31. Rochelle
31
ROCHELLE
I yawn, stretch out, and wriggle my toes. After Frederick and I made love, I was knocked right out, all the nervous energy inside me was finally spent.
“How long was I out for?” I ask. The nap was incredibly refreshing. These soft sheets make me never want to leave. The bed is so luxurious, some kind of dark wool with a thick mattress topper.
“Only about twenty minutes.” Frederick leans down, kissing me tenderly before pulling me close to him.
“I saw your mom. She gave me your address,” I tell him.
“I wondered how you found me here.”
“I had to see you. We needed to talk.”
Frederick chuckles. “Yeah, I kind of forgot the talking part when you showed up at my door, looking so beautiful in that blue dress.” He kisses me again.
“Can we talk now?”
“Of course.”
I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry I pushed you away,” I tell him. “I have no good excuse. I was scared, I guess. But that doesn’t matter. I should have talked to you. I know you were just trying to help me. You’ve only ever tried to help.”
Frederick watches me, letting me speak.
“I know you were the one who sent me my mother’s ashes. It made me realize that I was being stupid by avoiding you. You must have gone to so much trouble just to get them for me.”
“Steve was definitely unwilling to part with them.”
“How did you get him to hand them over?”
“Let’s just say that Amyra took a look into his finances and realized some things weren’t adding up. I offered to clear things up with the IRS for him, but he decided that giving you the ashes was more important.”
A grin blossoms on my face, imagining Frederick towering over Steve, holding the evidence of his years of financial fraud over his head. I only wish I could have been there to see it.
“I care about you,” Frederick adds. “I want you to know that I care. Your happiness is important to me.”
“I know. It took me a bit to get it, but I do now. You’ve more than proven that to me. I trust you.” That feels good to say out loud.
“I guess everything just became so much. We started out pretending to be together for the sake of your family, but the lines got blurred and suddenly our relationship seemed real. I wanted to believe that there was a shot for us, but then I let your family’s words get under my skin. It made me feel so insecure.”
“If you had talked to me, you would have known that I have always made decisions that were right for me and not for anyone else. I would have reassured you that I never cared what they thought of what I did, and I wasn’t about to start.”
“I know.” I sigh. “But then there was that whole thing with Mimi and the neighbors.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Frederick cups my face in his hands. “You didn’t scare me off with that.”
I pull away. “It’s more than that, though,” I say. “I grew up with that kind of fighting and that kind of behavior. I never wanted to live my life like that, and suddenly there I was, acting just as trashy as my ex-stepfather.”
“You’re nothing like him,” Frederick says, voice firm. “You’re wonderful and kind hearted, and you were only trying to look after the people you care about. Steve lashed out because he was damaged inside. You were only trying to protect the children.”
“You make me sound like some kind of mama bear,” I say, a nervous laugh escaping me. “But how do you know I won’t ever let my temper get the better of me again?”
“You’ve never once raised your voice at the children, nor put your hands on me, or anyone else. Mimi was deliberately trying to provoke you. You responded because she attacked you first. If the police hadn’t been there, I doubt Mimi would have a case because there were plenty of witnesses who saw her come for you first.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to have to deal with that on top of everything else now.”
“Don’t worry about it. I took care of things,” Frederick says. “She won’t be a problem.”
“Wow, thank you! You’re amazing.”
“It’s my job to protect you.” He says it so casually that my heart stops beating for a moment. His fingers trace over my shoulder, ghosting on my skin, and goosebumps break out.
“I’ll hold you to that from now on,” I say, leaning up to pull his lips down to meet mine.
We kiss for a long moment before he breaks away, stroking my cheek.
“I’m glad that it worked out in the end. Caroline did the right thing by giving you temporary guardianship. You are a great presence for Sigourney and Walken.”
My eyes widen. “The kids!”
“What about them?”
“I need to go. School is going to be over soon, and it’ll probably take forever to get there at this time of day.”
“Come on, I’ll come with you. We can take a taxi, it will be faster than the subway.”
We rush around, pulling our clothes back on and removing all traces of our ‘activities’ before heading out the door to pick them up.
Walken is sitting on the steps of the school, chatting with a friend when we arrive. “Hey, kiddo!” I call from the car. “Get in, we’ve got to pick up your sister.”
Walken runs to the car, scooting in next to Frederick. “You and Mr. Frederick made up?” he asks.
“We did.” Frederick holds out his hand for a fist bump. “She’s my best bud and nothing can keep best buds apart, right?”
His grin practically lights up the car, and he bumps his fist into Frederick’s.
“How was school?” I ask.
“Great! I have to show you something,” he says, rummaging in his backpack. He pulls out a wrinkled sheet of paper and shows it to me. “It’s my reading test this week.”
“You got a one-hundred percent!” I exclaim, looking it over. “Congratulations! We’re definitely hanging this on the fridge.”
“Can we go to the library this weekend?” he asks. “My teacher read us this book called Goosebumps and told us there were more. I want to read them all!”
“Definitely,” I say, smiling so hard I feel like my cheeks might break. “We’ll get as many as we can.”
“My tutor says that I’m at a fifth-grade reading level now!”
“I’m so proud of you,” I tell him, pulling him in for a hug. “I knew you could do it. You just needed a little extra help.” And I know that in no time at all, he’ll be flying past that level too.
Sigourney is waiting at a bench outside the elementary school when we pull up. “There you are!” She runs up to the car and climbs in. “You’re late.”
“Sorry. I got distracted.”
She grins. “I see that. Hi Mr. Frederick.” She waves to him and fastens her seatbelt. “So you took my advice?”
I nod. “I did.”
“What advice was that?” Frederick asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I told her that she should go find you,” Sigourney says, a satisfied smirk on her face. “And she did!”
“Thank you for that.” Frederick gives her a high-five. “You’re a regular Sally Jesse Raphael.”
“Who?”
“Uh. Dr. Phil?”
Walken wrinkles his nose. “He’s mean.”
“Kelly Clarkson?” I offer.
“Oh, yeah. I’m awesome like that,” Sigourney agrees. “I’m glad you and Frederick made up. You deserve to be happy, too, Rochelle.”
My heart melts, and I reach out to squeeze her shoulder. “Thank you for that. By the way, how was school?”
“Good. I got the character award for the month out of the whole fourth grade.”
“That is fantastic news,” Frederick says. “We are celebrating tonight. I’m taking everyone out to dinner and then ice cream for dessert!”
The kids cheer and Frederick reaches out to hold my hand, linking our fingers together. We may not have completely defined our relationship, but I’m happy with how things are for now. We can talk about what we are to each other later, but for now, I want to enjoy a night with my family.