Page 93 of Redemption

“How do you know?”

“Karmen told me.”

His parents told his estranged wife, who thinks she can go out on dates with men who aren’t her husband, but they haven’t told him they’ve gotten back together. “Huh.”

“You really didn’t know?”

“Nope.”

“Sorry,” she says. “But it’s good news, right?”

Is it? “I guess so.”

“I thought you’d be thrilled.”

“I’m happy for them.”

“But?”

Turning his back to her, he presses his palms flat against the fridge. “I can’t get past the thought of my wife going out with another man to think about that.”

“Colt-”

“Who is he?”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he asks and turns to face her. “Want to know who the hell the mother of my children spends time with? Is he good enough for you? Does he realize what he’s getting himself into? Is he prepared to die if he hurts you?”

Throwing her hands in the air, she sighs. “Un-fucking-believable.”

“What?”

“It’s just dinner and drinks. I’m not planning on moving in and having babies with the man, Colt.”

“But you want more kids, don’t you?”

Her eyes look out the window above the sink while her arms move to hug her too-small waist. “Whether I do or don’t doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Because Calla proved I’m not built to have more children.”

“We can do what Tripp and Avery did. We can adopt. We can adopt an entire football team, if you want.”

Her bottom lip quivers. “Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop making this harder than it already is!” she cries.

Making it harder isn’t possible. “I want you to be happy. And I want that to be with me and our family. We can be happy again!”

Stepping backwards, she shakes her head. “Stop it.”

“The fact that you might feel a certain way because I was forced to go to Black Valley drives me crazy. Because the last thing I want is to ever make you question my motives again, but here you are fucking dating.”

“Colt, stop it!”

---