Page 40 of Awakening the Sheriff

I was babbling as I took off my jacket, beanie, and gloves, strangely nervous now that I was here.

Auden put a hand on my shoulder, and that firm touch sent a wave of calm through me. “We’ll talk about whatever is bothering you.”

We walked into the living room, where Violet and Dani were watching TV. “Girls, Mr. Perry and I are hanging out in the basement.”

“Okay, Dad.” They barely took their eyes off the screen.

“Beer?” Auden asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

He grabbed two beers from the fridge, and I followed him as he headed down the stairs into his sanctuary, which was nice and toasty.

“Check this out.” Auden gestured toward an intricate LEGO set spread out on a table.

It was a model of a Star Wars tie fighter, nearly complete. I walked around the table and examined it from every side. “Wow, that’s impressive.”

“Wanna help me finish it?”

“You sure about that? I might destroy the whole thing.”

“Nah, you’re not that bad.”

I snorted. “If I were in charge of building the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance wouldn’t have had anything to worry about.”

Auden laughed, and my stomach did a little flip. Those unbidden images filled my mind again, erotic fantasies of what he could do to me. For a moment, the weight of my worries lifted. But as the laughter subsided and I forced myself to focus on the present, it came right back.

“We can also chat.”

“You know, as tired as I am, I wouldn’t trust myself with that beautiful set right now, so chatting without building would be better.”

“Sure thing. It looked like you guys had fun today.” Auden settled in a worn leather armchair.

I did the same across from him. “The snowball fight was fun. Byron participated and seemed to be enjoying himself, which was nothing short of shocking, if I’m honest. And during dinner, he engaged in conversation and even made a few jokes. It felt like a breakthrough.”

“The famous breakfast dinner.”

I shrugged. “It’s something I did a few times when they were younger and I didn’t have time to make something proper, and it stuck. They still love it, and it’s become kind of our thing.”

“There are worse traditions to have with your kids. My girls and I have a funny one where we visit real estate websites and look at the most outrageous houses for sale. You know, like those seventy-five million dollar Hollywood homes. And then we spin this fantasy of what we would do with so much money. We call it our rich-life game, and it’s fun.”

He was wearing a proud, goofy smile, which warmed my heart. He was such a devoted dad. Those girls were lucky with him as a father. “That sounds wonderful. Not sure if I’d want to have that much money though.”

“Same. When I was a kid, we always went to church, and our pastor loved to preach about how it was easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Never quite understood the camel analogy, but I know that money corrupts.”

“Very true.”

“Anyway, we’re getting off track. It sounded like a good day.”

“It was.” I sighed, my shoulders dropping. “But I had a conversation with Mandy last weekend that’s been on my mind ever since.”

“You said she downplayed Byron’s arrest?”

“She made it sound like it was no big deal, like a teenager getting into some minor trouble. That alone pissed me off because she knows it’s more than that. But then she suggested that the root of the problem is that Byron is bored in Forestville because there’s nothing to do here.”

Auden raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s the most ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard.”

“Thank you. I thought so too, but she wasn’t done and launched into this whole spiel about how I had been the one to decide to move across the country without considering her or the kids' feelings. That I had ripped them away from their friends and everything because I wanted to follow my dream. She called me selfish, said I had made that call unilaterally, and that she hadn’t even wanted to move. She’d only done it for me. She claimed all three of them want to go back and that I’m the one making them stay in a place they don’t want to be.”

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