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“Yeah, but did you two ever get dicey like Ben and Lexi?”

“We were dicey from the start because of my circumstances. I had absolutely nothing to offer her. Your aunt Paige was fucking furious and didn’t want me near her baby sister. That was a nightmare in itself. Sad part was, I agreed with Paige back then, but thank fuck your mom didn’t.”

“Did Mom cheat?”

Dad pauses as we exit the building, cigarette dangling from his lips. “What? No. You can’t cheat if you’re not with the person. We broke up, I got signed and hit the road, and she had to finish school. We were in entirely different places.”

“So, did she sleep around?”

“You’re seriously asking me about your mother’s sexual history?”

“I’m just curious.” I shrug as he pushes open the door and instantly lights his cigarette before exhaling.

“We weren’t apart for days, son. We went years without each other before we got back together. I can’t speak for her, but it was hell on earth for me for the first two and only got worse as time went by because I knew if we stayed apart much longer, I would lose her for good.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” I turn his question back on him, knowing he’ll come clean.

“Nothing to tell. Your mother wrote our story,” he grins, “and it’s available for rent on Amazon.”

A foreboding feeling sets in as I realize even my dad is reluctant to talk about Nate.

“So, how did you get her back?”

“The way she wrote it. We found each other at the house on Lake View. It happened just like that.”

“Would you have forgiven her if she had cheated?”

He stomps out his cigarette with a black booted heel. “Back then, I would have forgiven her for anything,” he says. “Absolutely anything. Probably still would. But I wasn’t always capable of that. She’s the reason I became capable.”

Joel hops out of the driver’s side of the SUV as we approach and opens the back door for Dad, who shakes his head in irritation. “Twenty years of telling you to stop opening the door for me. You think you would get it by now.”

Joel grins. “After twenty-two years of paying my salary, you would think you know I don’t do anything half-assed.”

Dad splits his attention between Joel and me. “I’m not paying it anymore, so cut that shit out. You up for a burger?”

“Hell yes, I’m starving,” Joel replies as we all get in. Dad shoots me a look from the front seat as he buckles in, prompting me to do the same. “The truth of the matter is some people work together, some people don’t, time will tell, and trust me, it always fucking does.”

Shit. The summary.

Otherwise known as Dad’s way of ending a discussion.

Joel eyes me in the rearview as he starts the SUV while Dad checks his phone. I jerk my chin to Joel to let him know all is well, but in truth, it’s anything but. In the last twenty minutes, I lied to my father. The worst part?

He lied to me, too.

FORTY-TWO

“Baby I Love You”

Aretha Franklin

Natalie

My phone rumbles in my pocket as I pull to a stop and retrieve my cell to see EC requesting Facetime. Wiping the sweat from my brow, knowing there’s not much I can do about my appearance, I slide to answer with a ready smile. “Howdy, handsome. Just in time, I want you to meet someone.” Unable to see Easton clearly due to the glare of the sun, I lower my phone. “Percy,” I introduce enthusiastically, practically lying atop him to lower the phone, “this is my boyfriend, Easton. Easton, this is the other man in my life, Percy.”

“Hey, man, nice to finally meet you,” Easton greets, the smooth rumble of his velvet voice spiking my heart rate. “Heard a lot about you, but why the long face?”

I lift the camera, giving him a dead stare. “Har, har.”

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