The Christmas Tree Guy (27 page)

“Would you rather have coffee, Ms. Duprey? I can get that for you if you want.”

“Oh, no. I am fine. Tell me something. Do you make it a habit befriending single mothers and spending time with them and their children?”

Clearing his throat, Quinn sat down across from her and noticed Carroll’s skeptical glare. “I beg your pardon?”

“Well, I just wonder what you are getting out of this. Is this something to make you feel better about yourself, or do you genuinely care for my daughter and grandsons?”

“Wow. I understand your concern for Sydnee and the boys; especially after all they have been through. But I assure you, I only have the best intentions when it comes to them.” Quinn wasn’t sure what Carroll was inferring. He only had the best in mind for Sydnee and the boys. Her demeanor from dinner had certainly changed and her aloofness earlier had quickly turned to animosity. He wondered again just what he’d missed.

“Really? And exactly what are your intentions? You are obviously a lot younger than my daughter. You two are clearly from different backgrounds. What could you possibly have in common with her? Not that I’m too sure I want to know.” Her haughty look unnerved Quinn and he suddenly started to understand why Sydnee had been so worked up. Her mother just didn’t think anyone but Matt was good enough for Sydnee. It was the fact that anyone white would never be good enough.

“Ms. Duprey, your daughter is an extraordinary woman.” Quinn didn’t notice Sydnee had come to the doorway and heard the tail end of the question her mother asked. “I am pretty sure you already know this, but your daughter is special. Her laugh, her smile, just her sheer being is magic. She lights up a room when she walks in it.” Quinn paused for a moment, thinking about Sydnee and how he felt when he was around her. “Sydnee is beautiful, an amazing mother, and she has a strength I’m not even sure she realizes she has. Nothing can break her. Nothing can stop her from being who she is and that’s amazing to me. So when you ask me about my intentions, well, my intent is to be in her and the boys’ lives for as long as she will let me. My intent is to protect them from anything and anyone who dares to hurt them. My
intent
is to love your daughter like no one has ever loved her. She has my heart and I plan on protecting hers for as long as I live.” He hoped the woman could understand just how much he cared about Sydnee. He knew they would be met with opposition. Unfortunately, there were still people in the world against interracial couples. They didn’t want to see people who were truly in love with one another together, just because of the color of their skin. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t want to understand it. To him, it made no sense. No one should be close-minded about love. He wasn’t raised that way and he wasn’t about to change his mind about it. He didn’t want to disrespect Carroll, but he refused to let her or anyone else hurt or demean what he and Sydnee had. And he certainly wasn’t going to let anyone hurt Sydnee and the boys because of them being together.

“Well, you’ve just got it all figured out, don’t you? Hmm, think it is easy? You and Sydnee can be together and ride off into the sunset with Travis and Charlie and everything will be fine. You both are living in some kind of dream world and frankly, I don’t like it. You can’t possibly think you can protect my daughter and grandsons from the hurt and pain a relationship like this can cause.”

She continued to stare him down and Quinn sat back for a second. He was stunned by the differences in Sydnee and Carroll. Yes, it had taken Sydnee a moment to consider going out with him, but it was because it was something she’d never done before, not because of his skin color. “Ms. Duprey, with all due respect-”

“Don’t ‘with all due respect’ me. I am not going to sit by and idly watch my daughter make decisions that will end in nothing but pain and misery. If you think I’m going to accept this, you are sadly mistaken.” Quinn could feel the hatred pouring out of her eyes and intricately woven in between every word coming from her mouth. “I love my daughter. I love my grandchildren. They deserve to have a life full of love and laughter, not one of painful and uncomfortable situations.”

“Ms. Duprey, I love your daughter and your grandsons. I would never do anything purposely to put them in painful situations.”

“You are purposely dating her aren’t you?” Carroll shot back and Quinn paused.

“Well, yes-”

“Then you are purposely putting them in a no-win situation. Get it through your head. This will never work and I’m not about to let them endure something they don’t have to. They haven’t had anything like this in the past and shouldn’t be subjected to it now.”

Quinn looked down at the table and gathered his thoughts. At the rate it was going, he wasn’t going to win with Carroll, but he needed to let her know how he felt. He slowly lifted his eyes to hers. “Ms. Duprey, I can see you don’t approve of my relationship with your daughter-”

“I don’t.”

“But you may want to think about this. Even if I weren’t in their lives, they are all going to be presented with uncomfortable and painful situations. We all have them in life. There’s no getting around it. That’s just life. I care about them enough to be there for them when they go through those painful situations.” Quinn kept his eyes trained on Carroll, letting her know he wasn’t about to back down from her. “And, I’m not in a competition with Sydnee’s past. In all honesty, there is no competition.” Quinn paused, looking at Carroll’s displeased face. He was sure he wasn’t winning any points with her, but he had to let her know just how much he cared about Sydnee. “Matt was a source of one of those painful situations. He didn’t respect her and he didn’t know how to love her and take care of her.”

“And you do?”

Quinn’s silver eyes darkened as he stared evenly at Carroll. “Yes, I do. You may not believe me, but I have Sydnee’s and Charlie’s and Travis’ best interests at heart. You never have to worry about me hurting them. I am not Matt and I know how special all three of them are.”

“So, who’s ready for dessert?” Quinn and Carroll’s face off ended when Quinn finally glanced to see Sydnee in the room. He offered a stiff grin at her and stood from his seat.

“I’ll go get the boys. They went to watch cartoons.” He walked out of the dining room to the boys’ playroom.

“I guess you got the answers you were searching for, Mother?”

“Why can’t you see this is not going to work?” Carroll snapped, standing from her spot at the end of the table and smoothing her blouse. She observed Sydnee continuing to place the dessert on the table. “I don’t like this, Sydnee, and I’m sorry, but I don’t want my grandsons growing up around him.”

“Why? Mother, you don’t even know Quinn. You haven’t given him a chance at all. You see how much he cares about us. He sat here and told you that.”

“It’s really not polite to eavesdrop, Sydnee.” Carroll walked to the other side of the table, leaned on it, and looked into Sydnee’s eyes. “I know I surprised you with this visit, but if he is going to be here, Sydnee, then I will not.”

“Mother, what are you saying?” Sydnee stopped mid-movement and her breath caught in her throat. “Are you asking me to choose between you and Quinn?”

Carroll stood straight and looked down her flawlessly powdered nose. “When you decide to make good choices and not betray me and the people who have loved and supported you, we can talk. Until then…” Carroll trailed off as she watched Quinn and the boys enter the room. He could tell something was going on between the two, especially when he saw an errant tear escape from one of Sydnee’s beautiful eyes. Carroll moved around the table and stalked out of the room. Quinn drifted to Sydnee’s side and rubbed her arm, wiping away the tear before the boys noticed.

“Hey, everything okay?”

“Yes.” Sydnee diverted her eyes toward the floor and gathered herself, trying to calm her breathing. Quinn knew she was doing it for the boys’ sakes; she didn’t want to upset them.

He knew she wasn’t okay and he wasn’t quite sure what he could do to make things better. Clearly, something happened between Sydnee and her mother while he was out of the room. “You sure? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no,” she said giving him the best smile she could as she dipped ice cream into bowls for the boys.

During the following weeks Sydnee agonized over her mother’s last words to her. She had walked on eggshells while her mother visited and had been left despondent when she gave her the ultimatum concerning her and Quinn. If only she would give him a chance. It was like a bad dream. She knew there was a possibility people would have a problem with them being together, but she never imagined her mother would act the way she did. She wanted to be closer to her mother, not just for the boys’ sakes, but also for her own. Sydnee needed her mother’s love and approval. She wanted it more than anything when it came to their relationship, but now it seemed impossible. She called Carroll numerous times, only to leave voice mails. Her brother told her he would talk to her and to give it some time. Her mother would come around soon. But Sydnee wasn’t so sure. They had disagreed on things before, but never to this level. Laughter and squeals from the backyard snapped her back to reality and she turned to look outside. She chuckled as she stood in the kitchen watching through the window at the boys playing with Quinn. He asked her over and over what happened and why her mother left so quickly. She lied and told him her mother needed to get back. A family issue had come up. Nothing serious, but she needed to go back to Atlanta. She knew he was skeptical but she was grateful he didn’t push the issue. She continued to watch Quinn laughing and running around with the twins; they ate up every moment of attention he gave. He was so great with them. Why would her mother want her to end this?

“He’s at the forty, the thirty, the twenty…and he’s taken down by the defensive end, Travis Garrett at the fifteen.” Quinn lay on the ground under the weight of the two giggling six year olds. Their friendly game of football had quickly escalated into ‘let’s tackle Quinn’. Sydnee had never seen them laugh so much and it warmed her heart to watch their interaction. It was an unseasonably warm day and instead of them staying in the house and playing video games, Quinn had suggested they play outside.

At this point, she was grateful for the reassurance she had made the right decision in letting Quinn spend time with her boys. They were so taken with him, and when he wasn’t around, they asked about him and wanted to know when he was coming back. At first she felt a little awkward when they told their grandparents about him and how he played with them and told them stories. She was a little nervous Leanne and Charles would be upset she had let him into their lives, but both assured her Quinn had to be something special because the boys seemed to light up when they talked about him. She just couldn’t understand why her own mother couldn’t see the same thing.

She started to the back door to call them in for lunch, but stopped when she heard the doorbell. “Now, who is that?” She turned, thinking it had to either be Sara or maybe Leanne and Charles dropping by. Opening the door, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked into the eyes of her ex-husband. “Matt?”

“Hi.” Matt drawled, unleashing his disarming charm and she felt her stomach drop. He was still as handsome as ever, with skin as smooth as Tyson Beckford and a smile like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. It was criminal one man could look so good.

“What are you doing here?” She wasn’t sure if the old familiar smell of his cologne or the fact he was standing on her doorstep was making her woozy
.

“Wow, that is quite a way to greet your husband.”

“Ex-husband,” she corrected, gathering her senses and nervously looking back towards the kitchen window. “Why are you here?”

“May I at least come in my own house?” Matt stepped across the threshold, forcing her to back up, and stood in the foyer, closing the door.

“You should have called first.” Sydnee crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze at him. She couldn’t believe his nerve, showing up out of the blue and coming in like he owned the place. Technically he did pay for the house, but she won it in the settlement, along with primary custody of the boys and child support payments each month.

“I wanted to see you. Why should I have to call for that?” Just as soon as he asked the question, he got his answer as the twins bolted in the back door followed by Quinn.

“Hey, Syd, we…” Quinn stopped mid-sentence as he saw Sydnee standing with her arms crossed glaring at a grown up version of the twins. Sydnee turned and looked at Quinn knowing he could probably feel the tension in the room as the two stood a few feet apart.

“Well, I guess I interrupted something.” Matt looked at Sydnee, who now had two sets of hands holding onto her legs on either side of her. The twins had found a safe haven at her side and had ceased laughing. “Hey, guys.” Matt glanced down at the boys, who continued to hold onto their mom.

“Yes, you did,” she glared at Matt before turning to Quinn. “Travis, Charlie, why don’t you go and get cleaned up for lunch? Quinn, could you take them?”

“Yes, sure. Hey, champs, come on, let’s get cleaned up.” Charlie and Travis took his hands and they walked down the hallway.

“Wow. Nice, Syd. You just replaced me in my own kids’ lives?” Matt watched Sydnee walking away from him, towards the kitchen.

“I didn’t do that, Matt. You did when you left.”

“So, you aren’t even going to introduce me to your ‘little friend’, or even have the boys acknowledge who I am?” Matt asked as he followed her into the kitchen.