About Last Night by Carter Ashby

Author:Carter Ashby
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781733808200
Publisher: Plain Jane Publishing
Published: 2019-06-04T04:00:00+00:00

The next evening, Tessa was out late again. And the evening after that. And Thursday, too. Come Friday, Cooper realized he was tightening his belt an extra notch. He’d just lost his appetite and his ability to sleep. He came home after work to find Mary, as usual, playing a board game with the kids. She smiled up at him as he walked in the door, but her smile quickly turned into a frown. “Oh, Cooper, you look dreadful.”

“Thanks,” he snorted. He kicked off his boots at the door, hung his hat on the peg, and headed to the fridge for a beer. “You got big plans tonight?” he asked, just to tease her. He knew good and well that Mary and Scott had a standing date on Friday nights to snuggle in front of one of their cop shows.

Mary giggled. “I’m too old for big plans.”

“Nonsense.”

“What about you?”

“I think after I shower, I’ll take the rugrats out for burgers and a movie.”

Daniel and Stella bounced in their seats and squealed.

“Sounds lovely,” Mary said. “You should invite Tessa.”

He shot her a look. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t become accustomed to her little hints lately, but she typically didn’t do it in front of the kids. No sooner had she mentioned it, than both kids ran around the table, jumped on him, and started repeating, “Can she come? Can she? Can she? Can she?”

Cooper hugged them each. “Not tonight. Now go on and clean up the toys on the living room floor so you’ll be ready to go when I get cleaned up.”

They ran off, singing the clean-up song. Cooper turned to Mary. “Now, why would you say that in front of them?”

“I thought I’d enlist their help in pressuring you to do the right thing.”

Cooper leaned forward and lowered his voice. “She’s been out every night this week, I assume with Killian. Every night. So please, don’t get them excited about something that’s never going to happen.”

Mary’s expression fell. Her shoulders sank. “Killian?”

“Yep. He’s made his move, and she clearly likes him.”

“Oh.” Mary looked very nearly devastated. He hated upsetting her, but it was hard enough letting go of Tess without having to take on Mary’s disappointment as well. “I suppose that’s good for her. He’s a fine young man. And he deserves to find someone. But…are you sure it’s too late?”

“Mary. Please. I just need to get past this, and this isn’t helping.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, pure sympathy in her eyes.

Great. Just what he needed. More pity. “I’m fine,” he said gruffly. “I just wanna get showered and take my kids out for a fun evening.”

Mary nodded. “Okay. I’ll go. If you need anything, give me a call.”

He stood to hug her goodbye. “Thank you, Mary. For everything.”

After a shower, he packed the kids into the truck and drove to their favorite diner in town. They’d taken to eating there once a week, and the waitress already knew the kids’ orders. After that, they went to the movies.

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