“Ifyou take me to Dairy Queen,” he added.
“Deal. But we have to get rid of all the evidence before we go home.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
I sat there staring at him for a second. Dylan grew serious again.
“What?” he asked.
A fond, almost sad smile formed on my lips. “You know I’d do anything for you, right?”
He didn’t smile back. Just nodded.
Chapter 2
Lacey
The high-pitched screams from upstairs made my head hurt. From the street, someone probably would’ve thought a kid was being murdered. But it was just Brian, losing the bedtime diaper battle against an out-of-control toddler.
“No diaper!” Ethan wailed.
“Yes, you need a diaper at night.” Brian was done. This fight had lined up right after the previous battles over brushing teeth and getting into pajamas.
“No diaper! Dada bad!”
I put a hot dog in the microwave.
Lila sat on the living room sofa watching a movie. Somehow she was hungry again after dinner. She wore her brown hair in a braid. A friendship bracelet was wrapped around her wrist.
“Maaamaaaa!” Ethan screamed, demanding I take his side in the diaper scandal. Dylan, of course, hadn't moved from his room.
I rushed up the narrow stairs and found Brian one second from losing it. He’d worked a ten-hour shift fixing people’s ACs today. Then, the second he got home, his kid shift started.
When I reached the bedroom, Ethan balled his fist and swung at his dad.
“Ethan, no hit,” I said and gently grabbed his wrist.
“I’ll get a book to read.” Brian hurried off.
“Mom!” Lila hollered from downstairs. “I’m still hungry!”
I could barely hear her over Ethan’s shrieking.
“The hot dog is in the microwave!” I called.
“What?” she shouted back.
“The hot dog—”
“I got her!” my mom’s voice boomed from the kitchen. Thank God. She must have just gotten here.
Brian came back from Lila’s room carrying a stack of books.
“No book!” Ethan still howled. “No sleep!”
“These are Lila’s special books,” Brian tried to reason.
Every muscle in Brian’s face tensed. He was done for the day. So was I. Exhausted.
