Time Makes You Bolder (Sequel to No One's A Fool)

Chapter 22

"Let her be mad, Joe." A voice spoke, and he turned to see Stevie sitting on the porch. "That's her right."

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, coming over and leaning on a porch rail a few feet away.

"You're supposed to give her some time, and then go and apologize for whatever dumb thing you said." She explained, and then smiling wryly said, "You were always good at saying dumb shit."

"This is not how I ever wanted this to go, Stevie." He said, sinking into a chair.

"I know. But you made these choices, and now you have to deal with the consequences. And Wrenna will come around. When she gets mad like that she just needs some time by herself, and then she'll be okay. Unlike me, she doesn't immediately start cussing someone out when she's upset. I think she gets her gentleness from Mick." She laughed, and he smiled.

"Mick seems like a really good dad."

"He is." Stevie confirmed. "The morning that Wrenna was born, Mick came out to the house and stayed with us all morning. He held Wrenna for hours while I slept. He's always been really good to her. It was his idea to adopt her. I actually wasn't sure about it at first."

"Why not?"

"Because I always had hope that you would come around." Stevie admitted, smiling sadly. "I always hoped that one day she could know you. But by the time Mick and I got together, she was seven years old already. So I gave in, because I had to admit you might never come back. Before we did it, I asked Mick if he would be supportive if Wrenna ever decided to seek you out. He said he would be, so I let him adopt her. It was a good decision, because she had a father in the house. She cried when he asked her. She said she'd always wished for a daddy like him." Stevie teared up thinking about it now. "He had two daughters of his own. And they were adults by the time Wrenna was adopted. So I worried he wouldn't be up for raising her with me. But he was. He was up for all of it."

"You're happy with him." Joe said, more as an observation than a question.

"More so than I ever thought I could be with anyone." Stevie confirmed. "And you? You're married?"

"Yeah, I've been with Marjorie for about twelve years now."

"And you have more kids? Don told me you've got sons."

"Two boys, yes. They're teenagers now. From my last marriage – before Marjorie." Stevie raised her eyebrows but didn't comment. She knew this would be at least Joe's fifth marriage. "And you? You never had any more kids besides Wrenna?"

"I was 39 when she was born. There wasn't any time to have more. I would have liked to, but the one I have is pretty perfect. And I'm close with my stepdaughters."

"You and Wrenna – you've always been close."

"We have."

"That time I came to see you in the rehab – do you remember that?"

"I do." Stevie nodded. "Lori told me she put you up to it."

"Yeah – well – I wasn't going to let her take the fall. But anyway, I was on a lot of drugs back then and even I could see you looked terrible. And then when I started telling you I was gonna take Wrenna, you stood up and got in my face. Your whole body changed. I knew then that you were going to live. I thought, 'this kid is too important for her to die'."

"She was the most important thing – more than the music, more than anything. She still is."

"You know I was never gonna take her. All that stuff I said to you that day – it was all bullshit. I would have never done that to Wrenna." He said.