Slut - Woodruff Jettie - Страница 28
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“That’s for last night. What did you do now?” I questioned while turning away from his lips.
Paxton laughed when he missed, kissing the corner of my uncooperative mouth with his sticky lips. My tongue peeked out, tasting the maple syrup as he spoke quiet words to my neck. “Jesus, what do I have to do for a dollar?”
I might have smiled a little, but I didn’t mean to, and I was serious. Trying to be, anyway. “What did you do, Paxton? I thought you were so busy with work,” I questioned while I watched him slide my pancake to the plate.
“I made you a pancake out of love. See, it’s a heart.”
My eyes shifted to the plate in my hand and I stared at it confused, head tilting and eyes squinting. “It looks like a possum.”
That definitely made me smile. The biggest smile ever. Both my little girls giggled hysterically at their daddy’s attempt to make a heart.
“It does not. It’s a heart.”
“What’s this long tail-like thingy here?”
“It’s not a tail thingy. It’s an arrow. Whatever, go eat your possum.”
I watched him cautiously and slid my finger across my phone, right to the messages. My head shook as I read them all, the last one being our address.
Gabby—Hey, come to my house.
Mi—Why? What about your husband?
Gabby—He wants to talk to you, too.
Mi—This wouldn’t happen to be “him,” would it?
Gabby—Maybe, but I’m not about to let her meet you alone. We’re married.
Mi—Yeah, so I heard. Poor girl.
Gabby—I’m not a bad guy.
Mi—Well that’s coming from a guy who had his wife arrested, soooooooo.
Gabby—LOL I like you. Be here around nine.
Mi—I’m only coming for Gabby, not you.
Gabby—Okay, sooooooo I’ll see you at nine.
“I really do hate you,” I admitted while stabbing my pancake with my fork, twisting it dramatically into his possum shaped breakfast.
“That hurts a little,” he said with two fingers over his chest, two taps and that damn grin. The sexy one that I hated.
“What are you doing here? You told me you were busy.”
“I am. This is your fault. If my guys screw up this layout, I’m taking it out on your ass.”
I refrained from accepting that threat, secretly hoping that they did. “Mmmm, real blueberries. I’m impressed. Did you Google that?”
He pointed his nose toward the girls and their argument. Ophelia’s pancake was bigger, Rowan had more blueberries. “Yes, right there. They went grocery shopping with me. Both insured me that their mommy didn’t buy the frozen blueberries. Only the organic ones. You’re so weird.”
The thoughts on how to reply changed with his last comment. I almost boasted on my smart girls, and said something about him sidestepping my question about being up to something. I sputtered a short laugh instead. “Wait until you meet Mi.”
“Mi’s weird?”
“Mommy, my tooth is loose. See” Rowan announced from across the room, pulling my attention to her instead of my stubborn husband.
I answered Paxton and left him for my girls. God, I missed them. “You’ll see.”
My pancake was delicious, and I couldn’t believe how much I missed in less than a week. I swear they grew daily. Rowan didn’t lie, her front tooth would be missing in the next couple days. Ophelia skinned her knee and I felt horrible. It wasn’t the kiss it, cover it with a Band-Aid, all better kind. That one hurt, and there was no doubt she cried. She cried and I wasn’t there for her. That pissed me off. They both got new stuffed animals from the zoo truck. I half listened to what the hell that was while I glared at Paxton. Some bus came to the library, packed full of animals, all proceeds going towards the zoo. I wasn’t surprised by Rowan’s choice of a cat. She’d been asking for one for ages. Paxton was allergic, or so he said. I did laugh when Phi told me she got a fish. Of all things in a zoo, my girls chose a cat and a fish. Ophelia ran off to get her new fish while Rowan started the argument.
“Well, my cat is better because it can eat your fish.”
Of course Phi stopped. “No it can’t. My fish is bigger than your cat. My fish will eat your cat.”
“Fish don’t eat cats. Cats eat fish.”
“Some fish do. A shark can eat a cat.”
“Cats don’t go in the ocean.”
“Oh my, God. Stop it. Go get your fish,” I said once I realized how long their fight could go on. Hours. Days. Weeks.
“Your cat could fall off a boat,” Phi called. Spitting image of her daddy. I swear that girl would have taken a timeout before she would ever let Rowan have the last word.
Paxton and I exchanged a glance just as the doorbell rang.
“Is that your friend?” Rowan asked.
I answered with a yes, shaking my head at Ophelia when I heard Mi’s voice. Paxton was the one to scold her, not me. I stood back trying to give Mi the ‘sorry about my idiot husband’ look. She read it, and I read the understanding in her eyes.
“Ophelia Dawn Pierce. Don’t you ever do that again. You know better than that. What if that was a bad guy and he wanted to break into our house?” he questioned in a stern tone, hand lifting her chin to look at him.
“But it’s not a bad guy. It’s her.”
“You didn’t know that. Don’t open the door for strangers. Understand me?”
Phi looked up to him with puppy dog eyes and sad tone. “Yes. I won’t do it again.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you. Okay?” he said while feeding right out of her hand, voice softening with every word. And that right there was why I always had to be the bad guy. He melted like chocolate in her hand.
“Hi, Mi. Come on in. This is Ophelia and Rowan, and my lovely husband Paxton,” I said as I invited her in with an open hand, introducing her to my family.
Mi ignored Paxton and bent over to Rowan and Phi, shaking each little hand, one in each of hers. “I have heard so much about you. Very nice to meet you.”
Rowan didn’t really respond. She sort of shied away without a reaction.
Busybody Ophelia was another story. She wasn’t shy at all. “I like your necklace,” she said as she held the crystal in her hand.
“Thank you. I wasn’t sure what kind of energy I would walk into in your house. Crystals protect you from bad energy.”
I sucked in on my lips at Paxton’s eyes darted quickly to me.
“What. The. Fuck?” he mouthed to me without audible words.
“We have good energy,” Phi assured Mi.
I smiled at her confidence. Like she knew everything there was to know about the energy field in our house. I was sure she had never been introduced to that before.
“Santa brought us crystal necklaces last time,” Rowan finally spoke.
“He did?” I asked, my attention going right to Paxton.
He shrugged both shoulders and pointed to me, letting me know that I bought them. That meant something to me at that moment, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe the thought of buying them something that was believed to protect them from something bad.
“You have very good energy. I’m surprised,” Mi said as her eyes landed on Paxton. She scanned him, head to toe while he looked at me, confusion written all over his face.
“Okay girls. Remember what we talked about? You’re going to go practice for your dance recital without fighting, and mommy and daddy are going to talk to Mi. Okay?”
“We want to talk to Mi, too.”
Mi moved Ophelia’s hair behind her back and smiled down at her. “Tell you what. You let us talk about business for a little bit, and I’ll teach you a magic trick. Deal?”
“A real magic trick?” Rowan questioned, interest piqued.
“Yes, and you can show all your friends, but you can’t tell them the magic part. Only you can know how it’s done. Okay?”
I loved how Mi was with my girls. Instant connection, unlike my fake neighbors, and they loved her.
“Okay,” they agreed in unison.
We all stared after them, hopping along, excited to learn magic when my mini me turned back. Ophelia suddenly stopped and turned her worried eyes right to me. “You’re not going to leave, right Mommy?”
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