Derrick stepped off the stairs as well and completed the triangle they always made when they were talking to each other. “I think you’d better have had good luck with the ex-wife or we’re all gonna end up being fitted for tuxedos.”
Michael half groaned, half growled. His friends were right, and no one was more aware of what he was up against than him.
Adam slung an arm around Michael’s neck and pulled him close.“Come on, man, your shift doesn’t start for more than an hour. Let’s go across the street to the diner and get some food. The coffee will make you feel better, and the food will keep us from ragging on you while you tell us what happened.”
Michael playfully elbowed Adam in the ribs and turned toward the diner. “Fine. Y’all are paying, though.”
They were seated pretty quickly. Even though the morning rush was in full swing, Kelly, the owner, always kept a table free for Michael in the back to keep everyone in town from interrupting his meals.
Monroe Hills was a tiny town by anyone’s imagination, and being the head of its equally small sheriff’s department meant everyone in town made it their business to stop and talk to him. It used to annoy him when he’d first returned home from working as a detective in Philly. There, if someone had stopped to start up a random conversation, he would’ve thought they were either up to no good or unbalanced.
Coming back to Monroe Hills ten years ago when he lost his parents had been a culture shock. Even though he’d grown up here, the open friendliness took some getting used to.
Since Derrick was the only one of the three of them who had stayed in Monroe Hills after high school, he’d helped him reacclimate to small-town culture. Although Adam lived in New York at the time, it was both of them who’d held Michael together while he tried to take care of his then-teenage sister. Derrick was his rock, coming over almost daily to check in, and Adam kept Michael sane with reassuring phone calls while he handled Cindy’s grief and his own.
These two men would always have his back and he theirs. So as much as they were giving him shit about his situation, Michael knew they were just as concerned about Cindy’s engagement as he was.
After the server left with their orders, Adam sat back with hisarms folded and his brow lifted. “So, what happened?” he asked bluntly and waited for a response.
“She agreed to come talk to Cindy,” Michael replied.
“But?” Derrick asked, dragging out the word slowly.
“She didn’t give me a date,” Michael huffed. “Said she’d text when she was on her way. That could be tomorrow or next year.”
The server returned with their coffee, bringing the beginnings of their conversation to a halt until she walked away to serve another table.
“And your type A personality is twitching because you can’t plug the date and time into a calendar.”
Michael could feel his brows knit together as he looked at his friend. “Dude, you were a high school principal for a lot of years in Brooklyn and you’re the new district superintendent here. How can you not see the benefit of keeping to a schedule?”
Adam sipped his coffee and smiled at Michael as if Michael’s ignorance baffled him. “My work life is very regimented, which is why I prefer my personal life to be a lot more relaxed. You are an uptight asshole every minute of your day, whether the uniform is on or off. Maybe this woman—”
“Vanessa,” Michael interrupted. “Her name is Vanessa.” Both his friends looked at each other, something silent passing between the two of them before they each returned their gaze to Michael.
“Vanessa,” Adam continued. “Maybe Vanessa can’t be managed on your timetable like everyone else in your life. Maybe she has to take some time to get herself together. I’m sure having to handle a situation involving her ex, especially since you said it’s only been a couple of years since her divorce, isn’t easy.”
As much as Michael hated it, he had to admit Adam was right. Maybe this was a difficult thing for Vanessa to deal with.
“How long did it take you to get over your divorce, Adam?”
He shook his head and blew out a long whistle. “I’m not evenashamed to admit it: five years.” Adam took another sip of his coffee before he continued. “And Jackie and I were only married a few years. When you looked into her, you said Vanessa was married to this dirtbag for a while, right?”
“Twenty years,” Michael replied.
“Damn,” Derrick responded. “That’s a long-ass time to be married to a jerk.”
“Exactly,” Adam continued. “Ending a marriage, even under amicable circumstances, can change a person. I had to learn to be single again. And I’m not talking about seeing anyone. Just thinking of myself in the singular and not part of a unit, it took a long time to deprogram. After twenty years, I don’t even want to imagine what all she’s had to unpack.”
Adam was the only one of the three of them who’d walked down the aisle. With no experience in the matter, Michael hadn’t even thought about it in those terms until his friend had mentioned it.
“She was reluctant to get involved,” Michael said. “Her first response was actually no. Considering she filed for divorce and won most of the marital assets, I would’ve thought moving on would be easier.”
Adam shook his head. “Just from everything you’ve told us about this Karl person, walking away from someone like him can’t be easy. Doesn’t matter how many zeros were in her settlement.”
Thoughts filtered across his mind of the dark-haired beauty who, even during a moment of her clumsiness, felt way too good in his arms. Except for her heel getting caught on a paving stone, she was the epitome of poise, grace, and control. After talking to Adam, Michael wondered if there was more to her than the gorgeous veneer she’d allowed him to witness for the few moments they’d shared talking in front of her house and in that coffee shop.
“Since you’re the one with all the divorce wisdom, how should I proceed where Vanessa’s concerned?”
