Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Noah
A breeze blows through the night sky as I sit on my mother’s front porch and watch the clouds roll by.
One by one, they help mask the night and open briefly for a moment to give way to the countless stars in the sky.
Fireflies dance in the distance as I make out the sound of tires coming down the dirt road.
Headlights appear as Eva’s car comes to a stop in front of the house. She gets out and straightens her outfit, not knowing I’m sitting watching. Turning my way, she startles when she sees me in the shadows.
“What on earth,” she says. “Why are you sitting out here like that?’
I gesture to the house and the loud noises coming from inside.
Rex, Gwen, Jolene, and Cash are busy running the place while Momma and Anna May are making cookies in the kitchen.
She listens and then smiles knowingly. Patting the seat beside me, I wait as she climbs towards me and ache with every slow step she takes until she is seated right beside me.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hi,” she smiles.
“How was your day, darlin’?” I ask, coming in for a kiss, which she willingly gives. “I got to say, I don’t mind waiting for you to come home to me. It’s something I’m looking forward to getting used to.”
Smiling, she looks out across the field.
I still don’t know why I saw her going into the newspaper office yesterday, she has not been willing to offer up that information. Until she is, I figure it is best to let it be for now.
“My day was good,” she says. “I thought you said this was a private party once you got off shift. What is all of this about?”
I roll my eyes. “This is all Rex’s doing.”
She laughs. “I should have known, it smells like something Rex would fix up.”
Grabbing her hand, I lift it to my mouth and give it a kiss. Slowly, I turn it over and kiss her wrist. “We can take another drive?”
She laughs as she leans in closer. “Not a bad idea,” she whispers. Arousal takes over her as my mouth moves, sucking and kissing a path up to her lips. “But, I should at least say hi to your momma,” she pants. “I don’t want to be rude.”
I kiss her lips once, then pull back to meet her eyes. “Well of course, we can’t have that now, can we?” I tease. She swats at me playfully before I grab her arm and pull her in for another kiss.
Pulling away before I get the satisfaction, she pulls me to standing and drags me towards the front door. “Besides, I got a little gift for Anna May when I was out today, and I can’t wait to see the smile it puts on her face.”
Opening the screen door, we step inside and make our way toward the kitchen. Heading down the hallway, I swing her around and pull her close to me for one last kiss which she doesn’t fight this time.
She opens up for me, and my tongue slowly caresses hers in a seductive dance.
Fisting my shirt, she pulls me closer and proceeds to take my breath away only the way she can.
Running her fingers through my hair, I back her up against a wall and almost tip over a vase.
The noise at the far end of the hall grows quiet and we stop what we’re doing, knowing we’ve been caught. Pulling away, she smiles.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” she whispers.
“Who says I wouldn’t finish?” Leaning closer, I murmur against her lips. “Say the word, and I’ll fuck you. Even if there is an audience.”
She sucks in a sharp breath.
“Though, I am a jealous man and prefer having you all to myself, darlin’,” I grin.
Pushing against my chest, she gives me a sly grin and then saunters off towards the kitchen.
I smack her ass just as she walks into the room making her jump a little as she makes her way towards Gwen.
Smiling, I wander off towards Rex who’s standing at the fridge.
Opening it, he hands me a beer and takes one for himself.
I lift one in Cash’s direction, who is sitting at the table with my sister.
He shakes his head no, and motions he’s alright for now.
“Eva,” my mother says. “Can you come help me with this, baby?”
Eva hurries over to my mother’s side and helps her reach for a bag of flour for the cookies she’s making with Anna May.
I lean back against the counter and smile.
My world feels so fucking right, it’s almost scary.
The only thing that would make me happier is if I was watching Eva in the kitchen with our own kids.
This is it for me. She’s the forever I have been waiting for.
I am brought back to reality when Jolene says, “So tell me, Gwen, what is the deal with you and Rex?”
Rex spews beer out of his mouth, and I pat him a few times on the back as he breaks into a coughing fit. When he has finally gathered himself, we all wait for an answer to the big elephant in the room.
Startled, Gwen stands motionless at the kitchen counter mid-scoop into a bag of sugar. Although the rest of us are rather amused by the situation, she stiffens and her defenses immediately rise.
“I don’t know what you’re getting at, Jolene,” she says, as she quickly returns to the task in front of her. “There is no deal, past or present.”
Rex rolls his eyes and mutters something as he walks out of the room
“Right,” my sister chuckles. “Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”
The doorbell rings, and Rex hollers from the front room that he will get it. Eva eyes me from across the room, and quickly strides over with a look in her eyes that would melt any man’s heart. Setting my beer down, I wrap my arms around her tightly and kiss the top of her head.
“Do you think we put in enough of an appearance,” she whispers.
“It’s good seeing you so happy, son,” my momma says. “It has been a long time since we have seen you smile so much.”
“Uncle Noah, are you gonna get married and have babies?” Anna May says, making the people in the room snicker. “I like babies. Maybe you can have a little girl like me and she can be my best friend.”
I laugh as Rex comes around the corner. “Sure thing sweetheart. You’d make a great best friend to any first cousin I could give you.”
“Um, Noah, you got some company,” Rex says nervously.
“Tell them I’m not home.” I joke, pulling Eva tighter and kissing the side of her neck. When Rex doesn’t budge I ask, “Who is it?”
He looks at me and then looks at Eva. A troubled stare fills his eyes as he is suddenly unwilling to answer. Eva backs away from me slightly as I straighten up a little taller waiting for a response.
“You might just want to come and see for yourself.”
Eva eyes me with concern. Even though his response makes me a little nervous myself, I shoot her a smile, and try to ease her troubled mind.
Kissing her cheek, I whisper, “Don’t go nowhere, we are out of here as soon as I get back.”
Following Rex into the front room, I’m completely puzzled when I come face to face with the one person I was not expecting to see. I look angrily at Rex who shrugs in defeat. A look of apology graces his face.
“I told him it was a matter of life and death, Noah,” Becky says. “I have to talk to you and you keep brushing me off. First, the other day downtown when I didn’t even know you had moved back. Then, the bar the other night.”
I cross my arms and lean against the wall behind me. “I guess I just figure we don’t have much to say to one another, Becky. But even you can’t break my good mood on a night like tonight. So, in the interest of saving time, what is it?”
Eva and Jolene come around the corner. As Eva makes her way over to me, I pull her close.
“I don’t think you want to do this here,” Becky says nervously, looking from Jolene, to Rex, to Eva and then me.
Gwen walks into the room next. “What’s going on in here?” she asks, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the room. “Who is this?”
“This,” I say, “Is my past, and it was just leaving.”
I turn to walk out of the room, Eva’s hand is clutched tightly in my own.
“Noah, I have to talk to you,” Becky insists loudly. “You can’t just keep brushing me off.”
“You have something you want to say?” I ask, turning back around and keeping Eva behind me. “Then say it. There is nothing you can say to me that other people in this room can’t hear.”
She swallows hard. Looking at Jolene, she stiffens as my sister gives her a look that dares her to screw with me.
“It’s about our baby,” she suddenly blurts out.
“Your baby,” I correct her. “The one you had with your father’s partner. The one that wouldn’t leave his wife for you so you made me believe it was mine. Your baby, Becky. Not mine.”
Eva’s hand in mine begins to shake.
I never told her about this.
It’s not that I wouldn’t have eventually. It’s just that we hadn’t gotten there yet. I didn’t feel it important enough to bring up when we were dealing with finding ourselves, losing ourselves, and learning to love all over again.
“No,” she says, as my heart begins to race.
“Our baby. Yours and mine.” She laughs nervously before continuing, and I hold my breath.
“I was so sure it was Eddie’s. That’s the only reason why I told you he was.
After he was born, and I learned the truth, you were already gone and no one would tell me how to find you. ”
Everything begins spinning. Eva drops my hand. When I turn to look at her, her palms are clasped over her mouth and she has tears in her eyes. My sister takes a few steps forward. I raise my hand, stopping her from going any further.
“What do you mean ‘our’ baby,” I demand. “You told me…”
“I know what I said,” she says, starting to pace the room. “But, after he was born, I tried to force the issue and Eddie demanded a paternity test. It turns out he’s not the father. You’re the only one else it could be.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Jolene says, which earns her a heated glare from Becky.
Standing tall, Becky walks a few steps forward and comes to a stop in front of me. Sticking out her chest and standing her ground she presses the issue. “Like it or not, you’re the father, Noah. Don’t you even care about your son?”
My stomach instantly sours. Not because of the child, but because if this is true, then that would make Becky the mother. It would tie me to her forever, and that is one tie I thought I set fire to a long time ago.
“I don’t believe you,” I say. “How could it be? You know as well as I do that…”
“Think whatever you want, Noah,” she cuts me off.
“But he is yours. And I have every intention of making sure my son has a happy normal family life.” She glances at Eva for the first time since she walked into the room.
“Bless your heart, darlin’. Did you really think you were going to have a future with him?
Looks like you can’t compete with his past.”
Gwen lunges for Becky and Rex grabs her back quickly. “That’s enough,” I yell. “Becky, get out.”
“But we have so much to talk about,” she says, making me cringe. “You’ve been gone so long, and there is so much to catch up on if you’re going to be in his life.”
“In his life? Maybe. If this isn’t all some sort of sick joke,” I take an angry step towards her. “In yours, Becky? I think that ship sailed a long time ago.”
“If you think I’m going to let some showy West Coast tramp come and go from our son’s life, you’ve got another thing coming,” she exclaims, coming a few steps closer to me and Eva.
I’ve never hit a woman, but in this moment I wouldn’t stop Jolene or Gwen from tearing her apart. I welcome the thought actually, and silently wish one of them would make good on the threat.
“That’s enough,” my mother shouts. Turning, she stands furious in the doorway while Anna May hides behind her skirt. “Becky, dear. I think it is time you leave.”
Becky turns to my mother. “Yes, Mrs. Stewart. You know I won’t be disrespecting you.” Walking past me, she stops briefly, “This isn’t over, Noah.”
She glares at Eva as she walks out the door and it slams behind her.
With it, my world crashes to the floor, taking with it everything that felt so secure in my future just a few short minutes ago. One by one, the people who were just there to witness my life come crashing to a end exit the room.
Soon, it’s only Eva who stands silently by my side. Dropping my gaze to the floor, I turn. Slowly, I let my eyes lift to meet hers. When I do, worry fills the beautiful blue eyes that I love so much.
“Who is she, Noah? And why did she say ‘our baby?’”