Page 84 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

I handed the beer back to Buzz and went across the patio. As soon as I opened the screen, Matty jumped up in my arms.

“Where have you been?” I asked.

“I went to go take pictures with Mom. We went to the beach, where there were bugs that lit up, and then we went to get ice cream and took pictures on the wheel.”

I tried not to get irritated by the fact that the only time Felicity spent with Matty was for content. She never just took him out for quality time with her son. If there wasn’t a photo op, she ignored him.

“And we saw a lady who said that you guys are getting married and I get to be in your wedding. I’m gonna walk with Mommy down the aisle!”

My eyes cut up to Felicity, who was in the kitchen on her phone.

I set Matty down and ruffled his hair. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get your pajamas on and brush your teeth, and I’ll be up in a minute.”

“But Dad?—”

“I’ll let you watch a show on your iPad.”

“Okay,” Matty quickly agreed and ran up the stairs.

I walked closer to Felicity and waited for Matty to be out of earshot. “Felicity.”

She glanced up at me with an innocent expression on her face and smiled. “Hey.”

“You shouldn’t have told Matty that we were getting married and taken him to a wedding planner.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not. I’ve told you it’s over. You can’t just take off for months and then show up when you want and expect everything to go back to normal.”

“You see how happy he’s been since I’ve been back. And I’m not going to leave again. I’m here to stay.” She reached up and patted my cheek. “This is what you’ve always wanted. Your family together.”

I removed her hand from my face. “You don’t get to pick and choose when you want to be a mom and partner.”

My phone rang, and I pulled it out of my pocket, fully planning on sending whoever it was to voicemail until I saw it was Chloe. She’d never called me before, only texted. I answered it, “Hello.”

“Can you pick me up?” She sniffed.

It sounded like she’d been crying.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the caves.”

“I’ll be right there.” I hung up the phone and called upstairs. “Matty, I have to go pick up Chloe; I’ll be right back.”

“K, Dad!”

“You’releaving. You can’t leave.” Felicity grabbed my arm.

I jerked my arm out of her hold. “That’s funny coming from you.”

Before she could respond, I was out the door. The drive to the caves should take about ten minutes; from the time I left my front door to pulling up was just under five. I parked behind several pickup trucks, blocking them in, but I didn’t give a shit.

When I got out, I saw that there were two large bonfires down by the beach, but she hadn’t said beach; she said caves. I tried to call her back, but her phone was going straight to voicemail.

On my way to the caves, I passed two groups of kids who were smoking and drinking.

“Have you seen Chloe? Chloe Marsh?”

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