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Maybe he doesn’t know his new employee is Kevin yet, Tim mused, rubbing his beard contemplatively. He would have called me otherwise, wouldn’t he?
Or maybe not.
Sometimes, the boys operated on a “we’ll catch up whenever I see ya” basis and held all their news to tell at once—whether or not any of it concerned their buddies. Some men did that on the golf course or at the country club. Tim hadn’t been to either place in months.
“I’ll pick him up tomorrow after he’s done,” Tim said. “I’d like to chat with Frank and pass on some notes.”
Judge shrugged. “Fine with me. As long as he’s back at your house or Heidi’s by six-thirty every night, neither his probation officer nor I will have any complaints.” Judge fixed his gaze on Kevin and grinned. “Now, we’re gonna make this a real good experience, you hear?”
It wasn’t so much a question, but a threat—Southern style.
Kevin bobbed his eyebrows and made a strangled grunting noise.
Heidi poked his back. “Try that again, please, using human language.”
“Yes,sir,” he murmured hostilely.
“Better. Let’s go. Mind if I pick up some lunch before I lock him in my cellar, Judge?”
“Nearby?”
“Yes.”
“Fine with me.”
Tim walked Heidi and Kevin as far as the drugstore when she waved Tim away, whispering, “Go! He doesn’t need both of us here, especially when he’s barely tolerating one of us at a time.”
Tim gritted his teeth and took a deep breath through his nose. “Will I see you at work or should I swing by and drop yours off later?”
“Bring it over.”
“Sure thing.”
“That’s my fuckin’ car!” Kevin shouted, wresting himself away from Heidi’s arm.
A shiny red Camaro cruised past and braked at the light on the corner. The spoiler was familiar. The window tint was right. The license plate was wrong, but Tim imagined anyone would have gotten rid of a vanity plate that read “BALLUH” as soon as they conceivably could have.
Heidi laughed. “Yes. It most certainlywasyour car, but now it’s my car and I can do with it whatever I see fit, including loaning it out to people. Isn’t that great?” Her smile fell away in a flash. “Now, let’s go inside and get you a sandwich and some grape juice. Maybe they’ll cut your crust off if you ask nicely.”
“Mom!”
“Enough.” She pulled the drugstore door open and pointed. “Go.Now. I am at my wit’s end with you. I’m not going to give up, but I’m going to stop being nice. If that’s what you wanted all along—fine. You’re going to get it. The mean mommy you always craved.”
Kevin cut his gaze to Tim.
Tim crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin. “Just because we’re not married anymore doesn’t mean we don’t agree.”
“Ugh!” Kevin stomped into the drugstore and Heidi followed on his heels.
Letting out a ragged exhalation, Tim nudged his phone out of his shorts pocket. He input Valerie’s number, and like always, it went straight to voicemail. “I bet she’s got me blocked.”
He stuffed the phone back into his pocket and headed for the back parking lot on the other side of the main street. If that were truly the case, pursuing her would feel like an unwelcome invasion into her privacy, but he was like Heidi in another way besides the parenting style one.
Bossy dom or not, he would want to be pursued. He wanted confirmation just like anyone else that he was on the right track and that his efforts would be rewarded in the end.
It seemed like courtship had been a much easier thing twenty years ago. But back then, nobody had quite as many complications. All they had was an abundance of hormones and empty bank accounts.
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