Walker Revenge (The Walker Family Series Book 5) (5 page)

“Yes, come out this evening. Susan is
preparing something new for her catering menu, and she’s bringing
it over. I think you’ll get along with her perfectly,” she
continued, and Russell gathered the sheet in his fingers and began
to wad it into his fist as he listened to her. “We’ll see you
then.”

She turned off the phone and slid it back
into her purse before looking up and making eye contact with the
two men who had been listening to her.

Glenda Walker went back to fussing over the
lunch tray they had delivered to Russell, without another word. But
his father stepped in, placing a hand over his mother’s before
Russell had a chance to question her.

“That was a cryptic call,” he said getting
her attention. “I think you should fill us in.”

Her eyes were light and the dimples that
deepened when she’d smile appeared. “It was nothing.” She opened
the napkin and set it on Russell’s chest. “Okay, it was
Chelsea.”

Russell clucked his tongue. “You’re having
her over for dinner?”

“She’s a very sweet girl, Russ. I’ve missed
her coming around.”

“So why now? What does she have to do with
you?”

Glenda pulled the lid from the place and
began to cut the meatloaf they’d sent up, which he certainly hadn’t
ordered. “Russ, she needs some help.”

“Does this have to do with her husband being
out on parole?”

“Ex-husband,” she confirmed. “And yes.
Phillip told me the story, and I said she and Lucas could stay with
us. It would be a great comfort to have her there especially when
you come home.”

Russell pulled the napkin from his chest and
threw it on the tray. “What are you doing? Chelsea and I are no
longer a thing, Mom. What the hell makes you think that having her
around is going to help me heal?”

His father pushed the tray out of the way.
“Watch how you talk to your mother.”

Russell let out a breath. “I’m sorry. This
accident and having her around has messed with my head.”

His mother stepped away from the bed and
gathered her purse. “I think I should go. I have upset you, and
that wasn’t my intent, Russell.”

“I know, Mom,” he said with his voice
softer. He reached for her with his right hand. She hesitated for
only a beat before taking it. “Chelsea is a very special woman.
I’ve never been able to let go of her,” he admitted. “If you have
grand ideas—this faith you have in pairing people—I don’t know that
it’s a good idea. She hurt me, Mom. And today I found out she had a
son and that the man she left me for hurt her. It’s a lot to take
in.”

She patted his hand. “I know. But all of
God’s creatures deserve to have someone look after them. Including
Chelsea and her son.”

“She’s very lucky to have you, and so am
I.”

The smile returned to his mother’s lips.
“Thank you. You get some rest.” She kissed him on the cheek, picked
up her purse, and headed out the door.

Russell and his father watched her walk
away, but his father didn’t leave.

“Dad, is something wrong?”

His father’s brows drew together. “Phillip
Smythe said something to me about thinking you’d been run off the
road. What do you know about that?”

“Nothing, other than what he said. I don’t
remember being followed, Dad. But then I don’t remember crashing
either.”

His father nodded and patted his hand just
as his mother had, and then he left, leaving Russell alone again
with only the monitor to his side making noise.

~*~

Nerves had nearly taken over and stopped
Chelsea from driving out to the Walker’s house. She’d packed a bag
for both herself and Lucas, just in case they stayed, though she
wasn’t sure of how the actual plan would play out.

Christmas lights hung from the gutters of
the roof, and the thought that Glenda’s house was already decorated
for Christmas gave Chelsea a giddy warmth. The woman always was on
the verge of going overboard with her decorations, but not quite.
She couldn’t wait to see it, and only hoped that Lucas could keep
his hands off of things when they went inside.

Chelsea climbed from the car and opened the
back door. Unbuckling his seat, he reached for her, and she pulled
him to her. Kissing him on the cheek, she whispered to him, “I’ll
bet this is still the prettiest sight around at Christmas. This big
ole house out here all by itself lit up like a Christmas tree.”

When Glenda met them at the door, she’d
enveloped them in a warm, loving embrace that had nearly brought
tears to Chelsea’s eyes. The woman acted as if three years hadn’t
passed, and as if Chelsea hadn’t broken Glenda’s son’s heart as
badly as she had.

Glenda reached out to Lucas, who to
Chelsea’s amazement, went right to her.

“Oh, you are a precious boy, aren’t you?”
she cooed and placed a kiss atop his little blond head when he
rested it on Glenda’s shoulder. “We’re going to be good friends,
you and me.”

The nerves which had threatened Chelsea had
now turned into a compelling mix of tearful emotion and regret.
This could have been how things ended up had she waited. Had
Chelsea not fallen victim to charm, Glenda would always have held
her son that way, because he would have belonged to Russell.

“Are you okay, honey?” Glenda asked, and
Chelsea realized that the tears that promised to rise, had.

“I’m fine. This is all a bit emotional for
me.” She gathered her thoughts. “Glenda, you’re very kind even to
have me in your home. I tore your family apart for a bit. I broke
Russ’s heart, and I can never take that back. I’m sorry.”

Glenda pulled her in for another hug, this
time, Lucas hugged her too. “People make mistakes,” she said as she
inched back. “But when I look in the eyes of this little boy I
don’t see a mistake. Much as when I look into the eyes of my
step-son Eric, I only see a loved little boy who became a loving
man. I didn’t have to give birth to him to see it in him—but he’s
mine.”

Her words squeezed at Chelsea’s heart until
she thought it might explode in her chest. “Thank you. I don’t know
how this is all going to work out. Russ might not want me around,
but…”

Glenda smiled as she rubbed Lucas’s back.
“Oh, he does,” she said, as she turned and walked toward the
kitchen holding Chelsea’s son in her arms.

The kitchen was just as she’d remembered it,
only now a different woman, wearing an apron, hurried about from
the island to the stove.

“Hi,” she lifted her head from the pot she
stirred. “I’m Susan. I’d shake your hand, but…”

“I understand. I’m Chelsea and that’s my son
Lucas,” she said pointing toward Glenda.

Susan smiled. “Thank you for giving her a
baby fix. She wants one of those, and Eric and I aren’t quite ready
yet.”

Glenda swayed back and forth with Lucas, who
had fallen asleep on her shoulder. “He’s getting older, and you
don’t have much time,” she sang as if she were singing a
lullaby.

Susan laughed. “I’ll tell him you said so.”
She continued to stir whatever was in the pot, which smelled
divine. “So you’re going to be staying here and helping when Russ
gets home? I haven’t seen him in a few days. Does he look any
better?”

“He does look better. The bruises on his
face are still pretty dark, but they’ll go down soon. He’ll do much
better when he’s here with everyone.”

“And with you,” Glenda whispered.

That still didn’t sit well with her. She
supposed they’d find out quickly enough. Russell would either allow
her to help aid him back to health or kick her to the curb. Either
emotion was valid and expected.

“Can I help here?” Chelsea asked Susan.

“I have it all under control. I’m a
vegetarian, so everyone is gracious to try out my meat dishes. I’ll
be a little while yet, if you and Glenda want to go talk and make
plans.”

Glenda gave her a nod to join her in the
other room.

Just as she’d imagined, the interior of the
house was nearly drowning in elegant Christmas cheer. The Christmas
tree was beautifully decorated and reached the ceiling. Christmas
stockings hung over the mantle. Chelsea noticed that there were
more than the usual seven Walker Christmas stockings. Now there was
one with Susan’s name and one with Gia’s.

She looked away. Once upon a time there had
been one that had her name on it too. They’d come that close, she
and Russell. That stocking had probably been dropped into that very
fireplace under the mantle, and burned with her memory.

“I brought a blanket to set on the floor for
him. You don’t have to keep carrying him while he sleeps,” she
offered to Glenda.

“You have no idea how much this does for my
heart. It’s been a very long time since my boys were this size. I
never had the chance to snuggle Eric like this. He was eight by the
time I became his mother. But I made sure I snuggled the other four
until they could run from me.”

“I can’t imagine any of them would ever have
run from you,” she said with a laugh as she sat down next to Glenda
on the sofa.

“Russell and Dane were the ones who didn’t
take to my excessive affection. Always wanted to do things on their
own. Now, Ben and Gerald, they were my love bugs.” She smiled
warmly. “It’s a healing kind of feeling, don’t you think? When you
can just sit, and hold your child?”

That was exactly what it was, Chelsea
thought, and she’d used it as such, many times over the past three
years.

Glenda adjusted on the sofa so that she
could better look at Chelsea, but she never set Lucas down. “I know
you’re uncomfortable being here. I don’t want you to be.”

Chelsea wasn’t sure what to say to that, and
Glenda didn’t offer her a chance.

Glenda rubbed Lucas’s back. “I don’t know
what happened between you and Russ that ended things. It’s not my
business. You married someone and had this beautiful baby. That’s
in the past. Phillip Smythe has filled me in on your ex-husband, so
I know a little about what you’ve gone through.” She pressed a kiss
to Lucas’s head as he stirred slightly. “He seems to think there’s
a need to keep you around people and that’s what I expect to do.
You’ve been a vital fixture to this family in years past, and I
don’t want to see anything happen to you or your son. My son needs
your skills and I think your company would offer him a lot of
comfort.”

“Mrs. Walker,” she finally interrupted.
“Your invitation means more than I could tell you. I’m grateful for
everything. I want to tell you that things will be okay, and I
don’t need to be hidden away, but I can’t say it with conviction.
And knowing that my ex-husband has kidnapped my son once, I can’t
assure he wouldn’t do something like that again. But I don’t want
to put any of you in danger.”

“You won’t be. Trust me. Nothing will happen
to you or anyone in this family.”

Chelsea eased a bit. “Thank you. But when it
comes to Russell, I don’t know where he stands on me being here. He
needs to heal and he needs therapy. I might hinder that.”

“I think you’re the right medicine for it.”
Glenda rubbed Lucas’s back again. “Don’t you worry about Russ. You
let me worry about him.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, we have made room for both of you
upstairs. I think, for now, you should stay away from your house
and keep Lucas out of daycare.”

“But I have school and training.”

Glenda nodded. “Lucas will be fine here with
us. We will pay you to take care of Russell. And I have already
been in touch with your school, and under supervision, they will
approve you to work with Russell since your emphasis is on home
health care and therapy anyway. It’s as if it were meant to
be.”

Chelsea sat across from Glenda Walker, her
mouth open, dumbfounded. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be
enthusiastic about the opportunity or mortified that she had done
such a thing.

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

Glenda scanned a look over her. “You don’t
know if you should be thankful or upset.”

Now how did she know that? “Mrs.
Walker…”

“Glenda.”

Chelsea took a breath. “Glenda, I don’t know
what to think or what to say.”

“You don’t say a word,” she patted her hand.
“I know that this isn’t what you planned, and I suspect that
spending time with Russ isn’t something you’re looking forward to
either.”

Chelsea wanted to say something, but she
wasn’t sure what. A paying job where she was comfortable, that was
an absolute bonus. And the way she understood it, Lucas would be
with her, or around her, at all times.

Then it hit her and she even gasped. Russell
had said he loved her the other day. Should that matter? Did he
mean it? Did he now regret it?

“I’m afraid that my being here will cause
everyone discomfort.”

“I believe that everything happens for a
reason, no matter what it is.” She winked. “Chelsea, perhaps fate
didn’t have you marrying my Russ. Maybe it was fated that you came
back into his life in this capacity only, but I don’t believe
that.”

Lucas lifted his head and looked at Glenda.
Chelsea waited for him to fuss, but he didn’t. He looked around and
when he saw her there, he reached for her, and she pulled him to
her. Was that a sign? Any other stranger, he would have screamed,
but not with Glenda.

There had to be an apology to her, one that
encompassed her regret to the entire Walker family, before she
accepted the offer—because she wasn’t stupid enough not to consider
it.

“Before I make my decision, I need to say
something,” she said as she turned Lucas to sit on her knee. “I
can’t even explain what possessed me to do what I did.” She gave
Lucas a squeeze. “It was disrespectful to your entire family.”

“You can’t look into his eyes and think
that.”

Chelsea pressed her cheek to his head. “He
is my entire world. But I hurt Russell. I hurt all of you.”