Page 72 of Out Of A Fix

Griff cleared his throat. “I was drinking some of your beer. Not every day, but more than I should’ve.”

Luke nodded. “And so now I have a locked cabinet and there’s no other alcohol in the house. Is that right?”

“Yeah.”

“And do you plan to continue drinking?”

“No. I haven’t had anything since that Saturday night at the party, and I know that’s not a long time, but it’s the longest I’ve gone in a while.”

“What made you stop? Was it Nash being here?”

“Partly. Mostly, though, it’s because I left Tatum alone in the house from Friday night until Sunday morning when Nash showed up.”

Luke listened instead of yelling, which was good for Griff, who felt bad enough already.

“And though it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t get home to her on Saturday night, it was my fault that I was gone Friday night and all day Saturday before Chief Wilson beat me up.”

“Yes, it was,” Luke told his son. “But it’s my fault that I left all that responsibility on you, that I lost my phone and didn’t immediately replace it… I’m sick that I left all of you alone because I was more worried about providing for you than protecting you.”

Silence at the dinner table.

“It all worked out okay,” Tatum said cheerfully. “We got Nash, and I didn’t burn down the kitchen. Dar came home, and we got Griff out of the big house.”

Luke’s brows furrowed as he looked at his daughter.

“We did,” she said authoritatively. “And you won’t ever do that again, will you?”

“Leave you?”

“Yeah.”

“No,” Luke said gruffly, and I could hear the promise in his voice. “I swear to you. All of you are the most important things in my life, and I’m going to work hard to make you believe that and⁠—”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Darwin soothed him. “Mom leaving was hard on all of us.”

“Yes, it was, and continues to be so,” he said with a sigh. “The thing is, I let you all down because I’m the parent but I lost it.”

They were all three staring at him.

“And I know I don’t deserve it, but if you all give me another chance, I⁠—”

“It’s like Nash said,” Griff began, “we have to put ourselves in your spot. And I swear I’m gonna keep going to see my therapist, and I’m not gonna drink, and I always liked cooking but now I love it, and I’m gonna work on it more and more.”

Luke nodded. Speaking, apparently, was off the table.

“I’ll try, and you’ll try,” Griff said. “Is that good?”

More nodding from his father.

“I will not cook anymore,” Tatum declared. “And I will tell you when I’m sad or scared or even when I’m happy, because Nash said you need to know everything all the time.”

His eyes flicked to mine and then back to his daughter. “Nash is very smart.”

“Except about buying a cat carrier,” she said miserably, her focus on me. “You’re absolutely positive they didn’t have a blue one? Did you ask them to look in the back?”

“Yes. I’ve told you nine times. No blue anywhere in that building.”

She grunted like that was the worst thing ever.