LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER FIVE

      ALL DAY VAUGHAN had managed not to comment on the way Ross had come and gone that morning. They hadn’t had much time alone anyway. His parents had arrived and had stayed at the house with Kensey and Stacey while Vaughan and Kelly had gone to pick Maddie up.

      And then his mom and dad had stayed for several hours. Kelly had been friendly enough, though reserved, but everyone was tired and it was time for guests to go.

      Yesterday Vaughan would have been considered a guest like that, too. But now he could step in and start showing Kelly he was serious about being around.

      Finally, he got his dad alone and asked nicely for them to go. “I’ll bring Maddie by to see you guys when she’s better. Or you can come back later in the week. She needs it to be quiet now.”

      His father smiled and clapped his shoulder. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you to step up for them. Before we go, take a walk with me.”

      Vaughan and his father headed outside. “You have a tool kit here, or know where one is? I noticed this step is a little loose.” His dad pointed to the wooden swing set and climbing wall.

      “Garage probably.”

      Kelly, as it turned out, did have a pretty adequate set of tools so he and his dad were able to fix the step relatively easily.

      “What are you doing here, son?” his father asked as they put the tools back.

      “I want this.” Vaughan indicated the land, the house, all it represented. “I want it with them. With Kelly and our daughters.”

      “How does she feel about that?”

      “I haven’t said anything to her about the wanting-her-back part. Not yet. But I said I wanted to be around as Maddie recovered. I have felt like a visitor in my daughter’s life. It was Kelly who handled this whole thing. She made the decisions. She kept herself together the whole time. I had all of you. She had no one and she did it and pretty much took care of me, too. I should have been there for her to lean on. For the girls to lean on. But I wasn’t.”

      The shame of it crawled over his skin.

      “You were, but not in the way you could have been. Or should have been. You love them, they love you. So what did Kelly say when you told her you wanted to be around for Maddie as she recovered?”

      His dad was clearly going to be blunt.

      “She offered to let me stay in her guest room for a few weeks. She didn’t seem to take it seriously when I said I wanted to pitch in and help with the girls. But I’m going to prove her wrong.”

      “That’s a good sign. What’s going to happen with the fiancé? I notice he wasn’t here today.”

      “He came into the room right after she’d invited me to stay. He wasn’t pleased. They went upstairs for several minutes and then she led him outside to the garage. I heard her tell him to leave. I heard a bunch of stuff. She broke the engagement but hasn’t told me yet.” He didn’t need to tell his dad exactly what Ross had said about him. It was enough that Kelly had reacted the way she had.

      “This is your second chance. It’s going to require every last bit of your attention, commitment and concentration and then three hundred percent more than that for you to be worthy of that. Don’t give up. I know you can do this,” his father said.

      “I made mistakes. A lot of them.”

      “You did. She did, too, I imagine.”

      Vaughan shrugged. “We probably could have gotten through her mistakes. I crashed us into a ditch and walked away.”

      Michael leaned back against the wall after they’d put the tools back. “I’ve learned a thing or two over my life. You can’t undo what you did. You can’t go back and erase it. That damage is done, boy. You made it. It hurts and it should. You fucked up.”

      A bubble of inappropriate laughter snuck from Vaughan’s belly. Their dad was the calm one in the family. Fuck wasn’t a word he used very often.

      “I did. God help me, I did.” Vaughan scrubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t know what I had. I didn’t... I thought it would be easy to find it again someday. When I was ready. But it wasn’t easy because what I had was special and I don’t think I was ready to truly understand how special until now. And it might be too late, which sounds like some messed-up curse or something.”

      “Being a man means standing up when you’ve done wrong. It’s not easy, but it’s what you do. For your children and the woman you’re trying to win back. We raised you right. All four of you boys have had your challenges, but your mother and I expect nothing less from you than success.”

      “Thanks for the advice and for the ear.”

      “I’m your dad. It’s my job and my privilege to help when I can. You know where I am the next time you need me.”

      They went back inside where his mother had gathered their things and was ready to get back on the road to Hood River. His mom had been pretty cordial to Kelly, who continued to keep Sharon Hurley at arm’s length.

      She didn’t come out with him when his parents left, but his mom thanked Kelly for letting them be around, and Kelly thanked them for coming over.

      It was a small start. Something he could work with.

      Stacey and Kensey came downstairs, Kensey’s hand tucked in Stacey’s before she dashed over to Vaughan. “I like it that you’re here!”

      “Hey, darlin’, I like it, too.”

      “I’m going to head home.” Stacey hugged Kelly. “Call me later to check in. If you need anything and I find out you didn’t ask me for it we’re going to rumble.”

      Kensey giggled madly at that.

      “I promise. Thank you for coming back.” Kelly hugged her friend one last time before she headed out and then it was just the four of them. Vaughan and his women.

      “What’s next?” Vaughan asked.

      “Kensey needs to finish her book report and I need to do laundry.”

      “I have to go to school tomorrow? Maddie will be home and she’ll have Daddy all to herself and that’s not fair. I won’t miss anything important. Let me stay home, too.”

      In the face of so much adorable he was hard-pressed to say no and he nearly relented, but Kelly knelt in front of their youngest. “We all have jobs in the family, remember? Right now your most important job is to go to school and train your brain. Your sister’s job is to get better first. Your dad and I need to do our jobs, which is taking care of you two. Everyone’s going to be all right, but we need to cooperate and do our jobs.”

      Kensey nodded and hugged Kelly before she scampered off to finish her homework.

      “Nicely done. I’m the baby, too.

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