Chapter 2 #3
Layla shrugged. A thirty-one-year-old mother of a toddler and a five-month-old baby, she had shoulder-length brown hair, freckles, and a contagious smile.
Funny enough, I remembered her in pigtails, skipping after her older brother, Reggie, and me.
We’d been ten years her senior and not interested in a nosy kid hanging around, but Reg had been responsible while his folks were at work and hadn’t had much choice. Thankfully, she wasn’t so bad.
Twenty-five years later, Reggie LaRue, the Four Forest police chief, was still my best friend, and his sister organized my life.
Truthfully, I’d grown up with more than half the folks on our payroll.
Or their parents. I was originally from Fallbrook, which meant I went all the way back to kindergarten with some of the loggers who commuted to work, like Jimmy.
I’d played football at Wood Hollow High with a few carpenters, laborers, and Ted, the head maintenance technician.
I’d gone to junior high with Clem, our accountant, and though we never mentioned it, his wife, Dianne, was the first girl I’d ever kissed at a seventh grade dance.
I was lucky and I knew it. I trusted and respected most everyone on my staff, the benefits were great, my drive was minimal, and I made excellent money. Enough that I’d been able to buy a new house on the lake that was close to civilization yet very private.
Until today, the only neighbors I bumped into regularly were a retired doctor and his live-in nurse…
who I suspected was his much younger boy toy.
We exchanged the occasional hello, discussed the weather, and joked about Chase being part rabbit—a reference to the time my son had decided to help himself to carrots and tomatoes from Dr. Shandley’s garden.
Yeah, that had been a little embarrassing.
Thankfully the doctor had laughed the incident off and accepted Chase’s offer to weed the garden once a week for a month as restitution.
Layla popped off her chair, pulling me from my reverie. “Jimmy says the ice was treacherous on the road from Fallbrook, and—oh, shoot! Sarah is supposed to bring the kids today.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know if she’s going to get through.” Layla scrunched her brow. “She called, by the way. Oh, and Hank did too. He’s in Denver for Denny’s game. They’re playing Seattle tonight. I hope they crush ’em.”
“Uh…me too.”
I pulled up the weather app, listening with half an ear as she went into excited detail about her plans to watch the game with neighbors.
Snow expected in an hour, heavy snowfall by noon, and blizzard conditions this evening.
A blizzard?
Sarah had the kids till this afternoon and like it or not, I couldn’t cut out early today.
I had a crucial online meeting in twenty minutes and with Hank out of town, I was on my own.
I could offer to pick them up at lunchtime, though all indications were that the entire Four Forest area would be under a strict travel advisement by then. Fuck.
“You all right?” Layla asked softly.
I tried for a smile, but it was a weak effort at best. “I’m fine.”
“Have a donut,” she suggested, lifting the lid on the pink box next to the coffee machine. “Our resident cutie pie brought us an assorted dozen. I’m partial to the chocolate glazed myself.”
“Geez, Layla, you’re a married woman.” I infused my voice with a note of humor but ignored the donuts and headed for my office instead.
“But you’re not,” she singsonged. “Call Sarah.”
I nodded curtly, closed the door, scrolled to my ex-wife’s number.
She answered on the first ring. “They’re closing the roads, Coop. I think Fallbrook got hit first. The wind is howling, and snow is coming down in buckets. They say it’s a blizzard, and I believe it. I haven’t seen this much white stuff in years, have you?”
I wandered to the window and stared at the winter landscape, grinding my molars at her giddy tone. “No, it’s a mess.”
And yeah, I could have been referring to anything from the weather to our coparenting reality and the faux cheer sometimes required to interact with someone I’d once loved and now wasn’t always sure I liked.
Unfortunately, avoiding Sarah wasn’t an option. Our marriage was long over, but we were tied together through our kids for the rest of our lives. And for Ivy’s and Chase’s sakes, I tried.
“Looks like I’ll have them for an extra day, possibly two,” she continued.
“I know that’s disappointing and of course they miss you, but we’ll have fun.
The kids are outside making a snowman with Frank, and there’s a plan with some neighborhood kids to go sledding on Bonsai Hill.
I’ll probably host a bunch of them for popcorn, hot cocoa, and a movie later. ”
More teeth grinding.
I swallowed around the lump of frustrated annoyance and bit the inside of my cheek…hard. “Sounds nice.”
“Do you want to talk to them? I can have them call you once they’ve dried off. Frank can—”
“No,” I intercepted sharply, softening my voice and adding, “That’s okay. I’ll catch them later. Let’s stay in touch. And if there’s a break in the weather, I can make the trip to Fallbrook and pick them up.”
“Sure. Um…okay.”
An awkward silence lingered on the line for a beat too long. That was on me.
“Stay safe,” I finally replied.
“We will. Hey, Coop, I—”
“What is it?”
“Never mind. I…hey, we can talk another time,” she said in a rush. “You stay safe, too.”
I tossed my cell onto my desk, closed my eyes, and dug the heels of my hands into the sockets. I wasn’t sure why I was angry, but I was. It wasn’t Sarah’s fault that Mother Nature had gone rogue. It wasn’t Frank’s fault that the kids liked him. Hell, it was actually a good thing that they did.
So the day had gone sideways…so what? Shit happened, and the only thing that really mattered was that Ivy and Chase were healthy, happy, and thriving. And safe.
I can handle a day or two on my own, I thought bleakly. No problem.