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“Maybe because she doesn’t feel like she should.”
I couldn’t tell whether Darlene was trying to tell me to say something first or if she was hinting at something else. At something I should have noticed that Christie already had. “Do you want us to get back together?”
We hadn’t really talked about it before. We’d been separated for almost a year before we actually filed for divorce, and by then, she’d met Duke. By then, I’d long accepted that we’d never get back together. We led different lives now.
“No,” Darlene finally said.
My shoulders fell, and I relaxed. “I think we can work better together as parents—”
“But not as a couple,” she finished, offering me an apologetic smile.
I just nodded and offered my hand, which she took. “I agree with you. I mean, this is the longest we’ve gone without yelling at each other in a while.”
Her laughter brought a light to her glassy gaze. She leaned against me, and I hugged her tight before releasing her. It almost felt like a goodbye, but in a way, it also felt like a new start. For both of us.
“Take me home?”
I nodded, and we walked to my truck. As we drove, I remembered the day we bought it to use to start my business. Darlene had been so pregnant I practically had to shove her butt to get her in it. When I chuckled, Darlene asked what I was laughing about.
“Just thinking about when we got this truck.”
“When I was still a balloon?”
I eyed her stomach and tried to picture her being a walking melon again. “I swore we were going to have twins.”
She nodded. “I was huge.”
“Very.” I winked at her icy stare, but we both laughed. The ride was quiet for a few minutes but comfortably quiet until we pulled into the driveway. “Looks like Duke’s here.”
“Yeah.”
Darlene just sat there, but she didn’t look nervous or afraid. Actually, she looked like she wanted to say something, which made me nervous and anxious as hell.
“I never cheated on you,” she said slowly. Her hair whipped across her face, she turned so hard, but the seat belt caught her, and she stopped short. “I didn’t.”
“I didn’t say...” But I remembered I had. I’d accused her countless times of cheating on me with Duke when they started dating so soon after our divorce was final.
“I met him while we were still in college. We didn’t talk much, so I never thought about bringing him up. We were friends in class mostly.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” I said, cutting her off. “You gave me a family, a son, and a purpose, Darlene. I’m the one who messed that up. You were nothing but loyal and honest with me, and it was unfair of me to doubt you at every turn.” She nodded. “Wehave a son, and I want us to work for his sake, even if it means adding another parent to the mix.”
“Ryan, that’s... Thank you. For saying that. We’ll be better parents than we were. I know you’re trying, and I know James will see it with you around him more. I shouldn’t doubt you the way I have been. It doesn’t help you or James.”
Darlene dipped her head as if to bow, then opened her door and slipped out. She dropped her purse and keys, squealed, and fumbled to pick them up.
I walked around to her side of the truck and chuckled. “Use your hands.”
“I was, dummy.” She scowled, but the expression melted to one of mild annoyance. “I swear, you act like an idiot every time you say or do something dumb.”
I picked up her keys and shot her a huge grin. “Just playing the part,” I said as I motioned her ahead of me, and we marched up the porch steps. I wasn’t sure how to leave her. I couldn’t kiss her like we were on a date, but at the same time, it seemed like a hug wasn’t enough.
All the lights were off in the house, with only one, her bedroom, aglow against the darkened panes. Darlene opened the door, then faced me, her lower lip between her teeth with another question on her mind. “Want to stay the night? On the couch, obviously. You can drive me to pick up my car in the morning.”
I almost turned her down—I wasn’t sure I wanted Duke to wake up to his girlfriend’s ex-husband sleeping on their couch—but if I said no, I was afraid Darlene would take it the wrong way. “Sure.”
She nodded and left the door open as she disappeared into the darkness. I flipped on the light, and the living room flooded with color, almost waking me up. I hadn’t realized how tired I was, but I took off my shoes and sprawled out on her long couch.
Before I knew it, something pounded on my chest, knocking the air from my lungs. I sat up quickly to the sound of little giggles and the toasted smell of coffee beans in the grinder.
