Page 46 of Rooster

“I told you. It’s nothing,” Nathan lied.

“Okay.” I looked over to Samantha and asked, “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“Dad was going on and on about Nathan asking you to give him another chance.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he said he really missed you and missed us not being around all the time. He also said Nathan was the reason you found out about Crissy.” Samantha’s expression softened as she glanced over at her brother and said, “And he was counting on Nathan to make things right.”

“Oh, he didn’t.” Samantha nodded. “You both know that’s not true, right?”

“But it is true,” Nathan muttered. “If I hadn’t gotten sick that night, then you would’ve never found out about... you know.”

His father was laid up with Crissy in some stupid motel while I was sitting frantically in the ER with Nathan. He was dehydrated from a terrible case of the flu, and even after calling everyone I knew, I couldn’t find Chad. It wasn’t until he showed up hours later that I figured out where he’d been.

All it took was one look at his guilty face to know that he’d been with someone else. At first, he tried to deny it, saying he was at work, but the lipstick on his collar and the scent of perfume lingering on his skin told a different story. The fact that Chad had tried to guilt Nathan over that night was appalling.

I had to fight back my anger as I told him, “Me finding out what happened that night had nothing to do with you, sweetheart, and I’m so sorry that your father made you think that it did. That wasn’t fair, and it certainly wasn’t true.”

“I don’t want you to get back with him, Momma.” Nathan’s voice was strained as he told me, “I wish you’d left him a long time ago.”

“Your dad has made his mistakes, and he’s still making them, but he isn’t all bad. There’s a lot of good in him.” I reached and placed my hand on his shoulder. “For one, he loves you and your sister very much. He might not always show it in the best ways, but he does. And even though it can be hard at times, I think it’s important for him to be a part of your lives.”

“And what happens when you marry someone else? Will we still have to go see him?”

“Me marrying someone else won’t change the fact that he’s your father.”

“So, that’s a yes.”

“That’s a yes.”

“I thought so.”

I gave him a quick pat, then asked, “Are you still okay with hanging with your sister tonight?”

“Just while you guys go to dinner, right?”

“Right. It shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”

“Great.” I stood and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, then told Samantha, “I’m going to put a load of towels in the wash. I’m going to need you to put them in the dryer when they’re done.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks, punkin.”

I left Nathan’s room, and after I threw the towels into the wash, I went to the bathroom for a shower. I’d hoped it would help clear my head and help me to stop dwelling on what the kids had just told me about their father. I was tempted to call him and give him a piece of my mind.

I knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was too bullheaded to admit that what he’d done was wrong, so I left it and tried to focus on my date with Ronin. With a towel wrapped around me, I went over to my closet and stared aimlessly at all the clothes. We were just going to grab some Italian at a little place downtown, so I decided to go with a pair of slim-fit jeans and a loose, off-the-shoulder top.

I left my hair straight and put on a little makeup, and then I was ready to go. I was just about to slip on my ankle boots when there was a knock at the door. Samantha was the first to shout, “I’ll get it!”

Seconds later, I heard Ronin’s voice say, “Hey there, shortie. How’s it going?”

“Alright.” I heard the door close as she told him, “I was just watching a movie.”

“Anything good?”

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