Chapter 2
2
ORION
Maybe his mother was right. He was a dreamer with his head stuck in the clouds, Evan thought silently as he hugged Jeremy to him, carrying him back up to the house since he was in his pajamas. The last week, month, and year had been a constant series of ‘Crap on Evan’ celebrations from the sickest and most twisted minds.
His son was the only light in his life – and he was hanging onto custody by a thread. You would have thought just hearing that statement, that Jeremy’s mom was trying to come back into the picture but that wasn’t it. His ex-wife, Kristie, whose stage name was ‘Scarlett’ was well and truly finished with him – and that suited him fine.
Jeremy had been clueless as to what was going on when Evan had returned from deployment, because he was too young. Kristie greeted him on the pier with divorce papers and signed over custody without a second thought. She literally handed him a manila envelope and the stroller, walking away with her new boyfriend before the ink was even dry on the paper.
Yep – good riddance.
He had called his mother for help, and she had moved across the country from Tulsa to Florida to join him. Jeremy was enrolled in daycare and started catching every cold known to man, bringing it home unknowingly. And he was concerned because every time he turned around, either Jeremy or his mother was sick.
Eventually, Evan pulled Jeremy from daycare, begging his mother to take care of him and saying that he would pay her instead. And Mom-of-the-Year came through again, quitting her job to help with his son. He assumed all of her bills to help because of the change in income – and got a part-time job at K-Mart on Atlantic Boulevard because they were willing to work with his strange schedule. It had been a hard couple of years, but it got much harder a few months ago.
His mother passed away.
She was his rock, his safety net, his friend as well as a parent. Things were just empty, and he felt the loss so deeply – not to mention the changes in the household with his son.
Evan arranged everything, had his mother buried here near him, and fought with his sister the entire time she was visiting for the funeral. There had been no arrangements; he couldn’t afford to send his mother’s body back to Tulsa, and Debbie couldn’t help pay for it. He asked Debbie to stay and help with Jeremy but wasn’t surprised when she refused. The part that shocked him was that she was engaged – and told him that they would be willing to adopt Jeremy.
His son.
His sister wanted to adopt his son and take him from her own brother .
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Evan went to his commanding officer, who recommended that he get with legal and speak to someone regarding the impending deployment that had been scratching at the back of his mind. Today, he was told by legal that if Debbie was immediate family, he could delay and opt to fly out to the carrier until things were settled… but he could not avoid deployment. This was crossing a line into a hardship discharge – which would open a new can of worms, and he was still choking on the first one!
He left legal, mind racing and needing to think and talk to someone. Pasteur had suggested they get something to eat – only to see the mistreatment that some poor woman was being heaped upon her right and left. He almost got up to teach that guy a lesson when the man laid his hand on her, but going to jail would not help Jeremy in the slightest. His son was currently at the neighbor’s house, playing with his friend in the new sandbox that both boys loved.
The woman was getting pushed around again and yelled at – and something clicked within him. The outrageous thought was immediately shoved to the side because it made no sense. It was like the strangest ‘football’ was being delivered into his hands unexpectedly, and all he needed to do was scoop it up – and run.
Run away? Evan mused as the other aviator had smiled, patted his arm, and got to his feet. His friend knew him well, and they had been assigned to ship together for a while now after attending school together. Yeah, it only took a look, a glance, a pointed stare, or a grimace to pass on the thoughts in his head. Pasteur was the brother he never had, and he treasured this friendship with him and his entire squadron.
“You know, the path is never easy, but it’s obviously being cleared in your direction.”
“Pasteur, do you realize what you are saying?”
“Take a chance, brother.”
“This is my son we are talking about…”
“Or let Debbie take him for six months, but you know she’s going to fight you when you try to take Jeremy back – or find someone else who is family, who could…”
“I don’t have any other family members,” Evan reminded him curtly, watching the woman in the distance as her boss scolded her yet again.
“Your wife?”
“Man, screw Kristie and what she did to me, to my son. I wouldn’t remarry her if…”
“Your new wife,” Pasteur interrupted pointedly with a calmness and unwavering faith that was actually beautiful to see. “Maybe I’m a huge fool or a True Believer, but I think angels come in all shapes and sizes. If she’s not your angel, maybe you are hers for a brief time. No one should deal with being abused like that poor girl is being treated right now.”
“Marry… a stranger?”
“You married a stripper that you knew for two weeks.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Evan muttered flatly. “I thought we were friends?”
“We are friends,” Pasteur smiled calmly, patting him on the shoulder once more. “Think about it, weigh the options, and ask plenty of questions. Open your heart, my friend, and look at what is before you – a chance. We might not understand all the ins and outs that God has planned, but in the end – it’s what is best for us. I mean, look at what you went through with Kristie, but in return for that brief time period, you have a beautiful son. You are one lucky man to have Jeremy, and we both know it.”
Evan closed his eyes, coming back to the matter at hand and reality. He kissed his son’s cheek as he carried him into the house. Sure enough, there were Hot Wheels cars all over the floor, and little light-up sneakers kicked haphazardly next to his own near the front door. As he set down his son, Jeremy looked up at him, smiling and then looked past him, curiously.
“Hi,” Jeremy said openly. “I’m five and gonna be six soon.”
“Hi there,” Cherry said from behind Evan, hovering in the doorway as he turned to look at her. He saw the questions in her eyes and knew she was probably wondering where his wife was, what was going on, and why someone would invite a stranger to their home – especially when his son was here. Normally, he would protect his haven, his nest, like a rattlesnake protecting its nest of eggs. Nobody got close to Jeremy unless he knew them or was aware of it… yet, he brought a stranger here.
“What’s your name?”
“Cherry. What’s yours – and by the way, those are killer Transformers pajamas. Do you like Transformers?”
“Uh yeah!” the boy exclaimed, immediately jumping away and coming back with a sporty-looking red car. “I’m Jeremy, and this is Rodimus…”
“Prime,” she finished, kneeling down and looking at the boy. “My favorite is the pink one - Arcee.”
“Whoaaaa…” he whispered, looking stunned and amazed.
Evan chuckled and moved around the two to shut the front door, realizing that maybe this was indeed a very strange way to solve both problems at once. His biggest fear was that Jeremy would be upset or shy away from a stranger, but having something like this happen – remarrying – would give his son a caretaker while he was out at sea.
“Hey buddy, are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I am,” Jeremy said excitedly, jumping up and moving to the kitchen before turning around. “Hey Cherry – are you hungry? Daddy makes the best fish sticks and tater tots.”
“Does he?” Cherry began, rising to her feet and hesitating. “Is there a bathroom I could use to clean up the pudding-issue? I would normally go straight home and do a load of laundry but…”
“But you are here, and your car is not,” he finished sagely. “Come on. There’s a bathroom over here, and you are welcome to use anything you need. Ignore the mess. Do you want a T-shirt that maybe…” he hesitated unconsciously, his eyes dropped to her lowcut shirt – only to see her fidget before turning away.
“Yes, please.”
“Sorry.”
“No. You are right. I don’t need to be hanging out in front of your son if I had anything to ‘hang’ but still…”
“I’m trying to be a gentleman,” Evan whispered, mortified they were even having this conversation. “But to keep it short and succinct – you’re fine. Quit running yourself down when there is nothing wrong with you.”
“Daaaaaddy? You want five fish sticks or… heyyyy! That’s not fish sticks. What is that?” Jeremy called out, and Evan looked at Cherry, chuckling nervously. “The boy is afraid of nothing and will open every box until he’s satisfied. Maybe we can talk in a bit when he settles down.”
“It will be late and – oh – well, I guess I don’t have to work tomorrow, but I will need to start looking for a different job early tomorrow and…”
“We’ll talk about that too,” Evan promised, walking away. He knew that probably wouldn’t help the situation or his case, but Jeremy came first in his mind, heart, and soul, and his son was digging around in who-knows-what. Plus, Evan needed a chance to put his thoughts together before plunging into a very difficult and precarious conversation – or bracing himself for a hardship discharge from the Navy.
He was out of time.
Evan knew Cherry was watching the two of them with a keen eye. He saw her looking around his home, looking at photographs, caught her peering down the hallway where the washer and dryer were located, and smiled to himself as he heard her frustrated exclamation followed by a groan. She’d opened the mirror cabinet in the bathroom to check on him – and the bottle of Tylenol fell out, just like it always did.
He kept that bottle high up in the cabinet, had ‘NO’ written on the front in Sharpie, and bought it deliberately big enough so he could hear when Jeremy was digging around. That was his silent ‘Dad-Alarm’ to bust his inquisitive child… and it had obviously tattled on his snooping stranger, too.
“Jeremy, why don’t you tell Cherry that dinner is ready?” he invited, smiling at his son and ruffling his dark hair.
“Okay, Daddy – but can she sit by me so we can talk about my Transformers?”
“You’d have to ask her.”
“But you get bossy,” Jeremy frowned. “Wash your hands, pick up your stuff, brush your teeth…”
“Because that is part of being a person,” Evan grinned, smiling at his kid’s frown that was so similar to his own. Yeah, Jeremy was a chip off the ol’ block, and he was grateful for it. “Besides, even if Cherry sits across from you – you can still talk to her about Rodimus Dime.”
“Daaaaad,” Jeremy groaned, slapping his face dramatically. “It’s Rodimus Prime . How many times do I have to tell you? Sheesh…”
He laughed.
It was these moments, these glimpses of Jeremy’s personality, that he was going to miss so much over the next six months, and why he couldn’t give him up. Maybe that made him a horrible person, because wouldn’t a good father do the unimaginable for the wellbeing of his son?
In a way, he was planning just that, but with a twist. As Jeremy ran off to retrieve Cherry from whatever she was doing, he set the table.
He didn’t want to pressure her into a conversation in front of his son because that would come later once things had been decided. Yes, he needed to tackle this with finesse and tact; both things he struggled with.
Sometimes, it was so much easier to be quiet and let the other person talk until they finally admitted guilt or got caught in their own snare. He had read somewhere that ‘ It was better to look like a fool than to open your mouth and confirm people’s opinion’ – and that hit home so hard. He saw Cherry’s guilty expression come around the corner and fought back a smile, waiting to see what she said or if she even admitted snooping around.
“Cherry, come sit by me!” Jeremy said excitedly, hanging off the back of one of the mismatched dining room chairs. “This one! Sit in this one.”
“Sure thing,” Cherry said simply and hesitated. “Can I talk to you a second, Evan?”
“Certainly,” he replied simply, a little surprised she grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him barely three feet further into the kitchen like that would do anything to keep Jeremy from listening to them. “What’s wrong? Are you allergic to fish sticks?”
“What? No,” she replied, looking like she was anticipating being yelled at – and that did not sit well with him.
“Cherry, whatever it is, just say it.”
“I was peeking around the bathroom,” she admitted in a hushed whisper, and looked like she was bracing herself for the worst. “I knocked out a bottle of Tylenol from the bathroom cabinet, and I have the most atrocious luck of anyone in the world.”
“Why is that?”
“Whoever’s toothbrush was on the counter…”
“Green?”
“Yes.”
“That’s mine.”
“Well, I wouldn’t use it,” she hissed and shivered in disgust, causing him to smile as he stared at her curiously.
“Why?”
“Because your toothbrush just won a gold medal in gymnastics. I have never seen one bounce off into the sink, swoop up the side into the air, flip three times, and then land in the toilet.”
“Cool…” Jeremy breathed in amazement, and Cherry flinched.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“I wanna do that with my toothbrush, Cherry. Will you show me?”
“It’s fine,” Evan interrupted quietly. “I appreciate you being honest and telling me about it before I used my new toilet brush…” and cracked a smile at her uncomfortable glance. “Really, it’s fine. I have several under the sink because I’m kind of a hygiene freak. I go through toothbrushes and floss like it’s going out of style.”
“That’s not a bad thing.”
“No, it’s really not,” he chuckled, trying to put her at ease. “Now, if Jeremy would adopt the same habits…” he drawled loudly and was rewarded with a groan of frustration from his son.
“He knows you are trying to save him from those massive needles at the dentist’s office, right?” Cherry whispered loudly and winked at him.
“I didn’t want to scare him or tell him about those until the time came.”
“Wait… needles? I don’t like needles.”
“You weren’t supposed to hear that either,” Cherry said with a straight face, but her lovely eyes were dancing with amusement. “I need to remember that you don’t miss a thing, do you, Jeremy?”
“I’m hoping to miss a few big needles,” Jeremy grumbled, causing Even to laugh again as he gestured toward the table, indicating for Cherry to sit down.
“How about before bed, we brush our teeth together.”
“With Cherry?”
“I don’t have a toothbrush here,” she balked, looking uncomfortable.
“I have spares, remember?”
“Then I guess I’m brushing my teeth this evening with Rodimus Prime.”
“See? Even she gets my Transformers name right, Daddy!”
“Eat your fish sticks, buster,” Evan retorted, smirking.
They sat down, and he couldn’t help but listen to Cherry interacting with his son like it was nothing. She said she was twenty-seven, but the woman was so animated as she discussed the cartoon with him he would have guessed she was much younger.
“Dude… and when Cupp was shot on that shark planet in the movie?”
“What movie? Wait, someone shot Cupp?” Jeremy’s eyes were huge in his face as he looked at him in disbelief. “And why haven’t I seen this movie about my Transformers, Daddy?”
“Because you are five and should be watching Veggie Tales or Bluey.”
“Those are baby shows,” Jeremy replied in disgust. “I’m not a baby.”
“Maybe you could watch Lego Star Wars or something,” Cherry suggested sheepishly. “I forget about age restrictions, and I’ve never been around kids much, but Lego Star Wars is fun with a nice moral to each episode.”
“That sounds good.”
“But I wanna watch a Transformers movie!”
“No,” Evan said again firmly and looked at his son. “Not until you are older because it deals with the death of a character.”
“Cupp. Cherry already ruined it.”
“Hey!” she chuckled in disbelief. Obviously she wasn’t used to being thrown under the bus by a quick-thinking child. “We were talking…”
“No, there is another character at the end that dies – and it’s very sad and shocking. I don’t want to traumatize you.”
“Ooohh,” Cherry nodded abruptly. “I forgot about that. Yeah, I cried when I saw it, and maybe we should skip it – for now.”
“It’s sad?” Jeremy replied in confusion. “Transformers isn’t supposed to be sad. It’s bad guys battling each other and doing cool things.”
“Sometimes people get hurt in battle.”
“But not in cartoons,” Jeremy began again, looking completely bewildered. “I mean, it’s not real, and they come back, right?”
“Absolutely!” Evan said – and was surprised when Cherry said the same thing, almost in unison.
“He does come back, and it’s a whole big thing, but that is why I would wait because I don’t want to ruin it for you,” Cherry gushed quickly, tossing a panicked glance at Evan.
“Oh, whew,” Jeremy gushed, sounding so relieved. “Cherry, why are you eating your fish sticks with ketchup?”
The conversation turned normal and casual, focusing more on toys, comics, and collectibles that Jeremy deemed precious to him. He brought out his crayon collection and his light-up sneakers and made Cherry watch him kick a soccer ball after dinner – only for her to go into the yard with him without prompting.
“Here,” Cherry grinned. “Kick it to me.”
“Nope,” Evan said, jumping in. “Kick it over here, Jeremy.”
They kicked the ball around for a while, wearing out his son and Evan tried desperately to remember that this was a perfect stranger he’d picked up off the proverbial street. Even if it felt ‘familial’ to do something as simple as kicking a soccer ball around the yard – it wasn’t. He didn’t know her and was filled with so many doubts, yet Pasteur’s voice kept haunting him.
What if your path is being cleared for something better? What if she isn’t the angel you need, but you are hers?
Could life be something so simple? Just two people coming together, giving and taking, for the bigger goal of creating a home, an environment where the next generation could learn and grow? Maybe life wasn’t about struggling trying to work for something better, but relaxing and riding along the waves instead of fighting the current.
And then Evan saw the yawn.
“All right,” he interrupted loudly and smiled. “Come on, Tiger. Let’s get you back inside, cleaned up, and get ready for bed.”
“Can Cherry tuck me in?”
She glanced at him sharply, and Evan didn’t move. No, if there was something there, it needed to come from her – not from him pushing her into a role she wasn’t prepared for, and he was still on the fence about asking.
“You don’t want your dad to tuck you in?”
“He can do it too,” Jeremy smiled. “But I like you, and you’re nice.”
“You’re nice, too.”
“Will you come back to see me?”
“I should talk to your dad about that first, and I might be really busy, so let’s say ‘yes,’ but it might be a while, okay?”
That wasn’t a bad answer at all – evasive – yes, but not bad. It was truthful because if things went south, it would be at least six months or more before he got a chance to talk to her about maybe meeting up for coffee or something.
If she turned him down on this outrageous offer, he really couldn’t blame her; but she was attractive, and he was lonely. Maybe, if now was extraordinarily bad timing, perhaps later wouldn’t be. What would it be like to start dating again?
Finally, thirty minutes later, Jeremy was tucked into bed, and it was easy to read on Cherry’s face that she was confused, alarmed, and awfully on edge at this evening’s events. When Evan ushered her out of his son’s room, he looked at her in the hallway and hesitated.
Yeah, she was really pretty.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“At night? Won’t that keep you up?”
“Stress does that enough for me,” he admitted quietly. “And I’d like to talk about everything, answer questions, and ask you a few of them.”
“Then coffee sounds ideal,” she replied, not looking away from him. “What is going on?”
“I’m trying to think where to start.”
“How about at the beginning – and why I’m here?”
Evan nodded silently, trying to put his thoughts together as she followed close at his heels. He entered the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, only to turn and rest the edge of his palms on the counter behind him, drawing in a deep breath – but before he could speak, she interrupted.
“I promise not to yell at you or throw peanut shells at you,” she gave him a half-hearted smile, reminding him of her own evening earlier, and he felt deflated. Yeah, things were bad, but hope kept you going. If she could look for the silver lining, maybe, so could he.
“Have you ever done something you thought was right, only to realize it was completely wrong… and you couldn’t get out of it?”
“Unfortunately – yes.”
“A little over six years ago, I had just been assigned to Mayport, and on my first trip into the city, I met a stripper named Scarlet…” he began and heard Cherry suck in her breath in comprehension as she nodded.
“Jeremy?”
“Jeremy.”
“She divorced me on my first deployment,” he admitted. “Met me on the pier with divorce papers and Jeremy, leaving me there while she took off with her new boyfriend.”
“Oh no… I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“I’m not, but Jeremy doesn’t know all the details. I’ve tried to spare him that because no matter what Kristie, a.k.a. Scarlet, is his mother. I won’t be the person to run her down to him.”
“No, I really understand that. Do you have shared custody?”
“Nope,” he said sharply, trying not to spit out the words that tasted foul in his mouth, remembering how she’d abandoned their son. “She wanted nothing to do with him and signed over all rights.”
“Ouch. I can imagine why you don’t want Jeremy to know.”
“He’s too young to understand that mess.”
“Exactly.”
Evan drew in his breath and let it out with a nervous laugh. Turning around while the coffee pot was still brewing and sputtering along. He needed the moment to keep from unraveling, begging, or facing what was about to happen.
He was either going to marry this stranger – or he was done with the Navy. Either way, his life was about to change dramatically, possibly fall apart because there would be no more ‘last resorts’ for him to take. If this went sideways, Debbie would have him slapped in court so fast it would make his head spin.
He shoved one cup under the strainer basket that was dripping out coffee and poured some into another cup before topping off the other mug. It took him a few seconds to maneuver and rearrange all of this, but he did this on the ship quite often, so it was nothing new. In fact, he would be doing it a lot more in a few more days or never again.
“Oh gosh,” he uttered bleakly under his breath, hesitating. All of his dreams that seemed so far away would be utterly impossible if he left the Navy, and he felt selfish for even thinking that.
“Breathe,” Cherry said quietly, touching his shoulder. “Whatever it is, let’s just talk it through, and maybe a fresh set of eyes can help you with what’s got you so upset. It’s not the end of the world, but maybe the end of a path instead. Breathe. You just need to make a right turn to keep moving.”
Her words reminded him so much of Pasteur’s that he swallowed hard and turned slowly to look at her. She stood there beside him, her dark eyes holding his, as she gave him a small smile. Her hand was still resting on his shoulder blade, and it felt like the oxygen was being torn from the room like a vacuum. Yeah, he was either about to destroy this kind woman’s life for his own purpose or sacrifice his.
“It can’t be that bad, can it?” she said softly.
“I need you to marry me.”