CHAPTER 3
Five Months Earlier
NICOLE CHATHAM HELD THE CELL phone to her ear with her shoulder while doing her best to hang on to her three-year-old son, Davis Jr. or DJ. He sat on her hip, and his little arms and legs flailed about as he threw a tantrum for the ages. He was more than a little upset and screamed at the top of his lungs, making sure everyone within five miles knew it. Nicole rubbed and patted his back in a circular motion doing everything she could to soothe him.
She felt terrible that he was sick and was equally frustrated. Not just frustrated, but she was physically and emotionally exhausted. Nicole had a half of mind to throw her own damn tantrum. DJ had been ill for the past several days, and she had primarily been on her own caring for both him and her precocious six-year-old daughter. Between making sure her kids were fine, working her regular day job, and maintaining her duties with the Angel Foundation, where she sat on the board, it was all just too much. Her patience was at an all-time low, not with her children, but with Davis. She was irritated and let him know it. “You said you’d be home an hour ago.”
He knew she was pissed and with good reason. “I know. I’m sorry. The conference call couldn’t be helped. But we are wrapping up now, and I should be there soon.” DJ let out a piercing wail. It was so loud, Davis heard it through the phone. “It doesn’t seem like the antibiotics for his ear infection are working.”
“No, it’s not.” A strand of dark hair fell into her eyes, and she couldn’t see. Nicole tried to blow it out of the way because she needed both hands to hold on to DJ. It didn’t work. Her son wiggled so wildly that Nicole thought she would drop him. It was a shame that she had to hurry to do anything for herself, including moving her own damn hair out of the way. She removed her hand from his waist to push it behind her ear and quickly locked her arms around him again. “He still has a small fever and seems to be in pain.”
“Did you make a follow-up appointment?”
She wanted to say, “who the hell else was going to do it?” but somehow managed to keep the words from coming out of her mouth. Still, Nicole was about to respond with something just a little less snarky when she heard her name being turned into a theme song. “Mommy . . . moooom . . . mommmieeee . . .” She looked down at the little person pulling on her leg as she walked from the kitchen to the living room. “Just a moment, Rayna.” Nicole sighed and answered the question. “Yes. I made the appointment. Dr. Swanson said she can see him tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Can you take him? You know I have that board meeting with the Angel Foundation at 10:00 a.m. It’s been on my schedule for a month.”
Davis hesitated. “Did you say 9:30 a.m. tomorrow?” He pulled up the calendar on his computer. Of course. It was Murphy’s Law that there would be a meeting set up for 9:00 a.m. Nicole was going to blow a gasket if he couldn’t do it.
She hoisted a sliding DJ back up on her hip. “Yes. I said 9:30.” Nicole ruffled Rayna Denise Chatham’s hair as a distraction to calm her down. But the little girl was not to be placated or ignored. She was as persistent as they came and continued to tug on her mother’s leg. “Is that daddy?” She held on for dear life waiting for an answer just as DJ released another unrelenting scream into Nicole’s ear. “Mommy, is that daddy? Will he be home to read to me before bed?”
“Yes, Rayna. It’s daddy.”
Big brown eyes looked up into hers. “Will he be home?”
“I don’t know. Did you hear your daughter? She wants to know if you will be home in time to read to her.”
Nicole acted as if he enjoyed being away from his family—as if he didn’t have a business to run and problems to fix. Davis snapped more at himself than with her. “I said we were wrapping things up and that I would be there within the hour!” He was frustrated too.
Her anger had been simmering for too long and was almost at a boil. She tried to control her tone knowing Rayna was watching as she whisper-yelled into the phone. “You also said that an hour ago, and the night before, and the night before that!” Nicole was fuming. Davis treated her as if she didn’t have responsibilities too and she was tired of it. Her obligations should be a priority for him at least some of the time. After taking a couple of deep breaths, she felt in control enough to speak without screaming. When her voice came out, it was much calmer than she actually felt. “You never answered. Can you take DJ to the doctor tomorrow, or not?”
If Davis said anything other than yes, he knew he would be sleeping in the guest bedroom for a week, but it was after 6:00 p.m., he didn’t know if it were possible to reschedule his morning meeting this late. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
Nicole saw red and knew that Davis was speaking code for I’m just too busy to handle it.
The next sound he heard was a click, then a dial-tone. Nicole had hung-up on him.
It was more than an hour later, but less than two when Davis arrived home. He found Nicole in their children’s bedroom, sitting in a chair, rocking back and forth with DJ in her arms. He stood just outside the threshold of the door watching. Everything seemed so calm. It was the complete opposite from the tumultuous conversation of a couple of hours before. Davis Jr. had quieted down and had his arms wrapped around his mother’s neck as his head lay on her shoulder . . . sleeping. Rayna sat enthralled at Nicole’s feet, eyes glued to her as she listened to every word Nicole read from her favorite storybook. His chest ached a little that they hadn’t trusted him enough to be home in time to do it. If he were honest, he wouldn’t have believed him either. There had been too many times where he had thought he could make it home for a bedtime story, only to get caught up with work, and miss out. Unlike him, Nicole was a fantastic mother.
After another moment of watching his family carry-on without him, Davis cleared his throat to announce his presence and pushed off the doorframe. Rayna’s head snapped around, and her smile spread wide the moment she spotted him. Surprised, Nicole lifted her eyes to his.
“Daddy!” Rayna hopped up from off the floor and ran to him hugging his legs. “You’re home.”
Davis dropped low and wrapped his arms around her. “I told you I would be.”
Nicole’s heart squeezed. This was the Davis she fell in love with. The one who loved his family and put them first. Her gaze met his, and the anger between them from earlier seemed to dissipate.
Davis lifted a corner of his mouth in a half smile. “I can finish reading to Rayna if you want to put DJ down and relax.” That was his version of an apology.
Nicole wasn’t crazy. She was not about to turn down his offer and responded quietly. “Rayna would like that, and I could certainly use some me time.” She stood and handed DJ over. In the handoff, Davis pulled her body into his. He placed his lips onto the tender spot just behind her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Nothing had been resolved, but Nicole didn’t want to fight anymore tonight. Their truce would remain at least until the next time this happened. She apologized. “Me too.” They stood in place for a few moments holding each other.
Rayna watched them intently.
Nicole pulled away and bent low to plant a big kiss on top of her daughter’s head. “G’night, baby girl. Sleep tight.”
It was as if Rayna had been holding her breath, as she watched her parents. She released it and nodded. “I will. Night, mommy.”
Davis could tell by the set of Nicole’s shoulders that she’d chosen to put her anger aside for now, but it wasn’t entirely gone. What was he supposed to do?
When Nicole straightened, her smile was small. Not because she was still angry, well, she was but more from sheer exhaustion. Unfortunately, she couldn’t turn in early; there were still a few documents that needed reviewing before her meeting tomorrow. That was IF Davis was able to take DJ to the doctor in the morning, and she could go.
The room was quiet. Davis had spent the better part of an hour with his kids. However, Rayna had fallen asleep soon after he uttered the first few words from her book. After gently tucking her into bed and placing her underneath the covers, Davis kissed his daughter lightly on the forehead. Then he turned off the lights, except for the little mermaid nightlight by her bed. Once Rayna was all settled, Davis pulled his chair up to DJ’s bed. It was located on the opposite side of the room. He watched him sleep, and at some point, caressed his son’s cheek. DJ was warm to the touch, but not overly so. It killed him to see him sick and not be able to do anything to make him better.
After several more minutes of watching him sleep, Davis yawned and stretched. That was his cue. It was the first sign of his body calling out for some much-needed rest. If he didn’t make his way to his own bedroom, he’d probably find himself waking up in the exact same spot in the morning. More than anything, Davis just wanted to hold his wife.
When he walked into their room, Nicole was already in bed wearing a silky pair of short-like pajamas. Despite their fights, and after all of these years, she was still the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. The display before him was one for the magazines. Nicole wasn’t trying to be sexy—she just was. Her toned legs went on for miles and easily wrapped around his body in some really creative ways. She had fallen asleep sitting up in bed with her laptop on her thighs, and papers scattered about everywhere. Her hands were resting lightly on the keyboard. Davis turned off her computer, then closed it and gathered up her documents placing them on the nightstand next to her side of the bed. He stared at her for another few moments. He couldn’t resist running the back of his knuckles against the soft side of her face. She moaned never waking up and sliding down deeper into the bed.
Davis covered Nicole with the blanket without disturbing her too much. And, although he was dog tired, he needed a quick shower. Once he was finished, he would crawl into bed and wrap her up in his arms.
Fifteen minutes later, he was finally able to pull Nicole into the hard wall of his chest. It wasn’t the only part of him that was hard. Her soft body was pressed squarely against a semi-aroused erection. He knew there wouldn’t be any sex tonight. However, he needed to convince his body. It moved on its own accord.
The movement woke her. Her voice was raspy from sleep. “Davis?”
He spoke into the back of her neck as the lower part of him danced to its own rhythm thrusting gently into her. “Better be. No other man should even look too hard at you, let alone be in a position to touch you like this.”
Groggily, she whispered into the darkness. “That does feel so good.” Even upset, sex had never been a problem between them. “I wish I had the energy to do more than lie here.”
Davis forced himself to be still. “You’re tired. Don’t mind me, but I’ll definitely take a raincheck.”
Nicole stretched and pushed back into his hardness, snuggling closer, as he tightened his hold. “I must have been asleep when you came in. I didn’t hear you.”
“You were gone, and already snoring when I came back from the kid’s room.”
Nicole smiled into the darkness. “I don’t snore.” She tapped him lightly on the arm. Her grin began to disappear slowly. “Rayna was super excited to have you home before she went to bed.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
Nicole turned around in his arms so that they were face-to-face. The moonlight bathed them in the darkness. “She’s growing up so fast.”
Davis loved the feel of Nicole in his arms. Life was perfect when they were like this. It was late, and he didn’t want to argue. “C’mon, Nicole. Let’s just be for tonight.”
She didn’t want to argue either and cradled the side of his face in her hands. Her eyes bore into his. “All I’m going to say is that life is only a series of moments before they are gone. Please try not to miss too many of them.” Nicole moved her head to rest on his shoulder.
He’d heard every word. And, as always, Davis vowed to himself to spend more quality time with his family.
Within moments, they were both fast asleep. However, a few hours later, the alarm clock known as DJ woke up. Even if they couldn’t hear him on the monitor, his crying echoed down the hall and into their bedroom. More than likely, his cries were because he was still uncomfortable and in pain. It was Davis’s turn to get up. She took the overnight shift the previous evening and the two before that. Gently, she pressed against his chest. He grumbled in his sleep.
Nicole whispered, “DJ’s up. It’s your turn.”
Again, he mumbled something incoherent.
She shook him harder and spoke a little firmer. “Davis. DJ is crying.” He still wouldn’t wake up. Nicole was so angry she wanted to cry. Instead, she got up and did what mother’s do—she took care of her son.