Page 46 of Takeover

“We all know I’m going to kill him before he comes close to turning forty-one,” I say to the table.

“Oh, really? Are you going to get on a stepladder to try and wrap your tiny little hands around my neck? That should be fun.”

I make a fist at him, and he grabs it. “I can stick this entire thing in my mouth,” he says, and then he does just that.

“Really? What else fits into your mouth?” Bernice asks, and my dad groans.

28

I leave Tara asleep in the middle of her bed. After putting on sweats, I grab my laptop and get comfortable on her couch. After breakfast with her family, which was surprising, but fun, we came back to her place and fell back into bed.

It was as if we didn’t just spend the night with each other. She was the dessert I’d been craving since we left her apartment. As soon as I turn on my laptop, my cell phone buzzes. It’s a picture of Vincent with his mother and someone holding a puppet. She sends another of them drinking cocoa at a restaurant.

While I stare at the picture of my smiling son, I can’t help but wish he was here with me, but he needs time with his mother too. I’m just happy she kept her promises to him this weekend. Before I can ponder it any further, the phone buzzes and Lindsay’s name flashes across the screen.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, not bothering with any pleasantries.

“Well, hello to you too, Ethan. Everything’s fine.”

“Good. Does Vincent want to talk to me?”

“I’m sure he does, but maybe I want to talk to you, too.” There’s a playfulness to her voice that I haven’t heard in years.

“Get to the point, Lindsay, or put Vincent on the phone.”

She clears her throat and says, “Well, since you couldn’t make breakfast, I thought you might want to join us for dinner. Vincent asked for spaghetti and meatballs.” He’s going to eat half his weight in pasta and leave the other half on the floor. I’m already picturing it.

“Thanks, but I can’t. He needs one on one time with you. What time are you dropping him off tomorrow?”

“Around noon, if that’s okay with you. I’m having lunch with Margie and Jim. You’re welcome to join us.”

I pull the phone away from my ear and make sure that it’s my ex-wife on the phone. Despite the divorce, there has never been any hostility between us, but these attempts of sharing her time with Vince with me are new.

“I’ll be home, so just drop him off. Enjoy your lunch.” The playfulness leaves her voice, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was deflated by my rejection. She puts Vincent on the phone, and I smile as he tells me all the fun things he did with his mother this morning. His only complaint is that she made him take a nap when they got back from Soho, but tonight, he will be seeing his grandparents.

“Okay, buddy. Have fun with your mom, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.” We end the call just as Tara walks into the living room. Her body is wrapped in a soft blanket. I reach for her and pull her into my lap.

“This new dynamic between us feels so weird. I still think you’re plotting my murder,” she says.

“Better keep your enemies close.”

“I guess I better.”

I put an arm around her and pull her closer. We sit like that while I check emails and read over the minutes from the meeting I skipped out on Friday. I think she might have fallen asleep again, but then her phone buzzes on the coffee table.

“Are you kidding me?” she asks to no one in particular. She swipes through her phone and lets out a cackle before shoving the phone in my face.

“I guess you made the list for New York’s Fifty under Fifty’s Richest Men.”

“I hate when that happens. Hunter’s going to mock me all week. Last year, I got three marriage proposals.” She frowns at me and makes a face. “Why are you making that face at me for?”

“I just hate the idea of women throwing themselves at a guy. And I failed to take into consideration that you’re kind of famous in this city.”

“Famous? I’m not exactly Brad Pitt.”

“Brad Pitt now or Fight Club Brad Pitt?”

I take one of her throw pillows and toss it at her head. “I don’t care about anything that gets written about me. I keep my private life private as much as I can, but every once in a while, there’s a picture taken, or an article written that’s on the personal side.”

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