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Nora comes over, placing her hands on her hips and joining the conversation at the perfect time. “How’s the student doing, ladies?” she asks the group.

All of them answer over one another, but I pick up on words like ‘fast learner,’ ‘dad-in-training,’ and ‘A-plus for effort.’ Meanwhile, I’m still wondering how I’m going to get the thought of Lennon’s raging libido out of my head.

Nora laughs. “Sounds good.” Then she leans down closer to me. “I hate to put an end to your lessons, but it’s almost eleven, and you told me to let you know when it got close, so…”

I stand with the pillow tucked under my arm and look around at my teachers. “Thank you again for sharing your wisdom, ladies. I appreciate the education.” With a dip of my chin, I thank Nora for allowing me to crash again and then hop into my work truck to head back to the college.

Jake calls me before I can get there, though. “Easton?”

“Yeah, man? I’m headed back now. Shouldn’t be more than five minutes…”

“Make it three,” he cuts in. “Donovan is here, and he’s not happy.”

***

The second I shift my truck into park, I spot Donovan standing at the edge of today’s pole-replacement site, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

Jake spins to face me as I walk toward them, prompting Donovan to do the same.

My boss arches a brow at me. “Easton. Gotta say, I was surprised to show up to the job only to find that my foreman wasn’t here.”

“I’ve been here since six this morning, Donovan,” I fire back, mimicking his stance while he sizes me up.

“Well, then where were you just now? Because rolling up on the job that you begged me to work on and not finding you here isn’t exactly what I was expecting from you.”

I take a step closer to him, needing to drive home my point in as professional a manner as possible. If he thinks I’m going to stand here and let him make me look like a shitty employee, he’s got another thing coming. “I left Jake in charge. He knew the plans for the day, and I was only gone for an hour.”

“And where were you, exactly?”

“My wife needed me, Donovan,” I reply, not lying implicitly, but bending the truth to fit the circumstances.

His gaze searches mine. “You should have communicated.”

“You’re right. I should have. But I knew Jake could handle things if something happened. I’ve done nothing to make you doubt my capabilities before, and I haven’t hidden that my priority with working this job was to be closer to home so I could be here when my wife needs me. But you’re right. I could have been more forward about my priorities today.”

Donovan glances over at Jake, who just shrugs. “He’s being a dad, Donovan. Showing up when it counts. You can’t fault him for that.”

My boss looks back at me, nodding once. “Fine. Just…try to keep the side quests to a minimum. There’s a lot of money going into this project right now, and the last thing I need is a foreman who isn’t taking it seriously.”

He leaves just as quickly as he came. As soon as he’s out of earshot, I blow out a heavy breath.

Jake starts to laugh. “Damn. I can’t believe you spoke to him like that.”

“Well, for someone who preaches about family, he sure is a hypocrite when I decide to show up for mine.”

Jake leans in closer to me. “Not sure going to a mommy group at a bookstore classifies as showing up for your wife, but…”

I cut my gaze to his. “Talk to me when you’re expecting a kid, and then you might understand where I’m coming from.”

I don’t give Jake a chance to respond, though, because I don’t feel like justifying my actions to anyone else today. Instead, I head over to the crew and tell one of them to switch spots to make the pole replacement easier since this corner of the property is a pain in the ass. I bury myself in work until it’s time to go home, and I can slip into my next shift as friend-turned-husband and father-to-be-in-training.

***

I didn’t expect to beat Lennon home today, especially since I was an hour later than normal. However, it gave me time to get a few things in order before she walked through the door.

“Easton?” she calls out as soon as she enters the house.

I lift my spatula in greeting. “Over here.”