Second Chance Dad

Richard’s silver Lexus sat in the McDonald’s parking lot, but he wasn’t alone. That college student who had broken up Hanna’s marriage sat in the passenger seat, her hair twisted and stuck to the back of her head with one of those huge finger clips, blond sprigs sprouting out at odd angles. She stared straight ahead and avoided looking at Hanna. Good! The little home wrecker should feel guilty.

Hanna gulped as Richard opened his door and came around to collect Ashton’s suitcase. As always, Richard was dressed to the height of style. Gray slacks she’d bought him last Christmas and a white button-down. Both starched and pressed, courtesy of the Highland Park Cleaners. Short brown hair freshly trimmed every third Tuesday at five-thirty. Every detail attended to.

This whole situation was surreal. What had happened to their family? How had they gotten to this point? She glanced at the little blonde in the front seat. Hanna’s stomach threatened her with nausea. Suddenly this girl had Hanna’s family and Hanna was the outsider.

At least Hanna had primary custody. For now. She could take Ashton anywhere in Texas as long as she contributed half the expense of his transportation for designated visits with his dad.

But what if Richard didn’t bring Ashton back Sunday afternoon as agreed upon? When she’d announced her intention to move home to Marble Falls to be close to her mother, Richard had insisted that Ashton would be better off remaining in Dallas with him. He’d argued that the divorce had been hard enough on their son and it would only make it harder if they uprooted him from the home and school he was accustomed to.

What if Ashton decided he missed Dallas and didn’t want to come back to Marble Falls? Especially given that Hanna didn’t seem to be at the top of his favorite-person list at the moment. In a couple of weeks, Ashton would be twelve and the judge would probably go along with his wishes.

Engulfing Ashton’s slender shoulders in a tight hug, she breathed in his playground scent and forced back her tears. “You have fun with Daddy, and I’ll see you Sunday. Do you have your inhaler?”

Rolling his eyes, he dug the tube out of his pocket and held it up as proof. “I have it, Mom.”

She managed a cheery smile and prayed it reached her voice. “I love you.”

“See you in two days.” Ashton gave her a quick squeeze then crawled into the backseat of the Lexus and switched on his Game Boy. Was he trying not to cry, too, or was he just angry? Was this what they had to look forward to every other week for the next six years? A hundred and fifty more weekends!

Richard closed the car door and turned to Hanna. “Don’t look like I’m torturing you. You just can’t let him go without making him feel guilty for leaving you, can you?”

Her jaw dropped, but Richard only smirked. “You aren’t totally innocent in all this, you know.”

Snapping her mouth closed, she glared at him. “You’re blaming me? I honored my vows, fulfilled my duties, took care of the home and family, remember?” She took a deep breath. “Ashton has an extra inhaler in his bag and the doctor’s info is on a card in the side pocket just in case.”

“I’m still his father, Hanna. He’ll be fine.”

She crawled back into her car and slammed the door before he could notice her shaking. Maybe their marriage hadn’t been the most passionate, but she wasn’t the one who’d strayed, and she’d be damned if she’d take the blame.

The Lexus purred to life, and Hanna waited to start her own car until Richard had pulled out of the lot and out of sight. She stared up at the giant yellow M and blinked back tears. Families and small kids inside the window gorged on chicken nuggets slathered in ketchup while others climbed in and out of the colorful playground tubes. Okay, so Ashton was too old to enjoy crawling through tubes, but he still liked McDonald’s burgers.

At the thought of food, her stomach growled and she swiped the tears out of her eyes, took her sunglasses off the top of her head and put them on. Nostalgia wasn’t going to buy her anything tonight. She started the car and pulled into the drive-through lane behind a dirty white pickup with ladders sticking out of the bed. A person had to eat and who wouldn’t feel better after a bag of hot, salty fries?

On the drive home, she tried to think about anything rather than the fact that for every mile she drove one direction, Richard was driving one in the other and Ashton was two miles farther from her.

This was insane! Ashton was almost twelve years old and he’d been away from her before. Summer band camp. Weeks with his grandparents. But never a weekend with that other woman while Hanna was over two hundred miles away. It made Hanna’s blood boil to think about that home-wrecking co-ed taking care of her child. It wasn’t insulting enough that she’d stolen Hanna’s husband, now she had her son. And the three of them would spend the weekend in Hanna’s house! The Highland Park house she’d loved and spent years and a fortune remodeling and decorating.

Bluebonnet Books. Grand opening Monday. Think about all the things that had to be done this weekend. She needed this time to take care of all the final details. Ashton would be fine. It wasn’t as if he was a baby. He was perfectly capable of making himself a sandwich even if the woman was helpless. And he’d be comfortable in his old room.

Books. Coffee. Pastries. Her life was certainly in a big mess, maybe the bookstore could be successful enough to take her mind off the fiasco Richard had made of all their lives. Other than an occasional call from her friend Tiffany, there was nothing left of her life in Highland Park.

SLEEP AT LEAST WAS SOUND once Hanna got home. She woke up early Saturday morning ready to plow into all the last-minute details at Bluebonnet Books. If she kept busy, maybe she wouldn’t think about that girl in her house with her husband and son.

She left a note for her mother, who was still snoring like the little engine that could in the next bedroom, and walked to the bookstore. A late-April chill filled the air as the sun crept over the trees, turning the sky to pink and orange. Today Hanna was relieved her mother wasn’t an early riser. She relished the sanity time.

By nine-thirty, when her mother strolled through the front door, cell phone to her ear, the rich aroma of coffee filled Bluebonnet Books. Hanna had arranged copies of the latest magazines on the front rack. She quickly replaced the entertainment magazine she’d been thumbing through.

Norma Creed’s eagle eyes glanced at that exact spot in the display. She put her hand over the phone. “I can’t believe you’re planning to sell those gossip rags in our wonderful community bookstore. They’re nothing but trash.”

Hanna fought to keep a straight face, at least until her mother talked her way to the back office to stow her purse. Norma was the ringleader of the town gossip grapevine. The woman knew everyone’s little secrets and, although she professed to hate gossips, delighted in sharing whatever she knew with anybody she ran across. That was just one of the reasons Hanna had taken the first road out of Marble Falls as soon as her high-school diploma was in her hand. Thanks to good grades and a college fund, she’d headed for SMU and a degree in English and never looked back.

So much for her great escape.

Her mother’s cell phone rang again as she reentered the room. Hanna listened to a five-minute ramble about some poor woman whose husband was evidently having trouble making babies. It seemed that the only change in the grapevine in the fifteen years Hanna had been absent was that it had become turbo-charged thanks to cell phones.

Norma hung up, poured herself a cup of coffee and selected a Danish from the small box Hanna had picked up on the way in. “So, have you heard from Ashton this morning?”

Thanks, Mom. I really needed to be reminded. “Ashton is fine. He has my cell number if he needs anything.”

“I was just concerned, as I know you are. How was Richard? Did you two talk?”

“Richard had his new girlfriend with him. I wasn’t in the mood to stand around a parking lot and chat.” Hanna picked up the empty boxes and toted them to the back. It was going to be a long day.

About the time Norma settled into organizing the tourism and travel section and Hanna thought she might get a moment of peace, who should pull up to the curb on her red bike and slink into the store but Mackenzie Keegan. Helmet in hand, she spotted Hanna. “I was just wondering if Ash is around.”

Hanna stood and stretched. “Good morning, Mackenzie. Ashton is spending the weekend with his father. He won’t be home until late tomorrow evening.”

Shrugging, Mackenzie selected a comic book off the shelf and studied the front cover. “I knew that. But I thought maybe he’d come home early.” Mackenzie placed the comic book precisely where she’d picked it up, even straightening the arrangement. “Yeah, well, he wasn’t too thrilled with going so I just figured he might’ve gotten out of it.”

Sudden warmth bubbled up inside Hanna. “Dallas is four hours away. Unless something unforeseen happens, he’ll spend the entire weekend. But just for the record, I wasn’t too happy he left either. I miss him.”

Mackenzie jabbed the helmet on her head and buckled the strap. “I figured. So, just tell him to call my cell if he gets back early.”

Hanna’s day brightened. Not that she wanted to deprive Ashton of time with his father, but it was certainly a boost to know he hadn’t been eager to go. She poured another cup of coffee and hummed as she arranged the children’s section to accommodate the little wooden table and benches that had arrived.

She opened an adorable book of bedtime stories and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” chimed from one of those tiny embedded music boxes. Putting thoughts of Ashton out of her mind, she snapped the book shut just as the bell on the front door clanged again. She hoped they’d have this many patrons next week when the store actually opened.

“May I help you?” she asked, standing up from behind the low bookshelf and coming nose to shoulder with Vince Keegan’s Henley T-shirt.

His blue eyes twinkled as he noted the tiny children’s book in her hand. “Kenzie said she stopped by. I wanted to make sure she was on good behavior.”

Hanna carefully placed the book back on the shelf and gave her heart a second to stop fluttering. Why did she let his presence do that to her? “She did stop by. Looked bored.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Now there’s a dangerous combination. Kenzie and boredom.”

“The town should be put on alert, I’m sure.”

Hanna was still grinning as Norma came out of the back room, wiping her hands down the front of her navy knit slacks and leaving streaks of dust. “Did I hear someone come in?”

“Good morning, Norma.” Vince twisted his cap in his hands and turned back to Hanna. “Kenzie tells me Ashton’s in Dallas this weekend. I thought maybe I could persuade you to join me for lunch at the Falls Diner.”

To discuss the kids? Hanna blinked. Lunch with a friend? Lunch as a—gulp—date? He didn’t elaborate. Just lunch.

Remembering the scene the other night at his house when Vince’s knees bumped hers still made her break out in a sweat.

Although her feminine ego was pleased by his invitation, she just wasn’t ready. Her heart still felt numb toward anything that remotely resembled romance. Besides, half the town gathered at the Falls Diner every day for lunch.

What happened at the bustling little diner did not stay at the diner. As in any other small town, the locals gathered at the local eatery as much for the daily gossip as for the food and wonderful selection of homemade desserts.