She put her hand on my arm. “I know. You’re the best uncle Cody could ask for. It’s just not the same as having someone around to be a dad to him.”
I pulled her into a hug. “Be patient, Allie. Someday, you’ll meet someone who’ll be perfect for both you and Cody.”
“I hope you’re right. It would be nice not to be alone all the time.”
After Allie left, Miguel said, “She looked really down. Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know. I think she’s stressed about having to take care of Cody mostly on her own.”
“She’ll meet someone someday,” he replied.
“That’s what I told her. I just hope she picks a better man the next time.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
MIGUEL
Cody had the zoomies. He was racing around the apartment, singing the Bruno song on repeat at the top of his lungs. No wonder Allie looked frazzled. “Why don’t we take him out to the boardwalk? It might even be warm enough to let him take his shoes off and run around on the beach.”
“That is a fantastic idea,” Zach said. “I’ll get his shoes and jacket.”
I wrangled Cody and told him we were going to the boardwalk. He started bouncing around, yelling, “Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!”
“We definitely need to wear him out,” I said.
Zach lifted Cody up and turned him upside down. “Come on, little man. Time to put on your shoes.”
“No shoes!” Cody shouted.
Zach set Cody down on a kitchen chair. “Yes, shoes or no ice cream.” Cody’s lower lip protruded and started to tremble. Zach shook his head. “Nope. Pouting won’t work with me, little man. Shoes on or no ice cream.”
Cody sniffled and said, “Okay.”
With shoes and jacket finally on, we headed to the boardwalk three blocks away. Zach put Cody up on his shoulders, and I got to admire his strong arms lovingly protecting the little boy.
It was a beautiful, sunny spring day. It was still a bit chilly, but even so, I could see many people out walking on the boardwalk. Beyond the boardwalk, I saw a few people running around on the beach.
We had just gotten onto the boardwalk when my phone vibrated with a call. I checked the screen and saw it was my sister. Looking up at Zach, I said, “It’s Isabella.” I swiped to answer, “Hey, Bella, what’s up?”
“The police finally picked up Carlos,” she said, relief evident.
“Oh my god! That’s great! Where did they find him?” Zach looked at me with a question in his eyes, and I mouthed, “They arrested Carlos.”
“Excellent,” he said quietly. We continued walking on the boardwalk while I listened to my sister.
Isabella continued her story. “The state police pulled him over on the Parkway for speeding and pulled up the arrest warrant. They took him to the Ridgewood police station for booking.”
“That’s fantastic,” I said. “So now what?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I’m sure he’ll get a lawyer. But he resisted arrest, so it looks bad for him. My lawyer thinks I’ll be able to get a permanent restraining order because of the charges. That and the texts he’s been sending me.”
“What texts?” I demanded. “You didn’t tell me about any texts yesterday.”
“I didn’t want to upset you any more than you already were,” she said. “Carlos kept sending me texts threatening to kidnap the children. He even said he could make me disappear and no one would ever find me.”
“Holy shit!”
“Oooh, Miguel said a bad word,” Cody chided from his perch on Zach’s shoulders. Zach snickered.
