He shrugs. “I made a vow.”
“C’mon, Dad. People make the same vows every day. Still, at least half of those get broken.”
He lays a hand on my good shoulder and gives it a light squeeze. “Son, your mother is a handful—I’ll give you that. But, there’s a side of her she doesn’t let other people see. That’s the part that I fell in love with—am still in love with. She’s passionate about things. Okay, so sometimes that passion is hard for her to contain...but it’s that same passion that keeps the spark alive between us.”
“But she runs over you every chance she gets, she’s rude and abusive, and a racist.”
“Love covers a multitude of sins, son. And no matter what you see from the outside, I’m not unhappy. You should keep that in mind.” Dad pulls me in for a hug.
He gets into the car and waves as he drives away.
And just like that, the world has changed again.
I have my son, and that fills my heart.
But my soul still aches with a Jo-sized hole.
I pull into Jake’s drive and throw the car into park.
Both fists come down on the steering wheel. “Damn it. Her car isn’t here.”
Caden screams.
Aw, man.
I get out of the car and open the back door. “Hey, buddy. Daddy’s sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I unbuckle him and lay him over my shoulder, hanging on to his ankles, which lately, has made him giggle. This time, it at least stops the crying.
Jake meets me outside. “So, what’s your plan now, Romeo?”
“I’ll do what worked last time.” I point to the other half of the duplex. “Stevie.”
As I approach their front porch, the door opens and Stevie bounces out, a small carry-on size bag in one hand, house keys in the other.
She narrows her eyes at me. “What do you want this time?”
“She isn’t returning my calls. I only want to talk. I need to talk to her.”
Stevie nods to Caden. “Looks like you already got the kid. Why do you need Jo now?”
“I want her to come home. Can you tell me where I can find her? Please.”
“I don’t know if I should.” She taps her bottom lip with the tip of a key. “What are you going to say to her?”
I swing Caden down into the crook of my arm. “That’s none of your business.”
Stevie curls her lip for the briefest moment, then she shrugs and pushes by me, stepping off the porch. “Well, some would say it isn’t…but, the last time I told you where she was, she ended up getting married and then in a car accident. A few weeks later, she came home crying.”
I follow her to her car as she opens the back and tosses her bag inside. An eerie sense of déjà vu swamps me.
“I didn’t mean to upset her.”
Stevie leans against the driver’s door. “Look, I don’t know what you did to tie her into knots like that, but I can tell you that she’s never trusted easily. From what I could tell, she’d gotten to where she trusted you. Whatever you did destroyed that. You may never get her back.”
All of my words dry up on my tongue.
Never get Jo back?
I shake my head. “No. I refuse to believe that. She said she loves me. She said so.”
Stevie rolls her eyes. “Look, twiddly twat, the thing you’re gonna have to wrap your head around is that loving you doesn’t mean she has to subject herself to being kicked in the gut over and over.”
My head jerks back. “Kicked? But—”
“Figuratively, jiz dribbles.” Stevie opens the door and gets behind the wheel. “Fine. She’s in Arlington. She flew out yesterday morning at the ass crack of dawn to go up and meet with someone at that design firm. They wanted a face-to-face before offering her the job. I’m really not sure if she’ll come back.”
“She’s up there now? And you don’t know if she’s coming home? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Look, I have my own plane to catch, so I really should go.” Stevie reaches for the armrest.
I grab the top of the door before she can pull it closed. “Wait. Why wouldn’t she come back? I mean, won’t she need to get stuff or something?”
“Fed Ex, dumbass. I’ll ship her things to her.”
Fuck me.
The more I want her, the further away she seems.
“I’ve got go, or I’ll miss my plane.”
I step back so she can shut her door. “Can you ask her to call me? Tell her I sent her favorite flowers? Please?”
Stevie slams her door and pulls away from the curb. Then the car stops, tires screeching as it backs up. She rolls down her window and leans out to yell, “If you manage to get her back, don’t jack it up again, or I’m gonna have to hurt you…and don’t let the small stature and hourglass figure fool you. I can fuck you up, and I will.”