Second Chance Dad

Hoping to keep Vince from noticing her shaking hands, Hanna stuck them beneath her thighs, sandwiching them between the cushions. “How about this? I’ll loosen up on Ashton if you’ll meet me halfway and make Mackenzie understand that Ashton has to ask permission before trying new things.”

“Okay, and about the bike.” Vince took a deep breath. “I realize you don’t want me or anyone telling you how to raise your son. But Kenzie said Billy Baer and his group of misfits always wait for Ashton after school and torment him. Riding home with Kenzie saves him from getting into a fight.”

Hanna closed her eyes. “Why wouldn’t he tell me something like that?”

“Because he’s trying his damnedest not to be a sissy! Not to run to his mommy to solve all his problems.”

“Maybe I’ll ask Mom to pick him up on days I can’t.”

“Oh yeah, his nana picking him up in a blue Chevy sedan every day is going to make him not look like a sissy. There’s just a couple of blocks between Bluebonnet Books and the school. Give him some space to handle this himself.”

“I want him to fit in, have friends. I guess as long as they’re only on neighborhood streets and come straight home. I certainly don’t want Billy Baer tormenting him.”

“Fair enough.” He grinned. “Now that we’ve resolved that, do you want to talk about what it is about me that makes you so skittish?”

Chapter Four

Hanna broke down a box and tossed it onto the growing stack, turning as the bell over the door clanged. A lady in jeans and a loose white blouse entered the shop, closely followed by an uncharacteristically docile Mackenzie.

The woman ran her hand through her short salt-and-pepper hair, actually more salt-and-cinnamon, and adjusted her enormous hobo-style purse on her arm. She was probably one of those perpetually prepared women who could produce anything from that monster purse from a wet wipe to a Swiss Army knife.

Eyeing Hanna, she extended her hand. “You must be Hanna Rosser.”

Hanna smiled and shook her hand. Tiny brown freckles dotted every exposed inch of the woman.

“I’m Claire Maguire, Kenzie’s grandmother.” She turned to Mackenzie. “Don’t you have something to say to Ms. Rosser?”

One corner of Mackenzie’s mouth turned up, but the other maintained her scowl. “I won’t make Ashton do anything without asking your permission first.”

Claire cleared her throat and arched an eyebrow.

Mackenzie yanked off her pink cap and twisted it. “I’m sorry.”

The apology was obviously coerced, but it was a start. Hanna extended her hand. “Apology accepted. And I apologize for getting so angry yesterday. Can we start fresh?”

Again Mackenzie shrugged. “Okay.”

Claire patted Mackenzie’s shoulder. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“I guess not.” She looked around the store. “Is Ash here?”

Ash? Nobody had ever called her son that. “He’s at home with his nana doing his homework.”

“While it’s still light out?”

Hanna raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, why waste time indoors when everyone else is playing? I do my homework after dinner.” Mackenzie looked at her grandmother. “I mean, that way Daddy is home to help.” She grinned as if proud of her conjured-up excuse. “Can I wait outside now?”

Claire nodded, and Mackenzie dashed for the door, adjusting her pink cap back into place.

“Vince seldom has to help Mackenzie with her homework,” Claire said with a grin. “He dotes on her, but she’s a smart girl.”

“I’m sure she is, a tad precocious maybe, but I can see the intelligence.”

“Sharp like her daddy and book-smart like her mom. She whizzes through school with very little effort and maintains As and Bs.” Claire picked up a copy of Charlotte’s Web and thumbed through it. “Vince is a good son. I’m not sure how I’d have survived without him and Kenzie in our lives.”

Son? Vince was her son-in-law. The woman’s daughter had been gone nine years. Hanna wasn’t sure what to say. “I was sorry to hear about Belinda.”

“Thank you. Do you remember her?”

“We were only a year apart in high school. She was a sweet girl.”

“Her family was the world to her.” Claire swiped her hand across her freckled cheek. “I’d better get Kenzie home. Vince insisted she come by and apologize.”

Really? “I want Mackenzie and Ashton to be friends. It’s just that Vince and I have very different parenting styles.”

“Vince is an excellent father.”

Being his daughter’s best buddy didn’t qualify him as an excellent dad, but Hanna did envy the close relationship he had with Mackenzie. Richard had always been too busy earning a living to have time to bond with Ashton.

“I’m sure he is, but—” Hanna caught herself. “We just have different approaches.”

POSSIBLY BECAUSE THE KIDS were in ISS, the rest of the week progressed without serious incident. Each afternoon when Hanna picked Ashton up at school, he had some story about Mackenzie’s escapades, escapades that typically involved him.

Friday afternoon was no different, except they had to drive two hours to Waco to meet Richard so Ashton could spend the weekend with his father.

Ashton tossed his backpack on the floorboard and buckled his seat belt. “You should have been at school today, Mom. The teacher left the library to go to the restroom and Billy started being a jerk, called me a nerd, and then Kenzie called him a scum reptile. I thought they were going to get into it, but Kenzie didn’t want to get expelled so she ripped a sheet of notebook paper out of her binder, wadded it up and threw it at him instead. World War Three broke out and we were winning, but then she saw Ms. James coming.”

Geez. “Ashton.”

He laughed. “Dumb Bully Baer was so busy pummeling us with paper wads that he didn’t notice we’d stopped. So it looked like it’d snowed around our table when Ms. James came in, and paper was just flying one way so Bully Baer got in trouble, not us. And the best part was that he was really ticked that he’d wadded up his report and threw it, too, so when he was picking up the paper he had to unwad each one to find his report, then he had to copy it over.”

The tendons in Hanna’s neck threatened to snap. “Not getting caught is not the same as not misbehaving. You two were just as guilty.”

Ashton huffed and glared at her. “Mom, you are so lame. You’re never fun.”

“There are many ways to have fun without misbehaving.” Well, okay, that did sound lame. “Have you made any other new friends besides Mackenzie?”

Ashton let out a deep, exasperated breath. “Bully Baer, does he count? Why do you hate Kenzie? She’s cool.”

Mischievous and undisciplined was now cool? Following basic classroom rules and good behavior was lame? She’d hoped Ashton would avoid buying into the whole rebellious game. And he had, until he’d moved to Marble Falls. “I just think that next week when you’re out of ISS, you might meet some other nice kids to hang around with. It’s good to have more than one friend.”

“Kenzie is the only one I have since you made me move to dumb Marble Falls.” Ashton flipped down the DVD screen and snapped his headphones on. “Let me know when we get there.”

Great. The first weekend Ashton was spending with Richard in Dallas and the boy was going to leave angry at her. Just peachy. Wonderful start to an already stressful weekend.

Hanna drove in silence while Ashton sat in the backseat, headphones isolating him from further conversation. He laughed at the movie, but didn’t even acknowledge her. Waco was approximately halfway between Marble Falls and Dallas and where she’d arranged to meet Richard. This was the first time Ashton would be so far away from her since the divorce. What if he had an asthma attack? Would Richard know what to do? She wouldn’t relax until she had Ashton back with her.