Dangerous Curves Ahead: A Perfect Fit Novel (23 page)

“Holy shit. Do you need all those?”

“Yes.” She pulled out a pair of brown boots, the kind that reminded him of the ones horse riders wore, but with a bigger heel. “The first thing I did after I broke up with Jack-ass was buy twenty-five pairs of heels. One for each month I spent with him. He wouldn’t let me wear heels. Said it made him feel short. So for two years I relegated myself to only wearing ugly sensible shoes. That’s all over now.”

“Wouldn’t let you?” He frowned. “Ellie, I can’t imagine anybody stopping you from doing anything.”

“You would think,” she said softly.

Mike looked at her for a long moment. The more he learned about Jack the more he regretted his decision not to knock the guy on his ass. “Why were you with him so long?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “He was good to me at first and successful and all the things a woman thinks she wants in a partner. I was a rule follower back then. I thought the only path to happiness was the route I was taking. Become a lawyer. Get married. Start a family. And even though I wasn’t sure I wanted those things I threw myself into getting them. I threw myself into trying to make sure Jack was happy and in the process I lost a little bit of myself. It took me six months before I realized the man I had fallen in love with was treating me no better than dogshit on a sidewalk. And that’s when I left.” She looked up, locking her eyes with his. “I deserve more. I deserve to be treated well.”

He nodded, heeding her subtle warning. “Put your shoes on, Garret. We’ve got places to be.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Apple picking?” Ellis grinned at Mike as he pulled up to Wilde Orchard after a picturesque forty-minute drive. “I never thought Detective Hot Pants would ever bring a woman apple picking. I assumed it was all candlelight and black satin sheets.”

Mike shrugged. “Actually, I’m more of the chicken joint, cheap wine type of guy, but I thought I might change it up a bit.”

“Mmm.” She sighed dreamily. “Chicken and cheap wine, my two best friends. Do you think they make apple wine here? Or hard apple cider?” She looked at him. “I sound like a lush, don’t I?”

“A little, but I like a girl who likes her liquor.”

They grinned at each other before stepping out of the car.

She was pleased with his choice. Mike released a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. He had never taken a woman apple picking. He had never taken a woman anyplace other than a restaurant, but with Ellis things were different. He had to prove to her that taking a chance on them wasn’t a mistake. He had to prove to himself that he could be with her without losing himself.

*   *   *

“Inhale,” Ellis ordered Mike. “Doesn’t it smell like fall?”

“What does fall smell like, Ellie?”

They had been strolling the orchard for over two hours without picking a single apple. It was empty, being a Monday. There were a few parents there with their small children, a couple of classes on field trips. It was quiet, breezy; the sun shone brightly. The perfect fall day.

Ellis sniffed the air. “Like sunshine, rotting leaves, and apples. It’s heavenly.”

Mike smiled at her as she turned her face to the sun and breathed in once more. “I think the rotting leaves are my favorite part. We used to make giant piles as kids and hide from my—” A powerful memory jabbed him and for a moment he lost the ability to speak.

“What?” Ellis looked up at him in concern. “Tell me.”

“My father,” he said, hating that a good memory of the man infiltrated his bad thoughts of him. But things weren’t bad when his father was around. In fact they were pretty damn good. “We used to make giant piles of leaves and hide in them and when my father came home from work we would jump out and surprise him.” He shook his head. “You think we would have realized that he wasn’t really surprised after the first few times, but he always pretended. Always clutching his chest like we gave him a heart attack.”

Ellis took his hand in hers and led him toward the small pond in the middle of the farm. “Do you want to talk to me about it?”

He hesitated for a moment. He had never discussed his father’s abandonment with anybody. Not Colin, not even with his sisters. Growing up, they lived with the knowledge that their father had walked out. They shouldered on, pretending like it didn’t affect them.

“My mother said she forgave him.” He looked down into her big brown eyes, watching for her reaction. She gave none.

“You don’t agree with her decision?”

“No.” He shook his head. “It was bad when he left, Ellie. Really bad. He didn’t even tell us why he was leaving, just left a note on my mother’s pillow and her with four kids to raise alone.” He looked away from Ellis. “She used to cry at night,” he said softly. “She didn’t think we heard her, but I did. I saw her once and then I used to listen outside her door. She cried every night for three months.”

“Oh.” She softly squeezed his hand. “He deserves to be drawn and quartered.”

“He deserves worse than that.” Mike lifted his eyes off the spot on the ground he was so intently studying and looked back at her. “I’m not sure how she could forgive him.”

“It serves no purpose to be angry,” she started. “Bitterness makes a person feel ugly. I don’t think she forgave your father for his sake but for her own.”

He was surprised by her words. “You agree with her decision?”

She shrugged. “I don’t have an opinion either way. I wasn’t inside their marriage. Maybe there are things about your father only your mother knows. Maybe she forgave him because in her eyes he truly deserves it.”

Mike shook his head, having a hard time absorbing what Ellis was saying. “Do you think I should forgive him? He disappeared for twenty years and now he wants back in. I don’t know if I can. Could you?”

“I don’t know.” She paused. “Do you want to? My birth parents are still together. I met them when I was sixteen. My entire life my mother had told me that they were scared college kids, and that they gave me up so they could give me a better life. But when I met them I was surprised. They live in a huge row house in DC. My birth father is an investment banker. My birth mother works on Capitol Hill. They drive Beemers. They’re rich.” She shook her head. “I thought they gave me away not to give me a better life but to give themselves one.”

“They sound selfish.”

She nodded. “That’s how I felt—like they couldn’t be bothered to love me. I came home from meeting them sobbing. Nothing my mother said could make me feel better about them giving me away.” Ellis smiled in memory. “It was my father who changed my view of things. ‘I’m pleased that they didn’t want you. I’m much more satisfied with you than they would be.’ In his own tactless way he made me realize that things happen for a reason. That my birth parents gave me away so my real parents could love me.”

They stared at the pond in silence for a few moments. “I forgave them, not because they asked for it but because their decision gave me some really weird, but very loving parents. I forgave them because it was the best for me. It might have been the same for your mother.”

“All right,” he relented. “I guess you’re saying that I shouldn’t stop questioning my mother’s sanity.”

She nodded. “You might not want to forgive him, but you might want to think about letting some of your anger go. What type of man would you have been if your father had stuck around? Do you think you would have been any better?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe.”

She reached up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I kind of like you the way you are.”

“Such high praise.” A smile formed on his lips.

She smiled back at him for a moment then sobered. “All I’m saying is that instead of focusing on how bad life was when he left, think about how good it’s been since he’s been gone.” She wrinkled her nose adorably. “Did that make any sense? Or do I sound like a less charming version of Dr. Phil?”

“Yes and no to both.” He gathered her into his arms, kissing the bridge of her nose. “You gave me something to think about.”

“You don’t have to listen to anything I said, you know. My family is just as dysfunctional as yours. My father’s kind of autistic. My mother’s a raging feminist and my sister is stuck in her teen years.”

“What about you?”

“Me?” She looked up at him. “We both know I’m perfect.”

“Of course. How could I forget?”

She burrowed into him as the breeze picked up. He felt better after talking to her and he wasn’t sure why. Nothing had changed. He was no closer to forgiving his father than before but having someone to talk to eased the tightness in his chest.

“You should buy us apple cider doughnuts,” she said after they’d spent long minutes huddled against each other.

“And a pie.” He rubbed his hands over her back. “And some apple butter and maybe some juice.”

“What about a pumpkin? We can’t leave here without one of those.”

“Of course not.” He smiled at her child-like exuberance. “I think I saw pumpkin doughnuts in there, too. Should we get a few? And how about some ice cream?”

“And maybe after we eat all of that we can hire a contractor to widen my door because I won’t be able to get out of it.”

“I’ll call around for some quotes.” He winked at her as he pulled away. “Come on, Ellie. I think it’s time we wandered back to the shop.”

*   *   *

It was a long walk back to the orchard’s storefront, but Ellis didn’t mind. Being with a man like this was a new experience for her. Talking, joking, not feeling like everything she said or did was going to be judged was totally foreign to her. She was afraid to like it, to trust it, because it seemed too good to be true.

They walked through rows and rows of Granny Smiths, watching for mushy fallen apples. Mike had already stepped on one, smashing it against the sole of his shoe. He carried the smell of sweet overly ripened apples with him as they walked. Combined with his natural scent, it made Ellis want to eat him up. She thought that he would have taken her to bed yesterday, but he only gave her a kiss that ended too soon before he walked out. It left her feeling frustrated, confused, and a little unsure of herself. Why else would he come back if not for the sex? Friendship? Ellis disregarded that notion quickly. Mike wasn’t the type of man who collected women friends. He wasn’t the type of man who entered relationships, either. He was out to have fun with whomever he was with. Today they were having a good time but Ellis wasn’t sure if she was the type of girl who was cut out for just having a good time.

Thoughts of sending him away entered her head. She’d made a few halfhearted tries the day before but she had little willpower when it came to him. She was going to have to resign herself to being with him until whatever heat they had fizzled out. Hopefully if she prepared herself their inevitable break would only be bittersweet.

The sounds of a child crying shook Ellis’s thoughts. Ahead of them she spotted a little boy in a red hooded sweatshirt and denim jacket sobbing. Something in her heart twisted. He couldn’t have been more than four, his sweet face fearful and innocent.

Letting go of Mike’s hand, she carefully approached the child. “Hello, my name is Ellis. Are you okay?”

“No.” The little boy’s lower lip quivered. “I-I-I can’t find her.”

“Who?” Before Ellis realized what she was doing she picked up the boy and cuddled him close. “Who can’t you find, sweetheart?”

“My mommy. I went to look at the red bird but when I turned around my mommy was gone.” A fresh wave of tears streamed down his face.

“Oh, honey,” she breathed, feeling sorry for the little blond child. “I’m sure we’ll find her. Try not to worry.” She looked toward Mike, who was studying her with a slight frown. “This is my friend Mike. He’s a policeman. He’ll help me make sure you get back to your mommy.”

The boy stopped crying for a moment. “Do you have a gun?”

“Yikes, kid! Not at the moment.” Mike shook his head. “What does your mother look like?”

The child’s eyes watered again. “I don’t know.”

“Really, Mike,” Ellis said smoothing a kiss over the child’s wet cheek. “You expected him to give you a full description?” She patted his back. “What’s your name, honey?”

“Jared.” He rested his head on Ellis’s shoulder. “You smell like animal crackers. I like animal crackers.”

“So do I, Jared,” Mike said, giving Ellis a wink. “Come on, let’s head back to the store. I’m sure your mother will show up there soon.”

Twenty minutes and two cider doughnuts later, Jared was reunited with his harried but relieved mother. She wasn’t what Ellis expected when she walked up. The woman was a bombshell wrapped in a pink sweater and tight jeans. Long legs, thin body, breasts too well formed to be all natural, and once her child was safely back in her arms she eyed Mike like he was devil’s food cake and she was on a diet.

“Thank you again for finding him,” she said, placing her hand on Mike’s bicep. “I turned around and he was gone. I’m so glad he found a police officer to take care of him.”

“I didn’t find the police officer, Mommy,” Jared said, sounding annoyed. “Ellis found me and she bought me doughnuts.”

Katie, Jared’s mother, barely tossed Ellis a look. Ellis was used to being dismissed by women who thought they were more attractive. “Of course she did, sweetheart. I hope those doughnuts don’t ruin your lunch.”

Bitch
.

“Sometimes a kid needs a little comfort food.” Mike said, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Speaking of lunch, I think it’s time we got out of here.” He glanced at Ellis and then back to the mother and child. “Don’t lose your mom again, kid. You have to watch her. It’s your job to keep an eye on her.”

“Okay, Mike. Good-bye, Ellis.”

“Good-bye, Jared.”

Mike put his hand on the small of Ellis’s back and led her from the store.

“I thought you didn’t want kids.”

“I don’t.” She looked at him, surprised by his accusatorial tone. “I would never lose the baby weight and God knows I don’t need any more weight issues.”

“Really? The way you were looking at that kid, I wasn’t sure you were going to give him back.”

There were moments when she felt a slight ticking of her biological clock, but she ignored it. All women felt that way around very cute small children.