At Peace (62 page)

“That was the night we first met.”

“Yep.”

I was the one for Joe and he knew it the
first night we met.

He knew I was the one. The one.
The one.

And he knew it the first night we met.

I felt tears sting my eyes and my other arm
wrapped tight around him.

“Joe,” I whispered.

His mouth came to mine again as his hands
lifted my legs to wrap them around his hips and he whispered back,
“I love you, baby.” I felt my breath hitch and the tears slid out
the sides of my eyes but he wasn’t done. “And I’m not fuckin’
movin’ out.”

“Okay,” I replied instantly.

I felt him smile against my mouth then I felt
his hand slide into my panties to cup my ass then he kissed me and,
after that, he made love to me. He took his time, he let me take
mine and it was better than any other time before.

So that was saying something.

* * * * *

After, Joe called, “Vi?”

“Yeah, baby?” I said into his chest.

“Move the mortgage and utilities, yeah?”

I sucked in breath then said, “Maybe we
should –”

“Move ‘em.”

“Joe –”

His hand slid into my hair, fisted and he
tilted my head back as he lifted his and dipped his chin.

“Not gonna say it again, baby,” he said
softly.

“I’ve got more on my scales,” I whispered in
reply.

His fist unclenched and his hand cupped the
back of my head as he asked, “What?”

“You keep unbalancing the scales, giving me
more. It’s not fair.”

He was silent a second then he asked quietly,
“You shittin’ me?”

I shook my head.

His other arm went around me and he pulled me
up his chest until I was face to face with him.

Then he spoke.

“
Since I could remember, all I wanted was a
family. My Mom died, my Dad lost it and I’d go to Aunt Theresa and
Uncle Vinnie’s house, bein’ with their family, a family that was
loud and in your business which part of the time was annoying as
hell but the rest of the time it just felt good because they were
that way because they gave a shit. And I wanted that. My Dad was so
deep in his grief he lost his way and he forgot to give a shit so I
never had that, not at home. I got older and that changed and all I
wanted was a good woman and a family. All my life, with a slight
variation on theme, that’s all I ever wanted. Buddy, you’ve given
me both. You think, givin’ me that, I could
ever
balance those scales?”

I didn’t say anything, couldn’t, because I
was crying.

Joe wrapped his arms around me, rolled us to
our sides and held me while I did it. Once I stopped crying, his
hand came up and he dried my tears with his thumb.

Then he whispered, “Move the mortgage and
utilities, yeah?”

“Okay, Joe.”

He tucked my face in his throat and he was
still whispering when he said, “Love you, buddy.”

“Love you too, Joe.”

“Sleep.”

“Okay. ‘Night, honey.”

“’Night, baby.”

I lay in his arms and thought I’d been
lucky, getting pregnant at seventeen by the love of my life. I’d
even known I was lucky all those years I had Tim.

Until I lost the love of my life.

And here I was, with all the shit that had
gone down, finding myself just that lucky again.

I cuddled closer to Joe Callahan then I fell
asleep.

* * * * *

I didn’t have a nightmare that night.

I slept the whole night through like a log,
didn’t wake up once.

* * * * *

Wednesday went by mostly without
incident.

That was if you didn’t count me coming home
from work and Keira rushing out of her room, arms wheeling, Mooch
following her yapping as she ran down the hall, shouting, “Joe
bought us new computers!”

That day Kate had off from the Custard Stand
so I knew Joe and the girls were going out to make final decisions
on kitchen appliances, faucets for both kitchen and bathroom and to
select tile for Joe’s house.

As far as I knew, computers weren’t in the
mix.

“New computers?” I asked my daughter as she
skidded to a halt in front of me (though Mooch came right at me and
jumped around my legs).

“Yeah!” she shouted, her face alight with
glee.

“Computers. As in, plural?” I went on,
bending down to pick up Mooch and give him a snuggle.

“Yeah, one for Kate, one for me and a new
desktop to replace our old one and act as a server.” Keira was
watching my face, reading my expression and sensing my reaction,
therefore her enthusiasm faded and she quickly explained, “Joe says
they’re for homework. He says we need ‘em for school. He says our
old one is too old and one computer for four people is ridiculous
in this day and age.”

I let this information sink in, hearing
Joe speaking these words in my head (and he probably used the
f-word somewhere while saying them) as I juggled Mooch, dumped my
purse on the counter and reminded myself that Joe had just got the
family he always wanted. He was making up for lost time. It
wouldn’t be good for me to blow my stack at Joe’s alarming tendency
to spoil my daughters every chance he got. I had to be patient with
him and find the right time to explain that new computers and the
like were things family discussed. Or, more to the point,
things
adults
discussed
prior to them being purchased.

Then I heard what sounded like a drill.

“Is that a drill?” I asked Keira.

Keira turned her ankle to the side, bit her
lip then stated, “Well, Joe decided we also needed desks to put our
computers on while we’re doin’ our homework and…” She hesitated.
“Um…” She hesitated again. “Shelves for our books.”

“
Joe!
” I shouted, forgetting about patience.

Mooch yapped and Keira jumped.

Then Keira muttered, “Uh-oh.”

The drill kept right on going as I dropped
Mooch and stalked down the hall, repeating on a shout, “Joe!”

The drill stopped when I turned at the door
to Keira’s room and saw Kate holding up some shelves (that I had to
admit, to myself only, looked really good in Keira’s room). Joe was
standing with her, his neck twisted to look at me standing in the
door. I also saw there was a desk that matched the shelves. Both
were painted white, both were immensely girlie and the desk had a
laptop on it, the cover looked like it was purple glitter.

I was screwed. Keira was never going to give
up a laptop with a purple glitter cover.

My narrowed eyes went to Joe. Mooch, having
come to sit by my feet, yapped, giving me puppy backup.

Kate’s cautious eyes went beyond me to where
I knew Keira was standing.

Joe put the drill on a shelf and moved toward
me.

“
In our room,” I demanded, “we gotta
talk.”

He didn’t let me turn and stomp to our room.
Before I moved an inch, he hooked me with an arm at my waist,
pulling my stiff frame into the room as well as into his body and I
realized he was fighting a smile as I watched his face dip close to
mine.

“Baby, you don’t even have wi-fi,” he said,
and, being Joe, he started his explanation somewhere in the
middle.

It was true. We didn’t have wi-fi, because
we didn’t
need
wi-fi
because we only had
one
computer.

“We gotta talk,” I repeated.

“Girls can’t get shit done, sharin’ a
computer,” he went on.

“Bedroom. Talk,” I bit out.

“Now they can work anywhere in the house
where they’re comfortable. They’ll be more productive,” Joe
continued.

This made sense.

I didn’t give him this point, instead, I
snapped, “Joe –”

His head dipped closer and he touched his
mouth to mine, effectively quieting me before he continued. “Katy’s
gonna be a junior. She told me she’s college prep, come second
semester, she’ll already be takin’ college credit courses. Work’s
gonna get tougher, she’ll need her own space to concentrate and
she’ll need a system to take with her when she goes away to
school.”

“
Right,” I replied sarcastically, “the rate
your goin’, you’re not gonna buy her a new one before she goes off
to college.”

At my words, firm indication to Joe, as well
as the girls, that Joe was going to be there in two years to get
Kate a new computer, Joe’s eyes went soft, his face grew tender and
he grinned at me. Through this, I heard Keira stifle a giggle and
Kate cough to hide her laugh.

Hearing my daughters’ amusement, seeing Joe’s
face like that, I forgot why I was mad.

Joe saw it, or sensed it, and his arm around
me tightened.

“If it makes you feel better, Kate bought the
new beanbag for her room with her own money,” Joe told me and I
rolled my eyes but I did this mostly for show.

When I rolled them back and looked at Joe, I
stated, “No more shopping in your truck. You take my girls
shopping, it has to be in the Mustang. Furniture and beanbags don’t
fit in a Mustang.”

Joe was still grinning when he asked, “How’ll
you get to work?”

“We’ll trade cars.”

His arm gave me a squeeze and he said, “You
don’t drive my ride, honey, no one but me drives my ride.”

“Why? You drive mine,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, but I’m a guy,” Joe answered.

“This is true, Joe’s a guy,” Keira put in,
coming to stand at our sides.

I looked at Keira, now trying to fight my own
smile then back at Joe before pointing out, “Yeah, you’re a guy,
why’re you shoppin’ at all?”

“Rulebook says I can shop for furniture and
shit with plugs. The beanbag was pushin’ it but since I didn’t pay
for it, I get a bye on that,” Joe explained and I heard mirth burst
forth from both girls again, this time they didn’t smother it.

I put my hands on Joe’s arms and, giving in,
I asked, “Are those shelves gonna be done by dinner?”

Joe gave me another squeeze then he touched
his lips to mine before letting me go, moving back to the shelves
and saying, “Depends if dinner’s gonna be ready in ten minutes or
thirty.”

I wanted to know what dinner took ten minutes
to be ready. Then I wanted to know if it was any good and not nuked
in a microwave.

I didn’t ask, I answered, “Thirty, at
least.”

Joe picked up the drill and looked at me.
“Then, yeah.”

I looked at Kate who was smiling a small
smile and still holding up the shelves. Then I looked at Keira who
was standing at her new girlie desk, her fingertips on her new
laptop, also smiling but hers wasn’t small. Then I looked at Mooch
who was sniffing around on the floor, likely trying to find
something to destroy with his puppy teeth. Then I looked at the
girlie shelves that looked so good in Keira’s room. Then I looked
at Joe.

“We’re eating at the table,” I informed them,
my eyes still on Joe.

“Works for me,” Joe muttered, tilting his
head and aiming the drill at the shelves.

“Me too,” Kate put in.

“Me three!” Keira added.

The drill whirred. I shook my head and left
the room, going to Kate’s room to see she had black lacquered
shelves and desk; a sleek, shiny black laptop; and a leopard print,
furry beanbag. She’d already re-decorated, moving books and knick
knacks she’d had piled on her dresser and nightstand to her new
shelves and desk and rearranging posters.

This looked good too.

Though she’d need more books and knick knacks
to fill it out.

I smiled as I walked to the kitchen. I made
dinner with Mooch helping me (partly because I think he was afraid
of the drill, partly because he knew I’d feed him scraps). We ate
at the table. I did the dishes while the girls played with their
laptops and did more redecorating. When I was done with the dishes,
Joe showed me around the new computer in the study that already had
four users programmed in it, the names all in a column, starting
with “Joe” on top, “Violet” under that then “Kate” then “Keira”.
Something about our names all in a column on the family computer
struck me. It was a good hit. So good, I wondered why anyone on
earth would need drugs. You could get high just having a
family.

Later we climbed into the Mustang and went
to Fulsham’s Frozen Custard Stand. Joe and I got cones, the girls
got turtle sundaes. While we ate them, Joe and Kate sat side by
side on the top of a picnic table outside while Keira sat on the
seat by Kate’s feet and I sat on the seat by Joe’s feet, my back
leaning into his legs.

I listened to Kate and Keira talk to Joe, Joe
not saying much, Keira talking most but both Kate and Keira
including him. Kate talking about her music and Keira talking about
Joe’s house.

While I listened I noticed people looking
at us. They didn’t stare but their curiosity was obvious. It was
hot and muggy; we needed a storm to erase the humidity but hadn’t
had one in days. Because of this, and summer coming to an end,
school starting soon, the Stand was busy, tons of kids, some
couples, more families. Studying our onlookers, I noticed Joe was
the focal point of their curiosity, the girls and I too but not so
much. It was clearly a sight to see, Lone Wolf Joe Callahan out
with a woman and her two teenage daughters.

Again, this disturbed me. I couldn’t put my
finger on why and I told myself eventually it would go away, people
would get used to us and that bad feeling I got would fade.

We went back home and the girls went to their
rooms and back to their new toys. Joe went to the fridge, opened a
bottle of white wine, poured a glass for me, got himself a beer and
we went out to the deck. He pulled the chairs to the railing and we
sat, side by side, our knees cocked, feet up on the railing,
sipping wine and beer and I figured, since I loved him, since we’d
had a good night and since this was us, it was good and this was
going to be the way it was, I needed to know more about Joe.