Blocked (31 page)

She groaned, pulling her blanket over her head.

He couldn’t blame her. Hell, the sun had barely risen. “You remember what today is, right?”

As if he’d whispered magic words, Charlie popped up and squealed with delight. “Yes! I forgot for a minute, but now I remember. I can’t wait to ride the new waterslide, Daddy. It’s gonna be so much fun.”

His daughter’s enthusiasm was the only reason why he hadn’t postponed the trip in favor of pounding on April’s door, forcing her to see how right they were together, and seeing the radiant smile on her face reaffirm he’d made the right decision. It wasn’t that Charlie would always come first, leaving the woman he loved doomed to a life of second place. It just meant that turns would be taken, choices would be made, and he knew of all people, April understood exactly what that meant.

“All right then, baby doll, go brush your teeth, get dressed, and meet me in the kitchen for a quick breakfast. I’d like to get on the road soon so we can get the entire day in at the park.”

His daughter treated him to another brilliant smile before hopping out of her bed.

The cooler on the island was filled with snacks and drinks, in case traffic got heavy, and Charlie’s electronic devices were charged and packed in a duffle bag. Yep, he had everything under control. The only thing missing were the two people he’d hoped would be joining them on this year’s adventure. His eyes roamed once again over the text icon, and disappointment jabbed his gut. He’d hoped she would respond to his text from the previous evening. According to information his mom gave him, it seemed as though April wasn’t faring much better than him. Robyn had told him that April’s mom had said April had been unhappy, moody, and sad since their breakup. Something had to give.

His heart thundered when the phone resting in his hand vibrated, but when the screen showed it wasn’t April calling, the desire to answer nearly left. “Hey, Mom.”

“Decker, the excitement in your greeting makes a mother feel so loved,” Robyn teased. “Anyway, honey, I know you’re going to be unavailable for the rest of the weekend, so I just wanted to tell you and Charlie-bear to have a great time.”

“Oh, thanks, Mom. We will. She loves this weekend.”

“No, baby, you both love this weekend. I promise, things will work out the way they’re meant to with April, so enjoy the time you have with your little girl, because before you know it, she’ll be a grown-up, and these days will be nothing but a memory.”

His mother’s words didn’t fall on deaf ears. He heard what she said, as well as what she didn’t say. After all, one never knew how much time they had with their loved ones. Decker made sure his mother had the phone number of the resort he was staying at just in case of an emergency, then they disconnected their call. He and his daughter had some waterslides to conquer, but first they had to navigate the drive.

* * *

DISCOURAGED, APRIL CHECKED her phone again only to see that Decker hadn’t returned the text she’d sent him during her lunch break. After a restless night, April had dropped Eli off at day care then three-way-called Ember and August on her way to work. While they both seemed satisfied that she had finally pulled her head out of her ass—their words, not hers—they weren’t comfortable with her waiting the entire day to contact Decker.

“Haven’t you waited long enough?” Ember whined.

“Games are for children, April,” August grunted. “You don’t play well, and you lose even worse. Call him now.”

April pressed her lips together. The taste of the lime balm, Decker’s favorite and the one she’d avoided using since they broke up, sent flutters through her belly. “I’m not playing a game, guys. I just know that if I call him now, he’ll want to see me… now.” Just the thought of breathing his same air had her heart thumping and her panties dampening. “And we both have a long day ahead of us. I’ll text him later and set something up.” Excitement poured out of her as she explained what she was going to say to Decker once she got him face to face.

Elation must have beamed from her face, because the moment she entered the teachers’ lounge, both Rori and Janie stared at her with slack jaws and curious expressions.

“Uhh, graded a really great paper last night, did ya?” Janie teased.

April’s lips curved up as her eyes went from Janie to Rori. “No, not quite.” The singsong response only further flummoxed her friends as she lowered her bags to the empty chair and floated over to the only other people standing in the room. “Just so happens I have a best friend who gets pleasure out of punting my ass back onto the Yellow Brick Road when I go too far astray and a kid who’s too wise for his age.”

“So wait,” Rori interrupted, “am I the good guy in this
Wizard of Oz
reference or the bad guy?”

Janie snickered. “Get your panties out of their twist, Ror. It sounded like you were Glinda or maybe a munchkin, but no way were you the nasty green bitch or a flying monkey. Right, April?”

April looked from one friend to the next and blinked… twice. “Are the two of you fucking crazy? Yes, Rori, you’re goddamn Glinda. But that has nothing to do with anything, so keep up!”

Rori first filled Janie in on the mini-intervention she’d had with April the day before, only to learn that Janie had been gearing up to stage one of her own.

“I, however, would have included you in my ‘Save April’ mission.” Janie aimed her death glare directly at Rori.

“I’m sorry, Janie.” Rori’s choked apology came through a tight smile. “There was no time to contact you. Our girl here was talking to herself while slamming her head on her desk. Had I let it go on for too much longer, she’d have turned out like Sloth from the
Goonies
movie.” Rori shrugged. “Then we’d have a whole different set of issues to deal with.”

“Ladies,” April barked, “you’re both wonderful and fabulous. Feel better? Egos stroked?” It felt as if it had been ages since the three of them goofed around in such a carefree way, and she hated to end it, but the lounge had begun to fill, meaning the first bell wasn’t far behind.

Quickly April explained how even though she’d been missing Decker like crazy, it was Rori’s
tough love
that got her thinking about her own imperfections and Elijah’s words that made her realize that she wasn’t just giving up a man but her own happiness, as well as that of her son.

“I want him back,” April repeated the words she’d said to her siblings.

“Why?” Rori asked, not a trace of humor in her tone.

“Because I need him in my life. Because Eli adores him and because we make sense.”

Janie closed her eyes. “It’s not enough, honey. You know that. That night, before he left, he came to you with his heart. What are you willing to give him in return?”

April knew what her friend was asking. Was she able to give him
everything
?

“April”—Rori’s stare was loving but not gentle—“if he came to you
now
offering anything less than everything, I’d ruin him.” Rori stepped close to April and tapped her fingers on the left side of April’s chest. “Make sure you possess what he needs before you take this thing any further. You’ve both been hurt enough.”

April knew damn well what she had to offer, but as much as she cared for her friends, the first time she admitted those feelings for Decker would be to the man himself. So instead, she nodded solemnly and grabbed her bags as the first bell rang.

April:
Hi

April:
You’re right, we do need to talk. Can we do it today?

April:
… I miss you.

There was no way she could wait until the end of the day to contact him. She was surprised she even made it until lunch. The glow that poured from within her faded with each hour that the texts went unanswered, and by the time she was at her sister’s house with Eli and his weekend bag in hand, her nerves had practically gnawed through her stomach lining.

“Call him,” Ember insisted. “Maybe he’s waiting to hear your voice.”

Once she arrived home, she grabbed a glass of wine and a blanket from the sofa, wrapped the blanket tightly around her curled up form, and nestled into the chair that had recently found its way back to the small front porch after spending the winter hibernating in the garage. The sun was just dipping into the horizon, highlighting the clouds in a pink glow and painting the sky purple, when she dialed Decker’s number.

She left a message explaining that she was ready to talk, ready to work things out, and ready to let go of the things that had held her back before. “Please call me back.” She tried to keep the desperation out of her tone, but somehow, she felt she failed in that mission.

After several ineffective attempts at grading term papers, another glass of wine, and the realization that more than just a couple of hours had passed since her call to Decker, April gazed out at the dark sky, taking in the crescent moon, and wondered if possibly she’d actually blown her chance at happiness.

“Tiny, why would you listen to Ember’s advice when it comes to men?” The disgusted humor coming from the phone was exactly the reason she called her brother.

“Because I knew you’d tell me to go over to his place naked, August, and that wasn’t the advice I was looking for.”

Silence met her ear before her brother spoke. “The whole concept makes me nauseous, April, you know that, right? You’re my baby sister, for Christ’s sake. I don’t wanna picture you naked. However, you called me now, which means you want my opinion, so here it is. Decker isn’t waiting to hear your damned voice, he needs a grand gesture.” August huffed. “Go over to his place with a bottle of his favorite drink, in some skimpy lingerie, and show him just how much you’ve missed him.”

“Oh, really? That is so cliché, August!” Even as she criticized the words, she rummaged through her cabinet, looking for the vodka she knew Decker favored.

“It’s cliché for a reason, little sis.” August’s smile could be heard through the phone. “It works. Women always over think and overanalyze, but you and November aren’t too far off when you make fun of us men. We’re simple creatures. With fine drink and great sex, in either order, we’re as happy as kings. So go polish his scepter… err… okay, that was too far, even for me. I need to go puke.”

If her brother didn’t sound as if he was ready to lose his dinner, she would have ribbed him for suggesting such lewd actions. However, hearing someone vomit was one of the things that she hated most in the world. So instead she changed the subject. “Hey, it’s Friday night. Why are you even home talking to me?”

“It’s the twenty-first century, little girl. Who says I’m home? Now, go crown your king… yeah”—he gagged—“still no good. Let’s just drop the whole royalty reference, shall we?”

They rang off, and April brought her things inside, took a quick shower, and readied herself to go to Decker’s. It was about ten o’clock when she was ready to leave her house, and while she adored Charlie, she hoped the little girl would be asleep. If not, April’s clothing was child friendly, but what was underneath wasn’t for public consumption. A tingle ran up her spine. Hopefully there would be a lot of consuming done once she and Decker had talked through their issues.

Pulling in a fortifying breath, April opened her front door. Standing there with one hand up, fisted as if ready to knock, was… Becky Spears.

“And the flying monkeys have arrived,” April mumbled as the breath quickly left her lungs.

Gripping the solid door frame tightly, her legs trembled as she stared into the eyes of woman who had slept with her husband. The woman who had shamelessly taken something that didn’t belong to her without care, without remorse, and judging by the run-in only a few weeks before, without regret.

April breathed in slowly. The shock of Becky’s presence washed over her, and once it was gone, she was able to register the true being who stood at her doorstep. Becky’s normally coiffed hair and pristinely applied makeup was a disaster. Black lines of mascara traveled down her cheeks like a river cutting through caked-on cosmetics, leaving banks of blush and foundation on each side.

Standing tall and steady, April stared at her nemesis. “What the hell do you want?”

“April,” Becky sobbed, using the back of her hand to wipe at the tears, causing even more of a makeup malfunction. “It’s Ben…”

Had he died? While she hated the man, he was her son’s biological father, and she’d spent years loving him… she quickly searched deep inside herself and realized that she’d already grieved the loss of Ben Spears the man. If he died, she would only grieve the passing of a young person. “Becky, say what you need to say and then leave.” April tapped her nails on the door frame. “I don’t have all night.”

Sniffling, Becky rubbed her open hand across her rounded belly and looked over April’s shoulder into her home. “Um, can I-I have a tissue, please?”

Narrowing her eyes, April stood quietly for a second, suspicious of Becky’s every movement, of her mere existence.
What does she want at my house now?

“Sure.” April shut the front door, leaving her uninvited guest on the opposite side, and grabbed a couple of paper towels from the kitchen.
No soft tissues for that homewrecking whore. I don’t care what her problem is.
She opened the door and handed the rough paper to Becky.

“Thank you.” She muffled blowing her nose into the first towel and wiped her face with the second. She blanched when she saw the remnants left on the paper. “I must look like a horrible mess.”

Was she kidding? Did she expect April to soothe her feelings and play nice? “Becky. Why. Are. You. Here?”

“April, do you think I can come in? I really need to talk to you.”

“No.” April finally reached the end of her line. Her patience was gone, the time was slipping away, and she needed to get to Decker’s house. “You cannot come in my house. It’s mine. I know you have difficulty understanding that everything is not yours for the taking, what with my husband being so easily snatched up, but this is my property, my life, and here,
you
are not wanted, so—”

“Ben left me, April.” Tears once again streamed down Becky’s blotchy face as her body was wracked with hysterical sobs. “He’s been cheating on me for months with his secretary. How fucking… cliché.”