I turned in his arms, tipping my face up for a proper kiss. “Can’t I convince you to play hooky? It’s a beautiful day. Vero and I thought we’d take the kids to the park. Javi’s coming, too. You should join us.”
“You’re definitely making it hard to leave,” he said as I looped my arms around his neck. “I promise, I’ll be out the door at a reasonable hour tonight. How about I pick up dinner so you and Vero don’t have to cook?”
“Throw in a bottle of wine, and I might agree to let you go.”
“Done.”
My mother was right. He was definitely a keeper.
He stole a bite of my eggs, washed it down with the last of his coffee, and double-timed it upstairs to get ready for work. I thoughthard about his offer to join him in the shower, but my stomach growled and his cooking smelled far too good to pass up.
I called Vero to the table and our eyes rolled up in pleasure as we scarfed down our breakfast.
An engine rumbled outside. I peeled back the curtain to see Steven get out of a taxi. His jaw was dark with a few extra days of growth, and he was wearing the same clothes he’d had on the day Mike Tran took him into the station for questioning. He raked his hands through his unkempt hair as he walked to my door.
“Kids!” I called up the stairs. “Guess who’s here!”
I opened the front door as the children thundered down the stairs. “Daddy!” they cried, leaping into his arms.
“Man, am I glad to see you two!” His eyes were a little wet as he held them and breathed them in.
“When did you get out?” I asked.
“About an hour ago. I came straight here. I would have called, but my battery was dead on my phone when they gave me my stuff back.”
“Did you bring us a souvenir?” Delia asked. “Mrs. Haggerty said they do arts and crafts in jail, and she learned to make all kinds of things.”
“I bet she did.” He gave each of the kids another kiss, like he couldn’t get enough of them. Maybe Mrs. Haggerty had been right, that a little time in the clink wouldn’t be the worst thing for him. Sometimes, you don’t realize how precious something is to you until you’re faced with losing it.
He beamed at Zach. “Look at you, buddy, keeping your pants on like a big boy!”
“At least there’s hope for one of you,” Vero called out from the kitchen.
Steven’s cheeks reddened, but, to my surprise, he didn’t fire off a comeback.
He set Zach down, pulling back a little to look at Delia’s face. “A little birdie told me you’re going back to school tomorrow.”
“Yep!” Delia said proudly. “After we went for ice cream, Mrs. Haggerty told Cam to drive us to my school in his giant eggplant. Arnold Schwarzenegger came, too! Then Mrs. Haggerty went inside to meet with the principal. Arnold didn’t like her.” Delia curled her fingers into claws. “He growled at her and peed on her floor. Mrs. Haggerty didn’t like the principal either. She told her if they didn’t let me come back to school, she was going to call her grandson and make a fuss. She said her grandson is a very importantpolly-tippan, and they’d better listen if they don’t want to be on the TV, too. Mrs. Haggerty is famous, Daddy! All my teachers knew her!”
“That’s… Wow,” Steven said, looking at me. I shook my head. This was the first I was hearing about their field trip to the school, but that would explain the strained voice mail I’d received from Delia’s principal yesterday, saying Delia was welcome to return to class on Monday.
Steven set Delia down and she tore off after her brother to play.
“Which little birdie told you?” I asked, wondering how he’d been getting his information while he was in lockup.
“Mrs. Haggerty wrote me a letter and asked one of the officers to deliver it to my cell. She apologized for letting the police arrest me before deciding to come forward. She told me all about homeschool and potty training and how well the kids were doing. And she said that if I screwed anything up for you, she’d make me disappear and it would look like an accident.”
Vero snorted in the kitchen.
Steven smiled in spite of it. So did I.
“She also mentioned you bonded her out.” He raised an eyebrow when I nodded.
“The judge set a very reasonable bail. I couldn’t let her stay in that place, so Vero and I picked her up and brought her home with us.”
His smile wavered. “She isn’t here now, is she?” he asked, looking a little unnerved by the possibility.
“She’s upstairs packing. Apparently, her grandson is coming to pick her up in an hour.” I still had my doubts, but if and when he did show up, I had several questions I expected answers to, and I was sure Vero had a few choice words for him.
