That thought was knocked right out of his head when Eric landed a punch. Luckily, the adrenaline surging through him numbed the pain.
Eric jumped on the balls of his feet, face alive with excitement.
Memphis squared his shoulders and rounded his fists. It was time to give this guy what hereallydeserved.
“Stop it!” a shrill voice yelled from behind.
Aw, crap.
Memphis jerked a quick look back, chest puffed with adrenaline, mind set on rearranging this jerk’s face. “He deserves it,” he said before spinning back to his opponent.
But he wasn’t standing there anymore. Eric was hurrying toward Ty, cupping his face with one hand. “I tried to tell him we should just talk like men, but—”
“Oh, that’s rich,” Memphis hissed. “He’s lying.”
“I saw you guys clear across the parking lot, and I couldn’t do a thing about it because I had achildwith me. Achild! I had to buckle Lucas up, roll the window, interest him in a book, then lock the car door so that I could come over here and break you guys apart?” She folded her arms hard over her chest, eyes narrowed. “You’re like children yourselves.”
“I tried to avoid this with Lucas in mind.” Eric’s attempt at wide-eyed innocence only made him look more guilty.
Memphis felt a little guilty himself though, since he hadn’t thought for a moment that Lucas would see them. Probably because he’d parked on the other side of the lot and, inwardly, assumed Ty had too. Not that he’d given it much thought.
“Memphis?” Ty’s voice was ragged and torn. Worse than that, the look in her eyes was one of…fear.
“Why are you looking atmelike that?He’sthe snake. You should be afraid ofhim.”
Ty spun a glance over her shoulder where Lucas waited in her car. “It’s like you don’t even get it. Eric is…importantto Lucas, whether I like it or not. Don’t you see that?”
Memphis took one step back, eyeing Ty and Eric in turn. He darted a look at her car in the background where Lucas waited, his little head bobbing as he bounced in his seat.
“Just go,” Ty said.
Memphis assumed she was talking to Eric, but when he set his gaze back on her, he caught the accusing glare on her face. It was aimed athim.
“Me?” He jabbed a finger in his chest.
“Yes, you. This isn’t okay. I don’t even recognize you right now.”
Memphis shook his head, taking another step back. And then another. “What, you guys are going to wander off and play happy family? Is that what’s going to happen?”
Ty shook her head as tears welled in her eyes. Eric was already moving in to soothe her.
Memphis reflexively jerked away from the sight of that scumbag anywhere near Ty, cursing under his breath all the way to his truck. He was too angry to see straight, but he managed to get on the road and head toward the inn. He wanted to crush the steering wheel in his grasp. He wanted to punch a hole through the glass and watch it shatter. He wanted to…but then an image of Lucas came to mind.
“You have the same mark in your chin as me,” he’d said, eyes lighting up with delight. It was almost like he’d instinctively known they were connected in some way. Memphis couldn’t imagine what it would be like to grow up without a dad. It wouldn’t be easy, there was no doubt about that. But couldn’t Memphis play that role one day? His love for the kid grew deeper every day. Just like his love for Ty. And lots of kids had both in their lives—their bio father and a stepdad. This wasn’t an impossible situation, so why on earth did it feel that way?
As he pulled into the driveway, a question came to mind. Ty had said she wanted him to pick her up at Holly and Margo’s at 7:00. Without a whole lot of thought, Memphis had merely assumed the date was off. But now that he thought about it…
His phone buzzed as he shut off the engine. Memphis tugged the keys from his ignition, dreading what he might see on the screen.
Ty:I don’t feel like celebrating tonight. I’ve got a lot to consider and I’m sure you do too.
Well, that answered his question. Ixnay on the date today.
Memphis pushed open the truck door and climbed out. It was then that his face reminded him he’d been punched. Hard. His left eye was throbbing. He didn’t care much about the pain, but the black eye that was sure to follow—that would give way to a whole lot of questions that he didn’t want to answer.
He wasn’t sure what to do about Eric trying to weasel his way back into their lives. Chances were, he couldn’t do anything to stop him. Ty had nixed their date today. She may just plan to put the ixnay on Memphis tomorrow.
