“I need six dollars before I turn it in.” Livie beamed.
“Remind me in the mornin’.”
“I need six dollars too,” Fisher growled. He jumped into a fighter stance, pulling out two hip-holstered finger laser guns and began shooting me. He was excellent with the sounds, hands and mouth coordinated perfectly. Less than an instant later, all the boys began laser shooting each other.
“Abuela made the salad with peaches and blueberries,” Mia’s words tumbled out excitedly, dropping the table napkins in front of me. I was still sitting in the same seat I started in an hour ago. “It has the lemon poppy dressing. It’s so good.”
“Yum. Go wash your hands before dinner,” I said, waggling my eyebrows at her excitement as a set of headlights beamed across the living room.
“Can you see who it is?” I asked Amelia, craning my head until I was standing, to see better out the front windows.
“Looks like Dash’s Tahoe, but he’s taking Lon to the airport.”
Lon had flown in for the afternoon, the first time ever coming to Sea Springs, but Amelia was right, Dash was driving him to a private airport in South Houston. I knew that with certainty because I checked the schedule and planned accordingly. Which meant, when the kids went down for bed, so did I.
The world required too much work to continue at this pace for much longer. A yawn broke my mouth open as if to drive the point home.
“Daddy’s home,” West hollered, vaulting over a kitchen chair with the grace of a reckless rhinoceros. He bolted for the door, the other kids stampeding after him. Their laughter echoed and footsteps clomped as they went. Dixie and Duke came crashing through the doggie door at a full run to greet Dash too.
My breath caught as West opened the front door and revealed Lon’s unmistakable figure. For a moment, the world stilled, going quiet. Tunnel vision showed two men standing in the doorframe—Dash, with his familiar energy, and Lon, whose presence seemed to absorb the room like a gravitational force. They were an eye-popping, heart-slamming duo, physically speaking.
How was Lon better looking today, than ten years ago?
“Daddy’s with a friend,” Hunter exclaimed, his voice piercing the quiet. My world slingshotted back into place as Lon stepped over the threshold intoeveryroom because of this ridiculously open concept home. My stomach flip-flopped, an exhale finally released, allowing additional breath into my lungs.
I hadn’t expected to ever see him again.
Definitely, not see him here in my house.
Especially not tonight.
Dash knew my feelings.
The overwhelming green-eyed monster took over the reasonable side of my headspace. Except it didn’t. Lon was the kind of guy who mesmerized you. I wanted to know him. I wanted to be him, and I wanted my own mesmerizing guy to stay away from him.
The life Lon represented was a polar opposite to ours.
“Paw didn’t think you’d be home tonight,” Livie murmured, her steps faltering as Dash ushered Lon further inside. Lon’s sharp, discerning gaze swiftly scanned the large space, stopping briefly on each child.
In better lighting, I saw the age, but time had treated him unusually kind. The silver streaks in his groomed beard and dark hair added to his air of refinement. Somehow, he seemed more striking—his presence commanding and effortless.
“Good God,” Lon said with a low whistle, his lips curving into a wry grin. “The girls are identical and beautiful. You’ll be fending off the boys with a baseball bat, Dash.”
The room hummed with unspoken questions, and the dogs bouncing for attention.
I was stuck under the weight of what Lon’s return might mean. Fisher gave his quiet whistle, commanding the dogs.
My boy had my back in calming the two down.
Lon’s discerning gaze settled on me. Sharp and warm, I felt instantly exposed, but okay with that. “You’ve got your hands full.” He strode across the room like he owned the place, his hand extending to me. I clasped it. “Dash was driving me to the airport when I realized I hadn’t seen your bunch in person.”
His charming gaze caught Amelia coming around the table, and he smiled.
“Are you staying for dinner?” she asked.
Answerno, answerno, answerno, my inner voice chanted. I hadn’t dealt with Lon since I left Chicago. No, I never directly blamed him for Dash’s choices, but he’d certainly done his share to keep Dash tethered to a world that made no room for me. He was the only man to come between us. The memories hovered, unbidden.
“The plane’s waiting, but you have a beautiful family. How are you all people pretty?”
