For You (Coming Home To The Grove 5)

The longer I sat outside waiting for David to leave, the more antsy I got until finally I said, “Fuck it!” and jogged across the street and up to the front door. When I saw that it was open, I knew instantly something wasn’t right.

Chrissy looks surprised and even a little happy to see me, but I can see that David doesn’t like the fact that I stopped by even before he starts talking. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Chrissy, why don’t you take Katie into the other room?” I give her a gentle nudge and a smile for Katie. The little girl has her hair up in pigtails and is looking around at all the adults in the room like she doesn’t know what to make of any of it. She’s not smiling, and I hate that she’s having to see all this.

David moves in front of Chrissy and Katie, and I act on instinct, putting them behind me.

He looks at me, then back at Chrissy. “Oh, is this how it goes? You’re a whore and a slut. The ink on our divorce papers is barely dry and already you’re opening your legs for another man.”

I hear a gasp behind me, and I’m hoping that Chrissy is covering Katie’s ears. No one needs to hear that drivel from him.

“Watch your mouth. And the reason I’m here is because you parked halfway on the lawn, and I was concerned something was wrong. Where’d you get a fancy car like that anyway?”

“Don’t you fuckin’ worry about me! You don’t even know me,” he yells and moves past me. He’s moving toward the door, and luckily Chrissy and Katie have moved farther into the house.

“And you!” he yells, pointing at his ex-wife and daughter. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

7

Chrissy

When David leaves, I gasp as if I’ve been holding my breath this whole time. How could I have been married to that guy?

“Momma, what’s wrong with Dad?” Katie asks, her small hands on each of my cheeks.

“I don’t know, baby. But don’t worry about it. We’re going to be okay.”

She nods, but I can tell she doesn’t really believe it. I can’t believe he acted like that in front of her. Heck, I can’t believe he acted like that period.

I lift my head and look at Bart. He’s staring at Katie, and I know he’s just giving me time to comfort her before he asks the question.

“Thank you, Bart. Thank you for stopping by to check on Katie and me. You’ve got good instincts. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t here.” I know he gets where my thoughts are going, but I don’t want to say more in front of Katie.

Katie’s arms are wrapped around my neck again. She’s nervous and ill at ease with all the tension her father brought with him.

Bart walks over to us and smiles easily at Katie. “Hey, Katie, I’m Bart. I’m an old friend of your mom’s.”

She looks up at me, and I nod my head in agreement. “He’s actually Carrie’s older brother.”

She perks up at that. She loves Carrie. Carrie has definitely won her over with all the sweet treats she brings us. “Hi, Bart,” she says to him softly.

Bart takes a step closer. He’s smiling easily, and it’s obvious that he’s trying to get her mind off everything that just happened. “Hey, do you want to see a magic trick?”

Bart is smiling at her and trying to soothe her. Normally, Katie would be out of my arms and ready to play. Her arms loosen around my neck, but she doesn’t try to get down. She only nods her head.

“See this quarter?”

Bart holds the quarter between his fingers, and Katie nods her head. He then flips his wrist, and the quarter disappears. Katie gasps and jumps out of my arms. “Where’d it go?”

Bart’s smile gets even bigger, and I swear my ovaries explode a little bit. He and Katie look around the floor, but neither one of them find the quarter. “Oh, I know where it’s at,” he finally tells her.

Kattie’s head snaps up to look at him. “Where is it?”

He puts his hand beside her ear, and she doesn’t move, already trusting her new friend.

“Right here.” He touches her ear and brings the quarter out to show her.

Her eyes get as big as saucers. She dives toward Bart, and he catches her in his arms. They’re both laughing, and I am so glad to have him here, and I can’t help but feeling that I wish someone like him were Katie’s father.

Katie runs back to her room to go play, and I can’t stop smiling up at Bart. I shouldn’t be smiling. Heck, I should be trying to figure out what I’m going to do about my ex-husband instead of mooning over a man that I can’t have.