Interesting.
My dad’s eyes lit up when he saw me, and he launched himself at me for a hug and a pat on the back. “Hey, Cooper.” He looked me over. “You’ve grown another inch.”
I guess that was why he looked smaller. “It’s been a long time.” I tried to keep the accusation out of my voice. Probably wasn’t successful.
“Too long,” he said, nodding. “I should’ve come back sooner.” He exchanged a look with my mother, like it was a subject they’d talked about. An apology was in that glance.
She turned her attention to me. “How was the dance?” She didn’t seem to notice I was home early.
I didn’t want to explain anything yet. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
“I bet it was fun.” She stood and smoothed her dress as if she didn’t quite know what to do with her hands. “I should go change. Cooper can tell you about everything he’s been up to.” She gave me an encouraging smile and sailed out of the room.
Dad pulled out a chair and sat down again. “Looks like you’re having a winning season.”
“Yeah.” That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about. “How long are you back for?”
He hesitated and rubbed his jaw, choosing his words carefully. “Hopefully, a long time.”
“Why?” What I meant was: What does this trip mean?
He shifted in his chair and clasped his hands together on the table. They’d always been calloused hands. That hadn’t changed. “I quit my job on the oil rig. I’m going to try to find some work here in the valley. That way I can be around more for you and Claire.”
For me and Claire but not for Mom?
As long as I could remember, he had jobs that took him away from home. Military. Long-haul trucker. Oil rig. He’d always said that you did what you had to in order to provide for your family. Now, when I was a senior, he wanted to spend time with his kids? It didn’t make sense.
Unless ... My heart rate ratcheted. “Are you dying or something? Do you have cancer?”
He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “I guess I deserve that question. No, I’m not dying. I just realized it was time to come home.” His shoulders slumped, and he shifted in his seat again. “I never meant to be gone so much. I thought if I worked harder, moved up the ranks, and made more money, then I could be the father the family needed.” His eyes went back to mine, and I saw the raw regret there. “Instead I just missed everything. I want to see you play football and see Claire’s plays. I want to ...” His sentence drifted off, and he checked down the hallway, looking for Mom. “I want to make things up to your mother the best I can.”
For a second, the weight of his words settled between us. He was finally saying what I wanted to hear. Maybe that was why Ihad a hard time believing him. I was afraid he would snatch the words away again.
“I’m going to stay with Ronnie while I look for work,” he went on. Ronnie was a friend of his who lived down the street. “That way, I can be around to help your mother more.” He sent another look down the hallway. “Your mom is an amazing woman. You shouldn’t forget that.”
“I wasn’t the one who forgot it in the first place,” I said.
He winced and gave me a smile that was half grimace. “I probably deserved that too, but don’t push your luck, son. Ihave joint custody, which means I can still send you to your room.” He said it in a joking way, but there was an edge to his tone. My words had hit the mark.
I gazed at the roses sitting on the counter, crisp red flowers standing at attention in a vase. “Are you trying to mend things with her all the way?”
“We’re going to start going to counseling and see where that puts us.”
See where that puts us. The phrase repeated in my mind. “She wants to go to counseling with you?”
He nodded and lowered his voice. “Not every woman would turn down dating a rich guy to give her ex another shot. Most women would choose the money, but she says she wants what’s best for the family.”
My parents might get back together. It was an actual possibility now.
All of this meant Mom had either already broken up with Mr. Seibold or it would happen soon. Judging from his downcast manner while I’d been with Madeline, one way or the other, he knew the score.
He would bounce back quickly enough. Dad was right. Aman with Mr. Seibold’s wealth wouldn’t have a problem finding interested women.
I thought about Madeline and the sorts of guys she usually dated, the sort of life she was used to. Nice house. Nice clothes. Trips all over the world. I’d been worried about her liking TC, but he’d never really been my competition. My competition were the guys at school who already lived in her world and always would.
“Did mom tell you that I’m dating Madeline?” I asked.
“Who?”
