Page 16 of The Manny

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, Thomas.” He sounded exasperated. “I had no idea when you’d be returning from the park. I finished up my calls, and I was waiting for you guys to come back. When I didn’t hear anything from you, I decided to work out. I’m stressed as hell about this situation. Anyone would be. Working out helps me relax. If I’d known when you were going to be back, I’d have tried to time my workout better.”

“You would have?”

“Yes. But now I’m in the middle of it and I’m a sweaty mess.”

“Oh.” His explanation was far more reasonable than I’d expected, and it took the wind out of my sails. “I didn’t think to text you.”

“Okay, well this isn’t me being stubborn. This was just a miscommunication. I’ll definitely join you guys for dinner.” He sighed. “In fact, I’m going to make an effort to be home for dinner every night. At least in the beginning.”

“Seriously?” I widened my eyes.

“Yes. I’ll probably have to go back to the shop after dinner sometimes, but I’ll do my best to be home each night for that meal.”

“I didn’t know you were going to do that,” I said softly.” As far as I remembered, he hadn’t hinted at anything like that last night. In fact, it had been the complete opposite.

He sighed. “I just kind of decided that today. I suppose I should have told you.”

“I wish you had. I probably wouldn’t have come at you so hard just now.” I laughed gruffly.

“I’m not promising I’llalwaysjoin you two for dinner in the future, but I can see how fragile Mia is. I want to do what I can to calm her down a bit.”

I studied him, taking in his sincere expression. “I’m pleased you’re aware of how important the first week will be for Mia.”

“I’m not a total idiot.”

“No. I never said you were an idiot. I’m just confused about what you will and won’t be doing. You’re giving mixed signals.”

He frowned. “Am I?”

“Last night you made it sound like you had no desire to bond with Mia at all.”

“True. I guess I did say that, didn’t I?” He exhaled, raking a hand through his hair. “Seeing Mia in the flesh, well, it was harder than I’d expected. She looks so much like Jules, it brought up a lot of emotions I wasn’t expecting. It was kind of a punch in the gut, to be honest.”

“Okay.” I was pleasantly surprised at how open he was being. If he continued to be as vulnerable as he was right now, I could definitely work with that. “So, what you’re saying is, I need to communicate better with you. If I want you to do something, I need to give you a heads up?”

He nodded, but then frowned. “Not that I will always say yes.”

“I figured.”

His expression tensed at my tone. “I’m not just a heartless bastard. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Like what?”

“Nothing I care to share. I simply mean I have reasons for why I am the way I am. I don’t want to be cruel to Mia.”

I studied him. “Maybe one day you can share some of your past with me.”

He recoiled. “Why would I?”

“So I can understand you better.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t need to understand me. You just need to take care of Mia.”

“Why can’t I do both?”

He gave a humorless laugh, as he rubbed his shoulder. “How about you get out of here, so I can finish my work-out?”

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