13. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
“Oh my god, you put Nair in his shampoo?” Magnolia turned to Ezra, eyes wide, and was graced with one of his gorgeous smiles.
The kind that hit her right in the solar plexus, made it hard to breathe.
“I will neither confirm nor deny that.” But his grin remained in place before he turned a dry look to Tiago. “And if we’re telling stories, I’ve got a few I’m sure Fleur would love to hear.”
“Oh yes, please!” Fleur pushed her plate back and picked up her glass of white wine. “I want to hear all the stories.
Fleur, who Magnolia knew through reputation only as a talented artist, had joined all of them for dinner at the safe house. Being surrounded by so many people normally would have stressed her out, but everyone was so nice and friendly. And it was clear they adored Ezra.
Magnolia was trying to keep everyone straight and was pretty sure she had it now. Berlin was the hacker of their group, a striking woman who was mostly dressed in black. Even her T-shirt, which had Kirby on the front, was mostly black. Adalyn and Rowan were recently married, Tiago and Fleur were engaged and still trying to decide on a venue, and then Ezra, who she had no problem remembering.
If anything, he was imprinted on the deepest part of her.
They also talked about other people including someone named “B,” who they all owned a bar with. They’d also talked about people named Cash, Reese, Elijah and Hailey. Hailey was the only one she was positive about since she was Jesse Lennox’s wife.
“No stories.” Tiago gave Ezra a pointed look.
Ezra simply grinned again, leaned back and slung an arm around the back of Magnolia’s chair. And oh, she liked that way too much. “Fine. And for the record, that asshole deserved the Nair. Sadistic bastard,” he muttered in reference to a drill sergeant they’d all loathed.
A burst of laughter erupted from the table.
“I have a story about Ezra,” Magnolia murmured, shooting him a grin.
He covered his face. “I don’t even want to think about what you might tell them,” he said, laughing lightly before grinning as he looked at her.
She loved seeing him so relaxed like this, so sure of himself, and found herself holding her breath for a second, as if she could somehow freeze this one moment in time. It would live in her memory at least. She’d started to tell one of her favorite stories when her phone buzzed. “Oh, saved by the bell. It’s Lucas,” she said to the others. “I need to take this. You want to come with me? We can do a video call?”
Ezra looked faintly surprised but stood with her, telling Tiago that he could handle the dishes tonight before they both headed out onto the back patio.
She answered, pressing the video option as they both sat on a swinging bench. She leaned in with Ezra as she held up the phone. “Hey, hon. You’ve got both of us.”
Lucas smiled at them and she recognized the background immediately. He was in one of the guest rooms that was essentially “his” room, as her mother had dubbed it during his formative years. And it really was his room, having evolved with him in age. “Hey, just checking in to let you know everything is…okay over here. Nana’s great. She’s really mad.” His eyes were big as he glanced over in the direction of the bedroom door then looked back at them, his voice lowered. “Nana’s scary. I’ve never seen her mad before. Not like this anyway because it’s a real kind of mad. She’s like this silent, deadly terrifying Nana. Grandpa came in and she iced him out, didn’t even offer him the tacos we made. I almost felt bad for him.” His jaw tightened. “Almost.”
“Are you sure you want to stay?”
“Yeah, we’re going to watch a movie. I think she needs me right now.”
“You’re not responsible—”
“Mooom, I know, I know. I’m not responsible for anyone’s happiness but that’s not what this is. She’s my Nana and I love her. I want to be with her right now and I think you and…” His gaze flicked to Ezra and he cleared his throat. “I think you two are good right now. She needs me more and maybe I need her too.”
“You’re a wonderful human being, in case I don’t tell you that enough.”
“Moooom.” Again with the extended syllables, but he was hiding a smile.
She could tell. “Fine. Then I’ll jump into mom mode. Are you ready for your test on Monday?”
“Yep. Nana’s helping me study tomorrow. She said we could have tonight off and watch movies and eat junk food, then get serious tomorrow.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you too.” He looked at Ezra. “I might text you later, okay?”
“Definitely.”
And that was it. Once they disconnected, she shoved out a sigh as she stared out at the yard full of solar lights and different pieces of yard art intertwined with the flowers, plants and trees. There were a lot of gnomes everywhere and they were delightful. “I hope I’m doing the right thing by letting him stay there.”
“You’re a good mom.” His voice had dropped an octave.
Surprised, she glanced at him. “Thank you.”
“I’m serious. You just… I’m pissed at your dad, not gonna lie. But maybe he was right. It’s clear that you’re killing it in the parent department. That kid, our son, is loved and knows it. Maybe…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know where I would have fit in so maybe your dad had the right of it.”
“Ezra Hunt. Don’t you dare say that,” she snapped. Then she grabbed his face and kissed him.
She surprised herself and started to pull back, but he clutched the back of her head, let out what she could only describe as a savage growl as he devoured her. And that was really the only word for it as he teased his tongue against hers, took over what she’d started until they were both panting and staring at each other.
She blinked first. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t be sorry.” His voice was gravelly, uneven. “We can’t do it again, but…don’t be sorry.”
They couldn’t do it again? Ooooh, yeah, that was definitely disappointment sliding through her. He was probably right, but she could admit that she didn’t like to be told to do anything. Or not to do anything, as it were.
So he might as well have lit the pilot light of her desire and tossed a match onto it. “Okay, I’m not sorry. But you don’t get to talk about yourself like that. Okay? We would have made things work. And my dad was wrong. So very wrong. So he doesn’t get let off the hook. Okay?” she demanded.
“Okay.”
Almost as if he knew she was talking about him, her phone buzzed with an incoming call from her dad. She silenced it.
Ezra’s eyebrows raised.
“I’m not ready to talk to him yet.”
“I get it,” he murmured, then paused when Berlin stuck her head outside. “Sorry to bother you guys, but I wanted to talk to Ezra about some stuff.”
“That’s okay. I need to return some work emails anyway.” Didn’t matter that it was Saturday evening, Magnolia felt like she never really shut things down. Oh, she tried to keep a good work-life balance, and had made it to all Lucas’s events growing up, but that meant sometimes she worked late nights or odd hours. Magnolia stood, hating the interruption as much as she was grateful for it.
Because she needed a little distance from Ezra after that kiss. She’d never thought she’d see him again, much less have this type of reunion. And he didn’t want to do it again? She wanted to push him, but was pretty sure she didn’t want the answer. For all she knew, he was dating someone else.
No…she didn’t think so. But there was something more there holding him back.
***
“Are we gonna talk about that hot and heavy kiss?” Berlin asked as she sat in front of her computer.
“Uh, no we are not talking about that.” Ezra glared at the back of her head. “Since when are you so nosy?”
“Figured I’d ask. Besides, I’ve got some gossip for you. Guess who’s been leaving envelopes of cash for Antonia Collins then sneaking away?” Her fingers moved across the keyboard as quickly as he’d ever seen anyone. She texted the same way too. “I’ll tell you who, Adalyn.”
Yeah, he’d guessed that.
“You have nothing to say?” She glanced over her shoulder at him, pausing at the computer.
“I wasn’t sure if you were done.”
“Ha, ha.”
“I don’t know what to say to that. Does Collins know that Adalyn was leaving her money?”
“You can’t call her by her last name. That’s a dude thing.”
“Well I’ve never met her in person so… Oh my god, Berlin. Answer the question.”
She snickered then swiveled in her chair. “Yeah, she knows now. She dropped by this place before you got here last night. Told Adalyn she was coming to dinner on Sunday. Not asked, she ordered her. It was hilarious. I told Adalyn to bring Gumbo.”
Hearing her name, Gumbo trotted into the room from who only knew where, yipped once at the two of them.
Ezra crouched down and rubbed behind her ears, letting the mutt headbutt him for more pets and more attention. Then Gumbo lay down on her back, shaking her entire body as she demanded more pets.
“I don’t know if all dogs are like her, but she’s so wonderfully weird,” Berlin murmured. Then she straightened in her seat. “Anyway, the reason you’re here. I got a few hits on some of Perry’s known associates. Nothing concrete but I managed to snag a few bits of phone conversation about a ‘delivery’ and how it didn’t make its intended recipient. Could be a mention of the bomb. Or it could just be a reference to drugs, considering the guy in question sells drugs. But I wanted to let you know I’m still digging. And my baby,” she said, caressing her laptop, “is working overtime.”
“Thank you for this.” He just wished he could get his hands on Perry and this problem would go away forever.
“I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking right now because you’re looking kinda murdery. But I’ll wake you if I get anything good.” She grinned then, all mischievous Berlin. “Will you be in your room or Magnolia’s?”
“Mine.” His tone was dry as he stood, Gumbo deciding to remain behind. As he stepped out of the office, he watched the little goofball jump into Berlin’s lap and start licking her face.
And despite what he’d said, he headed to Magnolia’s room, knocked on the half-open door. They’d given her one of the biggest rooms, and he knew it had been decorated with comfort in mind. It was all soft grays and blues with a king-sized bed, a desk, cushy seating by the window that overlooked the backyard, and a giant soaker tub he’d heard about from Berlin. Because the woman talked about everything.
“You doing okay?” He stepped inside, resisted the urge to shut the door behind him and pick up where they’d left off on the back porch.
But there would be no picking up anything. Even if her taste, the little moaning sound she made, was imprinted on him. He hadn’t been expecting her kiss at all, but when she’d grabbed his face like that something primal had unleashed in him. And if they’d been alone, he was pretty sure he’d have tossed out all his restraint and gone down on her right on the porch swing.
“Okayish.” She’d changed into dark blue pajamas with little hearts all over them. “I talked to Mari and she always makes me laugh. And I talked to my mom for a few minutes. I’m not upset with her, but it was still hard because she’s so understandably emotional. She’s taking this really bad.” She shook her head. “Anyway. Okayish is not too bad.”
He shut the door behind him now and stepped inside, sitting on the end of the bed. “You don’t have to cut yourself off when talking about your dad.”
“I know, but I don’t want to treat you like a therapist or something. Especially when what he did affected you too.”
“You can talk to me about him all you want. Your mom too. I want to know everything about how you’re feeling. Hell, about all the years I missed.”
“You want to look at pictures of Lucas? I’ve got a dedicated album on my phone. Unless…will it be too much?” She bit her bottom lip, and he loved and hated that she was worried about him.
“I’d love to see them.” Yeah, it would hurt a little, but he wanted to know everything about his son.
“Good. Come on.” She grabbed her phone and slid onto the big bed, sat up against the headboard. Then she patted the place next to her. “I won’t bite…unless you ask nicely.”
He blinked at her boldness, but didn’t miss the pink flush of her cheeks. Laughing lightly (something he seemed to be doing a lot of with her), he slid in next to her, staying on top of the covers as she held out her phone.
“Just swipe right and I’ll tell you about them if you have questions. To be fair, I’m only showing you his kindergarten and first grade year because if I show you all of them at once, we’ll be here until the end of time itself.”
He wouldn’t mind that at all, but he simply started scrolling. And she hadn’t been kidding. There were a lot. Some with her, some with Lucas and kids his age, his teachers, his grandparents, then a lot of solos of him doing random things at different places. There were pictures at the Audubon Aquarium, the zoo, what he assumed were field trips since one showed a dairy farm and a bunch of kids in matching uniforms. In all of them, he was smiling of course, but Ezra loved the ones with him and Magnolia.
“Can I get some of these?” he rasped out.
“You can have all of them. I was going to make you a book for each year.” She yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder as he kept scrolling. “He was mad at me that day,” she said when he scrolled to a picture at a white sand beach. “Didn’t want to take any pictures, but then when I put the phone down, he got mad and said I must not love him if I wasn’t taking pictures.”
Ezra snorted.
“Oh yeah, the emotions of a six-year-old. He was just hangry, I realized after a big meltdown. That age was tough though. One day he loved peanut butter, then the literal next it was the most disgusting thing in the world and I was a monster for trying to feed it to him.”
Ezra snickered.
“Forget terrible twos or threes. Six was a rough year. He got a little more even-keeled at seven.”
Smiling, he kept scrolling, then paused at a picture with Henri Fontenot and Lucas, both wearing matching white suits.
“Ah, it was a parent thing at school,” she murmured.
“A dad thing?”
“No, Thanksgiving,” she said. “Henri came to a lot of events over the years.”
“You have good friends. I’m glad you had that for you and Lucas.” Being a single mom was no joke. His own mom had put up with her shitty husband because she’d hated being alone. Hated Ezra, he was pretty certain. His dad had died years ago, been killed in a barfight, no surprise. He hadn’t even received the notice immediately because it had gone to an old address.
“Thank you. I was lucky, I know that. And privileged. I can only imagine how hard it would have been without my resources. My parents didn’t want me to forgo college so they hired help, and helped out a lot themselves. Now I’m guessing my dad did so much out of guilt.” A hint of anger laced her words.
“Maybe, maybe not. He loves you.”
She just sniffed once. “Mari swore she wouldn’t mind being roommates with a baby but I knew that was crazy so I lived at my parents until Lucas was five. When he started kindergarten and I was just out of college seemed like the best time for a new start for both of us. We lived in a great little condo that was family friendly until he was ten. And my parents still helped out a lot too, so even though I was a single mom, I had a big safety net. Something a lot of people don’t.”
“That’s why you’re trying to create a safety net for other moms,” he murmured, setting her phone down.
“Moms and women in general. It’s seriously scary how thin the line is between homelessness and having a roof over your head. We don’t have enough safety nets so I’m doing what I can to mitigate that.”
Yep, there was a reason he’d fallen for her. “I never stopped thinking about you,” he said into the quiet even as he told himself to shut the hell up. But he wanted her to know. Even if there wasn’t going to be a future between them, romantically at least, he wanted her to know on the deepest level. “But I never looked you up. I thought you were happily married and I didn’t want to see that.” His words were blunt, raw. True .
She reached over, squeezed his thigh once. “I know it’s not my fault, but I’m still sorry.”
He didn’t want apologies from her, just to explain to her why he hadn’t looked back. “I just thought you should know,” he murmured before he eased back, sliding out of her bed. The voice in his head told him he was a fool for walking away, but he knew better. This was the only way to save himself. “If you need me, I’m next door.”
She simply nodded, her expression one he couldn’t read. Which was just as well. Because if she asked him to stay, he absolutely would. And right now, things were too tenuous between them. Too fragile.
He didn’t want to blow things up and ruin his chance at being in their lives. Because if they got involved with each other again, then things imploded… He knew exactly how that would play out.
No way. He’d just found out he had a son, that Magnolia had never ended things. He wasn’t going to lose them when he’d just found them.