Chapter 8 #2
“You know what I think?” Kyle asked.
“No, sir.”
“I think both of you have been extremely disrespectful toward your mother. I know what you did on Saturday, Hadley, and if you were my daughter, you’d still be sitting there.”
“But I’m not your daughter!”
“You’d better be glad, because if you were, the ending you got is paradise compared to what I’d do.”
“Daddy, I don’t know what she did, but I won’t ever, ever do it, I promise,” Myla whispered to her dad.
“I hope not, cookie! As for you not being my daughter, that’s right.
You’re not. But as long as your mother and I are in a relationship, she has the ability and right to correct Myla in whatever way she sees fit, and I think she’ll extend the same courtesy to me with the two of you.
” Gina glanced at him, her cheeks still burning, and nodded.
“And as for you,” Kyle said, staring at Briley, “do you realize what’s at stake when you do stupid stuff like that?
I recall that Terrance Boldry has been talking to you about a career as an angler. ”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you wind up getting picked up for public intoxication or underage drinking, you can kiss that goodbye. Sponsorships? Goodbye. A tour? Goodbye.”
“But I won’t get caught.”
“Son, every person who ever wound up in jail on a public intoxication charge or with a DUI did what they did while gambling that they wouldn’t get caught.
And they did. Is drinking with your friends really important enough to throw all that away?
Because I can tell you, if that goes away and it’s impossible to get into a school because of your record, those friends whose opinions are so important right now will be history.
They won’t want anything to do with you.
You’re a bright young man, a talented young man.
If their opinion is so important to you that you’d throw all those possibilities away, you need to figure out what it is inside you that needs their approval so badly and tell it to shut up.
” To Gina’s surprise, Briley’s eyes were sparkling with tears and he sniffed hard but he didn’t say a single word.
“So here’s the deal.” Gina held her breath. What was he about to say?
“Your mom works hard. She doesn’t take a lot of time for herself.
Matter of fact, these dinners were the only way we could come up with to spend a little time together because both of us are wrapped up in our kids.
But it seems to me that you’ve been taking advantage of her generosity, of her good-naturedness, of her love for you, and treating her like crap.
That stops now. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say I love your mother and she loves me.
Yes, I know, it’s fast, but when something’s right and you know it, you shouldn’t fight it, just go for it.
And as long as she and I are together, if I catch you doing something that’s going to hurt or disappoint her, I’m going to call you on it and it’s going to change. Are we clear on that?”
Oh my god! He loves me! Gina couldn’t help it—a river of tears began to pour down her face.
There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but she couldn’t.
Her mouth wouldn’t form words. All she could do was reach for his hand, and when he took hers, the grip he wrapped it in told her he wasn’t planning to let go—ever.
Kyle gazed back across the table at the three kids and simply said, “From this point forward, we’re a unified front.
We back each other. The three of you will be respectful to both of us and to each other. I will accept nothing less.”
Big crystal tears rolled down Hadley’s cheeks. “Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir,” Briley answered, his voice trembling.
A little voice added, “Yes, sir. And yes, Miss Gina. If you tell me I’m doing something bad, I’ll ’pologize and I won’t do it anymore, I promise.”
Gina’s voice broke when she said to Myla, “Come here, sweet girl.” As soon as the child was within reach, Gina wrapped Myla in her arms. “You’re a very good little girl. I think we’ll get along just fine.”
“I love you, Miss Gina. You’re so nice to me,” Myla’s little voice said just before she kissed Gina’s cheek tenderly. “You’re a good mommy.”
“Thank you, baby. I try.”
“Mom?” She turned to look at Hadley. “I’m sorry I’ve been so horrible lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just hate everybody and everything.”
“Hormones, honey. It’ll pass. It’s what you do until then that counts. But I love you, you know that.”
“I know. I love you too.”
“Mom, I’m so, so sorry,” Briley blurted out. “I just … The kids at school give me a hard time because of Nate.” Well, that was news to Gina. He’d never mentioned it, but it explained a lot.
Gina reached for her son’s hand. “Honey, I’m sorry. I had no idea. Want me to talk to the principal about it?”
“No. Please leave it alone. It’ll just get worse.”
Kyle’s voice piped up. “Not if I show up at the ball game with you on Friday night. They’ll leave you alone about Nate after that. Once they see you with another adult male, they’ll shut up.”
Gina nodded. “He’s right. If Kyle shows up with you, they’ll know there’s a man in your life who cares about you and they’ll stop.
Matter of fact, you may have another kind of trouble from them.
I know at least a couple of them have dads who spend no time at all with them.
They’ll be jealous when Kyle shows up with you. ”
Briley nodded. “You’re probably right.”
“Glad that’s all settled. Let’s all finish eating and clean up the kitchen so we can relax, okay?” Kyle picked up his fork again and Gina’s heart tripped in double-time. “How’s the food?”
“Actually, this casserole is delicious,” Hadley answered. “What’s in it?”
Kyle smiled. “Let’s see … Pound of ground beef, pasta, a jar of spaghetti sauce, some …”
Right before Gina’s eyes, all three kids started to get involved in the conversation, and pretty soon, everything was pleasant. Everyone was smiling. Her respect for Kyle had gone through the roof. And he’d professed his love for her right there in front of the kids.
As soon as they finished eating, Kyle said, “Why don’t you three go for a walk down the road back behind the house? There’s a pond back there, and a swing, and all kinds of birds and butterflies and things. Myla can show you around.”
“Yeah! I have a swing back there. There’s a big bullfrog who lives in the pond, and he croaks really, really loud! He’ll jump in the water when we get close, and you can see him …” Gina could hear her happy little voice as the back door closed behind the kids.
He’d already started picking up dishes and scraping them off into the disposal. “Let me help you with this,” Gina said, picking up more flatware and glasses.
Kyle stopped and turned around to face her, leaning back with his hands braced on the countertop. “Did I overstep my bounds? Because if I did, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stand seeing them treat you that way.”
Gina shook her head. “I just …” She couldn’t help it—she burst into tears and couldn’t even speak.
“Babe? If you’re mad, I’m so sorry. I just …” She wagged her hands, trying to get him to stop and get herself under control. “Is it okay?”
Her voice was broken and hoarse when she spoke. “You love me?”
“I do. And you love me. At least I think you do.”
“I do.” A fresh bout of waterworks started. “It’s just that for so long I’ve wanted my kids to have a … a … a dad!” she cried out and sobbed. Her chest hurt and her throat ached from the ferocity of her tears.
His embrace was strong and warm as he pulled her in close.
“Shhh, baby. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be just fine.
We can do this, I know we can. You’ve got good kids, but you’ve been spread thin and running on empty for a long time, and that doesn’t have to go on.
” His lips pressed against her forehead and she thought she’d die from happiness.
“God, I wish you could spend the night,” he whispered against her skin.
“I wish I could too. At some point the kids are going to have to be okay with it.”
“Yeah. But for now, we can wait. And next time we have a rainy afternoon, well, I can’t work in the rain. And you should take the afternoon off. We can spend the afternoon in bed. How does that sound?”
She pressed her face to his chest and breathed in his scent. “Like heaven.”
“Weekends will be easier. No school. You’re welcome to come here, or I can come there.”
“It would probably be easier to come to my place. It’s bigger.”
Kyle grinned. “Oh, but I’ve got a plan for that too, and I think Briley and Hadley just might like it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He kissed her again and when he pulled back, he rested his forearms on her shoulders and grinned. “Just leave it all to me.”
The drive home seemed much shorter than the one to get there, and the kids were tired, she could tell. “I need to talk to both of you about something.”
From the back seat, Hadley said, “Yeah?”
“I think we’re going to spend the weekend at Kyle’s.”
The whine that came from behind her was something she’d come to expect. “How? His house is too small!”
“He says he has a plan, and I believe him.”
“Well, unless his ‘plan’ is to build a new house between now and then, I’m not sure how we’re all going to fit in there,” Briley offered.
“Kyle’s a smart guy. He’s got something up his sleeve, I’m sure.
” What, she couldn’t imagine. The house was small, and there wasn’t room for all of them unless Hadley slept with Myla and Briley took the couch.
And if she and Kyle were going to do anything other than sleep, they’d have to be really quiet.
“Is it going to bother you that Kyle and I are in the same room?”
Hadley’s answer surprised Gina. “It would bother me more if you let him boss you around but you were sleeping in separate bedrooms. That would be weird.”
“Briley?”