“I’m tired. Can I go to bed?” she asks. Her question has Ajay and I moving rather quickly to appease her. It’s a cold day in hell when your five-year-old asks to go to bed early.
Upstairs, Ajay stands in the doorway while I tuck her in. “I want Ajay to tuck me in too.”
I look at him from over my shoulder and grin as he comes forward. He follows everything that I do and even leans down to give her a kiss.
“Mommy, is Ajay your boyfriend?”
I look at her for a long moment while I try to answer her question. Telling her that we are actually married will only confuse her.
“Hey, Evelyn, can I ask you a question?”
She shrugs. “Okay, Ajay.”
He sits on the end of her bed, sliding all the way until his back touches the wall. “I’ve known your mommy a very long time and I really love her. So, I’m wondering what you think about me asking your mom to marry me?”
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react, so I just stay still. It’s a pretty silly question since we’re already married.
“Do you love, Ajay, Mommy?”
“I do, angel. A whole lot.”
“Do you love Logan?”
I stiffen at her question and am afraid to look at Ajay. But it’s his voice that I hear answer her question.
“There are different types of love, Evelyn. We can love many people and have special places in our hearts for them. I love Miss Katelyn because she’s like a Mom to me. I love Miss Elle because she’s my boss. I love Miss Nola because she gave me a place to live when I needed it. Your mommy loves Logan because he was her friend for a really long time and now he’s protecting all of us, which means I love him too.”
“That’s silly,” she says, giggling.
“I know, but the love your mom and I feel for each other is different.”
“We want to be a family,” I tell her. “Ajay would like us to live here with him.”
“Hmm,” she shrugs. “I’ll think about it after I wake-up. I’m really tired right now.”
Shut down by the soon-to-be first grader, I give her another kiss and pull Ajay from her bed. He leaves the door slightly ajar and makes sure the hallway nightlight is on for her.
He follows me down the hall with his hands on my hips and his lips on my neck. I moan and he shushes me, telling me I have to be quiet until we get into the bedroom even though he’s making it near impossible for me to function. He, somehow, manages to turn the knob of the door and ushers us inside.
His hands are everywhere, removing my clothes followed by his, and then finally picking me up and carrying me to bed.
“I love you, Mrs. Ballard,” he tells me as his lips hover over mine. “Tell me you’ll marry me again.”
My hands cup his cheeks and I look deep into his eyes. “A thousand times over… I’ll marry you every day for the rest of my life.”
And I will, as long as Judge Harvey isn’t the one doing the honors.
31
Ajay
Asking Whiskey to marry me again was always part of the plan, but doing it today was not. However, I couldn’t think of any other way to show or tell Evelyn that I’m madly in love with her mother. I have no doubt there’s some confusion going on in her mind with the fact that Logan is suddenly not around while I am, and that’s the last thing I want.
What I do want, though, is to be a family with these two beautiful girls and to do that I have to be a man, which means I need to talk to Whiskey’s father — not an easy feat since we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things when it comes to his daughter. But he’s important to Whiskey and Evelyn and without his support, Whiskey and I can’t have a happy marriage. I know that’s what she wants… what her parents have… and I want to give it her.
That’s how I find myself back in Bailey. Not that I wouldn’t come back just to see Whiskey and Evelyn, but while I’m here, I’m going to do what I should’ve done years ago.
My rental car idles in the driveway of the Foster’s home while I build up the courage I need to confront the Sheriff. I’m afraid that if I sit here to long, he’ll come out with his shotgun and actually use it this time. He already tried to kill me once when he came home from work early and caught Whiskey and me in bed together. There was no way either of us could play it off as just talking, although she was saying my name. Her daddy, fully aware of what was going on, was beyond pissed and chased my bare ass down the road while trying to load his shotgun. I deserved it. I could stay in their home a few days a week if I kept my hands to myself, but there was no way I could do that. Not with the way Whiskey was turning into a woman. She had my hormones going crazy and all it took was one little shake of her ass, along with the come hither look she had developed, for me to drop my jeans and break every rule her parents set for us. Instead of apologizing for disrespecting them, I married their daughter, thinking I had beat her dad at the game. Boy was I wrong.