Page 24 of Night of the Living Manny
“No, buddy, it’s in Delta. But we can stop the next time we go through.”
“Okay! That’s cool. Can we take Brenden?”
“Of course we can. He’s from there.”
“I am.” He had lived all over the Western Slope of Colorado and had even done a few jobs on the Front Range, but he was a small-town boy.
“Cool.” Peter grinned, and Britt started chatting. Susanna was silent, but Brenden wasn’t surprised by that. At least she wasn’t being nasty.
The bread and salad came, the red wine vinaigrette making his eyes water, it was so good. They feasted, the restaurant only half-full but filled with laughter, with music. Even Susanna had to smile when Carlo broke into song back in the kitchen.
Brenden loved that he was sitting here, like he belonged. No one, not even Susanna, seemed to think he didn’t, and he wanted to thank Liam for being so welcoming. He wanted to do more, in fact.
It wasn’t the time, though, not in front of the kids.
So he munched bread and salad and had the best evening he’d had in ages.
Brenden just hoped Liam felt the same way.
LIAMlocked Susanna’s phone in his desk. “You can have it back in two weeks.”
“But Daaaaaaaaad!”
“No, you knew we had plans. You chose to lie, to ignore your phone, to be late. Suck it up.” He wasn’t going to put up with her deliberate dishonesty.
“I didn’t lie!” When he stared, she ducked her head. “Well, not when I left.”
“All you had to do was ask, you know. I would have just picked you up on our way to the restaurant.” He didn’t understand why she had to make everything hard.
“Dad! No one wants their parents to come get them.” She rolled her eyes, but she was looking really young suddenly. “I told them I had to go home,” she said in a smaller voice.
“You know you can call me anytime, right? You can always use me as an excuse to come home, to get a ride, anything.”
“When I got my phone out, Shelly said something mean.” She sighed. “I know, I’m supposed to be better than that, but it hurt my feelings. I suck.”
Liam blinked, because she was usually not so open. “You’re still grounded.”
Now she rolled her eyes again. “Duh.”
“Shelly’s kind of a bitch, baby. You know that, right?” He got it. Diana’d had a friend that he’d wanted to kill when they were all in high school.
“I know, but this is such a small town, I don’t have much choice.”
She was so practical sometimes, his girl.
“I love you. I…. If nothing else, you have that. I love you more than life.”
“Thanks, Dad. I love you too. I’m gonna go to bed.” She hugged him, though, didn’t she? That warmed him.
“Night, baby girl.”
He watched her leave, and he sat there in the dark, trying to figure out when his life had become so interesting.
Liam shook his head finally, taking a deep breath. He heard the sound of tags jingling out in the hall. Brenden and Moose heading to bed, he supposed.
He watched, hoping to get a look, a glimpse. Brenden was a good guy, worth a little ogling in a totally not-nasty way. Not to mention that he was attracted to Liam. He could see it in Brenden’s eyes.
Moose gave him away, woofing quietly and coming to his door wagging. The big guy was a snuggle monster.
