

“
Mommy, I sleep here?”

She pried open her eyes to see Ava standing there looking up at her, Emma standing behind her.

“
Girls, what’s the matter?”

“
We miss you.”

She weakly smiled at them and scooted over in the bed to make room for them. After a few moments of them bouncing and adjusting in the bed, she closed her eyes.

“
Mommy.”

Vivian opened one eye and looked at Emma.

“
Stephanie and Charlotte’s mommy died.”

“
Yes, baby.”

“
Our daddy died,” Ava added.

“
Yes he did, baby.”

The girls looked at each other and Vivian propped herself up on her elbow. Had it finally hit home after all these months? He hadn’t been around much. The girls didn’t really know him, especially Ava.

“
We all thought if you married their daddy we could be a family.”

The words squeezed at her heart. “We are a family. The three of us. And we have Amelia and Sam. Penelope and Brock are our family too.”

“
And the baby,” Ava yawned.

“
And the baby.”

Emma sat up in the bed. “But they need a mommy and we need a daddy. And then we’d be sisters.”

She had quite a grasp on the situation, Vivian thought.

“
I just met their daddy. I think we are a long way from making plans like that.”

Emma thought for a moment. “But Brock and Penelope just met.”

She was grasping much more than she’d ever have given her credit for.

“
Go to sleep. We can talk about this later. I’m not getting married any time soon. But I wouldn’t mind spending more time with Clayton and his girls.”

Emma nodded. That seemed to suffice all the curiosity from her daughter.

Vivian closed her eyes again and smiled in the dark. They wanted a daddy. In the past six months, she’d seen that stranger things could happen—even she could get a man who was interested.

Because they’d fallen asleep at Clayton’s, Vivian’s girls must have gotten much more sleep than she had. She was exhausted.

The girls were plopped down in front of the TV watching a movie while she watched the pot of coffee brew.

It had been decided she and the girls would move to the old house on Main and Pine. Brock and Clayton had already purchased paint and made plans for the bedroom.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the moment. He’d had eyes for her since the moment he’d knocked on the door.

Her heart fluttered in her chest. She opened her eyes, took down a coffee mug, and waited.

The kiss he’d planted on her had rocked her. Every nerve in her body still sparked and when she even thought about the kiss—she grew warm.

They didn’t have plans to see each other today, but she couldn’t help but hope that something would come up and he’d come by. After all, she had to pack up the few things they still possessed after the tornado. He always seemed to show up when she needed him.

A surge passed through her and she let out a near moan—she certainly needed him.

Charlotte had woken up early and now was taking a nap. Stephanie had asked to watch “
Frozen
” again, and to keep her quiet Clayton had let her.

But as he cleaned his kitchen and swapped out laundry, he really wanted to be with Vivian.

A half hour later, Charlotte woke up crying and Stephanie was now asleep on the couch. At what point would he even get them out of the house for some sun?

As he carried the laundry basket to the bedroom, he noticed the papers on his desk. With a grunt, he gave up all hope of kissing the woman who had made him feel whole again—even if only for a few moments. He had lesson plans to finish and papers to grade. It didn’t look like he was going to be able to just drop by and see her as he’d planned.

Setting the basket on his bed, he took out the first dress and set it into Charlotte’s pile and repeated the process. When his phone rang, he nearly jumped over the bed to grab it off the nightstand. Everything in him surged to life and he hoped Vivian was on the other end of the line.

He slid his finger over the screen, “Hello.” His voice had even sounded chipper. When was the last time that had happened?

“
Clayton,” the woman’s voice on the other end said softly.

That surge of life, which had bubbled inside of him when the phone range, sizzled away.

“
Dorothy.” His voice dropped and his heart squeezed until it hurt. “How are you?”

Linda’s mother let out a dreadful sigh, which had Clayton sitting down on the bed.

“
Good days. Bad days.”

He understood that well enough. Up until she’d called, it had been one of his good days.

Dorothy let out another noise—a groan. “How are my granddaughters? I miss them so much.”

The pain in his chest intensified. “They’re doing well. They start in a new daycare center tomorrow.”

“
That’s wonderful. Are they making friends?”

That made him smile. “As a matter of fact, they are. The woman with the daycare center has girls the same ages as mine. They have quickly become best friends.”

“
That makes me happy.” Her voice had risen and he knew she needed to know that. “How about you? Are you doing okay?”

She’d always been considerate of him. He appreciated that. “I am. The new job is going well.”

“
And friends. Have you made any new friends?”

When she mentioned it, the flutters of life moved inside of him again. “I have made some good friends. A few couples and a woman who lost her husband in June.”

“
Oh, Clayton. There is too much of this going on.”

“
Hers died in combat.”

“
God bless him.” She was silent for a few moments. “Will you bring the girls home for Christmas? I know we would all love to see them. We miss you all so much.”

Clayton hadn’t much thought about it. He should go back for Christmas. He’d moved from Seattle to mend himself, but he knew it had only made things worse for everyone else.

“
I’ll consider it.”

“
I hope you will. Will you have the girls call me on Tuesday night? We got that Skype stuff figured out on my computer. I can’t wait to see the girls again.”

It brought a smile to his face when he remembered Skyping with her the first time “I’ll make sure we do. The girls will love to see you.”

She said her goodbyes and Clayton disconnected the call. He felt the lead ball of guilt dropping in his stomach. He sat down on the bed and fell back. Laundry—or anything else—didn’t seem so important now.

Moving away from Seattle was supposed to make him move on. But he missed Linda every day—or he had until this morning when he woke and she wasn’t the very first thing on his mind. Vivian had taken that place this morning.

~*~

Sam had called and let Vivian know that the man who had lent them the townhouse had a renter. It was official. She had four days to get out. Luckily they had nothing and Penelope was all moved out of the old house. She just wished all the bedrooms had been finished.

Really, why did she care? It was still nicer than the house she lived in that she and Adam had bought.

Every box she packed she set by the front door and checked her phone for the time. The entire day had passed and Clayton hadn’t called, texted, or dropped by.

Every time she checked the time, a part of her heart began to harden. It had been a mistake that kiss Clayton had planted on her. It had been wrong to inhale it, hold it, to want it. She should have socked him in the gut.

But she hadn’t, so now she was nursing a broken heart.

It was nearly six o’clock when Emma tugged on her shirt. “Are we having dinner?”

The question only added to her heartbreak. She’d neglected her children all day as she’d packed. She’d thrown together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Cut up an apple for snack. They’d watched movies, packed up their toys, and stayed out of her way. It wasn’t that she was too busy—they didn’t have very many possessions. She was just preoccupied in thought—about Clayton.

“
I’m sorry, sweetheart. Why don’t we drive over to McDonald’s? I’ll buy you a Happy Meal since you’ve been so patient with me today.”

Emma’s eyes opened wide and she immediately ran to collect her sister. Vivian decided that might have been the only thing that had made her smile all day.