Page 2 of About Time

“First, it isn’t idiotic. Second, you can’t convince me those sweater-set moms at school drop-off aren’t pushing Adderall on the other moms. And lastly, our wives are constantly conspiring against us, so we need to stand together.” These are solid points. I don’t understand why the others don’t see it my way.

“Well, that was a bunch of words. To answer the only normal question you asked, Scott and Harlow fly in early this afternoon. I promised Wren we’d shut down the garage early and barbecue.”

I shake my head. “See, more evidence of how they conspire against us.”

“Fuck off. She asked me in the middle of giving me head. I would have promised her anything to get her mouth back on my dick. Just be glad I didn’t agree to pink uniforms at the garage,” he grumbles.

I exhale forcefully. “I’m never going to live that shit down, am I? My wife is a fucking nurse Griffin. Was I supposed to tell her we wouldn’t support Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Tits are pretty fucking important.”

Griffin rolls his eyes. This is not the first time we’ve had this argument. He will point out that I should have signed us up totake pledges or at least have advertised that we were supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In turn, I will fake outrage and insist that he has no vision. It’ll end in a draw because we’re equally matched in our stubbornness.

To sidestep this entire exchange happening again, I change the subject. “What still needs to be done for the barbecue today? It needs to be perfect if we’re going to convince the kid to move back here.”

“Once again, stop calling him a kid, and second why would he move back to this tiny college town when he’s got a fancy job in Seattle?” Griffin grumbles, taking my bait.

“Because we’re amazing and Seattle is too big,” I counter. I know he agrees with me, but admitting it would break the rules of our arguments. Well rule really, never agree or admit you’re wrong.

It’s not surprising when Griffin ignores me and continues to get ready for the barbecue. After a few minutes, he hands me a platter of raw steaks and burgers. “Maybe you can make yourself useful by running the grill.”

The sun is sinking under the horizon not long after we’ve finished dinner. Everyone gathers around the fire, except for the kids who were starting to fall asleep at the table once dinner wound down. They got so excited waiting for Scott’s visit that they burned themselves out early. A few minutes of wrestling with him after he arrived, combined with eating their weight in hotdogs and they didn’t stand a chance of lasting past sunset.

Knowing that we want to catch up with Scott, the wives, including Harlow, get all the kids into our respective houses. I had helped Donovan wire up all the properties with state-of-the-art cameras when Griff and I finally convinced him and his wife Bess to build a house on the empty lot next to Liam and Claudia. Now we can watch the kids from our smartphones while we hang out in our communal backyard.

I’m not surprised when they don’t come back right away. They like to ditch us and drink wine in Wren’s kitchen. It gives them a chance to talk about us, which is healthy because we can be a lot. Well, maybe not Scott and Donovan, but Griff and I are a handful. Don’t even get me started on Liam. Sure, he’s been on his best behavior for the last decade, but I don’t think we’ll ever be able to forget the events that brought all of us to this point in the first place. As horrible as it was at the time, if he hadn’t cheated on Wren the dominoes might not have fallen in a way for Hattie and I to be where we are now.

Scott kicks my foot getting my attention. “You are either really fascinated by fire, or you’re thinking very deeply about something.”

“I was just thinking about the past and how we ended up here together,” I say.

Liam winces. “I’m not sure I want to take a walk down memory lane. Some demons should be left in the past.”

Scott frowns. “The hard part about joining this group is that the rest of you all know each other’s history. Everyone knows how Harlow and I got together, but I know hardly anything about how all of this—” he gestures to our little cul-de-sac, “came to be. I know the basics of how you and Wren got together, Griff, but how did Charlie end up married to Wren’s aunt? Does that make him your uncle?”

Liam groans. “Dammit, there’s no way around talking about how big of a fuckup I used to be. See, Scott—” He leans forward with his elbows on his knees. “You know that I was married to Wren for five years. You may also know that my alcoholism was the main reason we got divorced.”

One thing about me is I laugh at the most inappropriate times, like right now, but I think I do a good job covering it with a cough. Not good enough though, because everyone turns to look at me. “Sorry, I think the kid knows she dumped you because you were cheating on her. Your daughter is practically the same age as your sister, Parker.”

“Stop calling Scott ‘the kid’,” Griffin grumbles automatically.

“That’s the part you had a problem with?” Liam asks.

Griff just shrugs. “We both caught you banging her best friend in that ridiculous sports car on your anniversary. The alcohol might have made you ambivalent about your vows, but she knew you were a drunk, what she didn’t know is that you were a cheater.”

Liam hangs his head. “I thought we all moved past this. I’ve done the work in getting sober. I still go to meetings, and I made my amends years ago. What more can I do after over ten years? Hell, the party you guys threw for me when I got my six-month chip is when Charlie and Hattie first got together.”

Griffin and Liam have a great relationship most of the time. They’ve come a long way from the early days when they refused to see or talk to each other. Still, any time someone brings up how Griffin and Wren got together both Hale men get irritable. It’s understandable, but I’m not willing to let their grumpy asses ruin a family dinner when everyone is actually here.

That’s not the only thing eating at me. I’ve been keeping a secret for over twenty years. It’s not like it’s been eating at me, at least not until Scott said that we all know each other’s history. Except that’s not completely true, because they only think they know how Hattie and I got together. For the most part, I’m a really open person, except when it comes to my wife.

Griffin and Liam start quietly bickering, a sure sign that tensions between them are rising. Scott, being the caretaker he is, diverts their attention. Scott focuses his attention on me. “Iknew you had game, Charlie, but you picked up Hattie at Liam’s six-month celebration? That’s pretty ballsy. And you’ve been together for all this time? I’m impressed.”

“Says the kid who stole his coach’s wife.” I roll my eyes. “But, actually, that isn’t when we first got together.”

“Actually, that’s when he proposed,” Liam chimes in.

Griffin appears lost in thought for a second, then he narrows his eyes and glares at me. “So when you helped me figure out where Wren had taken off to when we were fighting and you happened to know where Hattie lived, you told me you knew her friends who stayed in touch with her. Is that when you started pursuing her?”

I make a face. “Not really, and I didn’t need her friends to tell me where she was. I’ve always known where she was from the moment she left Harriston. At least, I knew she was in Florida, public records gave me her address.”

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