Chapter 34
Ellyn
“Do you think it’s too much?” I ask Shanice as I watch her hand Meghan another set of Christmas lights to wrap around the banister of the porch.
“There’s never too much,” shouts Meghan over her shoulder. “Right, Randy?”
“Right, Auntie Meghan.”
“See?”
I roll my eyes. “I’ll take the word of a four-year-old,” I say.
It’s getting close to six o’clock, and while it's not dark out, the sun is beginning to set.
A quick glance over at Joel’s home and all of the cars parked in his driveway and the front of this house, reminds me that his entire family is over for the night. It warms my heart to know that he’s not alone.
Yet, I miss him. But a smile pulls at the corners of my mouth once I remember that we have a call scheduled for this evening.
“Okay, this is the last one and then we’ll do the reindeer after dinner,” I tell them.
“Ah, man,” Randy says.
“Excuse me?” Shanice corrects. “Grandma didn’t have to let us come out here at all to help her decorate.”
“Sorry, Grandma,” Randy says.
I bite back a grin because he’s just so darn cute. I won’t tell Shanice that I’m not even a little upset about his display of frustration.
“I still can’t believe you bought all of this behind my back,” I tell Meghan.
“Believe it,” she says, hands on her hips. “After my first day back, I thought there was a chance you would want to do a little more decorating. I saw the way your eyes kept straying to your favorite next-door neighbor’s decorations.”
She comes over and nudges me.
“Stop that.”
“I don’t think she was looking for the decorations,” Shanice adds. “She’s been doing it since we came out here. That or looking at her phone.”
“You two need to find you some business,” I admonish. “Give me my grandbaby.” I take Charlotte from Shanice and march up the stairs to my front door, which is now beautifully outlined by green garland and white lights.
“Neither one of you are too grown for me to wash your mouths out with soap,” I continue to rant as we move into the house.
I choose to ignore their snickers and giggles behind me.
“I didn’t even say a curse word,” Meghan says to Shanice.
“You don’t have to curse for me to wash that mouth out.” I spin on both of them.
Meghan holds up her hands but has a difficult time keeping in her laughter.
“Anyway, it’s time for dinner. We’re making pizzas, right?” Shanice asks.
“The dough’s been sitting out, so it should be ready to go,” I tell them. “I’m just going to go down the hall …”
My words trail off as there’s a knock at the front door.
“Maybe it’s Santa,” Meghan jokes.
That gets Randy excited, and he starts running to the door, yelling, “Santa’s here! Santa’s here!”
“Randy, don’t—” Shanice and I say at the same time he gets to the door and pulls it open.
My heart moves up into my throat. In the few seconds it takes me to compose myself, Jake, Shanice’s husband, stoops, getting eye level with Randy.
“Hi, son,” he greets, smiling.
“Daddy!” Randy throws himself into his father’s arms.
I turn to look for Shanice. She’s standing there, stone still, watching what should be a happy scene of her son hugging her husband.
“You didn’t think Daddy would miss Christmas with you, did you?”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Meghan’s tersely vocalized question pulls Jake’s attention up at her and awakens Shanice out of her stupor.
“Meghan, take Randy and Charlotte down the hall, please,” Shanice orders, practically pushing Randy in her direction.
I hand Charlotte to Meghan as well. After some more nudging from her sister, Meghan listens, taking both of the kids down the hallway. But not before she gives Jake another stink eye.
I turn back to face Jake. There’s no way he’s up to any good, and I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.
“Hi, Shanice,” he says, slowly rising to his full height again. When Shanice doesn’t say anything, his eyes move over her shoulder to me.
“Can we talk alone?” he asks her but looks at me.
I cross my arms over my chest.
Shanice glances at me over her shoulder. “Can you stay?”
That’s how I know she doesn’t feel safe being alone with him. Not to mention she’s probably told him that she doesn’t want to see him right now and yet he’s still shown up, uninvited and unannounced.
“As long as you want me to, I’ll be right here, baby girl.”
I also start searching my surroundings with my gaze for the nearest possible weapon. Ever since Randy opened that door and I saw who it was, I’ve been on edge.
“Shanice, this is ridiculous. We’re married, and we can’t even have a conversation alone?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
His shoulders slump. “I came all of this way. At least let me come inside and spend Christmas Eve with my family.”
“No,” she says, her hand pressing against his chest, stopping him. “It would only be confusing for the children.”
“Confusing? What is confusing about their mother and father being together on Christmas?”
“The fact that we’re not together,” Shanice counters. “I told you I needed space and time. You showing up like this is not giving me that.”
“Shanice, I’ve been patient,” he says, his voice noticeably losing its cool. “It’s been a week since you packed up my son and daughter, without a word, and left. Didn’t tell me where you were going or with who or for how long you’d be gone.
“Do you think I was supposed to sit around and wait for you to come back when you wanted?” He steps closer to her, and the hairs at the back of my neck stand up.
I move closer to Shanice.
“Maybe it’s time for you to go. Get a hotel for the night, Jake,” I interject.
His sky-blue eyes shoot blazes of fire in my direction. For the first time, I see the man that put bruises on my daughter’s wrist.
The devil beneath the fake polite, charismatic guy that had everyone fooled into believing he was the perfect family man.
“You need to mind your business,” he says through clenched teeth.
“Do not speak to my mother that way. This is her home, and you will respect her.” Shanice’s voice comes out sharp and unapologetic.
“Respect her? Since when has your mother ever respected me?” he asks, incredulously.
I shoot my head back in surprise. I have never disrespected Jake. To be honest, I might have seen too many things in common between him and my ex, but I never voiced them to anyone.
“Ever since you were pregnant with Randy, she’s been butting into our damn lives,” he seethes.
“You mean when she came over day after day to take care of me because I was having a rough pregnancy and on bed rest, but my husband was too busy going out with his friends and having ‘one last hurrah’ before the baby came?
“Do you m-m-mean that ‘butting in’?” Shanice says.
I’m proud of her for speaking up, even through the shakiness of her voice. I place a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it to let her know I’m here.
It might be the strongest I’ve heard her since she’s been here … no, in years, to be honest.
“Maybe you’re referring to after my first C-C-C-section when I was having a d-d-difficult time recovering and she had to come t-take care of me because you just c-c-couldn’t miss that week-long business trip that turned into two weeks when your work friends invited you to stay at the resort longer because ‘you’re a new dad and d-d-deserve a v-v-vacation. ’”
I gasp at that before covering my mouth. I never knew about the additional vacation week.
Shanice, recognizing that I’m finding this out for the first time, turns to me and nods.
“It’s t-t-true. I lied to you about why he extended the trip because I was too embarrassed to admit that I’d married and had a child with a m-m-man who could be so damn selfish to do something like that.”
She turns back to Jake. “And what about the d-d-dating profiles I found of you on those sites. I sh-sh-should’ve left then, but I was st-st-stupid enough to think I could make it work.
“If I would just be the doting wife and the best mother, you would realize what you h-h-had.”
“That’s enough with the dramatics, Shanice,” he says.
“You should be damn glad I was even willing to marry you. Every one of my friends told me you weren’t good enough.
A girl who spends half of the night in the bathroom when we go out and the other half stuttering so much that no one can fucking understand you. ”
Shanice sucks in a breath, her hand going to her mouth.
“You pig! How dare you talk to my baby like that?” I shout. “Get the hell off of my porch and away from my house or I will call the police.”
“Do it then, bitch! I’d love to see— Ahh!”
The next thing I know Jake’s arms are flailing as he’s dragged backwards off of my porch and onto his knees on the stones lining the trail to my driveway.
“Joel,” I call out. The man I’m in love with has one meaty hand wrapped tightly around the side of Jake’s neck, holding him down. By the way my son-in-law is wincing, I can tell Joel’s grip is unforgiving.
Joel isn’t alone either. Behind him stand three men—his sons, all of them towering over and glaring down at the man on his knees.
“What’s going on?” Shanice asks, moving like she’s about to step out onto the porch.
“No.” I hold her back with my arm outstretched.
I don’t know what is about to happen, but the memories of Joel telling me about his life before he became a father come rushing back. And his profile, the hard set of his jaw, and the way he refuses to take his eyes off of Jake, alerts me of the fact that this has the potential to end in bloodshed.
“Go check on the kids,” I tell Shanice while staring at Joel. “I’ll come get you all when he’s gone.”
Instead of waiting for my daughter to listen, I nudge her back inside and then slide my feet into the pair of tennis shoes, before closing the door behind me.
“You’re Jake, I assume,” Joel says as I slowly approach him as if he’s a wild animal who’ll snap the neck of his prey if I move too quickly.
“G-G-Get o-off m-me,” Jake pleads.
Who’s stuttering now? I should be ashamed of my thoughts, but then I remember the vile way he just yelled at Shanice and I can’t work up the energy for shame.
All I can wonder is, Has he ever spoken to her like that before she found him in bed with another woman? The thought causes my heart to ache for my baby girl.
“Answer the question, boy!” Joel shakes Jake’s broad five-foot-eleven body like he’s nothing more than a piece of hay.
“Yess, J-Jake,” he replies.
“Good.” Joel nods. “I like to know the names of the people I kill.”
That’s when my eyes go wide and I step forward. But a hand on my arm stops me. I look up to see Micah staring down at me. His eyes are hard, unyielding.
“No,” he says between clenched teeth. “Let him.” It’s not quite a question but not quite a command. I can tell he’s holding himself back.
A glance between Micah and his brothers reveals the same level of anger. They all want a piece of Jake. These are the boys Joel, my Joel, raised into men.
I know they, themselves, would never speak to a woman the way Jake just did, let alone put a hand on one. And they would kill for their wives.
I turn back to Joel just in time to watch him lower his face to Jake’s, which puts a halt to his squirming and trying to break free of the hold he’s in.
“The one thing you’ve got going for you is that my lady is standing right here and the last thing I want her to see is for all of these pretty Christmas decorations she’s put up to be stained with your blood. Not on Christmas Eve.”
“It might match the decorations, though,” Gabe says, his tone just as cold as his father’s.
Joel responds to that with a grunt.
“My youngest might be on to something,” he says, and then grabs a handful of Jake’s hair and none-too-gently yanks his head back.
“What do you think? Would your insides match the decor my lady and her girls put up? Should we find out?” He yanks Jake’s head again, almost giving me whiplash.
“N-N-No, please,” Jake begs.
“Please? Now you want to beg when just moments ago you were asked to leave this house and you decided to get violent instead. What happened?”
Another yank, and this time Jake cries out.
I look around the neighborhood, wondering if anyone else is seeing what’s happening. Most of our neighbors are inside of their homes.
“Is it because you were talking to two women and you thought you could intimidate them?” Joel asks.
He doesn’t reply.
“Answer me, boy, before I snap your neck right here and now.”
“N-N-N-N—” Joel gives him another violent shake. “No!”
“Fucking liar. But since I don’t want my lady or her daughter to waste any more time on the likes of you tonight, let me tell you what you’re going to do. My eldest has already called one of his team to come pick you up.
“Don’t shake your head,” Joel orders. “All you need to do right now is listen real good. Is that clear?”
Jake nods.
“He’s going to give you a nice ride to a hotel miles from here. He’s going to stay with you all night so you don’t try to come back over here.”
“I w-won’t. I— Ahh!”
Joel squeezes Jake’s neck so hard his knuckles turn white.
“You’re testing my patience.”
Joel pauses to let Jake quiet down.
“Then in the morning, he’s going to find you the first flight out of Texas. I don’t give a fuck if it takes you to the North Goddamn Pole, you’re leaving this state. Is that understood?”
Jake’s eyes skirt around, but when they land on me, Joel shakes him again. “Nod your fucking head yes.”
He does.
“Now, darlin’ ….”
I look up at Joel, upon realizing that he’s now looking at me. He has the warmest smile on his face despite the death grip he still holds on Jake.
“Do me a favor and turn around. I would hate for you to see what happens next.”
My eyes flare and I part my lips to ask what he’s going to do, but the words get stuck on my tongue. The glint in his eyes is all the indicator I need.
“You boys go and escort her inside,” Joel says when I don’t answer.
Gabe and Ace move to my sides. “Let’s go inside, shall we, Ms. Ellyn?” Ace says in a gentle voice.
I don’t protest even though a million questions circle in my mind. As I walk up the stairs of my porch and toward my front door, a loud thudding sound shocks me into stillness.
Ace is the one to reach forward and twist the knob, opening my door. I glance back to see Jake now lying on my front lawn, eyes closed as if he’s asleep. And is that a trickle of blood coming out of his nose?
I don’t have time to answer my own question before my door’s closed behind me.