Page 59 of Keeping Kaitlyn

That means Went is going to be there.

Before I can text back with aI can’t leave Mook alone for that long,Henley beats me to it.

Henley: Dec says you can bring Mook. Someone will be there to pick you up in an hour.

Shit.

Looking at Mookie, sitting next to me on the couch, I sigh. “Well, I guess we’re going to Cape Cod.” Tossing my phone onto the coffee table before I stand, I reach down to give him an ear scratch. “Molly will be there.”

When I say her name, Mook jumps off the couch to sit next to the front door.

“Good idea,” I tell him with a laugh while I move toward my bedroom. “You wait there while I get ready.”

An hour later, I’m in the hallway, locking up to go downstairs to wait for my ride when Ryan and Grace’s door opens and lets out a flood of noise and commotion.

“Race you to the elevator,” Molly shouts, streaking down the hall with Henry following along behind, running just fast enough to make it look like he’s trying to win. When he sees her, Mook lets out a happy bark. “Hi, Mook,” she calls out as she runs past him while Ryan and Grace bring up the rear, baby Allison on her hip.

“I wish we had room in my little yellow roller skate,” Grace says while we all pile into the elevator. “You and Mook could just ride with us.”

“It’s alright,” I tell her with a shrug. “Someone’s coming for me.” I’m assuming it’ll be Henley and Conner since she’s the one who texted me but that becomes, very quickly and clearly, the wrong assumption when we step outside to find a dark blue G-Wagon waiting in the parking lot.

Went.

Henley sent Went to come get me.

Apparently, Tess has recruited a cohort in her matchmaking scheme.

“You want to ride with Grace,” Ryan offers with a frown while herding his kids to the car. “I can ride with Ritchie Rich.”

Remembering what he told me yesterday morning—that Went confessed to him that he was married—I shake my head because allowing him to ride in a car with someone he thinks is trying to rope me into an extramarital affair is not only stupid, it’s dangerous. “No.” I shake my head and smile. “It’s okay. I got this.”

Shooting a quick, hard look at the G-Wagon and the man waiting for me inside of it, Ryan sighs. “Alright. We’ll be right behind you.”

Leaving him to wrangle kids into car seats, I take Mook and lead him to the waiting car. Approaching the passenger side, I find Went watching me through the open window. “If it’s not okay?—”

“I’m here,” he tells me, his tone slightly exasperated. “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

Holding up Mookie’s leash, I shake it at him while the dog on the other end sits at my feet. “I don’t want him to scratch your leather seats.”

“Maybe you forgot but I’ve always wanted a dog,” he reminds me, his expression unreadable. “Get in—both of you.”

Opening the back door, I motion Mookie to get in. Shutting it behind him, I climb into my own seat in front. “Thank you,” I say without looking at him while I put on my seatbelt and hope for a quiet ride where neither of us address the herd of elephants in the car with us. “For the ride. I appreciate it.”

Making a faint, noncommittal sound in the back of his throat, Went barely looks at me before turning out of the parking lot, onto a nearly deserted road. It’s early morning on a Sunday. Most of the neighborhood is either at church or sleeping in. Settling in for a long, awkwardly silent trip, I turn my face toward the window. We’re out of the city before one of us decides to speak.

“So, how long have you had him?”

Turning away from the window, I study Went’s profile. “Had who?”

“The hundred pound meathead, scratching up my leather seats,” he says, tossing me a quick, wry smile.

“Oh.” Embarrassed for some reason, I turn in my seat to look at Mook. He’s sitting up in his seat, nose pressed to the window. “I found him in a feedstore parking lot, a few months after I got to Wyoming, so…” Turning around in my seat again, I look at Went. “Five, almost six years now.”

When I say it, Went’s jaw goes tight, the hard angle of it telling me that my answer pisses him off for some reason. I don’t have to wonder why for long because he tells me. “So, right after you left me.”

So much for ignoring the elephants.

Before I can answer him, Went shakes his head on a sigh. “Sorry. Don’t answer that.”

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