Page 160 of Finding Us

He smiles and his tense shoulders relax. “Yeah, sorry. Guess I’m a little out of it.”

After we run, it still seems like his mind is elsewhere. I ask him about it later and he says his shoulder’s bothering him. At least he told me this time. We make dinner and stay in the rest of the night and go to bed early.

The next day Pearce arrives at the house at 4:30. Garret and I go out to the driveway to greet him.

“Hey, Dad.” Garret gives him a hug. “How was the trip?”

“Very productive. I got a lot of work done on the plane.” Pearce comes over and hugs me. “How’s my daughter-in-law?”

Hearing him call me that makes me smile. “Good.”

He keeps his arm around me. “How’s my son treating you?”

“He’s great. I still love him.”

Pearce laughs. “That’s important.” He leans down and lowers his voice. “You didn’t let him try to fix anything, did you?”

“No. I wouldn’t risk it.”

“Hey!” Garret acts offended. “I could fix shit if I really tried.”

We go inside for a few minutes and show Pearce the house, then leave for dinner. We go to the seafood place Kyle suggested. It’s nice, very upscale, just like he said. Garret offered to go to the steakhouse given my dislike for seafood, but I insisted on the seafood place because this is Garret’s belated birthday dinner and he really likes seafood.

“How are Lilly’s playdates going?” I ask Pearce after we order.

“She struggled at first but it’s getting better now. She’s become friends with a little girl who’s even more mature for her age than Lilly. The girl talks like an adult and her vocabulary is impressive. It’s very funny to watch the two of them interact.” Pearce takes out his phone and swipes through some photos. “This is her.”

He shows us a photo of Lilly sitting next to a girl with straight black hair and black rimmed glasses wearing a pink dress and a white cardigan sweater. She has a pearl necklace and little pearl earrings. She’s sitting very straight with her hands in her lap.

“She seems very sophisticated,” I say to Pearce.

“Her name’s Jacqueline. And never make the mistake of calling her Jackie. I did that once and she nearly bit my head off.”

Garret takes the phone to get a better look at her. “She looks kind of crazy.”

“Garret, you don’t even know her.” I lean over to see the photo. “She’s cute.”

“She’s one of those kids who looks all sweet and innocent and then goes crazy when she doesn’t get her way. I knew girls like her.” He gives the phone back to his dad. “Does Lilly have any other friends?”

“She had a group play date last week and made friends with a little boy in the group.”

“You’ve gotta end that right now, Dad.” Garret shakes his head. “No boys.”

“Garret, he’s only 7. I don’t think we need to worry.”

“I know how boys think. Even at 7, I had my eyes on girls. You got a picture of this kid?”

Pearce swipes through his phone, then gives it to Garret.

“Yeah, I don’t like him. He’s got trouble written all over him.”

I’m laughing. “Let me see.”

Garret holds the phone out in front of me and I see a photo of a little boy with bright blond hair wearing a suit with a bow tie.

“He has a bow tie, Garret. I think you can trust him.”

“Decker wears bow ties and there’s no way I’d let a guy like him date my sister.” He points to the photo. “Look at the cocky smirk on this kid’s face.”

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