“That’s me.”Maddox says, his eyes bouncing from my son to me.“I’ll bring him inside, but if you’re not back in there in two minutes?—”
“Just take him inside,” I plead.
He stalls for another moment before he mutters something I can’t quite make out and leads my son inside the Rodeo Roundup.Once they’re out of view, I turn my attention back to Russell.
“Finally got farm boy’s attention, huh?I bet your panties are soaked.”
Ignoring the jab, I poke a finger against his chest.“What the hell did you do to Dylan?”
He rolls his eyes.“I didn’t do shit to the kid.I picked him up from school, took him for pizza, and studied those fucking words just like you told me to.A couple of my buddies came by the house, and he got bored.Started whining like a little girl that he wanted to go home.”
“I don’t buy that.”
“I really don’t give a fuck if you buy it or not, Amelia.He’s a spoiled brat.Last time he was with me, I told him I’d buy him a video game, but money is tight right now.I don’t need my twelve-year-old son calling me a liar or telling me how I should spend my money.”
Unfortunately, Dylan is used to Russell breaking his promises.I would bet my entire paycheck that Dylan never expected his dad to actually buy him anything.
“Money isn’t tight when you need a drink, though.Am I right?”
He narrows his eyes and points his finger at me.“That right there is the problem.He probably hears you say shit like that about me all the time.”
“No, Russell.I don’t speak badly of you to Dylan.He’s not a baby anymore.He’s got eyes and ears, and a fucking mind of his own.”I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head.“I should’ve known better than to ask you to step up.It won’t happen again.”
“Ain’t no sweat off my back.You’re ruining that, kid.”
I know better than to let anything he says get to me.I’m doing my best, and that’s a helluva a lot more than he does.More than that, I’m consistent.Dylan knows he can rely on me.He knows my love is unconditional.
“You ever threaten my son again, or talk to him like you did tonight, I will make your life miserable.”
He scoffs, slamming the back passenger door of his car.“Amelia, my life became miserable the day I found you crying in that field.”
That one hurts, not because I’m foolish to believe he loved me at some point.Love was never part of the equation with us.It hurts because Dylan wouldn’t be in our lives if Russell never found me that night.I’ve got a lot of regrets, and twice as much resentment, but I wouldn’t trade my son’s existence for anything.I can hate the man standing in front of me, and I can resent the one who took my boy inside just a moment ago, but I’m forever grateful to both.The heartbreak they inflicted led me to the greatest love I’ll ever know…my son.
Straightening my shoulders, I drop my hands to my sides and stare Russell dead in the eyes.
“I won’t call you to be part of his life.I won’t beg you to be a father.He sees you exactly for what you are.A disappointment.”
“And you think he doesn’t see you for what you are?”He rounds the front of his car, pausing to glance over his shoulder at me.“One day someone is going to knock you off that high horse, and maybe then you’ll get it.”
I let him have the last word, and watch as he stumbles into his car.The engine purrs to life, and he peels away from the bar, the tires kicking up dirt as they crunch over the gravel.When the taillights fade from my view, I exhale a heavy breath.I don’t have time to dwell on anything Russell said.I’m still on the clock, and there is a boy inside waiting for me to right his world with a smile.
I glance at the watch on my wrist and sigh when I realize I have another twenty minutes before I can leave the bar.That’s when damage control commences, and I try to undo everything Russell did to our boy in the short time they were together.
My eyes cut to where Dylan sits beside my cousin in a booth.After I briefly assured my son that I was okay, Shadow and Maddox decided to take their party of two to a table, and my son accompanied them.
It was weird seeing my son and Maddox together, and even weirder than that was seeing how comfortable Dylan seemed to be around him.I didn’t like it one bit.I know what happens when you get too close to Maddox Meadows, and I don’t want my son to experience that pain.
Still, I refrained from dragging Dylan out of the booth.I didn’t know what they were discussing, but Maddox and Shadow seemed to have no trouble keeping my son engaged.Outside the bar, in front of his father, he looked angry, and sad—older than twelve and fighting to keep his composure.Tucked in the booth, he looked like my little boy again, inquisitive by nature, hanging onto every word the adults spoke, soaking it all in.He looked like he belonged, and I didn’t have the heart to take that away from him, so I told myself that tonight was the exception, and went about my work.
I tried not to stare, and mostly succeeded, but now that the crowd is thinning, it’s hard not to.Dylan laughs at something Shadow says, but it’s the man sitting across from them that steals my attention.There was a time when I wished he’d do what he did tonight, but I gave up on it ever happening.I reminded myself of all the times he ignored me, and the times when he’d catch my eye only to look away in disgust.Maddox Meadows didn’t give a fuck about me.Not then and certainly not now—so why the hell did he come outside tonight?
Why did he look like he wanted to kill my ex-husband?
He says something to Shadow, then turns his focus to Dylan, offering him his hand.Dylan shakes it awkwardly, nodding in response to whatever Maddox says, then releases it.He slides out of the booth and snatches his hat from the table.Fitting it onto his head, he turns and makes his way over toward me.
I quickly look away, but I fear I’m too late, and with every step he takes, I feel my cheeks grow hotter.I’m not sure how to play this.Do I reprimand him for sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, or do I thank him for taking my son inside?I’m not sold on either option.I wish he would just walk away like all the times before.
He slaps three fifty-dollar bills onto the bar, his eyes meeting mine from beneath the rim of his Stetson.
