if she wanted to make a voodoo doll of Roxie’s dad, he might help stick the pins in. “He’s got a real good point, and I’ve made my decision.”
“It’s the wrong one.” Armie’s frown was illuminated by the moonlight. “You did something stupid. It’s not going to hold her back. It might cause her some ribbing from everyone else, but she won’t be the first cop in the world to fall for a less than perfect human being. Look who I married. Do you know how many tickets she has?”
“I’m known for my lead foot,” Lila said with a smile that quickly turned serious. “But Zep, he’s right. This is something the two of you can overcome. Did she tell you she was concerned with it?”
He hadn’t even opened up that argument because, while he’d been right, it was an argument he couldn’t win. “She didn’t mention it. She won’t. She’ll go into it not thinking about how I could hold her back. Maybe if we had more time, it would make sense. But she can’t give up her whole career for a man she’s spent exactly one week with.”
“I moved from Fort Worth to be with your father after a week,” his mother said. “He was in town negotiating for some equipment for the restaurant. I left with him when he went home, and I wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world. Nothing, Zep. Even knowing how it would end, I would go back and follow him time and time again because that man was half of my soul. I got to be whole for a while, and I know when I go, he’ll be waiting for me and I’ll be whole again. Baby, you don’t want to go through your life without the person who can make you feel that way.”
Emotion welled inside him. “I don’t know what to do. If I try to stay with her, I hurt her. If I ask her to stay with me, I hurt her. If I walk away, I hurt her, but at least she has a chance to find what she’s always wanted.”
“What if what she’s always wanted was you?”
He turned because Lila had asked the question. The nurse practitioner had joined her husband on the lawn. She always looked professional at work, but she was wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt that showed a slight rounding of her belly. She rested her hand there as she stared across the grass at him.
“That wasn’t what she said. I assure you Roxanne King didn’t spend her childhood dreaming about finding a man,” he pointed out.
A mysterious smile curved Lila’s lips up. “Neither did I, and I’m not saying she would take any man. I’m not saying she would give up her career and settle down into some perfect gender role. I never thought I would be here, and if you’d told my younger self I would find what I needed in Papillon, Louisiana, I would have laughed at you. But I found myself here. I found a me I like, a me who wants a family and who wants to raise them here. It was about more than falling for Armie. It was about finding myself. Have you asked her if she wants to stay?”
“No, but only because I know she’ll regret it,” he insisted.
Armie pointed his way. “Then her dad got to you and he’s living in your head rent free, brother. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about women, it’s that we don’t get to choose for them. That’s not what a marriage is. You can’t make this decision for her.”
“There’s no decision to be made.” He wasn’t sure they were listening to him.
“No, there isn’t because you’re not allowing her one,” Armie replied. “You’re not giving her a choice because you don’t think you’re good for her. You’re wrong. You are good for her. This place is good for her. I knew her before she moved down here. She’s more relaxed than she’s ever been. She’s softer than she was, and she’s started to really find her place here and not just at the stationhouse. But I can’t force you to see that she needs more than a job. Look, she’s coming back. She won’t simply quit. She’ll work out a notice. My suggestion to you is to take this time and decide what you want.”
“I want her to be happy.” It was all he’d ever wanted.
“Then find out what will make her happy,” his mom