Page 54 of Rancher's Return

“Yeah. Not really.”

“Even Marcus has a date,” he said.

“He does?”

“Yeah. He was excited about it.”

“That’s cute.”

“Sure. Cute. Terrifying. What was I thinking getting into kids at this level? Having to worry about sex and pregnancy and all that kind of stuff.”

She barked a laugh. “I don’t actually know. You’re an idiot. Or a glutton for punishment.”

“Do we have to worry about Colton and Lily sneaking off tonight?”

“No,” she said. “She’s actually meeting up with a group of her girlfriends afterward, and I have confirmed this with their mothers. Because obviously I’m well acquainted with subterfuge. It’s one thing to say you have plans, but I require proof. Also, I can track her cell phone. It is so much harder to be a kid these days.”

“Damn,” he said. “What a nightmare. Your parents can actually verify where you are?”

“Yes. I mean, you could leave your phone at a different location, but they won’t do that.”

“No,” he said, chuckling. “They won’t. Imagine being that connected all the time. What’s the fun in that? We used to get to run absolutely feral.”

“Yeah. Look where that got both of us.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Yeah. Fair.” He cleared his throat. “My brother said the other day that you can’t do too much second-guessing of your decisions. I mean, not when the decisions lead you to good places. I regret that I left home. But I don’t regret adopting the boys.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I get that. I regret my behavior after my brother’s death. I don’t regret Lily. And that’s always a really tricky thing as a parent. To try to make it very clear to her that I want her to have different...different paths available to her than I did, but to also make it very clear that I don’t regret being her mother.”

“I don’t envy you that.”

“She’s a good kid. I just have to be thankful for that every day. This has actually been...probably the most difficult part of our relationship. Because she’s trying to be a grown-up, and I don’t want her to be. And at the same time...I’mtrying to be a grown-up.”

“Yeah. Well. Do you regret that you...have to do this? Be a parent?” He looked at her, his eyes intense.

She shook her head. “Of course I don’t. I’m happy.”

“Me too.”

They spent a portion of the evening guarding the punch bowl and dealing with some mild bullying and a little bit of drama around two girls who came in the same dress. But otherwise, it was a pretty quiet evening. It was strange to be in the gym of the old school. She had been a different person back then. So had he.

And they had never been in it together. But here they were now.

The DJ onstage announced it was time to play some oldies, and she died inside when the first song was one that had been popular when she was in middle school.

“Did you hear that?” she asked. “We’re oldies.”

“Well, I’m offended,” he said. “But I have always liked the song.”

“It’s a good song,” she said, as the sweet vocals filtered through the gym. There was nothing to dislike about Sixpence None the Richer, and this one had been popular at school dances back then for a reason. The demand to be kissed was of course inside half the kids in this gym. Now and then.

A universal need.

“I think we should dance,” he said. “All the better to supervise these kids.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” he said. “Really.”

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