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Now he’s insinuating I might be capable of hurting Charlotte? That’s it, I’m fucking done. “Don’t worry, officer, I’ve never physically harmed anyone. That’s your department, isn’t it?”
With that, she enters the melee. “All right, Ethan, tell Wes you’ll talk to him later. Wes, now’s not a good time, okay?”
When the screen goes dark, Charlotte turns to Ethan smiling. “Hey, you want your dad to read you a story before nap time? He has to leave soon.”
“I not tired.”
I shake my head in frustration, mad at myself for letting my anger get the better of me. But I can’t help but follow the direction my imagination’s taking. I’m bombarded with images of Wes hunting for rocks along the shoreline with my son, Wes turning off the lights and locking all the doors at night to keep them safe, Wes holding Charlotte in his arms.
I choke it back. “How about a swing in the hammock?”
“Okay,” he agrees, taking my hand, but a frown mars his face. Kids are perceptive.
Ten minutes pass before Charlotte makes her way across the backyard. Ethan’s out cold. “I’ll take over. You can get on the road.”
“Are you with him, Charlotte?”
She takes her time before answering. Drags one bare foot back and forth through the grass. “No, I’m not.”
That’s not the whole story. “Hey, I’m sorry.”
“About what?” she challenges.
“The way I acted before. I was out of line.” She nods, bites her bottom lip. “But you know my history with him. You think I’m going to be on board with him being a part of Ethan’s life?”
“Let’s not do this now, all right?”
“Can we just talk?” Fuck, I’m so frustrated I could scream. “There’s so much I wanted to talk about this weekend, and damn, we’ve barely had five minutes alone. Now I’m getting right back into my truck and driving for six hours.”
“I knew this was going to be too hard.”
“No!” I whisper scream. “I’d drive twenty-four hours straight, each way, every damn weekend just for the chance to spend a few hours with him. It’s not a hardship. I’m just pissed because everything I say is coming out all wrong, I’m leaving here on a bad note, and I’ll have to stew on this all week without the chance to set things straight with you.”
And before she gets a chance to answer me, the entire brood pulls into the driveway, making such a ruckus when they storm out the door to the back deck that Ethan wakes up. He climbs over me, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, his excitement skyrocketing once he catches sight of the boys.
“Forget it. I’ve gotta head out.”
I’m fully aware that I sound like a baby, but Ethan doesn’t even spare me a glance backward. Between that and Wes the Wonder Boy’s call, I suddenly feel like a loser whose best friend just flat-left him for the more popular kids.
* * *
Charlotte
“Are you all right?”
I sink into the couch. “That could have gone better.”
Lawrence takes a seat across from me and then Barbara joins us in the living room. “The boys are painting with Ethan on the deck. They know not to let him near the water.”
“Thanks.”
“It looked like there was some conflict when Simon was leaving.”
I roll my eyes. “For God’s sake…Can we not do therapist-speak right now?”
“Okay.” She smiles, and I’m grateful Barbara’s never put off by my attitude, even when I turn all snarky-teen on her. “What I meant to say is that Simon looked pissed.”
“Wes called right in the middle of their father-son farewell.”
