Page 47 of Dreaming at Seaside
“Don’tcome on, Dadme. You’re going through a big transition with a new town, new school, new friends.”
“Exactly. That’s why I don’t need this shi—stuff.”
Caden’s gut clenched. He shot a look over his shoulder and didn’t like the way the other boys were watching them like hawks. He hated to do it, but he drew upon the deep, fatherly voice he rarely needed to rely on with Evan.
“That’s exactlywhyyou need this stuff. You tell me the deal and that you still respect it, or you can get on that bike and head home. And before you say anything, know that your word is about the only thing that matters. I’m on your side, Ev.”
“Yeah, right.” Evan kicked at the ground.
He crossed his arms and set an icy stare on his all-too-adolescent son. “Yeah, right? I’ve never been anythingbuton your side.” Caden knew things had been brewing between them for a while, but this was not the time or the place he wanted them to come to a head.
Evan flashed his own icy stare. “If you were on my side, we would have stayed in Boston.”
Caden held his stare. He hated this push-pull, and he’d fooled himself into thinking that maybe they’d avoided it altogether. That maybe if he was a good enough dad, they’d make it through Evan’s teenage years unscathed. George had warned him enough times that he was living in a dream world with that notion, and he’d brushed off George’s comments because George wasn’t Caden, and Caden believed that his dedication to Evan would make their relationship different from any other parent-teenager relationship.
Boy, had he been wrong.
“Fine,” Evan relented. “The deal is, if I tell you the truth, no matter what it is, you won’t punish me, but if I lie or hide the truth, I’ll get nailed. Satisfied?”
He hated having to tighten the reins, but the challenge in Evan’s eyes told him it was time.
“New rule. Home by ten.”
“But—”
“Evan, this isn’t a negotiation. Home by ten o’clock. Off the streets and inside someone’s home by nine. I want to know where you are at nine, and I want to receive a phone call at ten telling me you’re at home, not a text. Got it?”
Evan turned away with his teeth clenched tight. “Yeah, you really trust me.”
He took a step away, and Caden grabbed him by the arm. “I do trust you, but I don’t know them, and thisnewyou, the one who challenges his father? The judgment is still out on him.” He took him by the shoulders and leaned down so they were eye to eye. He knew the intimate hold would be a little embarrassing for Evan, but he did it as much to drive home the fact that he loved him no matter what happened between them as he did to let the other boys know that Evan had a father who cared about him. His gut ached at the way Evan’s entire body went stiff, and the fire in his son’s eyes drove that pain deeper.
“This uncomfortable part of our relationship is new to us both, and I know there are parts of it that you can’t control, and there will be parts that I can’t control either.” He’d sworn he’d never make Evan feel bad about pushing the envelope, and he was finding it a difficult tightrope to walk. “Ev, you don’t need to like me, but you do need to know that I love you.” He felt the tension in Evan’s shoulders ease just a hair and continued with the hope that Evan was really listening. “And there’s no way that I’m going to ignore what my gut’s telling me about these kids. My job is to protect you, so no matter how hard it is for either of us, we’d both better get used to it.”
Evan shrugged out of his grasp. “They’re my friends, Dad.”
“I know. I get it. Let’s just make sure they’re the right friends.”
He watched Evan walk away and felt as though he was losing him a little more with each step. He questioned again if he’d done the right thing by moving. He’d made it for almost thirteen years on the force without getting killed. Should he have pushed his luck by staying and hoped for the best? It was a question he’d asked himself a million times, and he knew he’d ask it of himself a million more times before Evan came out on the other side of his transition into manhood.
Inside the patrol car, he checked his cell, but still there was nothing from Bella. He called her, and the call went to voice mail. He needed a Bella fix. Forty-eight hours was too long to go without seeing her.
He played the conversation with Evan over and over in his mind on the way to Seaside. He was certain he’d done the right thing by flexing a little parental muscle, but it still made the muscles in the back of his neck pinch tight. A thread of guilt tightened inside him. In Boston, time off had meant Caden would have more time to spend with Evan, watching him show off at the skate park or hanging out at the house while he and his friends bopped in and out during the day as they went from one of their houses to the next, doing whatever kids did. Lately, Evan preferred to spend time with his friends instead of his father, and Caden allowed Evan extra time with them becausehecraved time alone with Bella. That guilt had been nagging at him over the last forty-eight hours while he’d been working nights and wishing he could be with her.
He drove up the sloped gravel road into Seaside and parked beside Bella’s car in her driveway. He waved to Amy as she came out of the laundry room.
“Aw, no tool belt today?” Amy held a laundry basket against her hip and pulled the laundry room door closed with her free hand.
“I think my chief might have a heart attack if I wore that to work.”
She crossed the gravel road. “You obviously have a male boss.”
“Very male.” Caden looked at her basket. “Do you need help?”
“You’re such a gentleman. No, thanks. I’ve got it. Bella’s still at the beach with Jenna. Want me to tell her you came by?” Amy tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Sure. I’ll try to come by later while I’m on patrol, but it may not be for a few hours, if I’m able to at all.” He noticed that Amy had her bathing suit on beneath her dress. “Why aren’t you at the beach?”
“Hey, Caden. How’s it going?” Tony waved from the deck of his cottage. His hair was tousled, which seemed a perpetual state for Tony, and it gave him the look of always having just come from the beach, which, by his board shorts and lack of a shirt, Caden imagined he had.
