Chapter 26 Who’s Your Friend?
Twenty-Six
Who’s Your Friend?
Beck
I feel Forest stiffen, and I quickly step back. “What now?”
Then I spot the BMW at the foot of the driveway. A pretty woman with shiny brown hair hops out. She’s wearing a chic coat and the kind of stiletto leather boots that say I have somewhere important to be, and you’re not invited.
The ex-wife, I presume. She does not look happy to see me. This is the first time I’ve ever been glad that Forest is too classy to shove his tongue in my mouth in the driveway. Because it’s clear that she feels she’s caught us in some illicit tryst.
“Hello,” she says crisply. “What’s going on? Where’s your truck, Forest?”
“May she rest in peace.”
“Ah.” She winces. “Sorry. And who’s your friend? Am I interrupting a... date?” She pronounces the word like it’s dirty.
And, to be fair, my “dates” with Forest usually are.
Forest sighs. “Ruby, this is Becker. He’s just on his way out, after spending his afternoon helping us out.”
She looks alarmed. “By...?”
“Well, first he picked up Charlie from hockey.”
“He picked Charlie up?” she repeats. “In...” She glances at the two unfamiliar vehicles in the driveway, and, demonstrating classic mom instincts, her gaze falls onto my heap. “That?”
“The seatbelts function fine, ma’am,” I say, starting to get offended. “Just got my license last week, so I’m being extra careful.”
Her lips turn white.
“Beck.” Forest closes his eyes. “He’s kidding, Ruby. You should also know that Beck just tutored Charlie all the way through the math test redo.”
She blinks. “Seriously? The whole test?”
Her expression is so dubious, I actually laugh. “It’s not multivariable calculus. Charlie isn’t bad at math, either. He caught on quick enough.” I leave the word bitch off the end of the sentence, but it’s implied.
“Well, that’s a relief,” she says coolly. “Where is he?”
Like it’s not obvious?
“Beck,” Forest says with forced patience, “would you mind letting Charlie know his mother has arrived?”
“Sure.” I head back to the house, not missing the way Forest steps closer to his ex, dropping his voice so he can quietly give her a piece of his mind.
I open the house’s door from the garage and step inside. “Charlie? Your mom is here. She’s looking for you.”
“Already?”
“Sad, but true.”
He emerges a minute later, shoving stuff into a messy backpack. “Uh, thanks for your help with everything. You made variable stuff easy.”
“So did you, dude. You got this.”
He gives me a faint smile.
When we emerge, Forest’s ex-wife is standing stiffly in the driveway, arms crossed. “Hi, Charlie. I hear congratulations are in order.”
“You heard right! Can we get Mexican?”
“Sure, honey,” she says.
I feel Forest’s flinch like a stab.
“Becker,” she says as her son throws his gear into the back of her car, “Thank you for your help today. Charlie really needed the support.”
“It was fun,” I say lightly.
She opens the driver’s door. “Charlie, thank your dad’s friend for helping you.”
“He did about sixty seconds ago,” I say. “Without any prompting from Forest, too.”
Oops. That last bit just slipped out, and I probably deserve the dark look I’m getting now.
Worth it, though, especially because Forest is trying not to smile.
Forest says goodbye to Charlie, and then the ex drives away. Finally.
Forest turns to me. “I’m sorry. She’s actually not a horrible person. I’m about to get a whole bunch of questions about you, though.”
“What does she want? Psychiatric workup? DNA sample on file? Criminal history?”
He flinches. “Something like that. I had a rough patch last year and now she has trust issues.”
Hmm. That’s not the first time he’s referenced some trouble, but whenever I ask, he clams up. “Don’t worry about it. I get it. Exes are hard.” Not that I have any.
And at this pace, I never will. Forest had made it clear that he’s not boyfriend material. Which is not something I want to think about right now. Or ever.
“So, what’s the buy-in for poker night?” I ask.
“Twenty bucks,” he says. “That is what divorced dads can afford.”
“Cool. Sounds fun. You’ll tell me when and where?”
“Seven o’clock. I’ll send you the address.”
I start to walk to my Jeep but then turn back. “Wait. I forgot something.”
“What? Mphff…” he says when I kiss him, right here in his driveway.
“Hang in there, tough guy. See you tomorrow.”
I drive home wondering what I can get Forest for his birthday that doesn’t look like I’m trying too hard.