Chapter 14
”I overate,” Becca grumbled. She pressed a hand on her tummy to determine the extent of her bloat.
Kori scoffed. ”You better have saved room for dessert, Mom. Mrs. M brought tons of homemade ice cream.
Ice cream, summer, and all things Justice went hand-in-hand. There was so much of the icy treat passing around that Becca wondered if Meghan had a factory churning the stuff out around the clock at the Villa.
Stuffed or not, she readily admitted to a new weakness—her latest guilty pleasure, salted caramel ice cream with chocolate toffee bits. The flavor combination ranked out of this world on a deliciousness scale from one to ten.
”Despite knowing the stuff goes right to my hips, I”m always down for a big serving of Meghan”s ice cream.”
Pointing to the cornhole zone, Kori chuckled. ”They turn everything into a competition. I was going to say pissing contest but figured you”d hiss and scowl.”
”Going to say or managed to say?”Becca replied drily. ”I don”t like your new habit of sneaking words and phrases into conversation. I realize you hear a lot of coarse and sometimes bad language, but you don”t have to talk that way.”
”Mom,”her daughter drawled. ”I live in a world of F-bombs. And they”re flying everywhere—not just with adults. Have you heard kids my age talking? Relax. Sheesh.”
A loud cheer burst from the men lined up to play the backyard bean bag game. It looked like they blindfolded the thrower.
”You and Jamie were making nice,”Kori commented in a voice ripe with curiosity. ”Did you guys sign a peace treaty or something?”
Or something, Becca thought.
”Peace treaty?”She looked up while she considered it. ”No, more like a public ceasefire. We don”t want to frighten the villagers.”
Kori barked gleefully. ”Mom! You made a funny. I”m so proud of you.”
She did not want to talk about the adorkably grumpy veterinarian with her daughter, especially since, quite unexpectedly, the waters were cloudy where Jamie Hunter was concerned. The switch from loathing to interest was causing an internal wobble.
”What”s your Sunday plan?”she asked.
Kori shrugged. ”Haven”t decided yet. Pheebs and her dad are painting her room tomorrow. I might stop by to laugh at them.”
”Why laugh?”
”They”re hilarious when they get going.”
Becca heard a tinge of melancholy in her daughter”s voice. The cheerlessness was confirmed when Kori mumbled, ”I tell her all the time how lucky she is to have a real dad.”
Kaboom! An internal explosion of detest for Darryl Tate went off. Her ex-husband was a repugnant piece of worthless shit.
”It must be fun to have a dad who jokes around and pays the bills without being a you-know-what.”
Shit.
Becca sighed. Kori was at that age where she needed to verbalize her true feelings, and while she was thankful their relationship had healed enough to allow the glimpse inside her daughter”s heart, it was hella tricky.
She had to remember that it wasn”t about her—it was about Kori. Keeping her animosity and contempt under control for the man who killed her ability ever to trust another required backbone.
Feeling sage-like, she proclaimed, ”Fathers are like snowflakes. Each one is different.”
The last thing she expected was what came out of her daughter”s mouth next.
”Can we tell Darryl to F-off, Mom? Is that something we can do because it”s just too much, and I”d rather have nothing—a clean slate—than continue this farce.”
Gravity and shock drew Becca”s jaw down till her mouth hung open.
”Excuse me?”she stammered—her eyes blinking and a slight quiver in her voice.
”Isn”t it true that you first have to clean house to allow new things in your life? Get rid of the old and whatever isn”t working. That”s what we should do. F-Darryl.”
Becca shook her head briefly.
Referring to her father as Darryl instead of Dad was a new wrinkle. Was she obligated to nip that in the bud? It took less than a second to think, Nah, fuck that. Kori is old enough to call it as she sees it.
As for the F part, well, that was a different matter.
Becca reached out and pushed Kori”s hair over a shoulder. Her daughter needed to understand she had a voice and that, as her mom, Becca paid attention.
”I hear what you”re saying, okay? Message received. Wiping Father of the Year off our whiteboard sounds reasonable.”She nodded to indicate her agreement. ”But he”s legally on the hook, and even though the court-ordered support is a joke, I”m not so sure we want to give him a pass.”
”Do we need his money?”
”Um, hmm.”Good question. Did they?
As things stood, her salary and benefits financially put them in good standing. For the first time, she had a retirement account. She even had a little bit stashed away in separate savings accounts—one to build a nest egg and the other a college fund for Kori. Things were looking up.
”We do not,”she stated confidently.
There. She said it—F-Darryl just without the words.
”Cool.”Kori”s face lit up. In the next second, she grabbed Becca around the middle and hugged her.
”Thanks, Mom.”
* * *
Jamie sawKori Tate pull her mom into a hug and smiled. Their mother-daughter vibe emanated happy closeness.
He liked that about the two. They were genuine—even when they butted heads.
Rafe clapped his shoulder with an enormous hand. The heavy thud gave Jamie a jolt.
”Doc. Just the man I”m looking for. I need your help.”
”With what?”
Rafe”s eyes swung to Jason Cameron and Draegyn St. John, who were standing talking. He tilted his head slightly. ”Those two.”
He responded with a snicker. ”I”m listening.”
”You know they”re champion motherfuckers, right?”Rafe grumbled.
Jamie smirked. ”I”ve heard stories. I get the picture.”
”Great. So here”s the thing. Those two are plotting something.
”What?”Jamie laughed and turned his head to study the two men Rafe just threw shade at.
”It sounds crazy, but trust me—Justice tradition and a long-simmering rivalry are involved. With my wedding coming up, I”m certain that Posh and Scary Spice will fuck with me in some way.”
Oh my god! Bwah! Posh and Scary! That alone was enough to secure his buy-in.
”What do you need me to do?”
Rafe”sgrin had a comical malevolence. ”Be direct. Ask them. Are there plans in the making for a bachelor prank? They won”t see the question coming.”
”What makes you think they”ll tell me? I”m not known for playing with the other reindeer.”
”Besides the fact that everyone likes you, Jamie, there”s the little matter of their fucking egos. Paybacks are a bitch, and epic paybacks require an audience. They”ll tell you.”
”I”m getting sucked into your lunacy,”Jamie chuckled.
It felt okay to let his walls down with these people. Even after months and months of keeping to himself and acting generally standoffish, they had his back anyway. No questions asked. It was the Justice way.
”Futility, thy name is Resistance,”Rafe laughed—his friendliness infected Jamie in a good way.
”Leave it with me. I have a fair amount of undercover work in my tool kit.”The revealing words got Rafe”s brows shooting up.
”Gonna let that pass,”the gregarious bald giant chuckled. ”Domineau would squeeze my nuts in a vise if I scared you off after she went to so much effort to lure you here.”
”Idon”t know what she told you,”Jamie muttered anxiously.
”Save it,”Rafe replied. ”No need to feign ignorance. My lips are zipped.”
”This is where I back away slowly.”
Rafe laughed. ”Go on then, Doc. Shoo! Off with your unsociable ass.”
They fist-bumped, and then Jamie made a hasty exit, immediately running into Dev and Finn engaging in a brotherly argument over the ending of some movie Jamie had never heard of.
Not wanting to referee, he politely excused himself to search out a cold drink and found himself in Miss Molly D”Alessandro”s viewfinder.
”I”m keeping a chart,”the cute little girl explained as he looked over the beverages. ”My daddy made it on his ca”puter. See?”
She held up a sheet attached to a clipboard, which showed two columns with sections for each beverage choice and a picture of the drink to make sure everything was clear.
”So far, diet soda is winning.”
He could appreciate the exercise and didn”t mind engaging with the personable kid.
”What do you suggest?”he asked. ”Which has the fewest points?”
”The grape soda. It”s Daddy”s favorite, but no one else drinks it. My Rina says it tastes like purple sugar.”
”Rina? Is that what you call Domineau?”
”Uh hu,”Molly replied vigorously, nodding. ”That”s what her daddy called her. It”s short for ballerina.”
He looked around for Domineau. She was holding the Sullivans” baby daughter. Everything about her screamed maternal bliss.
”She”sreally my mom, but we can”t call her that until the wedding. Me and Daddy are ”dopting her into the family.””
What a charming way of putting it.
”My friend Matty got ”dopted, too. Do you know Matty? He”s not here.”She frowned. ”And Bella is at home helping with her new baby sister. So, it”s just me.”
”Well, Molly, even though it”s just you, you”re doing a fabulous job.”
Jamie held up his hand for a slapping high five.
”I could use someone like you at the kennel.We”realways on the lookout for people to read stories and sing songs with the animals.”
”I can do both those things!”
He chuckled at her childlike enthusiasm.
”I”ll ask your parents, and if it”s all right, we”ll set something up. How”s that?”
”Thanks, Dr. Hunter.”
”We”re friends, right?”he asked.
Molly nodded.
”Well, my friends use my first name, so why don”t you call me Doctor Jamie?”
His mom suggested that he lighten up with the younger generation. She told him to drop the formality and lead with a smile. Her advice helped him navigate the social stuff he sucked at.
Maybe it was the moon—or the season. He didn”t care which—but Jamie had to admit he was feeling satisfyingly confident recently.
Thanking Molly for the soda recommendation, he cracked open the can of sugary pop and guzzled as he strolled away. His feet made a path straight to Rebecca.
He found her in the shade of the covered patio, standing next to the sliding doors leading inside from the yard. Her back was to him, so she had no way of knowing he was approaching.
Working on an opening line—something charming perhaps—he maneuvered around the patio furniture, arriving just behind her left shoulder.
Clearing his throat was more of a heads up than a necessity. As Rebecca turned, he said something stupid in greeting.
They regarded each other briefly before her eyes dropped to the can he held.
At the same time, he noticed she was holding a can. His eyes lifted to her face, where a purplish hue clung to her lips. He laughed when she gave a half smile and stuck out a purple tongue.
”Molly?”he drawled.
Rebecca laughed. ”Yes, and judging by your purple mustache, I assume she got you, too.”
Coming out of his self-imposed isolation for Domineau and Rafe”s gathering of friends and family might be the smartest thing he”d ever done.
If nothing else, the occasion allowed him and the irresistible Mrs. Tate to try a little flirting without wandering too close to the edge.
In a far corner of his mind, he was already planning their next encounter.