“Where do you want me to bring her?”he countered, as guilt ate at him.It wasn’t that he was happy to be apart from Natanya, but he hadn’t figured out how to juggle the job and possibly taking care of her if Christy didn’t show up.Before leaving Wintertime, he’d found out the daily rate and paid Emily for today.Money he could have saved if Christy hadn’t decided to stay away.
“I’m on the road,” she said, “so it’s easy for me to collect her.”
Since he didn’t want Christy to know where he was staying, he hedged.“Tell me where to meet you.”
She hesitated, then directed him to where she’d be in an hour.That gave him enough time to reach the Winters’ house, gather Natanya’s stuff, and then meet Christy.While he packed up, he assessed how his day had gone.Surprisingly, he didn’t feel worthless, which was what he expected.Still, he scoffed.A guy working in a daycare.An IT Tech to boot.
His expertise wasn’t dealing with kids, but they listened to him and wanted to learn everything he could teach.The biggest bugbear was working for Lizette in a space where he felt alien.The only grace was that he possessed the skills she needed and could make things easier for her.If his plans had come together, he’d have been supervising the construction of his home.
He’d also have been seeking office space where he’d offer his services to clients who needed help starting and maintaining their online presence.Plus, installing e-commerce solutions to connect with local banks and other financial institutions.He could still settle into that line of business, but for now, his focus was on earning to rebuild his bank account.
Natanya interrupted his thoughts by tugging at his shirt.“Daddy, can I have juice?”
Scooping her into his arms and situating her on the sofa, he said, “Of course.”
Since she hadn’t drunk everything he’d put into his mother’s insulated bag for the day, he pierced the foil with the straw and gave her the box of orange juice.
By the time she finished, a short beep at the gate signaled the arrival of their cab.As he settled inside, Shomari reminded himself to keep his cool with Christy.Being upset over what he couldn’t change didn’t serve any useful purpose or help his temper.
Fifteen minutes later, he led Natanya into the lower level of a new shopping mall to wait.Why Christy agreed to meet him there was puzzling.As far as he knew, she still worked from home, but that could be anywhere since she gave the impression she’d moved.He put his thoughts aside when Christy rang to say she was out front, and guided a protesting Natanya away from the water feature.
Christy pulled up behind the wheel of the same pearl white SUV she’d been driving when she left Natanya with him.She found a parking spot close by, opened the door, and took Natanya’s bag while he strapped her into the seat.After he stepped out of the way, Christy kissed Natanya’s cheek and tweaked her nose.
“Is my baby all right?”she asked.
Natanya nodded and held out the chicken.“Kiss Chicky too.”
While Christy pretended to comply, Shomari stood aside.When she closed the door, he said, “We need to talk.”
She flipped a coil of sable brown hair over her shoulder.“About what?”she asked, her tone abrupt.
“The fact that you still haven’t told me what you’ve done with the money I’ve been sending you to take care of business.”
“I told you it’s gone.What else do you want me to say?”She sighed and fiddled with the gold heart pendant at her neck.“We have a child.They are expensive to raise on this island, in case you didn’t know.”
“I get that.”He shoved both hands in his pockets.“But the cost of living isn’t so high that you can’t explain what happened to the cash that’s missing from our joint account, especially since you bought a new car.”
She swiped the hair off her forehead and sighed again, as if he were a pest she couldn’t wait to be rid of.“Well, there isn’t any money.Plus, you’ve moved on.Call it an investment in your daughter’s future.”
“Are you for real?”Hands to his sides, he asked, “This is how you treat me after a six-year relationship?”
“You were gone much of the time.”She pulled her head back as she asked, “What was I supposed to do?Sit around and wait for you to decide to come back here and live?Life is happening now, Shomari, and remember, I’m not the one who decided we should split up.”
“Tell me what you would have done if our positions were reversed?”He swallowed the inappropriate words fighting to get past his lips, and drew a long breath to calm himself.“What you did is so low, I can’t get past it.That’swhy we’re no longer a couple.”
“Which is all right with me.”She turned toward the driver’s door and spoke over her shoulder.“If you’re done, I have to go.”
He didn’t stop her, but wondered how or why he’d been a fool over someone who clearly didn’t care about him.His heart thumped hard as he revisited the night he checked, then stared in disbelief at their bank balance.He was certain the bank had made a mistake while he looked at the list of transactions, but after a call with Christy and heated words exchanged, he came away sick with disappointment.
He’d been so busy figuring out their lives and his responsibilities that he didn’t see they were on different pages.Christy wanted everything now, and those things didn’t include him working for years toward financial stability.
He struggled to make sense of her attitude while cheerful music assaulted his ears, and the gold and silver tinsel adorning the bushes mocked him as they shifted in the breeze.Going back to the Winters’ house, where he’d be alone, wasn’t what he needed now.He’d only frustrate himself with all the things he hadn’t been able to say to Christy, so with both hands in his pockets, he started walking.
Thatmoment earlier today with Lizette returned to mind, and he caught himself smiling.He hadn’t kissed anybody in months, and the soft brush of her lips stirred memories of what it meant to have someone in his corner.He no longer had that, but as Lizette’s cheeky grin flashed in front of him, he wondered what it would be like to exchange a real kiss with her.
The phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out but kept walking.Mother was calling.
He braced himself and put the phone to his ear.“Yes, Mother.”
