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He nodded. “There are a few strip joints, but those weren’t the only people who sought her out. Meg worked with entertainers and encouraged them to think of themselves as a business. She always said artists shouldn’t starve, and her definition of artist was broad.”
“Your wife sounds amazing.”
Fondness mixed with loss in his features. “She was.” He stared out the window, lost in his past.
He’d loved her, and he missed her. Did he talk about her often? Occasionally, the kids made offhand comments about their mom.Mom didn’t like when we put sugar on our oatmeal. Mom didn’t like this shirt. Mom could braid really well.But that was as far into the memories of her they delved. Around me anyway.
I didn’t want to trash his whole day. “I knew I was a charity case.” I tried to lighten the mood.
His attention snapped back to me, and the earlier expression was gone. “Pro bono, and no. I’m in a tough spot, and so are you. It’s okay to help each other. I have the money, and you have the time.”
“In my experience, whoever has the money usually has the power.”
I expected him to argue with me, but he nodded. “That’s been my experience too. But money won’t teach my kids to dance or help Grayson handle his feelings. So you’ve got me there.”
He complimented me more as his nanny than I’d ever been complimented as a dancer. “I bet you do a mean two-step.”
A ghost of a smile played over his lips. “I was born two-stepping, California.”
I’d love to find out if he was telling the truth, but it’d never happen and I shouldn’t want it to. Yet I did.
* * *
Cody
Tova’s earlier confession streamed through my head on repeat as I watched her joke with the kids and laugh with Sutton.
Anyone who didn’t know Sutton would think she looked cheerful, like she loved her job and enjoyed her summer days. But I’d known Sutton for over ten years, since she and Wilder had started dating. I considered her family. Her expression brightened when she talked to Tova, but her eyes were rimmed with pink, like she had woken up crying. Her face was wan. The stress of the divorce, moving, and opening a new business was getting to her, but she’d never share her struggles with me.
I wished I could’ve talked sense into Wilder, but I was the last guy he’d listen to. He was the second oldest, and there’d been a rivalry between us that originated with him.
I could stand and dissect a relationship I knew little about, or I could ask for a little more of Sutton’s time. The kids missed her, and I’d been too wrapped up in barrel prices and projections to arrange a meetup with her and the kids.
“Sutton, can I ask you a small favor in case dropping kittens and kids on you on a Saturday morning isn’t enough?”
“Please,” she said, squirting dewormer into the kittens’ fur. “It’s not as if my doors are bursting with customers yet. Just the women who got dumped by Dr. Jake.” She dropped her volume for the last part.
I’d heard of the other vet in the area and his reputation. Decent guy if you were a dude or an animal. A dog himself when it came to women. “Then you should be filling up in no time.”
She laughed. “One can hope. But if you want to keep the kids here for an hour while you grab cat supplies I doubt you own, then yes.”
“How’d you guess?” I asked it jokingly, but she’d known how Meg was with pets. No pets had been the best kind for her. “Tova, do you want to stay or help me pick out pet supplies?”Come with me. The more time I had with her alone, the more I wanted. Apparently, I was shameless about it too.
I missed adult conversation that wasn’t about those projections and barrel prices. That was it.
“I’d love a better chance to see the town,” Tova said.
“I want to go with you, Dad,” Grayson said. He’d listed several items I was supposed to buy on the way over.
“Us girls can stay here,” Ivy said and plopped onto a chair with a kitten in her lap.
It’d be weird if I argued. I hadn’t gotten many opportunities to talk to Tova. I should be thanking Grayson for sparing me from thinking about how that skirt draped over Tova’s hips. I didn’t need to be waking up with more superimposed images of her over or under me.
“No naming the cats until we get back,” I warned Ivy.
Grayson’s eyes widened as if it hadn’t occurred to him missing out on naming was a possibility. “Never mind. I’ll stay.”
Sutton grinned. “Go ahead, Tova. Kids naming animals can be a multi-day event.”
