Lean on Me (4 page)

“
I know, I know,” Alex
said. “I know all of this and still…”

“
You’re very good at
holding a grudge,” John laughed.

“
I want Troy to be happy so
badly,” Alex said. “I’ve seen him suffer over this woman… for a
long time. I hope they can make it work.”

“
They’ve been happy the
last five months or so,” John said. “Even though he’s stationed in
Colorado. Can you wish your friend well, Mama Bear?”

Alex nodded. He stroked her military shorn
crew cut.

“
I’m so glad to have you,”
John said. “You just fell into my lap.”

“
You were smart enough to
make me stay there,” Alex laughed.

“
Wouldn’t let the day end
before you married me,” John said. “Troy maybe brilliant but
I’m…”

“
Persuasive,” Alex
laughed.

“
We were very lucky,” John
said.

She stood up so abruptly that the warm water
spilled from the tub. She took her wine glass and stepped out of
the tub.

“
Where are you going?” John
asked.

“
To show you how lucky we
are,” Alex said. “You know actions speak louder…”

John jetted out of the tub. Grabbing a
couple of towels, he followed her into the plush bedroom. They were
kissing in an instant.

“
Come up,” he
whispered.

Alex jumped into his arms. Their bodies made
the connection with delicious sensation. As usual when they were in
this position, their heat rose fast. Before he could set her down
on the bed, she was riding the waves of sensation he always
brought. When he began to release, she whispered in his ear:

“
We’re very
lucky.”

FFFFFF
Saturday
morning

October 24 – 5:15 a.m. EDT

On the edge of Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania National Military Park

“
You should sleep,” Troy
said. He leaned up on an elbow to watch Dahlia. Naked, she was
staring at herself in the full-length mirror. “Tomorrow’s a big
day.”

“
You mean today!” Dahlia
beamed at him. “As of midnight, I am just Dahlia. I’m not Hector’s
wife Dahlia or Dahlia Jasper or that slut Dahlia or…”

“
Who calls you that slut
Dahlia?” Troy asked.

“
Your mother thinks it,”
Dahlia turned around to look at him. Her cosmetically altered
breasts pointed at him like torpedoes. He smiled.

“
My mother also thinks my
name is Homer,” Troy said. “She’s not a reliable
reporter.”

“
I don’t care about her,”
Dahlia said. “For the last five hours and twenty-two minutes, I’ve
been just Dahlia.”

“
And what has ‘just Dahlia’
done in that time?” Troy asked.

“
Just Dahlia drank way too
much expensive French champagne from
France
at midnight,” Dahlia beamed.
“Made wild love to my boyfriend when he returned from war. Became
engaged. And… I don’t know? What’s next?”

“
Why don’t you come back to
bed and find out?” Troy asked.

“
I’ve been thinking about
getting these things taken out,” Dahlia pointed to her breasts.
“Hector made me do it after the boys. He said I was
misshapen.”

Troy laughed.

“
Will you think I’m
misshapen if I have them out?” Dahlia asked. “I don’t think I’d
like to have them in when I get pregnant again.”

“
Are we having another
baby?” Troy asked.

“
At least one,” Dahlia
said. “Maybe ten! I love being a mom. The best thing about the last
months is being able to focus on being a mom.”

“
You do a great job,” Troy
said.

“
The boys love this little
house,” Dahlia said. “I thought moving from the posh mansion life
to this tiny two-bedroom house in the forest would bum them out but
they are thrilled. And they love you!”

“
I love them,” Troy said.
“I didn’t know how it would be, you know. I thought they might miss
Hector.”

“
You’re their daddy,”
Dahlia said. “They were Hector’s things, like me. Something to show
off, something to use, not a living being to love. Can we stay in
this little house forever?”

“
It’ll be really crowded
with twelve kids,” Troy laughed.

“
I can have as many as I
want!” Dahlia bent over with laughter at the idea. Troy
smiled.

“
I thought we were moving
to Colorado,” Troy said.

“
That’s right!” Dahlia gave
a slight jump in the air. “Can we move to a little house next to
the trees?”

“
We can look,” Troy said.
“Alex and her family live near City Park. It’s lovely.”

“
I can hardly wait to go,”
Dahlia spun in place. “I’m finally free!”

“
You are engaged to me, you
know,” Troy laughed. “That’s not totally free.”

“
I’ve been engaged to you
almost all my life. I just didn’t know it,” Dahlia said. “You’re my
rock.”

Troy raised an eyebrow in innuendo and she
laughed. She crawled across the bed to him. He held out his arms
and she fell into them.

“
I only care about three
things: you and my babies, Hector James and Hermes,” she said.
“Thanks for… coming back… forgiving me and… well,
everything.”

“
You’re welcome,” Troy
said.

They began to kiss. In the dance of lovers,
they held each other heart to heart while their hands and bodies
moved. Dahlia shifted on top of him. He was about to take the
plunge when they heard:

“
Daddy?” from outside the
door. Their five-year-old, Hermes, tapped on the door.

Giggling, Dahlia fell against Troy.

“
What is it?” asked his
elder brother Hector James.

“
I thought I heard Daddy’s
voice,” Hermes said.

“
He’s not supposed to be
back until later this morning,” Hector James said.

“
No,” Hermes said. “I heard
his voice.”

“
You did not!” Hector James
said.

“
I know my own daddy’s
voice,” Hermes said.

Troy patted Dahlia’s behind and she moved to
the bed.

“
I’ll go,” Dahlia
whispered.

“
Please rest,” Troy rotated
to the side of the bed and pulled on his boxer shorts. “I slept the
whole way back. We have a big day and we’re going into town
tonight, remember?”

“
For our surprise
engagement party?” Dahlia asked.

“
Exactly,” Troy said. “And
to get ready for the marathon.”

He went to the closet where he found his
clean green T-shirt with “ARMY” on the front.

“
It’s cool out,” Dahlia
said. “Take a sweatshirt.”

“
We won’t be out that
long,” Troy said.

“
Daddy?” Hector James
pounded on the door. “Daddy?”

“
I’ll take my cell phone,”
Troy said. He stuffed the phone and wireless headset in his pocket.
He was almost to the door when he said, “Sleep.”

“
Is that an order?” Dahlia
asked.

“
You’re a free woman, my
love,” Troy said. “I only suggest.”

She beamed at him and gave him a slight
wave. Troy opened the door to his boys. Tucking one child under
each arm, he carried them away from their bedroom. They squealed
with laugher. He set them down at the bathroom. At his insistence,
the boys used the toilet and washed their hands.

For as posh as their lives had been, the
children knew little about usual daily rituals like using the
toilet when they got up so they didn’t have accidents later,
brushing their teeth twice a day, eating with their mouths closed,
using forks, or any other normal thing. Dahlia had been so
overwhelmed trying to survive Hector’s needs that she couldn’t
teach them. Having had a very similar upbringing, Troy had a deep
understanding of what was missing. Summers at adventure camp and
the Army had straightened him out. It was his turn to straighten
out his own boys.

The boys. His boys.

Dahlia had been the love of his high school
life. But when he joined the US Army instead of going to Harvard,
she felt betrayed. She cheated. He cheated. They fought. They got
engaged. She married his gay brother, Hector, when he was at
Special Forces training. When Hector wanted children, she arrived
on his doorstep again. It wasn’t until he was truly able to say no
to her – and whatever Alex said to her at that party – that she
took the first steps to return to him.

He smiled at his good fortune and herded his
boys into their bedroom where they got dressed.

“
Daddy?” Hermes asked.
“Will you help?”

Troy zipped Hermes’s jeans. He checked his
shoes to see if they were tied. They were.

“
Hector James?” Troy
asked.

Troy gave him the once over.

“
Hands?” Troy
asked.

The boys showed him their clean hands.

“
Good job!” He
said.

“
We’ve been practicing,”
Hector James smiled. “Mom said we could go to regular school when
we get to Colorado.”

“
And have friends!” Hermes
said.

“
Is that true?” Hector
James asked.

“
You bet,” Troy gave them a
sad smile.

Hector was too controlling to let the boys
go to school or play with other children. Grinning from ear to ear,
the boys looked at each other and then at him. They held out their
arms. They were slight enough that Troy easily picked them up. He
carried the boys into the kitchen where he set them on the
counter.

“
We have a surprise,”
Hector James said.

“
You do?” Troy
asked.

“
Are you marrying us?”
Hermes asked. “Mommy said you might ask her last night and then
we’d be a
real
family.”

“
What would you think of
that?” Troy asked.

The boys gave a little cheer. Troy
chuckled.

“
We’re getting married,”
Troy said.

“
Today?” Hector James
asked. “When we’re in town?”

“
After we get settled in
Colorado,” Troy said.

“
Can we move today?” Hermes
asked.

Troy laughed. He kissed the boys’ heads.

“
Breakfast?” Troy
asked.

“
We have a surprise!”
Hermes said.

“
I heard that,” Troy said.
“What’s the surprise?”

“
We found
more
blackberries,”
Hector James said.

“
Mommy says it’s because
it’s been so warm,” Hermes said.

“
Blackberries!” Troy
mimicked their excited tone. “Let’s get some for Mommy.”

“
Mommy loves blackberries!”
Hermes said.

“
Let’s surprise her!”
Hector James said.

“
Great idea! We’ll sneak
out and pick the blackberries,” Troy peered out the kitchen window
to see the dusky light of pre-dawn. “We’ll make her breakfast in
bed when we get back. I’ll start the coffee. Why don’t you boys go
set your beds in Ninja stealth style?”

Hermes clapped his hands with glee. Troy
lifted Hermes and Hector James from the counter. The boys sprinted
to their room where they stuffed pillows and extra blankets under
their covers. While it never fooled Dahlia, she pretended not to
know when her boys were romping with Troy in the early morning.

The boys started running down the hall.

“
Ninja style!” Troy
whispered.

The boys crept past their mother’s door to
the living room. Troy opened the sliding glass door and the boys
ran into the forest. Troy looked at his bare feet and looked around
for the flip flops he kept near the door. Not finding them easily,
and worrying the boys would get too far ahead of him, he shrugged.
He grabbed the metal pail they used for berries and he ran after
them. He made quick work of the tiny grass backyard and down the
well-maintained path through the woods. He easily caught up with
the boys and they jogged to the blackberry patch together.

“
You boys go ahead,” Troy
said. “I’m not wearing shoes.”

“
Daddy! That’s silly!”
Hector James said.

“
I know!” Troy
laughed.

He gave the boys their berry pail and they
plunged into the patch. He watched them eat almost as many as they
put in the pail. Within a few minutes, their faces and fingers were
sticky purple. Troy was laughing at the boys when he heard a
familiar sound.

Pfft, Pfft.

F

CHAPTER THREE

He stopped moving and looked around. The
sound came again.

Pfft, Pfft.

That was a silenced handgun.

“
Boys,” Troy’s voice was
intense and commanding. “I need you to stay here.”

The children looked at him with horror.

“
Ninja style,” Troy said.
“You know what to do.”

“
We hide in the middle of
the patch where no one can get us,” Hector James said. “We have
supplies there.”

“
Like real Ninjas,” Hermes
said.

“
Good boys,” Troy said.
“Why don’t you go see if there are berries there?”