Chapter Three
The Ex
Mitchell
“Have you heard from your mom yet?” I run my hands through Jacob’s hair, ruffling the dark blonde curls.
The best thing I got out of my seven-year marriage was my son. No matter the hell I went through with his mother, I’d go through it all over again to get him.
“No, not yet. Hey, look at my score. Cam’s going to flip when he sees how far I got on this game.” Jacob shoves his cellphone in my face. He and Cam are always trying to one-up each other in these games.
“I see it. That’s better than your last high score.”
He beams with pride.
“Make sure you have all your stuff together. Your mom should be here shortly.”
At least I hope, she’s already two hours late for her two-week pickup. Valerie and I share custody of Jacob. She gets him for two weeks, and then I get him. This has been working out for us since Jacob since we separated. However, lately Val has been slacking on her end.
I have no issues with having my son. Hell, I’d take full custody of him if I could. But I understand the importance of him having his mother in his life.
“All my things are packed and in your truck.” He goes back to his game on his phone. “Don’t let me forget the cupcakes Aunt Ella made for me. They’re still in your truck too.”
Damn, I was hoping he forgot about those.
I had plans to eat them while I watched the game tonight.
Every time I send Jacob back to his mom, Ella makes him a special treat.
She does the same for her boys when they go to Andrew’s.
She’s always treated Jacob as if he were one of her boys.
Just another thing I admire about that damn woman.
I’ve been in love with Ella Marie since I first met her in Spanish 1.
Until that point, I’d never seen a girl as beautiful as her in real life.
Yeah, you see people like that on TV and in magazines, but to be face-to-face with her was like being in a dream.
Big brown eyes, pecan brown skin, and a smile that could stop your heart.
But even beyond her beauty is her golden heart.
Ella is one of the kindest and most giving people I’ve ever met.
I was in love with her back then. Drew heard me talk about her probably a hundred times.
I called her the beauty in my Spanish class.
Then one day, I held him up at my locker just so he could finally see her.
And when he did, his face lit up, and so did hers. I knew then it was over for me.
Andrew asked me to introduce them, and the rest was history. I stepped down to let my best friend have the girl that I wanted. Secretly, I’d hoped that it wouldn’t last long. I never thought it would take the turn that it did.
“I won’t let you forget.” I say heading back out of my office. As soon as I step outside, my last truck pulls back in for the day.
When I left college, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. My dream had been to play professional football, but those dreams were destroyed my senior year. A hit to my left knee made sure I’d never play a down of football again.
I came home after graduation depressed and ready to give up on life.
It was Ella who told me I had more to live for.
She reminded me how smart I was and how good I was at building shit.
Not long after, I started Miller Construction and Remodeling.
I thought it was just going to be a small one-man company where I’d go around fixing shit for people.
Within the first two years, the company grew.
Now, I’m one of the top construction companies in the city. I went from one man to a group of about fifty guys. I have crews working on multiple projects at one time. And to think, I would’ve never thought to even do this if it weren’t for El.
Miguel, one of my site managers, hops down out of the truck, followed by a few other workers.
“How’d it go?” I ask.
He was finishing an outdoor kitchen remodel today. If everything went well, I’d do a final walkthrough Monday and then clear it with the homeowner.
“Everything is done. We finished cleaning up the last of the supplies today.”
I pat him on the back. “I love when a project finishes before schedule. You and your guys did well.”
Miguel chuckles. “All I had to do was promise the crew another one of Ella’s chocolate custard pies and they got the job done.”
I toss my head back and laugh. “I guess it’s only right since you ate the last one.”
Every now and again, El makes something special for me to bring for my crew. The guys love her baked goods. Many of them have even ordered things from her for special occasions.
Miguel shrugs. “Hey, finders keepers.”
I can’t help but shake my head. Miguel was the first person I hired when I expanded the business. He’s been with me ever since.
I speak to the rest of the guys who worked on the outdoor kitchen project. We were all laughing and joking when the all familiar gray car pulled up into the parking lot.
At the immediate sight of that car, I get a prickling headache at the back of my head.
“Uh oh, the wicked witch is here.” Miguel hums. “I’m going to make myself scarce.”
All my employees have been around long enough to have had an experience with my ex-wife. And I can assure you, none of their experiences were ever good.
The entire crew scatters like a bunch of raccoons caught in a trash can.
The door of the car opens, and out steps Valerie James.
I met Valerie at a bar one night. She was a waitress.
At the time, I thought she was drop-dead gorgeous.
Beautiful tan skin, long chocolate brown hair, and legs that seemed to go on forever.
We had a hell of a courtship. We couldn’t be in the same room with one another for over five minutes without ripping each other’s clothes off.
It was not a shock when she told me she was pregnant with Jacob. I did what any man would do and asked her to marry me. I think as soon as the ink dried on our marriage license is when the crazy seeped out.
She strolls over toward me with a sway in her hips.
Her tight leather pants look painted on her body.
Her red silk blouse was unbuttoned down to her large C-cup tits.
When she stops in front of me, she tosses her hair over her shoulder.
The woman was still beautiful, but nothing could take away from the craziness.
“You were supposed to be here two hours ago.”
She rolls her eyes. “I had things to do. Some of us have a life. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
I ignored her attempt to bait me into an argument. This woman uses confrontation like vampires use blood.
“I don’t care about you having a life. If you tell my son you’re going to be somewhere at a certain time, you need to be there. Or at least have the decency to let him know you’re running behind.”
She rolled her eyes before folding her arms across her chest. “You act like it’s a crime to spend a few extra hours with him.”
“I have no issue spending time with my son. This is about you respecting everyone else’s time.”
She waves her hands through the air. “Whatever, Mitchell. Look, I’m going to need to cut my two weeks short. I can only keep him for a week and a half this round.”
“What the fuc...” I catch myself.
Valerie would love nothing else but for me to lose my cool with her. I’ve never laid hands on a woman, but she has no problem calling the police for the slightest argument. And they always side with her. It’s to be expected. I’m a big man, 6’4” and 270 pounds; of course I’m the aggressor.
Scrubbing my hand down my face, I tried to calm myself before speaking again. “You just cut your last two weeks short.”
“By two days, Mitch.”
“That’s still not your full two weeks, Val.”
She narrows her eyes at me with a glare. “It’s not like you have anything to do. What? Is he cutting into your time with your precious Ella?”
Knowing exactly where this is about to go, I toss my hands up and head to my truck to get my son’s things.
“Oh, now you don’t want to talk?” Val follows behind me. “You don’t want to face the truth. You’ve been drooling over a woman who will never want you. Does she even know you’re in love with her?”
I have never told Val how I felt about El.
I was faithful to her the entire time we were together.
However, I guess she was able to see what no one else could.
She even mentioned that the reason she cheated on our marriage was because I was in love with El.
Of course, I denied it. Like I said, no matter how I felt about Ella, I never stepped out on my marriage or treated Val any less because of it.
Ignoring her, I opened the back door of my truck and pulled Jacob’s book bag out.
“You are so pathetic,” Val continues. “Andrew is a lawyer. His income runs circles around yours. Do you think she’s going to look at you? Little Miss Perfect is homely, not dumb.”
“Enough,” I growl out as I turn to face her. I had no issue with her talking shit about me, but she will not be allowed to disrespect Ella.
Her gaze widens before narrowing. “You know, nothing makes me happier than to know that neither you nor she will ever be happy. Andrew wised up and finally left her boring ass behind, and I’ve moved on with my life too. Now you two are left to pick up the broken pieces.
"And what’s even better, you will never get to be with her, because she’s too much of a prude to give you a chance knowing you’re her kids’ godfather and ex-husband's best friend.” She cackles as if she’s standing over an oven ready to bake two missing children.