They were strangers now. And maybe Law still needed them to be. That made him a bastard, after his brother had gone out on a limb with Rick, securing Law a great gig at McC’s, and with the owner who’d offered Law a lease on the house far below market value. But with the freak show Libby had been making out of his life the last few years, dealing with Dan, too…That might just have been the thing to shove Law back over the edge.
“The Perrys and their boys are coming to the party,” Walter continued with forced enthusiasm, pushing the Pockets opening as if one night out would solve all Law’s problems. “Lots of people from the school will be there, like Mallory and Daphne. Lots of Chloe’s friends and their families, too. She’d have a blast.”
And what about Kristen? Law asked himself.
Would Chandler’s spunky, sexy, caring AP be there, driving Law crazy? He couldn’t get her out of his mind. He couldn’t stop wondering if a guy with an advanced degree and an establishment job like his brother was more her style. Or how that could possibly be the case, when she’d responded so sweetly yesterday to a burnout like Law. Not that she’d seemed all that thrilled by her reaction to him. Not that he should have let himself notice—then or now.
Walter was a good man and a good friend to a lot of people. He was a wealthy man, if his fancy house on Mimosa Lane, not far from Dan’s, was any indication. But if he didn’t stop pushing Law about coming tonight, Law was going to have to throw one of Chandlerville’s favorite citizens out of the bar, the way he would a drunk and disorderly.
Vic stood and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I’ve got to hit the john and then get back to it.”
Walter stopped him from reaching for his wallet. “I’ve got this. Just take care of my wife’s landscaping before she has a panic attack. If you can get pictures of the finished result up on our Facebook page so she can see it from home, where I’ve banished her until later this afternoon, there’s another bonus in it for you.”
“I’m on it.” Vic slapped his boss on the shoulder and headed for the back of the bar, where the restrooms were tucked away.
Once the other man was gone, Walter locked gazes with Law. He glanced toward the dishwasher.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
They’d discussed their individual sobriety and recovery only once. After a month in AA, Walter had stopped by McC’s toward the end of May to apologize and make amends. Law had stopped him before he’d gotten too far. Without sharing details, he’d let Walter know he understood, no apologies were needed, and he’d been happy to help. They’d sealed the deal with a drink—Law and his seltzer, Walter with a Dr Pepper.
Every week or so since, Walter would stop back by, no matter how busy he’d gotten with everything else. An easy friendship had settled between them. And even though Law wasn’t a friendship kind of man, he hadn’t minded a bit. Until this very moment.
“I’m as okay as I always am,” he said.
Walter nodded. “I don’t pay any mind to gossip, and even if I did I’d believe only about half of what I hear. But we know a lot of the same people…”
Law scanned the bar. Vic had slipped out a moment ago. The place was empty now except for the two of them. “What’s on your mind, Walter?”
The other man took a sip of his drink. “It’s none of my business. I get that.”
“But…”
“But there’s a lot of different kinds of family besides the ones most of us have waiting for us at home.” Walter hitched his thumb over his shoulder, toward the door. “There are lots of people in this town who’d like to get to know you better, now that you’re on your own and maybe can make some time for yourself. People who admire everything you’re doing for Chloe. Anyone can see that girl means the world to you.”
“She does.”
Chloe meant so much to him, he’d put pressure on a third grader yesterday to stop acting up, on the off chance that Fin could drag Chloe back onto a soccer field. Law had felt lousy all morning, remembering how he’d strong-armed Fin, the same way Law’s parents had once tried to control him. The unwanted comparison made him want to crawl out of his skin.
He wiped down the counter some more, feeling the itch again. The itch he’d felt as a mixed-up teen, when he’d taken his first drink, thinking it would be strong enough to deaden the emptiness inside him, the way nothing else had.
“Come tonight,” Walter said, “and bring Chloe. It’s not your thing. I get that. But it’s the sort of thing I’ve seen Chloe do with Libby—except Libby’s not exactly worrying about your daughter enjoying herself. Not the way you do. You make the most of every minute you have with Chloe. Do that tonight. Make Pockets something else the two of you enjoy. The place won’t be a big deal for long. After a week or two, things will settle down into something everyday, something good I hope will last. Make it something that has nothing to do with your marriage, something that you and Chloe have to look forward to, no matter how much Libby misbehaves.”
Law tossed his towel down on the bar. “What gives, Walter? Since when are you an expert about how other people live their lives?”
“Since you’ve looked like you’re ready to take someone apart the last few weeks or so—and to more people’s thinking than just mine. Libby’s pushing your buttons left and right, even though you two should be done with all of that. She’s still talking trash about you to anyone who’ll listen, including Chloe. And that sucks. But it doesn’t have to be your whole life. Not if you don’t let it. I was just thinking that bringing your daughter by my place tonight might be a nice break for the two of you, in the midst of all the other crap.” He glanced back at the dishwasher. “Hunkering down alone and enduring doesn’t seem to be helping. Come and meet some new people. Really talk with your neighbors—for you and for Chloe.”
Law gave his friend his full attention, while he craved his Jameson more than he had in years. “A round of bowling with a bunch of people who may or may not want me there after what they’ve heard about me isn’t going to undo the mistakes I’ve made.”
“What mistakes, man? Your parole was almost a decade ago. You’ve been a free man trying to do right by your family ever since.”
It was on the tip of Law’s tongue to say that some mistakes could never be made right.
From out of nowhere came a vision of Kristen’s beautiful face again, this time as she’d talked with Chloe yesterday and coaxed a smile from his daughter. What would Chloe’s life, his life, have been like all this time if he’d been smart enough and sober enough to have handled things differently with her mother from the start?
“Change things up,” Walter said, carrying the conversation on his own. “Give Chloe something good to remember about her time with you this week, after how rough yesterday must have been.”
Law pushed away from the counter. “Yesterday?”
Walter took a sip of his drink and tried to look nonchalant. He didn’t pull it off.
“So it’s all over town.” Law could almost taste the smooth bite of whiskey in his mouth. “The scene at the school playground?” When Walter kept fiddling with his drink, Law sighed. “Of course. Merely busting my balls about it would never be enough to satisfy Libby.”
“Who cares what your ex is doing or saying about it. What are you going to do about it?”
“I’m not coming to Pockets tonight.”
Walter smiled. “I’m just saying that if the woman’s going to be pissed at you whatever you do—and she seems hell-bent on it these days—why not do whatever you want? You know?”
Whatever Law wanted…
He wanted to see Chloe happy again, playing with her friends because she liked to, doing what she liked best instead of what her mother thought she should. He wanted her glad to be with him again, smiling at him the way she had at Kristen for just a moment yesterday—even if it meant going to a community gathering that at the moment he’d rather
lose an arm than endure.
“I don’t know, man,” he said.
“She’ll hang out with her girlfriends. She and Brooke and Summer are giggling together every time I see them around town. You’ll get to know folks better. We’ll keep you occupied and out of her sight line, if that’s what you’re worried about. But you’ll still be there, being part of her fun night. It’ll be good.”
Not too long ago, a fun night with Chloe would have been as simple as a trip to the zoo. Now, it wasn’t just the divorce confusing her. She was growing up, which was hard enough. The pressure he hadn’t been able to keep Libby from applying, her wanting Chloe to want everything the way Libby wanted it, was making things worse. How long would it be before Chloe decided she didn’t want anything to do with either of her parents, the way Law had written off his?
“When does everything start?” he asked Walter.
“Six.” Walter grinned. “But come by whenever you like, no matter how early. We’ll make a fuss over Chloe. She’ll have a blast. And we’ll find some way to keep you occupied so you don’t notice how much fun you’re having, too, even with a ton of people you think you don’t know around. We wouldn’t want to shock your system on your first try at being sociable.”
Law made himself smile back, confused at the anticipation flooding him. And not just in hopes of doing something Chloe might enjoy before he dropped her off at Libby’s for the night. Wasn’t the Pockets opening exactly the sort of thing an administrator at Chandler Elementary would attend?
Call me when you get the chance…Kristen’s message had said.
It was crazy how much he wanted to do just that. Kristen’s maybe being at Walter’s opening should be an argument against Law showing up. He didn’t need more complications in his life. Except he was also craving the freedom Walter was going on and on about—Law doing something good for himself and his daughter, regardless of how complicated things might get.
“So”—Walter stood and pulled bills from his wallet to cover his drink and Vic’s lunch—“I’ll see you and Chloe there?”
Law nodded, trying to believe he wouldn’t regret it.
Kristen was staying at the grand opening for only a few more minutes. She’d arrived even later than she’d expected. Basketball practice had run long. A few of the parents had wanted to chat afterward. She felt hot and sticky after being in the gym, even though it was finally cooling off outside. The temperature might dip into the fifties overnight.
She really shouldn’t have stayed at Pockets as long as she had. She’d pretty much been telling herself to leave for close to an hour—since the moment she’d arrived. But each time she tried, her attention would stray across the café from where she was standing, to the bowling lanes and a familiar face she hadn’t exactly been surprised to see there. Not that she’d known what to do with him or her excitement at seeing him.
And each time she’d looked, Law’s gaze had been fixed on her as well.
He was leaning against the wall closest to the lane where Chloe and Summer and Brooke were bowling. He’d been talking off and on with Rick Harper, the owner of the bar where Law worked. And he’d appeared to be completely out of his element amidst the happy-go-lucky family fun rocking around him—except for when he looked at Kristen. Then she could almost feel him settle into whatever he was thinking about her or yesterday morning or them. And each time, the safe distance between them had seemed to shrink, even though neither of them had moved.
He leaned down to say something to Chloe, who’d transformed back into a laughing, happy girl, while she hung out with the same friends Daphne said had been giving the kid such a hard time since yesterday. Law nodded in agreement to whatever his daughter had asked, and then Chloe launched herself into hugging him.
Kristen’s eyes misted at the touching sight.
She turned back to Julia Davis, who was keeping the café counter stocked with baked goodies donated by the pastry chef who worked at Lavender Bistro on Main Street. It was now or never. Kristen needed to get herself out the door and on her way, before she shamelessly threw herself at Law in front of the entire town.
Maybe it’s time…Mallory had said. Do a better job of figuring out how you feel about him…
Figure it out? It didn’t take a genius to know Kristen had already risked too much where Law was concerned. She needed to follow up about Fin and be on her way.
“Have you seen Marsha or Joe?” Kristen asked. The Dixons’ brood of foster kids should be crawling all over the grand opening.
Julia handed over a paper cone overflowing with the cotton candy that one of her staff was spinning. She’d insisted that Kristen try it, even though Kristen was a bit of a fanatic about eating healthy. Everyone eats junk food tonight had been Julia’s not-taking-no-for-an-answer response.
She shook her head. “Joe called. They’re not going to make it.”
Something in the other woman’s smile had Kristen stepping closer so she could be heard over the music a DJ was blaring through his speakers. Usher had just started rapping “Yeah!”
“Is it Fin?” she asked.
Julia nodded.
Kristen’s heart sank. “He’s not home yet?”
Julia shook her head. “They don’t want to call the police. He’s been gone this long before. But Joe’s been all over town looking for him, and there’s no sign of the boy. They’re starting to get worried.”
“Of course they are.” And if they called the authorities, Family Services would be notified. Fin would likely be back in the system by morning. “I feel terrible.”
“It’s not your fault.” Julia sighed at the dubious look Kristen shot her. “I talked with Marsha after Joe put her on the phone. She told me what happened at the school yesterday, and that you were just trying to help, and that Fin’s been acting out from the beginning and seems forever on the verge of running off again. Don’t blame yourself for trying to get Chloe’s dad to coach him. It was worth a shot.”
Kristen nodded, to be polite. She picked off a piece of cotton candy and popped it into her mouth. It melted, and it should have felt like childhood trips to the circus and fair, where she’d always begged for the pink or blue confection. But instead of feeling nostalgic for one of the few happy memories she had from her youth, she felt like kicking herself for how she’d bungled things for Marsha and Joe and Fin.
“You do too much of that, you know,” Julia said. “You take on causes no one else would, and you blame yourself when things spin sideways and something slips out of your control. You’ve been torturing yourself about the Wilmington shooting since January. Now it’s Fin and Chloe. You can’t keep pouring your heart into saving the world, thinking it’s all up to you, whether or not people decide to save themselves.”
“Sometimes people don’t want to be saved,” a deep voice said from their right.
Kristen jumped.
She turned to find Law standing there, instead of staying safely across the bowling center with his daughter, where he belonged.
“Some people?” she asked with a rasp, the sticky sweet residue in her mouth refusing to let the words come out right. Or was it the realization all over again that big, tall, rough Law Beaumont—in addition to being a teddy bear with his daughter—had the most beautiful blue eyes and the longest, softest eyelashes Kristen had ever seen?
“Maybe some people are just lost causes,” he said, “no matter how much you try to save them. If I’d known you didn’t realize that, I’d have walked away yesterday as soon as you started talking to me about Fin.”
“I see Walter waving at me over by the arcade.” Julia slipped away.
Kristen glared after her friend, for both the desertion and the innocent smile Julia cast over her shoulder. She turned her attention back to the intense man who’d walked all the way across the bowling center to be intense beside her.
“So, you’re an exper
t on lost causes?” she asked.
“My ex-wife seems to think so.” The right corner of Law’s mouth curled upward. “Besides her, there was my parole officer, and before both of them, my parents. The list of folks who’ve given up on me is far longer than the ones who’ve written Fin off. He’s still got time. Maybe everyone just needs to back off and let him figure things out on his own.”
Law was putting her in her place for dragging him into the Dixons’ situation. She deserved it. But he was also breaking her heart, talking so casually about the setbacks in his own life that helped him identify with Fin. His thin smile looked almost painful while he catalogued his faults. She longed to trace the contours of his mouth with her finger, to see if she could coax something softer out of him.
“So you think Fin is a lost cause?” she asked.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what did you say?”
He shook his head, looking down at her—actually looking down at her, because he was so tall. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cared enough to notice whether or not a man she was talking with was her height or taller.
“This is a really bad idea,” he said, “both of us being here, hoping the other one would be here, too.”
She nodded. She didn’t bother to pretend he wasn’t the main reason she’d come. She could have called the Dixons to ask about Fin. She could have waited until the morning for their update. But despite Mallory’s warning, maybe because of it, Kristen hadn’t been able to stay away from Pockets.
She and Law were standing a respectable distance apart. But having the entire bowling center between them hadn’t been far enough. They were getting closer. Neither one of them was going to back off this time, good idea or not. She could feel it, thinking about everything she thought she understood about this man’s past and everything she didn’t. But there was so much goodness in him, it pulled her in every time.
Love on Mimosa Lane (A Seasons of the Heart Novel) Page 9
