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Delighted he had not let go of her hand, she twisted to face him. “Thanks for dinner. Again. Next time, though, my treat.”
“We’ll see.”
The way he flashed that lopsided grin that made her want to smile right back; she knew he had no intention of letting her pay. Some people would call that attitude chauvinist or even controlling. Not her. As far as she was concerned, she loved good old-fashioned chivalry. Having Paxton treat her like a lady.
They swung in silence for several minutes before Paxton cleared his throat. “So, want to tell me about that text?”
Did she? It took her another moment to realize that she really did want to share with him. “Ed.”
Paxton bobbed his chin, but let her speak at her own pace.
“Every so often I get texts where he’s yelling at me for something.”
Again, he nodded.
“This time he’s lost another job. He missed a few days’ work and got fired. He thinks it’s my fault for leaving.”
“How does your leaving cause him to lose time at work?”
Why was anything her fault? What was the point of protecting Ed anymore? “If I’m not there to wake him up, he’ll sleep the day away. But it doesn’t really matter. For him, everything he did wrong was always my fault.”
All Paxton did was bite down on his back teeth. She had the feeling he wanted to say something but refrained.
“You see, shortly after David was born, Ed started drinking more. Nothing much. A few extra beers after work to unwind. Then he started drinking whisky. Said it helped him sleep through the baby crying all night.”
Paxton blew out a heavy and disapproving sigh.
“By the time David was a toddler, Ed was drinking heavily from the minute he got home until he fell into bed. Literally. I kept telling myself that as long as he didn’t drink during the day, it wasn’t that bad. That may be, when David didn’t need so much of my time, Ed would ease up on the booze.”
“I gather that didn’t happen?”
This time she shook her head. “I suspected he was taking something else during the day, but couldn’t prove it. Eventually it got so bad that I had to practically drag him out of bed, fill him with coffee, and some mornings even dress him like a little kid.”
She could see Paxton processing her words, and knew from the twitch in his jaw that he was struggling to keep calm and silent.
“After a couple more years I realized that the only thing keeping me in the marriage was my pride. So I filed for divorce.”
“And he didn’t fight you?”
“He was too drunk to keep his thoughts straight. But he did fight for full custody.”
Paxton’s eyes flew open wide as silver dollars.
“I always knew it wasn’t for the love of his son, he hardly paid any attention to him at all. Last year, after a fight about his drinking, he grabbed David and stormed out of the house. I couldn’t stop him, so I called the police. They wouldn’t do anything about it. They patiently told me that it’s not illegal for a man to go out with his son, even if the only time he ever took David anywhere was to get back at me for something. I was so scared.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” His hand landed on hers, giving her the strength to keep talking.
“Thankfully, because of his work records, one DUI, and my reporting him drunk and driving with David in the car, the judge agreed to shared custody only if Ed underwent regular drug testing. When he refused, that’s when I knew I’d been right about him mixing drugs with alcohol. At that point the judge granted me permission to move home even though Texas was out of state. Ed was spitting mad, though I never understood why. He doesn’t care about David. I don’t know, maybe he really does hate me enough to take my son away from me. But,” she forced a smile, “that’s all over and now we’re safe and sound in Tuckers Bluff.”
It took Paxton a few moments to form words. “Thank you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Thank you for trusting me with your story.”
If it were physically possible for a heart to melt, hers would have. The man was thanking her. She sure was glad that somehow fate had managed to bring her and Paxton both back to Tuckers Bluff at the same time. For the first time in a long time, she felt as if everything was not just going to be better, it was going to be great. And there wasn’t a thing Ed Morton could do to ruin it.
Chapter Seventeen
