Chapter 19
Alone
Mike
The scrape of his razor over freshly shaved skin was satisfying in a way that few things could be. He’d kept up a beard, mostly because he was too lazy to go through the ritual of shaving every single day, but he liked that it was gone. He did something he normally never would have considered and rubbed on the slightest amount of aftershave.
It was a special night. The first night that he would have Carter alone. Of course Savannah was dropping him off, but then she was leaving and he’d have his first run at being a dad, at least for a few hours.
He was just finishing up rinsing out his razor when the doorbell rang. The chimes echoed through the house and he froze. Savannah was early. By at least twenty minutes. Maybe she’s just excited. Or as anxious as he was.
Mike set the razor back in its position at the side of the sink. His heart started to hammer away, pounding a staccato rhythm in his chest. It didn’t matter how many times Savannah came over or how many times he saw his son. He still felt the same rush of adrenaline.
He almost ran to the front door. He managed to contain himself as he pulled it open, forcing himself to move slower, in an effort not to be so damn obvious. He was ready to greet Savannah when he looked up. His pounding heart stopped short in his chest. When it resumed beating, it slammed hard a couple times, painfully, cutting short his breath. He froze, hand on the half opened door.
It wasn’t Savannah at all on the doorstep. It was Christine. She stood there, an apparition from a past that refused to stay behind him, where it belonged.
“Christine,” he said thickly. “What are you doing here?”
“You never met with me the other night. I said I wanted closure and I’ve come to talk.”
“Not here. Not now.” All Mike could think about was Savannah arriving at the house and finding Christine there. She wouldn’t understand. It wouldn’t be a good scene. He could only imagine what Christine would do or say. Desperation and panic ripped through his bloodstream.
“You have to leave.”
“Not until we talk.” She made to step forward, but he closed the door behind him and stepped out, blocking her path.
“We could have talked last week. You never showed up to that restaurant. I waited for two hours.”
“You went? And waited?” She sounded a little taken aback. Her hair was curled, though he couldn’t remember a single time she’d worn it that way before. She’d put on a full face of makeup and though she was a beautiful woman, he couldn’t see any of it at the moment. God, had he ever truly appreciated it? Probably not.
“Of course I went. I told you that I would. You were the one who didn’t show up, so that tells me that you’re either playing games or you didn’t care enough to. I want you to leave.”
“So harsh, Mike. Really? You really want to stand there and talk to me like that after what you did?”
Mike took a deep breath and swallowed hard. That gleam he’d seen in Christine’s eyes back at the shop was back. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly, what emotion lay just under the surface. Jealousy? Desperation? Whatever it was it was purely feral and it almost scared him. It was almost like she’d planned to be there, like she knew what time Savannah would arrive so that she could purposely cause a scene.
That was crazy wasn’t it? It would mean that she’d been watching the house. She knew Savannah came there on Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays regularly and had been for the past three weeks.
“Look, Christine. I’m sorry for the way I ended things, but it’s over. I can’t make that any clearer. Please, I need you to leave.”
He watched in amazement as Christine crossed her arms over her chest. She’d worn a red dress that was cut a little too short and a little too low. She had a killer body, which at the moment, he wished she’d take the hell off his doorstep. And keep it off there for good.
“You need me to leave? You’re the one who played me, Mike. You took advantage of me. You pretended that I meant something to you so that I would fuck you. You used me. You used me and you took from me. You took everything that I had. You made me feel something for you and it was all just a game to you. You used me up and you spat me out and the entire time you were thinking of her. Were you even ever faithful to me, Mike, or were you on and off with her? Or maybe you were just using up other people at the same time. Other women.”
“No,” he ground out. “You know that wasn’t the case.”
“Do I? What I do know is that your heart was never in it. You made me think it was, though. Until that night you were drunk and confessed you were still in love with her. And then it was what? A week later, or was it two, that you dumped me. You couldn’t have done that on the first date? Saved us both a whole lot of heartbreak and problems?”
“Look, Christine…” Mike reached up and ran a hand through his hair. It was freshly styled after the shower he’d had when he was done his shift at the shop. “I’m sorry. Alright? If that’s what you want to hear, or need to hear or whatever, I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“No? What else could you have possibly done?” She stepped forward, eyes blazing with that feral light. Her lips parted and her words escaped as a hiss.
Mike stepped back, flattening himself up against the closed front door. He definitely knew things were going to turn ugly if Savannah showed up when Christine was still there. “You need to leave. Now. Please don’t come back here. I am sorry and whether or not you choose to believe that is your business. I can’t make up your mind for you. I want to give you closure so there it is. I am sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I am an asshole. I hurt you and I know it and for that I do sincerely apologize. You helped me through one of the worst times in my life and I owe you for that. But please, you can’t come to my house and do this. It isn’t right. You can’t show up here or at my work again. Please, Christine, this is the last time I’m going to see you or have this conversation. Now, please, will you leave?”
“No.” Her arms tightened around her chest and he literally watched the color rise in her cheeks. “No, I won’t leave.”
Mike sighed. “Alright, I’m going to call the police then. You being here, showing up like this… it’s a little strange. I need you to leave, so I’ll give you another chance.”
“Call the cops?” Christine laughed, but the sound was bitter and frigid. “Please. That’s a little unmanly, isn’t it? If you want to throw me out of here, have the balls to do it yourself. That was something you never truly were Mike, a man.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time before I go inside and get my phone. Please. Leave.”
A set of headlights swept down the street and drew closer. He closed his eyes, hoping like hell that car would rush past his driveway. Of course it didn’t. His eyes flew open and he watched in horror as the car pulled up and the headlights shut off and Savannah, his beautiful Savannah, climbed out. She stood in the driveway, staring in confusion at the both of them.
And that was when Christine leaned in and slammed her mouth to his.
He couldn’t push her away fast enough. He shoved her aside, the taste of peppermint and lipstick still in his mouth. He wanted to gag. Bile rose in the back of his throat and he barely choked it back.
“Savannah!” He called out to her, but she was already turning, already trying to get back into her car. He sprinted down the driveway and caught her door just as she was about to slam it shut. It landed painfully on his fingers. He didn’t remove his hand, didn’t even utter so much as a sound though the pain throbbed up his shoulder and that bile was back in his throat, this time from the bite of the pain ripping through his entire body.
“There is nothing you can say that I would want to hear,” she hissed. She fumbled in the car with her keys, trying to get them into the ignition.
Mike caught her hand, squeezing with just enough pressure that she dropped the keys onto her lap. She fought him, shoved at him with her free hand, got aching hand off of her.
“Get away from me. Don’t you fucking touch me ever again!”
“Savannah, please! That is not what it looked like! She’s an ex! A crazy fucking ex who just showed up here right before you came. She’s been watching the house. She planned this. She wanted to sabotage me to pay me back for dumping her. I told her I was in love with you long before I ever knew about Carter. I swear it. She’s nuts. She’s been watching the house or something. She planned this. Please, don’t leave like this. Don’t drive angry with Carter in the car.” He whipped his head around and stared at his son over Savannah’s shoulder. He could just see enough of his angelic face to know that he was sleeping.
“Fuck you, Mike. You think I’m going to believe a story like that? If anyone is nuts, it’s me for ever coming back here. I let you play me. I trusted you. I came to you blindly, with all the faith in the world. I wanted this to work, for Carter’s sake, but for me too. I wanted this to work because I loved you.”
Her words cut him to the core. What could he ever say to her that would make her believe him after what she saw? She was too angry. He saw that. She wasn’t going to listen to anything when she was in a rage. He’d just have to let her go and somehow make her understand, when she was calm and rational.
“Please, Savannah, you have to believe me. I would never do this to you. I’ve loved you since the first time I ever saw you come into the shop. You were looking for Kian, to give him a message from your father. You were nineteen. You were wearing this little yellow sundress with a white flour on the right hand side of it. Right at the top. You had on a pair of yellow flip flops with the same white flowers. Your hair was dyed blonde and you had blue contacts in...”
Her eyes flew to his face and he could see the surprise in their dark depths. She stared at him, held him locked in place for a long time before she let out a harsh raspy breath. She reached for her seat belt and this time he didn’t stop her.
“I’m leaving, Mike. I don’t know what happened here, but I need time to think. Please just let me go.”
He finally backed up, though it nearly killed him to do it. His heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest and torn to shreds. He couldn’t lose her again. Not like this. Not over something that wasn’t even his fault. He couldn’t lose his son.
“I love you, Savannah Fiacco. And I love my son. You can leave, but you need to hear that and you need to believe that, no matter what.”
With shaking hands she fitted the key to the ignition. The car roared to life and she carefully put it in gear. He moved out of the way, letting her go. As she backed out of the driveway, the outside lights from the garage illuminated the silvery lines tracking down her cheeks. She was crying. He felt like breaking down himself and sobbing right there in the middle of the damn driveway, for the entire world to see.
He knew she’d heard him when he told her that he loved her and Carter. Whether she believed him or not, that was another story.