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She giggled, and he loved hearing that sound even if it was because of some nonsense out of his mouth. Ashley was kind of on the serious side, which made her his complete opposite. He didn’t like to think of all the ways they were different, so he put that aside. With Mittens still latched on like a furry barnacle, he stood and helped Ashley bring the soup to the table.
“Did you make this?”
“No, I bought it at the Sunny Side Up Diner. They have this amazing chicken noodle, but they were out today so I went with the potato and leek.” She must have noticed his reaction because her face fell. “Sorry, do you hate this kind of soup?”
“No, not at all.” He fought for his composure. Here was his mother again, turning every nice thing into a problem. It really felt like this town wasn’t big enough for both of them. “Do you go there a lot? The diner?”
“Not that much. Willa loves the French toast but it’s more of a treat kind of place.”
Her family must be financially strapped if French toast in a neighborhood diner was a treat. He tried the soup. It was good. Really good. He doubted his mother had any part in preparing it, so he sucked it up and smiled.
“It’s great. Sorry, I’m just distracted. Big game in a couple of days in New York.”
The look she sent his way said she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t push. One thing he’d noticed about Ashley was her quiet patience, which was incredibly calming. He didn’t want to lie to her, so he came up with a version of the truth.
“Someone I don’t get along with works at the diner and I get weirded out whenever I hear its name. It’s childish, I know.”
“You can’t help having a visceral reaction to the mention of it. I get it, honestly. When I hear ‘Hey Ya’ by Outkast, I feel like throwing up.”
“You do?”
“It was playing at the coffee shop where I saw my ex kissing our babysitter. So now that song is ruined and is forever related to this thing that happened.”
“That sucks.” The more Dex heard about this ex, the more he hated the guy.
“Agreed. But to be honest, it was over long before then. We would have been better off co-parenting without the pressure of making a marriage work. I wanted to be married. And Greg didn’t. He’s not husband material. He’s barely father material.”
“Willa seemed hurt the other day when he didn’t show. But kind of accepting, too. Like it’s a regular occurrence.”
“She’s used to his neglect. I try to make it up to her—we all do. But then my sisters like to talk about what a jerk he is, and it just perpetuates this cycle. I try not to bad-mouth him. It’s not fair on Willa. And I don’t like to carry that kind of negativity around. It just eats away.”
He knew all about that. “So you never get mad at him?”
“Sure I do. But I try to do it so Willa doesn’t hear or know.”
Willa knew. Ashley might think she was keeping that under wraps, but kids always knew.
His phone buzzed on the counter and he checked it quickly.
Kershaw
Cards at Hunt’s place at 7 p.m. Bring beer. Nothing cheap.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just an invite to a poker game at one of my teammate’s tonight.”
“Oh, that’s fun.”
It should be yet the doubts about their motives niggled. “Maybe I won’t go. They’re all pretty tight and it sucks being the new guy.” Even after a year and a half on the team.
Mittens chose that moment to give a plaintive meow, which from his spot on Dex’s shoulder was more like a roar in his ears. Dex pulled him down into his lap.
“You know what it’s like being the new guy, don’t you, little one?”
He looked up to find Ashley watching him closely. “Sorry, there I go with my woe-is-me again.”
“It’s tough being new, forced to move around, especially when the team decides you’re more useful as a trade. I’m betting you never get used to that.”
