Wild Heart (Viper's Heart Duet Book 2) (31 page)

Can the kids come outside for a while?

She didn’t respond, but a couple minutes later, Matthew came running out the front door dressed in black snow pants, his navy blue winter coat, winter hat, and gloves. He ran over and threw his arms around me as Michelle closed the door.

“Where’s Maura?” I asked as I picked him up.

“Maura didn’t want to come out. She’s watching
My Little Pony
or something.” He shrugged.

“She passed up snowman building for ponies?”

Matthew pulled one corner of his mouth up and nodded. “She’s crazy.”

I laughed out loud. “She is, but let’s build the biggest snowman anyway.”

“Yes!”

I set him down and we got to work. “Let’s make this bottom a little bigger, okay? Can you help me push it?”

He nodded and leaned his hands against the huge snowball I’d already started, grunting and groaning out loud as we pushed it together to make it as big as we could. Then we started on the middle section, rolling and rolling it together until Matthew said it was the perfect size. I lifted it on top of the bottom part and we stepped back to look at it.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think it’s perfect!” he cheered.

“Ready for the head?”

He turned and looked up at me. “I want to do that one by myself.”

I motioned toward the ground. “Have at it, big guy.”

Standing there with my arms crossed over my chest, I watched Matthew make a tiny snowball, no bigger than a golf ball, and hold it in his hand. I almost jumped in and told him to start with a bigger one, but then I remembered how my asshole father had never let me do things on my own. I always had to do them
his
way. So I shut my mouth and let Matthew build the head just the way he wanted. Getting snow to attach to the little snowball was hard, and he threw it down in frustration.

“Just keep rolling it. It’ll stick. You got it,” I called out.

He picked it up again and started spinning the ball through the snow as he crawled on his knees behind it. The bigger the snowball grew, the bigger his smile grew.

“Viper! Look!” he yelled proudly as he tried to lift the basketball-sized snowball in the air above his head.

“Good job, bud! Whoa! Careful!” I rushed over and put my hand on it before he dropped it and lost his mind. “Here. Hold on tight.” I lifted him with one arm and put my other hand under the snowball so that he thought he was doing it himself, and we put the head on the top of the snowman together.

“What do you think?” I asked as Matthew beamed at our snowman.

“I think it’s awesome.”

“I think it needs some decorations,” Michelle called from behind us.

We turned around and she was standing on the porch holding a few things. Matthew squirmed out of my arms and ran over to grab them from her. We tied an old red scarf around the snowman’s neck, used a carrot and grapes for his face, and found rocks and sticks for his arms and buttons.

“I think he’s done,” I said as we put an old sun hat on his head.

“Not yet.” Matthew shook his head. “He needs a name.”

“He does need a name. You’re right. Any ideas?”

Matthew pulled his top lip in and thought hard about it. “How about Earl?”

“Earl?” I repeated with a loud laugh.

He nodded.

“Whatever you want. If you want Earl, Earl it is.”

The front door opened again and Michelle called Matthew’s name.

“Do I have to come in?” he whined.

She nodded. “It’s lunchtime.”

“Can I come back after lunch?” He pulled his hat off and slinked toward the house sadly.

“We’ll see. Come on.” Matthew walked past her into the house and she looked out at me. It took all I had not to run up to the porch and wrap my arms around her, but instead I gave her a tight smile and quick wave before I walked back to my car. I started the engine and plugged my phone back in, noticing that I had a text.

Brody:
      
Just checking in on you. I talked to Andy and he said you slept in your car last night. Have you completely lost your fucking mind?

I laughed out loud.

Yes, I did and yes, I have. I’m not leaving here until I win her back.

Brody:
      
And what if that never happens?

Not an option.

Brody:
      
Well, I’m crossing everything for ya, buddy. I hope it works out. I really do.

Thanks. Can you also do me a favor?

Brody:
      
Sure

Can you thank your wife for me?

Brody:
      
Kacie? Sure. For what?

For giving me the kick in the balls I needed. I knew that I needed to talk to Michelle, but I was too scared to come over here without a plan. After Kacie ripped me a new one, I thought about it a lot and decided it wasn’t so much the words I used, but the feeling behind them.

Brody:
      
Look at you. My little Viper is all grown up. I’ll let her know. Good luck, brother. Keep me posted and let me know if you need anything.

Actually, I do need one thing. Have you left for the airport yet?

Brody:
      
Not for a couple hours. Why?

Half an hour later, Brody’s black pick-up truck pulled up behind mine and I hopped out.

“You’re the best!” I rubbed my hands together as he walked around the back of his truck and pulled two big red plastic gas cans out. I took them from him and walked back to my car.

“Nice snowman.” He nodded toward the yard as he followed me.

“Thanks. That’s Earl.”

“Earl?” He laughed out loud.

“Yep. Matthew named him,” I added. I unscrewed the gas cap and lifted the first gas can, pouring it into my tank.

Brody leaned against the back of my car and shook his head. “You’re really going to sleep out here again?”

My eyes lifted to his and I spoke in a low, steady voice. “Yes, I am.”

“In that case . . .” He turned and walked back to his truck and pulled a large bag out of the front seat. “Here. This is for you.”

I frowned down at the bag. “What is it?”

“Baby wipes, antibacterial hand cleanser, a couple bottles of water, a large quilt, and a thermos of soup.”

“Huh?”

He shrugged. “I told Kacie what you said. Then I told her what you were doing. She said she’s glad she kicked your ass, too, and that she hopes this all works out. Then she packed you a bag and heated you some soup, further proving that I will never, ever, ever understand women as long as I live.”

I laughed and started pouring the gas from the second can into the car. “You have a good wife, Brody Murphy. A very good wife.”

He nodded slowly. “You will, too, Lawrence Finkle. I can feel it.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “At this point, I just want to hug her and make the kids pancakes. Anything extra would be icing on the cake.”

“Keep up the good fight, brother. Kacie was so fucking mad at you the other night. I thought she might actually kill you. If you can get her to make you soup after that, I’m convinced anything is possible.”

“Thanks. And thanks for bringing this by.” I tilted my head toward the gas can. “It would have been a long, cold night without it.”

“Yeah, well I head out on the road in a few hours. If you run out again, you’ll have to call Andy, and we both know how that will go.”

I rolled my eyes. “Lecture city.”

“You know it!” He patted me on the shoulder and picked up the empty gas can. We both carried one back to his truck and set them in the back.

“All right, well . . . good luck. Hopefully you see the inside of a house again real soon. And maybe access to a shower. You smell bad as it is on a regular day. I can’t imagine how that car is gonna smell after a few more days.” He laughed and gave me a quick hug.

“Too bad Kacie didn’t pack deodorant, huh?”

“Amen to that.” He got into his truck and waved as he pulled away. I walked back to my car and put the blue duffel bag in the backseat.

As soon as I shut the back door, another car pulled up. I squinted my eyes and lowered my head to see who was in it. Vivian put her car in park and waved at me.

Go time!

I circled the front window like a hungry shark stalking a school of fish. The thud of a car door caught my attention and the beautiful woman talking to Viper at the back of his car kept me from moving. She was doing most of the talking and waving her hands around as he leaned his elbow on the trunk of his car and listened. They talked for a good five minutes as I hid, peeking out from behind the curtain. After a few more minutes, the woman pulled some papers out of a bag and set them on the back of the car. Viper hovered and looked at them as she kept talking. Eventually she handed him a pen and he signed whatever the papers were. Then she got back in her car and drove away.

Pacing across the front of the house, I went back and forth about whether or not to go out there. The jealous fourteen-year-old in me wanted to fly out the door, stomp my feet, and demand to know everything. The adult in me glared at that kid and told her to sit down and shut up. Ultimately, the fourteen-year-old won.

He was leaning against his car, staring down at the papers when I walked down the sidewalk toward him. The sounds of my feet crunching over the ice made him look up.

“Hey.” He stood up from the car and gave me a big, genuine grin.

“Hey. Who was that?” I tried to sound nonchalant but failed miserably.

“That was Vivian.”

“Oh. Who’s Vivian?”

He stared at me and took a deep breath. Then his eyes fell to the ground for a couple of seconds before reconnecting with mine. “Can I come in and talk to you?”

I was taken aback. “Huh?”

He shrugged. “Can I come in and can we talk? Please? No fighting. No yelling. Just talking, like this.”

“Viper, who’s that woman?”

“That’s part of what I want to talk to you about.”

I shook my head, frustrated that he wasn’t giving me any real answers. “Ugh. Fine,” I groaned and turned back to the house.

We walked in and I knew the kids—especially Maura—would want a few minutes to crawl all over him, so I didn’t stop it when it happened. He picked them both up, one in each arm, and covered their faces in dozens of kisses. After a few minutes of his attention, they scampered back to the playroom and he sat on the stool at the island. My heart was thumping fast. I didn’t know who that woman was or what he was about to say.

“Okay. Go,” I finally said, preparing myself for anything.

He folded his hands in front of his mouth and looked at me. His face was expressionless, but his eyes stared at me so intensely that every nerve in my body awoke and stood on end.

“I love you, Michelle,” he finally said.

I pulled my brows in tight. “What?”

“I love you. I really, really love you. Like . . . from-the-bottom-of-my-heart-don’t-know-how-to-live-without-you kind of love.”

My heart urged me to tell him that I loved him back, but I bit my lip so the words couldn’t come out.