ALECThere  was  something  to  be  said  for  waking  up  with  a  warmbody that smelled like vanilla. I hadn’t slept this well since… well, since the last time Lumen and I had slept in the same bed.Even though it was Saturday morning, my body woke me not long after six, telling me that I should have already been up and about. I’d essentially worked every Saturday from the time I was sixteen up until the time Evanne had been born, and then it had become every other Saturday until she’d moved in. But it wasn’t as if having Evanne here meant I was able to sleep much later than I did when I was working.Today, however, I had no pressing need to get up. Well, aside from a need to use the bathroom.I managed to get out of the bed without waking Lumen, and after I came out of the bathroom, I went back to my bedroom. She was still asleep, and for a moment, I stood in the doorway between the two rooms.Lumen was tw

ALECI  yanked  my  hand  away  from  Keli  and  stuck  both  of  my  hands  inmy pockets to remind myself that it wouldn’t be smart to punch the bastard again. I’d seen red when he’d threatened Lumen, and that slip of control might end up costing me, but my gut said this arsehole was a coward, and he wouldn’t want to have to explain to anyone the reason why I’d hit him.I looked away from the man sluggishly getting to his feet and saw that Lumen was gone.“Shite,” I cursed under my breath. I needed to talk to her now more than ever. In addition to wanting to explain about our unexpected visit this morning, I wanted to know how long this clot-heid had been harassing her.“Daddy, what happened?” Evanne’s voice brought me back to myself.“What was that, mo chride?” I looked down at her.Her eyes were huge, but she didn’t look upset. “What happened?”The vice principal was limping away now, sho

ALECDammit!Thanks to two red lights, I was ten minutes later in getting to the school than I’d wanted to be, which meant I was there five minutes after school let out for the day instead of five minutes before. In my head, I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. Kids were sometimes at the school up to fifteen or twenty minutes after the end of the day, but those other kids weren’t my responsibility. They weren’t my kid.The parking lot wasn’t full when I pulled into a spot, but it also wasn’t completely empty. The parents and staff I passed all had the same pinched, harried expression, and I wondered if I looked the same. I hated when I got off schedule, when the control I needed slipped through my fingers.My shoes squeaked on the tile floor as I made my way down the hall to Evanne’s classroom. I’d passed two teachers before I realized that they were giving me sideways looks, and not the usual admiration I received when I went places where the money I spent made a difference.I sudde

ALECCompletely understandable.Lumen had sent me that text last night in response to me saying we needed time apart. No disagreement. No asking about what it meant or how long I thought I might need.I should have been thankful that she hadn’t become angry or accused me of leading her on or using her. Neither of those things were true, but someone who was hurt might not be thinking clearly. What I feared, however, was that Lumen had been able to think clearly because she wasn’t hurt.It was unfair of me, I knew. I’d changed the expectations between us the first time. I’d told her that I’d wanted to pursue something with her. I’d given her a key to my house.And then I’d blown it all up because Keli had decided she wanted us to be a family.I told myself I had done it the right way. When I’d realized that I needed to at least try to make a normal family for Evanne, I had been honest with Lumen rather than keep

ALECWhen  Keli  said  her  friends  had  invited  her  to  go  out  withthem for dinner and dancing, I hadn’t even hesitated to encourage her to go. I wondered if she was testing me, wanting to see how I would react, but I’d been eager enough for a night without her that I hadn’t bothered to try to figure it out. Now that I was cleaning up after the dinner Evanne and I had made, however, I was thinking about it.Had she perhaps wanted to see if I’d be jealous? Tell her that I didn’t want her dancing with other men? Or ask her to stay because I wanted to spend more time with her? Maybe she was testing to see what she could do if we had a relationship again.Before, she’d had my weekends free, and she’d never complained about needing more time. She might have thought my expectations would be different if we lived together again.Only I didn’t think that would be a problem because this wasn’t going to work. It couldn’t.