Page 4 of Fierce-Dane

He and Mel weren’t suited. End of story.

They had two beautiful kids out of it that were his world.

“Dane, how are you doing?”

He turned his head from where he’d been watching Tiffani on the dance floor with his sister.

“Hi, Carolyn. Diane. I’m doing well. How are you?”

“We are great,” Diane said. “Weddings are a wonderful thing, aren’t they?”

“They are,” he said. “Especially when the couple is in as much love as Royce and Chloe.”

“We are good that way,” Carolyn said, brushing her knuckles over her shoulder. “No one wants to give us credit, but we deserve it.”

Dane smiled at the two women and was thrilled they didn’t know him well enough that he’d worry they’d interfere in his life.

His sister swore that Grant and Garrett were the best employers ever, and from what he’d heard, there was nothing to say otherwise.

But the matching up of people to him was on the intrusive side.

Hey, whatever worked for people and it worked for his sister so he wasn’t complaining.

“I’m sure you let everyone know you get the credit,” he said, grinning.

“We do,” Diane said. “How come someone as young and good-looking as you is here all by himself?”

He snorted. “I don’t do so well when it comes to relationships in case you haven’t heard.”

Carolyn waved her hand. “Nonsense. One hiccup doesn’t mean you give up trying.”

He’d humor the two women. “I haven’t given up,” he said. “Just have a change of focus. The kids come first.”

“Of course they do,” Diane said. “Always. But we are glad to know you haven’t given up.”

The two women dashed away giggling like schoolgirls.

“What did they want?” his mother asked when she returned to their table. His mother had been mingling and half keeping an eye on Tyler. They had to divide and conquer when he was at these things and knew the kids couldn’t be contained together.

He was just happy Tyler was willing to not be glued to his side so much lately.

For a solid year or more, his son only wanted to live with him and not Mel. The exchanges every four days had gotten better, but that was only because he had to do a lot of convincing that Tiffani needed her little brother to watch out for her so he should go where she is to keep an eye on things.

As much as he would have loved to have full custody, he wouldn’t do that to his kids or his ex-wife.

Mel loved the kids and was in a good spot in her life. The kids were as well adjusted as could be and that was all he could ask for.

If he had to lean on his parents a lot when he had hiskids overnight for his on call weeks, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

No thirty-five-year-old wanted to spend the night at their parents’ house, but it was better than letting his kids stay the night without him when it was his turn to have them and he was called in. He just stayed there too, and that way if he was called, the kids weren’t disturbed and were unaware of it but still looked after.

“Just talking,” he said. “Nothing major.”

“Are you sure they weren’t fishing?” his mother asked. Doreen Grey had thought the whole thing was crazy that Chloe had been secretly set up, but you couldn’t tell his sister anything. Chloe had always been headstrong, but it worked well for her.

Maybe if he was as strong as his sister at times and put his foot down, things would have turned out differently.

Then he looked at Tiffani twirling in her light green dress and knew that was wrong. Change one thing and you change the course of so much. He’d not change a thing if that meant not having his children.

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