“Is your homework done?” Tansy cut in.
Paige looked affronted. “Of course.”
“Your room’s clean?”
Paige rolled her eyes.“Mom.”
Nick suppressed a chuckle. Tansy would say yes, of course. Even her stoniness crumbled in the face of Paige’s unending enthusiasm. And as far as he was concerned, their daughter had earned the right to come and go as she pleased, provided no boys were involved.
That was where he drew the line. No getting pregnant. No gettingtrapped.
Mother and daughter traded a few more comments, a rare smile blooming on Tansy’s face. Once acceptable terms had been reached, Paige dropped a kiss on Nick’s cheek and sashayed out. Maria lived half a mile away, and Paige liked to walk.
The moment the door closed, Tansy’s warmth cooled to neutrality. “So. Any luck with—”
He held up a hand. “I said I’d handle it. When have I ever said I’d do something and not delivered?”
She nodded, conciliatory. “Okay. But she needs the money by next week.”
“I know.” He’d already decided he’d give the ad two more days. Then he’d resort to... well, something. A loan from Jackson, which he could pay back by getting a second job bagging groceries. Whatever it took. “I’ll make it happen.”
“Fine,” she said. “There’s lasagna on the stove.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He went to the kitchen, filled a plate, and returned to the table. Tansy ate without looking at him, and he chewed without tasting his food. In Paige’s absence, bewilderment crept in, as it usually did.
How had his life turned out this way? How had he ended up sharing a home with a woman who couldn’t have been less interested in him if she’d tried? Not that Tansy hated him; she didn’t. She just... didn’t care. Briefly, he wondered what would happen if he wrecked his truck and landed himself in the ICU.
Tansy would probably only show up if Paige asked her to.
Then again, they’d never promised each other caring, or even friendship. They’d gotten pregnant and resolved to give their child the best life possible, which had meant getting married and buying a house and committing to all the other forms of adulting that came with trying to raise a decent kid in a fucked-up world.
Which Nick had resigned himself to long ago. But seeing Aubrey today had thrown open doors he’d done his damnedest to close. How different would things be ifshegreeted him at the end of the day?
He could say one thing with certainty. He sure as hell wouldn’t have let her limp around the grocery store with a cart full of firewood while he waited outside. It came as no surprise that Gallant had, because that selfish asshole never did anything that didn’t directly benefit himself. Which meant Aubrey was probably alone in that drafty house of hers right now, trying to build a fire, except that was more difficult than people realized, and it was getting cold outside, and she was probably freezing, and—
“What’re you glowering about?”
Nick jerked back to reality. “What?”
Tansy watched him, intent. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What? Nothing.”
“No. Something happened. You’re glaring. More than usual, I mean.”
He stared, hoping she’d go back to her food.
When she didn’t, he sighed, then... told the truth. Probably because he didn’t have enough energy left to lie, or maybe because he wanted to inject some actual meaning into his life, for once. “I, uh... saw Aubrey MacLean. At the grocery store.”
Tansy swallowed and set her fork down. “Oh.”
He fidgeted. “Yeah.”
She knew what it meant; she’d been there. Hell, she’d been part of it. And while Nick had never told Tansy the full extent of what losing Aubrey had done to him—that, at times, he’d wondered whether a person could die of heartbreak—he knew she knew. Tansy was many things, but she wasn’t stupid.
She fisted the napkin on her lap. “Is that going to be a problem?”
