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Dani pursed her lips and gazed fondly at her son. “Don’t you like Chase?”

Cody shrugged. “He’s okay.”

“I thought you were getting along—”

“I said he’s okay, didn’t I? It’s just that he’s not Dad, if ya know what I mean.”

“I guess I do,” she said, feeling a dull pain deep in her heart. Cody would never accept Chase as a father or even a stepfather while Blake was around. And, regretfully, Cody had that right, she supposed.

“When did he say he’d be here?”

“Six-thirty.”

“It’s almost that time already.” Cody looked out the window and his brows drew together in vexation. “You’re sure you said six-thirty?”

“I’m sure. Now, don’t worry; he said he’d come,” she replied, slicing a ripe tomato from the garden and trying to ignore her own doubts about the evening.

“Aren’t you going to change clothes or something?” Cody asked as he fidgeted between the front door and the kitchen.

“No.” She started buttering the bread.

“But you could put on one of those dresses—you know the ones you always wear when Chase comes over.”

Dani whirled to face her son. She saw the expectation in his eyes and had to bite her tongue to keep from telling Cody exactly how she felt about his father. Instead she put her hands behind her and gripped the counter tightly. “Look, Cody, I don’t ‘dress’ for Chase or anyone for that matter. I realize this is probably hard for you to understand and I don’t really know what you think is going to happen tonight, but you may as well know that there’s no chance your dad and I will get back together.”

“You don’t know that—”

“I do,” Dani said firmly.

“But maybe he’s staying!”

Dani couldn’t stand the pain written all over Cody’s eager face. Looking out the window, she saw Blake’s pickup turning into the drive. With a sinking feeling, she said, “Your father said something about staying at Uncle Bob’s, looking for a job around town, but that doesn’t mean it will work out. It also doesn’t mean that he and I will ever get back together again. And I already told you that Blake couldn’t stay here in the house with us.” She turned to Cody, her eyes honest and kind. “You have to face the fact that it’s over between your dad and me.”

“But you won’t even give him a chance—” Cody heard the sound of Blake’s pickup and froze. He went to the window and watched as his father slid out of the truck, stretched, and with hat in hand, sauntered up to the front porch.

As soon as Blake knocked, Cody opened the door. Blake Summers and his son stared at each other for a minute before Blake opened his arms and the boy ran to him and hugged his father fiercely. “Dad,” Cody choked out and Dani’s heart nearly broke.

“Well, look at you,” Blake said, clapping Cody on the back and then holding him at arm’s length. “Ain’t you grown up?”

“Not quite,” Cody muttered.

“Oh, I don’t know ’bout that.” He walked into the kitchen and watched as Dani, balancing a platter of raw steaks, stepped outside to broil the meat.

Through the screen door, she could hear Blake and Cody talking, slowly at first and then more rapidly. Like long lost buddies, she thought, trying not to worry. Cody had the right to know his father; she couldn’t deny him.

“How about gettin’ your old man a beer?” Blake asked, and soon the sound of a can popping open reached Dani’s ears.

Oh, God, Blake, please don’t drink. From firsthand experience, Dani knew that Blake Summers and alcohol didn’t mix. Never one able to hold his alcohol, Blake became at first friendly, then belligerent, and eventually violent when he drank. It was only one beer, she reminded herself, and maybe he’d changed.

Nonetheless, she couldn’t get the steaks turned and broiled fast enough.

When she returned to the kitchen she found that Blake and Cody were in the living room involved in a heavy discussion about the NBA draft. Safe enough, Dani thought with relief and tossed the salad.

“Time to eat,” she called over her shoulder, and Blake got up and stretched. He took the spot that used to be his at the table.

“That’s where Cody usually eats,” she said.

“It’s okay,” the boy insisted. “Dad can sit wherever he wants to.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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