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“The next time you have them will be the last game.”
“You mind bringing them down that Friday so I’m not making three round trips?”
Since he asked sort of nicely, I said, “That’s fine.”
The game started. Holden was dropped in a crouch, directing kids, while Stetson roamed up and down the sidelines. When Landon wasn’t playing, I had a hard time paying attention to the game.
“The kids say you’re still seeing Coach B.”
“Yeah, they gave us their blessing.”
His jaw flexed. “Is it serious?”
“Don’t, Henry,” I said quietly.
He kept his voice low. “I’m just asking.”
He was just asking, but I was angry that I didn’t have an answer. I’d just been thinking about how I couldn’t do serious with Holden. It was a mindfuck because of Henry. I didn’t want to tell my ex that and let him know how much power he still had over my life.
“What about you and Jenni?” I countered. Inwardly, I winced. What if he answered thinking I owed him an answer about me and Holden?
“Jenni’s…young.”
I couldn’t keep my snort in. The girls looked at us, but I kept watching the field like I’d done nothing. “She’s still an adult.”
“Yeah, but she’s not like you. You had your shit together at her age.”
“We were having our second kid at her age.”
“I know. It’s, just, sometimes I don’t think she understands why my job requires all the time it does. I can’t just take a tropical vacation every couple months.”
Poor thing.I kept the sarcasm to myself. For all of two seconds. “I bet she likes payday well enough.”
His expression flickered, but he covered it quick enough. “To answer your question, though, yes, it’s serious. I wouldn’t have ended our marriage and bought a house with her if it wasn’t.”
His answer gnawed at my brain. He was so serious about a young nurse he’d met when he swung by the ICU where I worked that he’d started meeting her outside the hospital. And when I’d seen them leave together while I was in a patient’s room, he’d been so serious about her that he’d lied. I was sure it wasn’t a coincidence that he didn’t move in with her until I filed for divorce and told him he couldn’t sleep in the bedroom anymore.
I inhaled a calming breath. I wasn’t the bitter ex. But I would answer his question honestly. I had to reclaim the power he had over me. “Honestly, I don’t know how serious it is with Holden. I have myself and the kids to think about, but I do know that he makes me feel good about myself. He treats me well.”
Henry’s jaw tightened. “I asked around about him, you know. One of the residents at the hospital is from Hazen and knows of the Barrons.”
Hazen was twenty-five miles away, but the small towns in this area were like one big small town. “Okay?”
He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Holden has a reputation.”
“I’m aware.”
Surprise flickered in his dark eyes.
I shrugged. “He’s not just arm candy. We talk.”
He ground his jaw together. “I don’t know this guy. You barely know him, but the kids talk about him all the time.”
“Is that what’s upsetting you?”
“No, I’m worried that a guy like him is going to leave their lives as fast as he entered.”
Henry could raise all the alarms he wanted, but I had a big ol’ firehose ready to snuff out his bogus concerns. “You cheated on me. Is that what you’re going to do for the rest of your life? Cheat on your partners?” I tilted my head. “Would you think it’s fair if that was how you were labeled for the rest of your life?”
