He goes to take a drink of his coffee but pauses, the mug halfway to his lips.
“She is staying for Christmas, right? She’s not returning to that son of a bitch, is she?”
“Of course not,” I say immediately, although I didn’t even have time to ask what her plans were. Last night was too riddled with emotion to think logically about next steps.
“Yes, she’s staying,” I say with renewed confidence, despite my doubt. I remember the look in Shanice’s eyes last night. The anguish and pain in them.
There’s no way I can allow her to go back to the person who caused so much agony. Not with it being only a week before Christmas.
“We’ll figure it out,” Joel assures with so much love and security in his voice that the tension that’s been in my body since seeing my daughter with her two kids on my front porch eases.
We sit in a comfortable silence for a long while, saying nothing as the sun continues its ascent over the roofs and trees that dot our neighborhood. I watch as some of the Christmas lights our neighbors have utilized to decorate their homes fade out against the backdrop of the sun.
Peace washes over me while Joel continues to stroke my thigh. The fluttering that always occurs whenever I’m near him becomes a comforting drum in my lower belly. Though he hasn’t said much, Joel’s presence is like a quiet storm.
I can feel it brewing.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask.
His lips pinch as he looks off at the sky. “Picturing how many ways I can hurt the son of a bitch who hurt your daughter.”
The lethal honesty in his voice sends a shiver down my spine.
Then he turns and looks me in the eye.
“He hurt your daughter, a piece of you, which means he hurt you.” Joel shakes his head, pinching his lips. “I can’t have that.”
The words ‘you can’t do that’ are on the tip of my tongue. But my own anger prevents me from saying them out loud.
Instead, I slip my hand into his, intertwining our fingers. Absentmindedly, he brings our interlocked hands to his mouth, kissing the outside of my palm.
Out of all of the kisses he gives me, this is the sweetest kind.
A sigh parts from my lips as I wonder how I can be so full of love for this man beside me while so full of rage at my daughter’s husband at the same time.
However, before I can contemplate that question any further, a white truck pulls into Joel’s driveway.
“Grandpa!” Shan, Micah and Jodi’s nine-year-old daughter calls out as she jumps out of the backseat of the truck. “Hi, Ms. Chamberland.” She waves and then throws her arms around my waist before moving to her grandfather to do the same.
“What’s this?” Joel asks, lightness filling his tone as he rises to his feet.
“We came to help finish the decorations, and then the kids wanted to know if you were free for lunch?” Jodi tells him as Micah comes up beside her. She looks at me. “Both of you.”
“Oh.” Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. It’s Shanice opening my door and stepping out onto the porch. “That sounds lovely, but I, uh, unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it,” I tell them with a regretful smile.
I need to get back to my daughter.
“Maybe next time, Ms. Chamberland?” Shan asks, hope in her eyes.
I lean down and cup Shan’s sweet face. “It’s a deal.”
Giggling, she buries her hand in my middle, hugging me again. Joel catches my hand to press a kiss to my cheek and whispers in my ear that he’s here for me and to give him a call later.
When I return to my front door, Shanice is there, dressed in a pair of jogging pants and an oversized T-shirt. Her eyes are swollen and red, letting me know she probably was up crying more this morning.
“I thought you went on one of your morning walks,” she greets in a low tone. “You didn’t have to come back early for me.”
“I was over at Joel’s,” I tell her and then point toward his house.
