Dawn drove away from work, glad the day was finally over. What a Monday it had been. The phone had rung constantly, and people were lined up five deep at the counter, every one of them in a grumpy mood. To top it all off, Clarisa had called in sick, leaving only two of them to handle it all.
She turned onto her street, glad to finally be home. A nice cool shower and a mindless TV show were what she needed.
A metallic green Plymouth sat parked in her driveway. Oh no. Jack’s ex. If the kids were coming over tonight, nobody had bothered to tell her—not that they ever did. She would go put a stop to this right now. This was the day she planned to let everyone know she was through letting others take advantage of her.
No, wait. She remembered Jack this morning, up early, making her coffee, kissing her before he left. He’d been as sweet as he was when she first moved in—like he finally woke up and remembered how much he loved her or something. Things were getting better, she wouldn’t let an unexpected kid visit ruin that. Besides, Nicole and Jeremy were lovable kids, most of the time anyway.
A stream of water arced from the side of the house. Nicole’s high-pitched squeal and Jeremy’s laughter came from the direction of the geyser. Dawn smiled, picturing Jack chasing them with the hose, cooling off on a hot night. Maybe things here were going like she’d always known they would, if she’d just hang in there long enough.
She climbed from the car and moved toward the commotion.
A spray of water blasted through the air again. She did not want to turn the corner and get soaked, so she cupped her hands to her mouth and called, “Watch out, coming through,” and chanced a peek around the corner.
When Nicole saw her, she ran over and threw her arms around Dawn’s leg, still giggling. Her hair hung in wet strings, her blue sundress clung to her—every inch soaked through.
“What are you doing?” Dawn looked toward Jeremy, who was almost equally wet. He turned the spigot at the hose. “Cleaning up.”
“Cleaning what up?”
“Ourselves.”
“That’s not what it looks like.”
Jeremy shrugged. “Nic was all sticky, so we came over here to rinse her off a bit.”
“And one thing led to another, I see.” Dawn looked toward the house, expecting to see Renee coming out any minute now.
She never hung around long when she dropped off the kids. “Why was Nicole sticky?”
Nicole licked her lips. “Cotton candy. Mmm. We got some at the fair.”
“Wow, y’all drove over to Lawrenceburg today for the fair?
That’s special.” No wonder Renee had brought them by. A day at the fair, the kids pumped up on sugar. Yeah, she’d probably called Jack and made some lame excuse about why he needed to take the kids tonight. “Was your mom off work today?”
“She took off special. Just like Dad.”
“Like Dad?”
“Yeah, he took us all. It was so much fun. He bought Jeremy a balloon, and he won stuffed animals for mama and me.”
The door to the house remained closed. The kids were soaking wet. How long had they been home? How long had Renee been here?
Dawn shook off the thought. Jack had gotten up early today, fixed her coffee. He loved her. The two of them were probably in there fighting about child support. Still, it was probably time for Renee to get on her way. “Let’s get you inside and into some dry clothes.”
Jeremy shook his head. “Can’t. Daddy said not to.”
Dawn took Nicole’s hand and started toward the house. “Said not to what?”
“Come inside. He said him and mama were going to take a nap. He said we had to play outside.”
Dawn dropped Nicole’s hand and turned to look at Jeremy.
A sick anger boiled inside her. She took the front porch steps two at a time. When she pushed on the door handle, it didn’t move. Locked. She jerked open her purse flap and shoved her hand past the torn wallet and the tube of lipstick to find her key ring. The heart-shaped key ring Jack had given her when they first started dating. She jerked it out and shoved the key in the door. In one motion she turned the key, pushed the latch, and flung open the door.
Renee stood in the front room, brushing through wet hair. She was wearing an old shirt of Jack’s and not much else. “Oh, hi. Didn’t realize it was time for you to be home yet.”
I’ll bet. “What are you doing here?”
“The kids was just spending a little quality time with their daddy. That’s important, you know.”
Jack came walking into the room, hair dripping wet, a towel wrapped around his waist. “I’ve got to fix that water heater. I hate cold showers. I’m about frozen through.”
Renee set down the brush. “Funny, it was plenty warm when I was in there. Hot, I’d almost say.” She smiled coyly at Jack. “Things cooled after I got out, hmm?”
Jack smiled but didn’t answer.
Renee crossed the room to stand beside him. “Well, I’d best be getting home.” She rubbed a finger down his bare chest. “Talk to you . . . later.” She turned and looked at Dawn, a smirk on her face. “Have a nice evening.” The faint sound of suppressed giggles trailed behind her as she walked out the door.
Dawn didn’t even wait for it to close. “What was that all about?”
“I spent the day with my family. That’s what it was all about.”
“Your family? Your family? I seem to remember that you are divorced from at least part of that family. Any of that ringing a bell with you?”
“It’s good for kids to spend some time with both parents. Even if we’re not married, they need to see that we still get along.”
“Get along is one thing. Locking the kids out of the house and getting along is another.” She pointed at the couch. “I hope you’ll be comfortable here tonight, because you are no longer welcome in my bed.”
Jack grabbed her by both shoulders and put his face only inches from hers. His breath was thick with the smell of beer. “This is my house. Mine. Got it? I live here, I own it. That includes the bed. I’ll do whatever I want, with whoever I want. Got it?” He pulled her toward the back room.
“Let me go.” She knew even as she said the words that he wouldn’t. It was hopeless.