Page 27 of The Art Of Starting Over

“The thing is, bud, people won’t understand, and I don’t want them to get the wrong impression of your mom.”

They drove by Maren’s house. Hayden pointed it out.

“Maybe Maren and I can walk to school together.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll talk to her mom.”

“Maren said her mom is sad.”

What an understatement. Hayden wished there was something he could do to help. While they were both going through a loss, the situations were entirely different. He’d lost his wife, whereas Devy’s husband had violated their vows. Hayden didn’t have experience there, and it wasn’t like he could tell Devy that everything would be okay. She was going to have to learn how to coparent with someone who’d slept with her best friend. He wasn’t sure he could get over something like that.

“Yeah, bud. She is.”

“Maren said she’s getting a new mommy.”

Ouch.

“I’m not sure about that.” And it wasn’t something he planned to ask Devorah about either. That was the last thing she needed from him. “But let’s not bring it up in front of Miss Devy. Okay?”

“I don’t want to make her sad.”

“No, we don’t want to do that.”

Hayden turned down another street, and, glancing at his son, he saw a little boy caring about a woman he barely even knew. He was a good boy, dealing with his own loss, and yet he found time to care about others.

“Baseball tryouts are this weekend,” Hayden reminded him. “We need to head into the city and get you some cleats.”

“Okay. How far?”

“It’s like forty-five minutes.”

“That seems far.”

“It’s not bad. Pretty easy drive. We can go to a couple of the stores, grab some lunch. Have a guy day.”

Conor shrugged. “Maybe Maren can come.”

“Sure, bud. As long as it’s okay with her mom.”

Hayden turned down their road and into the driveway. He parked, shut off his truck, and stared at his childhood home. He had every intention of splitting his time between his parents’ place and his camper because he needed space and time to think without any interruptions. His parents, though, wanted him to stay at the house, as did Conor. So Hayden stayed.

They walked in and found Lee and Darcy sitting at the island, eating pie. Last night it was cake. If his mother kept it up, Hayden was going to start looking like his father.

“Hi, Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Hi, honey,” Darcy said as she kissed his forehead. “I missed you after school. How was your second day?”

Conor shrugged. “Still boring.”

Lee guffawed. “School is never boring. I’m sure you learned something.”

Conor smiled and rolled his eyes. “I learned I still have a couple more tests to take to see where I’m at in class. But Maren has to take them, too, being as she’s the new kid also.”

Lee looked at Hayden with wide eyes.

“Head up and take your shower,” Hayden told Conor.

As soon as they heard the water turn on, Lee turned to Hayden. “Crow’s granddaughter?”

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