Page 113 of The Shots You Take

Adam knew his kids didn’t behave like this with Maggie, and he knew they hadn’t behaved like this before the divorce. This was punishment. “Come on,” he said with a forced smile, “I’m not ordering a pizza. I got Thai food because I know you guys like it.”

“You could have asked us what we wanted before you decided for us,” Lucy said.

Adam’s heart sank. “I wanted to surprise you.”

Lucy didn’t reply. Cole grumbled, “I wish you’d surprised us with pizza.”

Adam couldn’t fake the smile anymore. “I’m sorry about the food, but can’t we have a nice meal together anyway? I haven’t seen you guys for a while.”

Neither kid replied.

“Are you seriously mad at me because I went away for, like, a week? I was at a funeral.”

“You were away for a week?” Cole asked.

Lucy laughed, though it may have been at something on her phone.

“Yes,” Adam said. “Didn’t you get all my texts from Nova Scotia?”

“Oh yeah,” said Cole.

“Who died?” Lucy asked, and because it was an actual question that showed some interest in Adam’s life, he answered enthusiastically.

“A man named Harvey Tuck. He was my friend’s dad, and he was a really great person. You probably don’t remember Riley Tuck, my old teammate? He used to play with you when you were little.”

“No,” said Cole.

“Weird,” said Lucy.

“Anyway, Harv was a pretty important guy in Avery River. Everyone loved him there.”

“Wherever that is,” Cole said.

“Nova Scotia! I told you.”

Cole opened the fridge again. “Do you have iced tea?”

“No, I don’t.”

Cole closed the fridge. “God, this place sucks.”

All right. That was enough. “What is your problem? Both of you.”

Lucy put her phone down. “I don’t know. Just…why do we still have to come here?”

Adam gaped for a moment, then said, “Because I’mstillyour dad?”

“Yeah, but coming here is weird and sad.”

Adam looked to Cole for support, but Cole only nodded in agreement with his sister.

“You don’t want to see me?” Adam asked as evenly as possible.

“We canseeyou, but why do we need to sleep over here? All our stuff is at our house. Our friends come over to our house.”

“Your friends could come over here,” Adam argued.

“Uh, no,” Cole said.

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