Page 10 of Well Played

“That man is just as pig-headed as his grandfather. But sexy as all hell like Thatcher, too.”

I’m not going to touch that comment.

***

That afternoon my phone rang, and when I managed to pull it out, I was kind of sorry I’d bothered.And here I thought my shitty day couldn’t get any worse.

I blew out a deep sigh and closed my eyes for a few seconds before taking a calming breath. When I opened them, I felt only marginally better, but nonetheless, I swiped to answer and used my best cheery voice. “Hi, Tanner.”

“Have you come to your senses and left Beaufort yet?”

I rolled my eyes and shifted the bag of groceries to my other hand so I could dig in my purse for the car keys.

“Alex and I are actually very happy here.”

That statement was only partially true. While Alex seemed settled, the last couple of days—full of run-ins with Levi—had me considering packing up my entire life and moving back to New York. I clicked the key fob and unlocked the trunk of my car.

“How can my son be happy when his mother moved him a thousand miles away? A boy needs to be near his father.”

I dumped the groceries into the trunk and slammed the hatch closed. “Actually, Tanner, a boy doesn’t need to benearhis father. He needs to spend time with him.”

“And how am I supposed to do that with you living all the way down in Beaufort?”

I sighed. Back in New York, Tanner had only lived a few miles away, yet he’d seen his son maybe six times over the last year. Distance had nothing to do with why Alex and his father weren’t very close.

“I’m busy running errands, Tanner. Did you call to have this argument again, or was there another reason you needed to speak to me?”

My ex cleared his throat. “I need you to hold off on depositing that check I gave you.”

My forehead wrinkled. “A new check? The last one I received was the one you gave me before I left, almost two weeks ago?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“I deposited that a few days ago.”

“Well...it’s not going to clear.”

I closed my eyes. I’d written a check for Alex’s football camp with that money, not to mention the phone bill and a few other things. “Why this time?”

“I ran a little short this month.”

The last few years had taught me how to translate the language I called Tanner Speak. I swear, if I poppedI ran a little short this monthinto Google Translate, it would returnI lost a big bet. Unfortunately, after his injury, when Tanner couldn’t play for a living anymore, he’d started getting his action fix by betting on games. At first it had been just football, but over the years it had spread to most sports.

I sighed. “That check was only half of what you owe me, Tanner. You were supposed to send me the other half by this week, and now you’re telling me you can’t even make good on the first half?”

“What’s the big deal? You have plenty of dough these days since you scoredmy halfof The Palm Inn.”

Though he hadn’t come out and said it, I was pretty sure Thatcher left half of the property to Alex and not Tanner because he knew about Tanner’s gambling addiction.

“First of all, the inn isn’t even covering its costs right now. And second, even if it was showing a profit, that money would be Alex’s, not mine.”

“Why don’t you just sell the damn thing?”

I balled my hands into fists. “Ugh. Now you sound just like your brother.”

“Well, there’s a first. You mean my big brother and I actually agree on something?”

I shook my head in frustration. “I have to go. Is there anything else you needed to discuss?”

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