Page 62 of Hello Tease

I raised my eyebrows as I cracked the eggs. “Hey, everything okay?” I hoped she wasn’t sick. It wouldn’t be good for me to miss another day of work this early in the job.

“Actually.” She let out a sigh. “Honey, I’m sorry, but I can’t watch the kids anymore.”

I nearly dropped the egg. Instead, I set it down and braced myself on the counter. “What?” I’d moved to town specifically so I could have their help. What would I do in a new town with no support for my kids and a measly budget for daycare? “Did you get a job or something?”

“No, but Seth just left my house this morning. He was gutted after your fight, and the things you said to him? They were completely uncalled for. And then for you to go flaunting your new relationship on a jumbotron at a televised game?” Her voice shook. “I love my grandbabies, but you’ve clearly made your bed with Knox Madigan, and now you need to lie in it.”

My jaw dropped. I’d let myself get swept away for a moment at the game, and even in Dallas, the small-town rumors came back to haunt me. But there was more to her statement than just the kiss. “What did Seth tell you I said? Because I can promise you the things he said to me—”

“I don’t want to hear it. Because while you were at the NFL game in Dallas, he was at my house, barely able to get out of bed. Said he came to see his children and you wouldn’t let him. That is unacceptable, Larkin.”

Now I stared at the phone in shock, anger flooding my blood stream until my head felt hot. But the logical part of me fought for attention. I couldn’t give in to my emotions, couldn’t let Seth control my children’s childcare and my success at work. “Nancy, surely we can come to an agreement. The kids love being at your place, and Ireallyneed the childcare.”

“You need to apologize to my Seth.” I opened my mouth to argue. But then the other shoe fell. “And you need to break things off with Knox Madigan so you and Seth can have another chance. My grandbabies don’t deserve to grow up in a broken home when their parents could work on it.”

If I was mad before, it had nothing on the anger raging through me now. The hypocrisy of it all made me want to scream—Seth had cheated on me, left our family for another woman, and made no efforts to see the kids until he got jealous of me dating someone new. “Your son cheated on me. Not the other way around.”

“He’s not the one asking me to babysit for free.”

I raised my eyebrows, angry tears already starting to fall. “They’re his kids too, Nancy. You’re going to let your grandchildren, his children, suffer because you don’t like whatI’mdoing?”

“Tell yourself what you want to make me the bad guy, Larkin. It doesn’t feel right to support the decisions you’re making. My decision is final.”

34

KNOX

I shiftedmy to-go cup to my other hand and knocked on Larkin’s door. I may have just been bringing her coffee, but with all the jitters going through my system, it felt more like picking up a date for prom, hoping she liked the corsage Bora, the florist, said would match her dress the best.

But when Larkin opened the door, she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

My heart instantly fell. “What’s wrong?” I asked. What had changed between our texts this morning and now?

She was shaking as she fell into my arms. I carefully held the coffee, trying not to spill it on her while hugging her back as best as I could. Her voice trembled as she began telling me about an awful call with her mother-in-law.

I set my coffee down and guided her to the couch so we could sit while she filled in the details. Every word she spoke made me hate Seth even more. I’d tried to keep my feelings neutral, for the children’s sake. But this? It was lower than I thought a person could go.

He was a coward. Worse than a coward. Because he was willing to let his children suffer just to get back at Larkin. And for Nancy to go along with it and enable his terrible behavior? Now we knew where Seth got his shitty streak.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she whispered into my chest. “I’m going to miss work. I can’t pay much for childcare as it is, and if I can’t go to work, I can’t even pay for this house. Just when I thought I was finally getting my life together.” She broke down into sobs, her whole body shaking with the force of them.

I held her on the couch, wanting to punch Seth, wanting to talk sense into his parents, wanting to take all the worries off this woman who held so much weight on her shoulders and didn’t have the support she deserved.

As her breathing evened, I promised, “We’re going to figure this out.”

She looked up at me. “We? I’m surprised you’re not running away from this mess.”

I tilted my head down, pressing my forehead against hers. All her makeup was in streaks down her face or staining my shirt, her eyes were red and puffy, and yet I still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“I told you,” I said, “I’m showing you how a man should treat you. And believe me, a man doesn’t run when things get hard.”

She broke down in a fresh wave of tears, holding on to me like I was the only thing keeping her upright. She didn’t know her own strength.

“Look at me,” I said. And she did, eyes red and puffy. I put my hands on either side of her face, using my thumbs to wipe away her tears.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she admitted, fresh tears streaming in the black mascara tracks down her cheeks.

I kissed her lips. “Like I’d let you go when it took so long to find you.”

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