Page 20 of His for the Holiday

10

SUTTON

Emery and I had been somewhat close in high school. She had always been in with a more popular, sporty crowd, but we’d always meshed well. Since our parents had been friends and we’d lived on the same street, we’d known each other in a different way. Unlike her brother, Emery had never been put off by my status as a nerd.

Walking around the carnival with her after dark, we clutched our spiked cider and chowed down on lobster rolls, laughing as we talked about our woes as single moms.

“I swear.” She giggled as she took another sip of her cider. “If one of them tells me again that I’m not their father, I’m going to say that I know, and I know it because I’m not in rehab right now.”

I grimaced. “Their father is in rehab?”

“Yep,” she said cheerfully, but I could hear she was faking it. “For the third time. Honestly, I don’t even know why he goes anymore. It’s the same thing every time and it doesn’t work.”

“Maybe he really wants it to?” I suggested, though from what little she’d told me about the guy tonight, he was a heavy drinker who loved the alcohol more than anything or anyone in his life—including himself and his own health.

Emery scoffed and shook her head at me. “Trust me, he doesn’t want it to work. In order for it to work, he would have to give up drinking, which is just never going to happen.”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t really know what else to say. “If he does eventually stop drinking, do you think you’ll give him another chance?”

“No,” she said decisively. “I know that’s what he thinks is going to happen. He keeps saying that he’s trying and that he wants his family back, but he’s proven time and time again that we can’t trust him.”

“What did he do?”

“Other than always going back to the booze?” She sighed. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. He’s never where he says he’s going to be. I can’t even tell you how many times he’s disappointed the kids by not being at whatever they’ve got going on. He’s been arrested for so many things. Fighting. Driving under the influence. Public intoxication.”

“Yikes,” I said, grimacing. “He sounds like a mess.”

Sadness filled her eyes as she glanced at me. “After his second DUI, I finally pulled the plug on our marriage. He had Logan in the car with him that night. I don’t even want to think about what might’ve happened. And not only was he drunk but he was belligerent. Cussing. Falling all over the place. He even tried taking a swing at a cop. He’s lucky they didn’t shoot his drunk ass.”

“Wow. To have one of the kids around for that? It’s awful.”

“Yep. It’s definitely not the kind of example I want for my boys, you know? I just feel bad for them because I wish they had a guy in their lives. A male role model.”

“I hear you,” I said, and I really did understand. “Winnie asks me every day why Daddy doesn’t want to see her anymore. She adored Calen. He was hardly ever at home, but when he was, he was like a hero to her. He never cared about seeing her every day, but now, he can’t even be bothered to answer the phone when she tries to call him.”

Sympathy softened her features as she drained her drink and we stopped strolling to buy another. “All our kids are going to end up with daddy issues if we don’t do something about this.”

I laughed. “I’m not disagreeing with you, but I fail to see what we can do about it. Other than build a time machine and go back so that we can conceive these very same children with men who aren’t completely selfish jackasses.”

“You might be onto something there.” She chuckled, rummaging around her handbag for her wallet. She handed over some cash to the guy at the cider stand.

He smiled at her when he gave her the drink, and as we walked away, I inclined my head back in his direction. “The bartender guy seemed to like you. He has a nice smile. Maybe that’s a way to give your boys a good male role model. Start dating again.”

Emery’s eyes widened to the point that she had to be in pain. Then she started laughing and didn’t stop for a long time. “No, thank you. I’m definitely not interested in dating. You?”

“Nope.” I chuckled. “Well, at least you have Hawk home. That must be nice. I’m sure the boys are enjoying it.”

She paused for a beat before she nodded. “Yeah, it is nice having him here. I’ve been a bitch to him, but it’s like I can’t help myself. Every time I look at his face, I just think about how he’s been living fast and free back in LA, while I’ve been stuck here trying to keep our family together with spit and duct tape.”

I hummed at the back of my throat. “It can’t be easy. If it helps, I think he knows he screwed up.”

“Do you really think that?” She scoffed. “You have met him recently, right? The guy doesn’t feel bad about anything and he’ll never think that he screwed up.”

I chuckled. “Okay, you might not be wrong. He does seem to have become a little bit like that.”

“A little bit?” She waved me off and gulped down her cider. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s my big brother and I love him, but the guy needs to get his priorities straight. I’m just not sure how to get him to do that.”

“You never know. He could get them straight all by himself.”