Page 81 of The Art Of Starting Over

Devorah wondered what the “or else” would be in this case. Would the Crafty Cathys kick her out of the club? Banish her from Oyster Bay?

If banishment was a thing, she wanted Chad gone forever. To never be allowed to cross the bridge into town. This wasn’t his home. It was hers.

Midway through the game, which didn’t have a score because no one wanted to keep one, Crow yelled that dinner was done. Devorahand Darcy brought the side dishes out and set them on the table, along with the corn dogs, which Dev had kept warm in the oven for the kids.

“You ladies were busy,” Lee said as he rubbed his belly. “Let’s see, we have potato salad, tossed salad. Is this dressing homemade?”

“Yes, Mr. Lee. I helped make it,” Maren said.

“None of that ‘Mr. Lee’ stuff,” he told her. “You can call me Lee or Grandpa. I answer to both.” He was close enough to touch the tip of her nose with his finger. She giggled.

Along with the salads, they had freshly baked rolls and green beans that had simmered on the stove all day in bacon and onions to go with the fish the guys had brought home.

“I’ve never been so hungry,” Crow said as he heaped food onto his plate.

“We never asked—who caught all the fish?”

“Mostly Grandpa and the sheriff,” Conor said as he bit into his corn dog. “I hooked one, but Dad had to help me reel it in.”

Devorah looked at Hayden. “Didn’t catch anything, huh?”

He shook his head slowly. “It’s a good thing my family likes to share. Otherwise, I’d go hungry.”

“I can’t even remember the last time I went fishing,” Devy said. “I must’ve been five or so.” Crow caught her gaze and frowned. She hadn’t meant to say anything to upset him, but that was the way he’d taken it. She couldn’t help the past, and neither could he. What was done was done.

“This is the best corn dog I have ever had,” Conor said as he reached for a second. “Where did you buy them?”

“My mom made them,” Maren said.

“Duh, but from what box?” Conor asked.

“No, sweetie. What Maren’s saying is, I made them. Except for the hot dog part. The rest I did by hand.”

“Wow, you can do that?”

Devorah nodded. Her heart warmed with Conor’s excitement. “I can show you someday.”

“That’d be cool. I don’t know how to cook.”

“My mom can teach you,” Maren told him. “We cook a lot of stuff. Don’t we, Mom?”

“We do.” Because there wasn’t anything else to really do, unless she had a meeting to go to. Sure, in Oyster Bay she had meetings to attend, but she also had a job. One that put money in her pocket that her former husband didn’t take from her.

After dinner, everyone helped clean up. Crow took over dish duty and sent the baseball team outside to finish their game. Once all the food had been divided up into containers, Darcy and Lee left. Devy put her lawn chair in the yard and watched her daughter.

Maren seemed happy. She laughed, engaged with Conor and Hayden, and even tried to play jokes on them. She didn’t seem depressed, nothing like Chad had indicated on the phone. Sure, Maren missed Chicago. Part of Devy did as well. They’d had a good life there until Chad started thinking with his man parts and not his brain. It wasn’t just an affair, though, at least not to Devorah. He’d ruined relationships. Maren had lost her best friend, her home, all her friends at school, and the life Chad and Devorah had worked hard for their daughter to have.

Maren hit the ball over the fence. Devorah would’ve thought they’d won the lottery by how loud and hard Hayden cheered. He picked her up and set her on his shoulder. With one arm in the air, he ran around the bases, declaring her the winner of the entire game.

“He’s good with her,” Crow said as he sat down. “Was Chad like this?”

Devy shook her head. “I’m sorry we didn’t visit more often.” The more she thought about it, the more she realized Chad had alienated her from her own family. She had depended solely on him and his family for everything.

“You’re here now.”

“I don’t want to go back to Chicago, Dad. I thought I’d hate being here, but I don’t. Despite everything, I had a good life. There are things I had that I want for Maren.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Crow said. “Let Theo take care of things for you. It’s why he gets paid the big bucks. It’s his job to protect you now, where I failed.”

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