friends back in Phoenix. You can text them and get all this confirmed. I didn’t dump Sandy, and I would never abandon you.”
“I know.”
Some of the tension left his body. “You believe me?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Was that really why you refused to see me? You were leaving me first?”
“It wasn’t a very formed plan. Part of it was that and part of it was me testing you, I think. I wanted you to push back. I wanted you to get mad and demand I see you.”
“I would have, only I was giving you space.” Completely the wrong thing to do, he thought grimly. “The whole time you assumed my actions proved what you already believed.”
She nodded.
“I wish you could have talked to me,” he said.
“Me, too. And I wish you would have told me more about the divorce.”
“I didn’t want you to worry.” He ran his hand through his hair. “We are terrible communicators.”
She smiled. “Mom’s at fault, too. She should have made me see you.”
“I’ll be sure to mention that the next time we talk. She always enjoys being told she’s wrong.”
Joylyn laughed.
He reached for her hand again. “Can we start over? Can you believe that I’m so happy you’re here and that no matter what, you’re never getting rid of me?”
“I’ll try.”
“I love you, Joylyn.”
She swallowed. “I love you, too, Dad.”
He let the words wash over him. For this moment, things were good. He wasn’t dumb enough to believe one conversation could fix five or six years of problems, but it was a start.
“You want to go out to dinner?” he asked. “You can pick where. We can even go to that horrible barbecue place you like.”
“Why don’t you like it? You like barbecue.”
“It’s too cute. They’re trying too hard.”
“You just don’t like the dancing pigs. I think they’re the best part.”
He rose. “That’s where you want to go, isn’t it?”
She grinned. “You know it. And when we get home, we’re going to decorate the house.”
“As long as it’s not with dancing pigs, I’m in.”
* * *
Got a second?
Wynn stared at the text, ignoring the sense of excitement that bubbled up inside her at the message. Garrick wasn’t texting her about sex—it was after eight on a school night. There was no way they could do anything. Not that it being a school night mattered for them, but it meant Hunter was home.
Maybe she should hint to Hunter to have a sleepover with one of his friends, then figure out a way to subtly tell Garrick that she was going to have the house to herself, she thought with a smile as she texted him back.
Yes and you can even have more than just the one second.
Very funny. I’ll be right over.
She stood and looked at her son. Hunter was stretched out on the family room sectional, his gaze glued on the television where one of his favorite sitcoms played.
“Garrick’s going to stop by to talk about something,” she said. “We’ll be in the living room.”
“Okay, Mom.” His attention never left the screen.
“Later we’re going to hunt parrots and sell them on eBay.”
This time Hunter turned to face her. “Just because I don’t look at you doesn’t mean I’m not listening.”
She laughed. “Just checking.”
“Where would you hunt parrots? Aren’t they from South America? That’s a long way to go.”
“Yes, it is, although I believe there is a flock of parrots living somewhere in Los Angeles. And it’s not really a flock. A group of parrots is called a pandemonium.”
“You’re making that up.”
“Not even a little.”
Hunter sighed. “Parents are weird.”
“And yet you love me anyway.”
She headed for the front door and pulled it open just as Garrick stepped onto her porch.
He looked good. Tall and lean, with a hard edge to his expression. She thought about the events that had dominated the local news.
“Hi,” she said, stepping into his embrace and hugging him tight. “You okay after today?”
For a second he looked confused. “You mean the shooting.” He swore. “That’s not even what I wanted to talk about. Damn, it was a day.”
She led him into the living room where they sat on the sofa, facing each other. She tucked her feet under her.
“What happened?”
“With the shooting? From what I heard, the local news got all the details right. My guys are going to be okay. They’ll both be released in the morning. The suspect is dead, and based on what I saw he did to his own kid, I’m okay with that.” He held up a hand. “That