Page 113 of Driven Daddy

I rubbed my hands together. Halloween was actually my favorite holiday and living in the city meant I didn’t really get to decorate all that much. I mean, sometimes I took the time to spookify my office, but when it was just for me, I mostly didn’t bother.

“There he is!” Travis waved at me. “So, could you climb up there and help me string up the lights?”

I knew I’d be climbing the damn tree.

“Yeah, on my way.”

The front yard was littered with half opened boxes of various Halloween famed characters like Jack Skellington and possibly a Coraline.

Those damn button eyes freaked me out every time.

I bypassed the ladder and grabbed for the lowest branch and hauled myself up. Not quite as easy to do when I was younger, but thankfully, the rowing had increased my upper body strength.

The orange and purple lights were a bitch to wrap around the tree, but the electronics of the lights could be programmed so it was damn cool by the time we were done.

Carrington, my niece, was running from uncle to uncle as she tried to help us all.

There had been a handful of tears when Travis had vetoed the tree climbing, but my brother, Murphy—aka Moose—was a pro at dissuading tears. He managed to convince her to help him with the stakes for the blow-up ornaments to keep them from taking off down the lane or heading for the lake.

After the tree, I begged for a drink break and hopped down to grab a water from the cooler Bridget had provided.

Guess maybe she was sticking around this time—at least for more than a day.

My brothers were arguing about where the bigger inflatable character should go, and I spotted Bridget setting out snacks for everyone. I drew her aside.

“You’re still here?”

She seemed a little distracted, looking over my shoulder at the melee. To be truthful, she looked like she was heading into the way back machine.

“Bridget? You in there?” I waved a hand in front of her face. “What’s up with you?”

“I want my family back. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”

I huffed out a probably more sarcastic laugh than I should. Not what I was expecting. “As if it’s that easy. Sometimes you fuck up so bad you don’t get a second chance. Even if you’re prepared to do the work. Are you prepared to do the work?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “Speaking of work, what was up with you yesterday?”

“You mean before you two tried to reenact a dirty movie while you were on the clock?”

She cleared her throat and waved that away. “Anyway, what was up with you?”

“Not sure what you mean.” I twisted my Apple watch around. It felt like the previous day was a million years ago. So much had happened since then.

“You were perfectly polite to me—and I gotta say, surprising considering your family.”

I looked up with a frown. “Has my family said something to upset you?”

“No. Of course not. They’re just looking at me a lot. You know, like what isshedoing here?” She held up a hand. “Don’t get me wrong. They have every right to do that. Just it made it even more obvious you didn’t do that.”

I tucked my hands into my pockets. “I know you loved my brother.”

There had never been a doubt there. At least from what I’d seen between them since they were kids. I hadn’t been around for all of it since I’d headed out to college. I assumed it had just been the usual growing apart thing, but maybe I’d been wrong there.

“I did.” Her voice was low and strained.

“Which means you must’ve had reasons for what you did.” I reached out and rubbed one of her arms gently. “Do I know them? No, but it’s not my business, either. Especially since I don’t have anything close to the full story—on either side.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

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