Page 14 of The Fall

“Shut up.” Sam’s face reddens with anger.

My heart breaks. The boys’ dad and I split when they were one year old because he decided being a full-time husband and dad wasn’t for him. He sporadically sends child support and usually sends them cards for their birthday, but he hasn’t seen them in more than a year.

“Is it something I could do with you?” I ask Sam.

He refuses to meet my gaze. “I don’t want to do it.”

I try my best to be everything to them, but I can’t be a dad. It hurts my heart to see the way they cling to male coaches and teachers. They both think Dom is the greatest thing ever, and I know they miss him now that we don’t live at his house anymore.

“I’m sure Dom would go with you,” I offer. “As long as it doesn’t overlap with his hockey schedule.”

Sam picks up his plate and gets up from the table. He dumps the rest of his food into the trash and walks past us to go to his room. The tears in his eyes make me want to cry myself.

“Can I be done?” Tate asks.

I glance at his plate, which has food spread all the way to the edges, and sigh. I’m too tired to fight him.

“Fine. But no snacks tonight.”

He leaps up from the table and dumps his plate, then plops onto the couch in the living room and turns on the TV.

I don’t know if I should talk to Dom about the campout or not. I should probably wait until I talk to Sam about it when he’s not so upset.

During dinner cleanup, I rage internally against Zach, my ex-husband. Our sons deserve a dad who spends time with them. It’s one of the reasons I vowed to be more careful about letting men into our lives. Not only is my ex-husband a deadbeat, but I also briefly dated Jake, who ended up stalking me and scaring the shit out of me, my boys, Tess and her children.

I can’t control Zach, but I can make damn sure any man I go out with in the future knows he has a high bar to clear.

CHAPTER SIX

Rowan

I forgotto pick my dirty underwear up from the bathroom floor before I left to pick Cam up.

Shit. If she comes home with me later, I’ll have to make sure I go in my bathroom before she does so I can stash them in the hamper. She won’t be able to miss the neon Guinness sign in my living room or the dogs playing poker picture in my kitchen, but I can’t have her thinking I’m a total slob.

Slowing to a stop at a red light, I tap my thumb on the steering wheel as I listen to an Eminem song. I’ve waited a long time for an entire evening alone with Cam, and I’m not screwing this up. Dom is pissed we’re going out, but so far it’s justsilent glarepissed, notscreaming in my facepissed. I’m the one who should be pissed over my best friend not thinking I’m good enough for someone he cares about.

When I get to Cam’s house, I park in the driveway and walk up to the door, balancing the gifts I brought. I use my elbow to ring the doorbell and she answers right away.

“Whoa,” I say in a low voice. “You look incredible.”

She laughs. “You’ve seen me in jeans and a sweatshirt lots of times, but thank you. I’m very intrigued about what you have planned for tonight.”

I told her our plans were a surprise and that she should wear casual, comfortable clothes. She did. But she still looks amazing in her fitted, faded jeans and lightweight gray sweatshirt. Her hair is loose around her shoulders and she has a bag in hand.

“For you,” I say, passing her a box holding a dozen long-stemmed roses.

She steps aside. “Sorry, I should have just let you in when you got here.”

I come into the house and she closes the door behind me. When she takes the box and peeks inside, her whole face lights up with a smile.

“Oh wow, Rowan. These are gorgeous. No one’s ever gotten me flowers before. Thank you.”

How has no one ever gotten her flowers before? I make a mental note to bring them before every date.

She takes the box into the kitchen and sets it on her kitchen table. “I won’t make you wait for me to arrange them in a vase. I’m sure that’ll take a bit.”

“Are the boys here?”

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