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“Do you want my contact info or not?” Ryan asked.
“I’ve got your number. That’s enough.”
“I’m working at Lang again.”
“Wait. You sat on your ass for three years and let Lisa pay for everything, and the week you move out, you go back to work? Amazing.”
“Fuck off, Dan. I thought we were family. Why didn’t Pam tell you?”
“How would she know?”
“I called and asked her to let me stay at Jack’s apartment, and she wouldn’t.”
“She’s finally wise to you. She was probably afraid to tell me.”
“Whatever, dude. Give me a call when you calm the fuck down.”
“I will.”
They ended the call.
Pam stood in the den doorway, her arms folded across her body, tapping the toe of her shoe. The rat-a-tat-tat echoed through the room, and Dan had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. It was a familiar posture.
“Don’t tell me. Ryan,” she said.
Dan looked up from the TV. “Sweetheart, you don’t have any control over those two. He waltzed out of that house and left your daughter with all those kids and all the attic work undone. We’re just lucky the other men offered to step up. I’ll probably be there this weekend, if you’re okay with it.”
“I’m grateful. Just don’t do any tiling in the nude.”
“Ha! I promise. Do we have any plans?”
“I’m working on Christmas.”
“Thanksgiving isn’t until next week.”
“I want to get an early start, and if you want to help me string some lights around the conservatory, we can do that. The last team of men I hired to do it broke a pane of glass when they put an extension ladder up against it.”
“Knuckleheads. Sure, I’ll do lights.”
“Last summer, I couldn’t wait for the holidays, and now I can’t wait for them to be over.”
“Why do the lights, then? Let’s be together and light a candle, and that will be enough.”
“I know. I thought of that. But this year I want to heat the conservatory and have Christmas dinner out there with the ocean view. Our family is getting so big, we can’t do the dining room again. Last year it was too crowded.”
“Think about not letting Bella monopolize every second.”
“Dan, she makes the day for me. I can zone out with her. This year, she’s gotten so big, she won’t be on my hip like she was in the past. It’ll be fine. She’s already a little helper.” Then Pam paused and took a step closer to him. “Are you challenging me?”
Frowning, Dan got up from the recliner, shutting the TV off. It had been a long time since they’d looked at each other like this. Like adversaries.
“Can I be honest with you?”
“Of course, Dan. You never need to say that. What is it?”
“You don’t show Margaret as much attention as you do Sandra’s kid.”
“When she’s here, I try to stay out of the way. I haven’t been given the opportunity to get to know her, as you know. Julie keeps canceling your visits with your daughter.”
