Chapter 6
6
LOTTIE
A s soon as I’m able to, I clock off and walk straight home again. The streets of Small Town are dark and empty, but have always been safe. I’ve never had a reason to fear anything here.
Until today.
Mark, you fucking asshole.
I shove that problem onto the back burner for now. But my pulse ticks up as I reach our street, the thought of facing Scott Smolders again suddenly so... scary.
But in a good way?
I step lightly toward his front door. The porch light is on, shining bright and welcoming.
I knock softly.
It opens quickly on Scott’s friendly smile. “Hey,” he whispers.
“Hi,” I say, matching his volume.
He holds the door open. “Come on in.”
I step into the dark entryway. “How did it go today?” I ask.
“Fine,” he answers, leading me forward into the living room. “He’s asleep right now, but...”
I smile at Liam on the couch, all wrapped up in a blanket. Quiet and peaceful.
As I step forward to gather him up, Scott touches my arm and motions for me to follow him into the kitchen instead. While I’d prefer to get my baby home as soon as possible, I follow him with a nod, and we enter the kitchen across the hall.
“He wasn’t much trouble, was he?” I ask him at a timid volume.
“No,” Scott answers as he opens the refrigerator. “Everything went fine. He and Sonya hung out while I finished unpacking the living room. And then we made some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.”
“He loves spaghetti.”
“I know. He told me. Twelve times.” We chuckle as Scott grabs two beer bottles from the refrigerator door. “You want a drink?” he offers.
“Oh, I shouldn’t,” I say. “But yes.”
He opens them and sets them on the table while I quietly sit down. I instantly take a drink and grimace. I’ve always hated the taste of beer, but tonight I’ll make an exception.
“After dinner, we watched a movie,” Scott says, sitting across from me. “The kids were out halfway through. I put Sonya to bed. Liam’s been on the couch ever since.”
I arch a brow. “What movie?”
“Platoon.”
I inhale sharply to scold him.
“It was one of the Shreks,” he says before I can.
I release the breath with a choked laugh. “That’s fine,” I say, taking another drink.
“You’ve got a really cool kid in there, Lottie,” he says.
“Thanks.”
“A really shitty husband, though.”
“Oh.” My cheeks burning with shame. “Mark. Yeah. He’s not my husband.”
“Divorced?”
“We were never married,” I say. “I wanted to be, especially once the strip turned pink, but he didn’t believe in it. He wanted all the benefits of having a wife, of course. Just not all the work that goes into it.”
“Sounds like a winner,” Scott drawls.
“That makes me the loser.” I shake my head, my eyes down. “He wasn’t always like this, though. Or he was. I don’t know. Maybe I was just too young and too stupid in love to see it.”
Scott hums. “Sounds like Kiss County, all right.”
“Ah, so you’ve heard of us.”
“I grew up in Big City.”
I smile. “I knew it.”
“Yes,” he says. “You rightly called that one.”
“You have that look to you.”
“Do I want to know what that means?”
“Probably not.”
“You should hear what they say about Small Town up there,” he says. “I almost expected to move here and not have indoor plumbing.”
“No, we have plumbing. Head east past Littleville, though… you’ll see some outhouses.”
“Is that where motorcycle guy’s from?”
I chuckle. “As a matter of fact...”
He winces. “Really?”
“I said I was young and stupid. Those Littleville bad boys don’t seem all that bad when you’re in high school.”
“So, what went wrong?” he asks, then holds up a hand. “If you don’t mind me asking, of course. I’m just curious.”
“No, it’s… it’s okay. You can ask. You’ve more than earned a chapter or two of that story.” I take a breath. “I got pregnant right out of high school. My parents didn’t approve. They still don’t. But I left home and moved in with Mark out in Littleville. Which… wasn’t ideal, but we were great. He was excited to be a dad. Went to all the appointments. Took care of me when I was sick. All that stuff. Shortly after Liam was born, my grandmother died, and she left me the house across the street. We moved in and… it was great . Until about a year ago, when he got mixed up with that biker bar up the highway.”
“Ah.” He nods. “I see.”
“You know of it?”
“Everybody knows it.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “After that, he would just disappear. Sometimes for days. He’d always come back on something. But he never hurt me or Liam, so I’d make excuses for him. He was just blowing off steam. Everyone should once in a while. Things like that.”
Scott nods, but says nothing.
“Six months ago…” I swallow hard. “I found out he was cheating on me. A lot. He said they didn’t mean anything. They were just tourists looking for that Kiss County experience. But it hurt too much. At that point, I couldn’t take it anymore and kicked him out.”
“You did the right thing,” Scott says.
“I know.”
“I have a question, though.”
“What?”
“Why the fuck does he still have access to Liam?”
It stings, but it’s well-deserved. “Because he loves Liam,” I answer. “And as flaky as he’s become, until today, he never did anything to put him in danger.”
“That you know of.”
My heart stalls. “Yeah,” I whisper as I take another sip. “That I know of.”
Scott looks at me across the table, all of that smug amusement gone from his eyes. Now, they drip with concern. No judgment, though. That’s good.
I catch myself from staring too hard into them. “Anyway,” I say, clearing my throat. “What’s the, uh... what’s the sitch with Sonya’s mother? Is she still around?”
“Yeah,” Scott answers. “She’s still around. We divorced a few months back. But we’re on good terms. Still friends. Just couldn’t cut it as husband and wife, that’s all.”
“Why not?” I ask, far too curious not to. “What’d you do?”
“Me? Nothing.”
“Uh-oh,” I say. He chuckles. “What’d she do?”
“Nothing,” he repeats. “No, she’s a good woman. A great mother. We still love each other. It’s just that she realized far too late that she wants to have sex with other women more than she wants to have sex with me.”
My mouth sags. “Oh. That’s rough.”
He chugs his beer. “Yup.”
“But… you know, I get it. Women are nice.”
“Women are very nice,” he says, nodding.
“Nice and soft and…”
Scott furrows his brow. “I can pass along her number if you’re interested,” he says with that smirk.
“No,” I say, cracking a smile. “No, thank you. I’m just… trying to be supportive.”
“Thanks, neighbor.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’re kind of like you and Mark, in a way. Got too caught up in the romance of Kiss County far too young, unfortunately.”
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “I can see that.”
“The fallout hasn’t been easy,” he says. “But every day is a little bit better. A little bit brighter.”
“Is that why you moved to Small Town?” I ask.
“Partially. That and I needed a change of pace. I always heard that life can get pretty slow down here.”
“You heard correctly.”
“Always wanted to run my own shop, too, and I just happened to drive by and see that storefront was for sale, so...”
“It wasn’t for sale,” I say, annoyed.
“Yes, it was.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“I bought it!”
I glare at his smile, but somehow, my annoyance fades beneath the playfulness in his eyes. The kindness in his smile.
Scott takes another drink, then pushes his bottle aside. “Look, Lottie... I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have called you entitled.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Pretty lady gets up in my face like that, I just gotta rile her up a bit. It’s a bad habit.”
I will myself not to smile. “Very bad.”
“Please allow me the chance to make it up to you.”
“You already have, Scott,” I say.
He looks at me, his soft eyes turning serious. “I apologize if I’m overstepping here, but I know a good family law attorney. She can help you with your situation.”
“Oh, no,” I say, looking down. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Today, I watched a man dump his child on a porch, alone, and drive off,” he says. “No, Lottie. I have to do something.”
I close my eyes as shame washes over me.
“Mommy?”
I turn around and smile at Liam’s tired little eyes. “Hey, honey,” I say, extending a hand to him. He walks over and I pull him onto my lap. “You want to go home? Get in bed?”
He nods.
“Okay.” I kiss his head, holding him close. “Thank you again for watching him today,” I say to Scott.
“No need to thank me.” Scott smiles. “I’m happy to do it.”
“Uh...” I cringe. “I’m about to be a horrible neighbor again here.”
“You work tomorrow?”
“Just the morning shift,” I say. “Eight to two. Mark was supposed to keep him overnight until then, but...”
I close my mouth.
“Of course,” Scott says. “Drop him off in the morning. I’ll watch him.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. “Don’t say yes if you’re busy or if you have plans or?—”
“I’m not busy. I have no plans. Not any that don’t involve angrily assembling bookshelves, anyway.”
I smile. “I’ll bring him by around seven-thirty.”
Scott nods. “Looking forward to it,” he says, smiling at Liam. “We had fun today, didn’t we, buddy?”
Liam doesn’t answer, too sleepy.
But I trust my gut.
I trust him.
I stand up, carefully taking Liam with me. Scott goes on ahead of us and opens the door for me. I expect him to say goodnight and close it behind us, but he steps outside with us.
Silently, we walk together across the street. I glance at him as we go, noting the way his eyes are wide open and scanning the street on both sides; watchful and protective.
I hide my smile.
Definitely gonna double that next batch of muffins.
I step up onto the porch. “Goodnight,” I whisper.
“Lottie.”
I turn back. “Hm?”
Scott steps up and stops in front of me. He smiles at Liam resting on my shoulder, then reaches into his pocket. “Your keys,” he says.
“Oh. Right.”
He unlocks the door and places them into my hand.
“We’ll see you in the morning,” I say.
“In the morning,” he says. Then, he hesitates a moment before stepping back, whatever words on his lips lost. “Goodnight.”
I step inside and close the door behind me, but I wait and watch through the window as he heads back across the street.
“Thank you,” I whisper.