Every Kiss (31 page)

Me:
‘I’m not running, Wes. You’re pushing me
away.’

No denial. No apology.

Guess it’s time to put my big girl panties on—a few pairs of
them—and go out there. This is going to be like stepping into the seventh
circle of hell, but I’m not going to be a coward and hide out until he gets
here.

The woman is going to know I’m coming out of his bedroom
because I slept there, so there’s not really any sense in changing clothes to
look like I haven’t. Besides that, I don’t really care what she thinks right
now. I just want to know what the hell is going on.

After a few minutes—okay, more like ten—I pull the door open
slowly, cringing when the hinges screech like a dying cat. Well, at least they
know I’m here now.

“Da-da!” the little girl squeals as the little pitter-patter
of footsteps comes closer.

“Daddy must’ve left a window op . . .” the woman’s voice
trails off when they both turn the corner, finding me in the bedroom doorway.

“Seems you’re both wrong,” I laugh nervously, even though
this is far from funny. “Uh, I’m Callie.”

The woman crosses her arms over her chest and scowls at me.
“Well, he’s brought in another stray cat, I guess.”

No, the bitch did not. “Excuse me?”

“A kitty?” Macy looks all around the floor frantically.
“Where Ma-ma?”

“No kitty, baby. How about another cookie?”

Macy claps and nods emphatically.

She’d better be glad the kid is here for a buffer because
I’d really like to be clawing her eyes out right now, being that I’m a stray
cat, and all. I follow them into the living room, every nerve is alive and
ready for a fight. But I have to force myself to stay centered. I won’t scare
the little girl by screaming that her mom is a self-righteous whore, as much as
I’d like to.

After the woman gives her another cookie, Macy toddles back
over to her pile of toys in the floor, not caring about anything other than her
treat and a fuzzy pink
elephant
. Of-freaking-course.

“So . . .” The mom eases onto the couch and crosses her legs
primly. “What did you do to end up here? Are you knocked up, too?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Wes and I are—”

“Don’t kid yourself, sweetie,” she interrupts. “You and Wes
are nothing. This is his thing; there’s a new girl all the time. He makes a lot
of promises and makes himself out to look like a saint, but I promise you, you
won’t get anywhere with him. Me and Macy . . . we’re all he’ll ever need. But
he has a serious problem, and as much as I’ve tried to help him, he keeps
repeating this vicious cycle. My advice to you is to get out now, while you
can. Your baby is better off without him, too.”

My mouth hangs open, and for one of the very few times in my
life, I have absolutely no idea what to say, which seems to be happening a lot
since Wes came into my life. I mean, it does sound familiar. It sounds as if
she knows about his issues, but at the same time, I can’t believe that I’m just
one of many. I can’t believe that this is some sort of sick game he plays, even
if I thought that about him in the very beginning.

“Why don’t you call a cab and run on back to wherever you
came from? When Wesley gets home tonight, I’ll let him know that you got
smart.”

The squealing tires outside is all I need to hear to let me
know that I’m about to get some answers, if I have to strangle him to get them.
I don’t play games, so it’s way past time to get it all laid out on the table.
“Sounds like you can tell him now.”

She blanches and jumps to her feet just as he bursts through
the front door looking like a madman.

“Sarah, what in the hell are you doing here?”

My head whips in her direction. “Sarah? Wait . . . you’re
his . . .”

“Wife,” she answers smugly.

Wes flicks his eyes to me. “
Ex
-wife. You know that,
Callie.”

“Da-da!” Macy squeals, running to greet him. “Da-da work.”

“Yeah, Mace, I was at work. Why don’t you go build a house
with your blocks, okay?”

He ruffles her hair, and she goes back to her toys,
completely oblivious to the intense animosity building in the room. “Sarah,
answer my damn question. What are you doing here?”

She looks at me before crossing her arms and glaring at him.
“I wanted to see you, so I thought Macy and I would hang out until you came
home. We were going to surprise you with dinner. It wasn’t until your new
charity case came out of your bedroom that I even realized anyone was here.”

I step toward her, but Wes throws an arm out to catch me,
turning his attention back to her again. “How did you get inside?”

“The door was open.”

“Bullshit,” he spits out. “I know for a fact that I locked it.
Where’s the key, Sarah?”

She rolls her eyes impatiently. “I put it back under the
flowerpot. I knew you kept a spare out there somewhere.”

“Get Macy’s stuff packed up and get out.” He’s trying hard
to keep his voice calm and even for the child’s sake. “Then I’m giving you
until Saturday to get your shit out of the apartment.”

She gasps. “I don’t have anywhere to go, and I refuse to go
back to my mom’s. You can’t kick Macy out on the streets.”

“To be honest, I don’t care where you end up. You’re just
not living in that apartment anymore.”

Sarah points at me accusingly. “Why? Because you need a
place for your new whore? Kick one of your other girls out, Wes. You loved me
once, just give me a chance.”

Wes’ grip tightens on my wrist when I start to lunge at her
again. Just one slap across that smug face of hers. Just one. That’s all I
need. Then he’s next.

“I’ve heard all about the shit you’ve been stirring up with
the other women, too, and I’m done. I shouldn’t have ever felt sorry for you
because it’s only caused me trouble. And because of what you’ve started for me
here, today, I think I’ll shorten your stay even more. You have until tomorrow.
I’ll have a police escort there to ‘assist’ you, and I’ll have the locksmith
ready to change the locks immediately.”

She walks up to him and tries to touch his face, but he
swats her hand away. “Wesley, I know I hurt you, but I know you love me. What
we had doesn’t go away. I still feel it.”

“No,” he seethes. “I didn’t have any clue what love even was
until this woman right here came into my life.” He pauses to look at me. “The
only thing I feel for you is pity. I don’t know how you live with yourself,
knowing how many people you’ve hurt and lied to. And now you have that little
girl, who doesn’t stand a chance unless you grow the hell up and learn to be
responsible for your actions. I’m not supporting you anymore. Get the hell out,
and do
not
show your face here again or I will press charges for
trespassing.”

She lets out an irritated growl and crosses the room to toss
the toys into her bag. “Come on, Macy,” she snaps, flinging the child onto her
hip. On her way past me, she pauses. “Just remember everything I said.”

“Get the hell out of my house, Sarah. Now.”

She rolls her eyes at him again and walks out the front
door. The entire time, he keeps an almost painful grip on my wrist, and I don’t
know if it’s to keep me from walking out the door, too, or if it’s to keep me
from chasing her down to slap the shit out of her.

“Callie.” He finally mutters when Sarah’s car starts to pull
away. “I can explain everything.”

I jerk my hand free, rubbing at the red fingerprints. “Are
you serious? There’s so many things wrong with what’s happened today, that I
don’t think you could ever explain it enough to make me understand.”

“You’re right. Let me just show you.”

I glare at him. “You’re kidding right? After all the crazy
shit I’ve heard, I promise you, I don’t even want to know what kind of mess you
have yourself in.”

“Callie, please,” he soothes, rubbing a hand down my arm.
“Just give me an hour. And if you still want nothing to do with me after that,
I’ll take you home, and you’ll never hear from me again. I haven’t told you the
whole story, Callie, but I’ve never lied to you. I meant everything I said when
I told you that I love you and that I’ll do anything to make this work with us.
You told me you wouldn’t run, but I’ll understand if you want to
after
I
explain. Just get all the facts first. Give me that, please.”

I nod.

Let’s see. He has a kid that he just kicked out on the
streets. He’s maintained contact with the ex-wife that he told me he despises.
He apparently keeps a harem of women shacked up in some apartments he has. And
could quite possibly have several more children, considering that Sarah
automatically assumed I’m pregnant.

I have a feeling there isn’t any explanation to fix this.
No, Wesley Baxter is clearly a douchebag, and I fell for it.

I DON’T KNOW where he could possibly
be taking me to explain all of this away. I mean, is he seriously going to take
me to these apartments and try to sell me on them like some kind of polygamist
real estate agent? I have no desire to be a part of any kind of sister wife
thing. No thank you.

The thing that bothers me the most is that I never would’ve
seen this coming. Not in a million years. After everything we’ve been through,
with his mother, with his reservations about relationships, why would I suspect
something like this? Eve just thinks his main problem has to do with his heart
being broken by Sarah and his mother abandoning him. No, he’s absolutely
freaking insane. That’s his problem.

He pulls into the parking lot of a little office building,
shifts into park, and looks over at me. “I want you to come inside with me. It
all starts right here. All I ask is that, if you have anything to say to me
about this, you save it for when we get back in the jeep, okay?”

“Fine.”

He sighs loudly and gets out, waiting for me to do the same
before walking inside. I follow him into an elevator, and we take a short ride
up to the third floor. When the doors slide open, I notice the sign over the
reception desk. A New Beginning. If he’s bringing me to counseling or
something, he’s completely lost it.

“Well, Mr. Baxter, we weren’t expecting you today. Are you
here to see Casey?”

Wes forces a smile and shakes the young woman’s hand. “Good
to see you, Amanda. I didn’t tell her I was coming in today. Is she busy?”

She looks down at the appointment book and taps an entry.
“Her next appointment isn’t for an hour. Go ahead and head down that way, and
I’ll buzz her office and let her know you’re coming.”

“Thanks. Say hello to Andy for me.”

She smiles sweetly at him. “I sure will. And honey,” she
pauses to pat my arm, “don’t fret. You’re in good hands.”

I plaster on a smile, knowing I must look all kinds of crazy.
“Uh, thanks.”

Wes leads the way through a series of corridors, and I know
we’ve finally reached our destination when a woman steps out of an office at
the end of the hallway with a huge grin. “Well, hello there, handsome. To what
to I owe the pleasure of seeing you today?”

“I, uh, brought someone to see you. This is Callie.”

“Oh, sorry . . . I didn’t realize. Come on in.” She steps
back inside her small office and waves in the direction of the two folding
chairs across from her. “Have a seat.”

While she moves around her desk to her own seat, I notice
the name stitched on her white lab coat—Dr. Casey Felkins. “Thanks, Dr.
Felkins.”

“Oh, goodness, girl. Call me Casey.” She giggles. “So what
can I help you with today? Have you already had a test to confirm?”

I flash a bewildered look at Wes, and he starts shaking his
head at her. “Uh, she’s not pregnant, Casey. She’s a friend of mine. Well, my
girl
friend,
actually.”

“Oh, umm, I apologize for assuming.” She smoothes a hand
over her wild red curls. “So that must mean you’re here to look at your birth
control options?”

I scan the row of pamphlets on the shelf beside me, all
about alternatives to abortion, local adoption clinics, single parenting
classes. I just don’t get why he brought me here. “I’m, uh, already on the
pill.”

“Okaaaay,” she draws out, looking back and forth between Wes
and me. “Well, you’re going to have to help me here because something tells me
you’re not here for family planning.”

Wes lets out a weak breath. “I want her to know, Casey. I know
I told you that it remains confidential, no matter what, but this is different.
She needs to know about our arrangement.”

“You’re sure? Because, honey, you don’t look too sure.”

“No doubt in my mind. But I’m going to leave the two of you
to talk, and I’ll wait in the jeep. Callie, when you’re done, just meet me out
there, and you can ask me any questions you have. I . . . I just can’t stay in
here right now.”

He does look awfully green. But he should because I feel a
little ill myself. I just don’t understand for the life of me what could
possibly be going on.

Casey stands at the same time Wes does. “What do you want me
to tell her?”

“Everything. Nothing is off-limits. Answer any questions she
has. I have nothing to hide from her.” He walks out without even a glance at me
and shuts the door.

Casey slowly sinks back into her seat. “Wow, well, this is
new.”

“What? Would you just tell me what’s going on? This is
really freaking me out.”

“We’ll get there.” She picks up a pen and taps it on her
desk. “But first, I need to know how much you already know, so I know where to
start. You know about his ex-wife, his biological mother, or his volunteer work
here?”

“Yes, yes, and no.”

She grins wide, showing two perfect rows of white teeth.
“Well, if you know about the first two, that tells me you must be special to
him. The third one isn’t much of a mystery, but it’s how we started our little
side arrangement. You see, back when Wes was in college, we’d just gotten this
clinic started, and he was needing some community service work hours for some
extra class credit. At the time, I had no idea what would make a guy choose to
volunteer at a pregnancy crisis center. But I didn’t give up until I understood
why he is so passionate about these young girls, faced with making the hardest
decisions of their life.”

Whoa. He volunteered here because he thought his mom gave
him up and because his wife aborted their baby. “He wanted them to know there
were other options out there. He was trying to stop the things that happened to
him from happening again.”

“That pretty much sums it up.” She stands and walks around
her desk to sit in Wes’ empty seat, lowering her voice significantly. “But that
was only the beginning. He continued to volunteer when he could, even after he
didn’t get class credit. Even after he graduated and got the job he’s working
in now. Before he started making any decent money, he’d still make donations of
any amount he could come up with to help these girls, to help the clinic fund
different programs for them. But once he started making more money than he
really knew what to do with, he approached me about a little charitable
organization he wanted to start on his own.”

Oh shit. I can’t believe this. I think it all makes sense
now. “The apartments?”

She nods. “But that’s only part of it. You see, he wanted to
be able to give options to those that truly didn’t believe that they had any.
Those really tough cases that we couldn’t seem to turn around. Wes wanted to be
able to give these women the option to raise their children and
not
put
them up for adoption, just because they didn’t have a way to care for their
baby. He wanted to be able to do the same for those that wanted to abort. There
are some qualifying factors, but if there’s someone that I think he can help, I
refer them to him. He purchased three duplexes right next to each other, made
an arrangement with an obstetrician and a pediatrician, and set up
transportation services to help them get to their jobs or other appointments.
Basically, while a woman is still pregnant, he allows her to move in,
rent-free, until three months after the baby is born, providing her with
routine exams, paid utilities, the works. After that, there’s a social worker
that helps them to find childcare and employment. They are allowed to stay
there until the child is a year old, but he does make exceptions on occasion.
Although, many are on their feet well enough to move out before then because he
does everything he can to foster their independence. There are still those who
still end up giving up their babies, but he has contacts with adoption agencies
all over the country, and he’s been able to get every child adopted and keep
them out of the system.”

So this is why he lives so simply. All of his money goes
into this project. “I don’t know what to say. I just can’t believe he does
something like this and hides it from everyone.”

Her deep green eyes are kind, compassionate. “He doesn’t do
it for the recognition. This is something that started out as a way to heal his
own heart, I think. To make something good out of the bad. But between you and
me, he’s been a little obsessive about it for quite a while now, and I think
it’s because he doesn’t have closure. What he’s doing hasn’t made him feel any
better because there’s still so much unresolved.”

I guess he hasn’t clued her in on the most recent
developments. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But this is just a little weird,
isn’t it? I mean, he seems fairly normal, but it seriously makes me wonder
about his emotional stability.”

Casey giggles. “Honey, Wes is just fine. From what I’ve seen
of him over the years, he’s a fixer. He doesn’t let too many people see it, but
he’s generous and compassionate. He takes on little pet projects like this all
the time, trying to better the community and help the people in it. It’s just
that this particular project is near and dear to his heart, so he throws all he
can into it.”

That still doesn’t explain why Sarah is in the picture and
why he has a daughter he’s lied about, but I don’t think Casey is the right person
to ask. “Well, that clears up a lot of questions I’ve had. It seems to make a
little more sense.”

“Callie, I know I don’t need to tell you how lucky you are
to have him. He’s opened up to you about his mother, his ex-wife, and now this?
There are very few people that he lets in, so I know he must really love you.
Now, whether or not he admits it is another story. He’s still a man, after
all.”

I smile at her. “Yes, he is. A stubborn, bull-headed man.”

She gives me her card in case I have any more questions, and
I head back out to the jeep, trying to decide what I’m going to say to him.
Needless to say, it all makes a little more sense, but he’s not forgiven by any
means.

When I get inside and close the door, he’s sitting there
silently, staring into space. I think he’s prepared for me to tell him how
stupid this whole scheme is, but when I’m honest with myself, I think I love
him a little more. He’s been doing everything he can to help women that he
doesn’t even know, giving them a chance to keep their child and get on their
feet. He’s probably prevented several children from being aborted or given up
at birth. Wes is giving these children a chance that his own child didn’t have,
that
he
didn’t really have. Eve has been a wonderful mother to him, but
he’s always known that his biological mother was out there somewhere. I can’t
imagine what a head trip that must’ve been.

“First of all, I understand what Sarah meant about the other
women now, and I think you’re an amazing man for what you’ve been doing for them.
But what I don’t understand is the fact that she’s there,
and
she has a
child by you. You told me that your child died, that she aborted it.”

His mouth forms into a grim line. “
My
child did,
Callie. I was eighteen years old when that happened. Don’t you think Macy looks
a little young to be 8 years old?”

Oh. Yeah, I didn’t think of that. “The very first time you
took me to your house, I saw the little pink elephant in your jeep, and I’ve
known all this time that there was a child that you just weren’t telling me
about. But I cared enough about you that it didn’t really matter to me. I
thought you’d eventually open up to me about it. She calls you ‘Dad,’ Wes. She
even saw a picture of Shane and called him ‘Uncle Shane.’ Can’t you understand
why this doesn’t add up for me?”

“I do understand. And it’s really a lot more innocent than
it all appears; although, my stupidity in the situation is what got me into
this mess. You see, Sarah calls me every now and then, trying everything she
can to get me to give her another chance. I’ve never given her any indication
that I want anything to do with her, but she gets desperate enough—financially,
I think—to try anything she can to have someone support her. So when she called
me several weeks ago, telling me that she needed a place to stay because her
mom kicked her out, I told her that I couldn’t help her. That’s when she told
me about Macy, her child with her
third
husband. I told her I’d let her
stay in an apartment I had free, not explaining what I used them for. Hell, I
even helped her move that day, just to make sure the kid had a roof over her
head that night. That’s why the elephant was in my jeep. I kept it strictly
professional with her, though, saying I’d give her a few months to get herself
together, and then she had to be on her way.”

I look at his downcast eyes, knowing he’s ashamed of what
he’s done, even though he shouldn’t be ashamed for trying to help someone. “So
she’s convinced now that she has a shot with you, just because you finally gave
in.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he sighs, dragging a hand through the dark
waves on top of his head. “And Macy hasn’t ever met Shane; she’s only seen
pictures of him that Sarah has from years ago. I know this because I stopped by
one day while she wasn’t home and did a routine inspection, like I do on a
regular basis with all the tenants. She had out all sorts of old pictures of
the two of us when we were dating, some of my family, our old friends . . .
photos of my old life. I guess since Sarah thought she actually had a chance to
get me back, she taught Macy everyone’s names. But as far as her calling me her
dad, she’s had so many men in her life that she calls nearly every man that.
Sarah might’ve pushed it a little, too.”