Chapter 16
sixteen
. . .
Miles
I was still toweling off my hair when I stepped out of my bedroom. I heard Vicky speaking and assumed it was her and MJ until a familiar voice tinged with a Southern drawl set off alarm bells. It was a voice I hadn’t heard in person for over a year.
My bare feet hustled quickly toward them, regretting not having put on my flip-flops as the sand MJ had dragged in stuck to the bottom of my feet.
It can’t be her.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” MJ asked excitedly.
Running the last few feet, I came to a skidding stop in the kitchen as I took in Katy standing there with a wide smile as she looked down at my daughter.
“Katy?” I asked, my voice sounding far away, her name elongated in my utter shock.
Her head snapped up as she looked at me, her smile growing.
“Miles. It’s so good to see you. Baby, you look amazing.” Her warm, honeyed voice sounded like she was a long-lost lover who’d come home; its impact spun my brain around like a blender.
Baby?
She hadn’t called me that since she had walked out of the door and my life seven years ago, I thought, as her eyes wandered appreciatively over me.
Vicky took a hurried step toward the front entrance, her bathing suit in her hand, her head hung low.
“I, ah, I’ll grab my stuff and head out,” she said barely above a whisper. Her doe-like eyes were wide but not focused on me. They were locked on my ex-wife. “Have a good evening.” She smiled at MJ, who looked as confused and torn as I was.
“Bye, Vicky. Thanks for today,” my daughter said before looking up at her mother in awe.
Katy’s attention skated over to Vicky, her eyes scanning her body with unmasked disdain that made my anger rise swiftly.
“Vicky, hold on a second. I’ll walk you out,” I said, tossing the towel over a chair.
She began frantically picking up her laptop bag and purse, muttering about her shoes. When she darted for the door, I ran after her, catching her by the elbow as she got out of the house.
“Vicky, please, wait,” I begged. With a gentle tug, I pulled her to a stop and turned her to face me. Her eyes were brimming with tears that tore my heart out.
“Vicky,” I whispered.
Shaking her head, she swiped harshly at the tears that fell, but still wouldn’t look at me. “Miles, it’s fine. Go. She’s here to see you guys, and that’s a big deal from what you’ve said.”
“I have no idea why she’s here,” I admitted, my voice rough from emotions.
“You didn’t know she was coming?” she asked, her bottom lip quivering as she spoke.
“Vicky, no. I would have told you. I’d never let you be blindsided like that. I mean, she sent a cryptic text recently, but I never expected her to actually come,” I begged.
Lifting her head, she said, “You don’t owe me anything. I’m not. We’re not…”
“That’s what, I mean, we were going to talk tonight,” I said. My emotions were so mixed up in that moment, I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
We had just spent an incredible afternoon together. Like family. Now Katy stood in my kitchen, and Vicky was ready to bolt off my front porch. Both women were in one place, messing with my addled brain.
“Again, you don’t owe me anything,” she said, her voice bringing me back to the moment.
“I have to go see about this. See why she’s here.
But please. Can we talk later tonight?” I begged, my eyes taking in the sight of her.
Water dripped from the ends of her short hair, wetting the shoulders of my hoodie.
Looking at her as she stood there in my clothes gave me the same visceral reaction it had when she’d worn them before.
Mine. She was mine.
“Sure.” Her short answer brought about anxiety that she didn’t really mean it. Without thinking, I brought her closer and held her. Her breath caught in her throat as she stiffened.
“Please say we can talk about all this. Don’t run away from me.”
My words made her relax into my arms. I’d never held her before. Not like this, anyway. My attempt at flirting the other day when I leaned in to her was as close as I’d gotten. Now that she was in my arms, I wanted to kiss her. Kiss away her tears and rage against anyone who’d caused it.
I hated the way Katy looked at her as if she were beneath her. I knew my ex-wife well enough to realize she was making it clear she didn’t like Vicky being in my home. Her calling me “baby” confirmed her jealousy.
I noticed Vicky might struggle with her body image based on how she handled food around me.
When she hesitated to remove her cover-up at the beach, I wanted to tell her how gorgeous she was to me.
But she didn’t need me to. As she took off the cover-up, revealing her beauty, I was stunned.
There was a new confidence that left me speechless, only managing a "wow.” But in one fell swoop, Katy seemed to erase that.
I had no idea how to broach that conversation in this fraught moment.
Right now, my first priority was to get back in there and protect MJ from Katy until I understood what this visit meant.
The second was making sure Vicky didn’t run away.
This wasn’t the time to talk about how I felt about her.
She deserved better than a rushed confession of my growing feelings.
She pulled away, tears gone, and said, “I’m not running away, Miles. I’m giving you and MJ room. We’ll talk at some point. Tell MJ I said bye and thanks for the bracelet.”
“Tonight. I really need to talk to you tonight,” I insisted.
My back was to the house as I faced her. She gestured with her chin toward the wide bay window.
“Have a feeling that might not happen tonight,” she said sadly.
When I turned to see Katy looking through the window at us, I frowned. Vicky took the opportunity to pull away completely.
“I’ll call you later,” I called out, but she didn’t answer as she got into her car. The sun was a tiny speck of orange on the horizon as I watched her drive away without another word.
Turning back to the house, my ex-wife was no longer in the window. Rubbing my face vigorously, I tried to prepare for whatever her visit meant. Waving to a neighbor who was checking their mailbox, I headed into the house.
“And then I had to chase the seagull for like five minutes to get my Doritos back. You know how much I love them. Doritos, not the birds. They’re cute but annoying.
Then a wave hit us and all our stuff got wet…
” I heard MJ breathlessly telling her mother about our day.
Katy’s forced smile might’ve fooled MJ, but not me. She was not happy.
“Mom, are you listening to me?” MJ asked. Her favorite pajamas with rainbows on them made smile. It made her look like she was five years old again. That thought made me wonder if Katy was thinking the same thing. “Mom?”
I winced at the name when I saw Katy’s unhappy reaction.
MJ had stopped calling her Mommy sometime last year after another promised but missed call.
When I asked her about it, she just said she was growing up and it sounded like a baby.
We both knew the truth, since she still called me Daddy, something I had prayed would never stop.
“Yeah, I am sweetie. Sounds like you had a great day. Who’s Vicky?” Katy asked. They were sitting on the sofa, Katy looking around and taking in our home with great interest. It was obvious she didn’t realize I’d stepped back into the house.
“Vicky is our interior designer, but more than that, she’s our friend and the coolest person. I can’t wait to show you what she did in my room. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Katy scoffed and straightened her wide hat. “Interior designer? Why did she look like she’d just gotten out of the shower?”
Okay, this was going to stop right now.
Closing the door louder than I needed to, they both turned to me. The look I gave Katy was clear.
Don’t.
Our marriage may not have lasted longer than a couple of years, but she knew my body language and thankfully dropped the subject. My emotionally intelligent daughter read the room and didn’t answer. Katy was out of line, and we all knew it.
“MJ, why don’t you take your mom to see your room,” I said, needing a few minutes alone to gather my thoughts when my eyes snagged on the bright pink suitcase.
“Okay, Daddy. Can’t wait to show you my planets and chalkboard wall,” MJ said excitedly. Katy’s real smile came out as she followed our daughter.
Alone in the kitchen, I started to pace.
MJ’s excited voice echoed in the hallway as they walked.
Katy had never given me a reason to fear anything she’d say to MJ out of my presence, but something was different.
Taking a few slow breaths in and out, I grabbed a bottle of water and downed half in one gulp.
When I walked into MJ’s bedroom a few minutes later, the sight took me off guard.
Katy had taken off her hat and was sitting cross-legged on MJ’s bed, singing to her. My daughter’s face lit up as she listened intently. I’d always assured her that her mother loved her and to extend grace when necessary.
As Katy’s soulful voice filled the room, I leaned on the doorframe.
Still singing, she turned to watch me with a wide smile.
She’d always had a beautiful voice, often singing to MJ as a baby on her better nights.
Back then, her doctor suspected she had symptoms of postpartum depression, but her counselor felt it was something deeper. Turned out, they’d been right.
When the song ended, MJ clapped and shouted “hurray” over and over. Katy bowed theatrically.
“That was beautiful. So that’s what you’ve been working on?” she asked.
“It is, sweet girl. I’m so sorry I’ve missed out on so much this year, but I’m here now,” she said, taking our daughter’s hand before looking at me. “As long as you’ll have me.”
I cleared my throat and pushed off the doorframe.
“Kiddo, take my phone and call our favorite pizza place, please? Let me talk to your mom for a minute.”