Manning had shown Mateo many things since then, but most importantly, he’d taught him how to trust, how to confront his past to protect his future, and how a man treated the people he loved. As a new mom with a set of problems all my own, I would never forget how Manning had ensured Mateo understood the responsibility that came with having a newborn in the house.
Of course, we’d been saving the jail story for when Mateo was a little older, but it seemed as though some town gossips had decided that time would be now.
“So where’d you hear this rumor?” Manning asked.
“The kids at school.”
“Which ones?”
It was an odd question that had me wrinkling my nose at Manning. “Why does it matter?”
Mads stepped on Cola’s paw, and he yelped loudly enough that she started to cry. Manning turned, but I picked her up first so he could focus on Mateo.
“Which kids, Mat?” Manning asked.
“Well, a lot of them. Like my friends,” Mateo said. “Michael said he heard from his mom, who heard it from the principal’s secretary that . . .”
Manning wiped his hands on his jeans. “That what?”
Mateo lowered his voice. “You’re so dangerous, you can kill a man with your bare hands.”
“What?” I screeched, bouncing Mads as I whipped my head back and forth between Mateo and Manning. “Are they fucking kidding?”
“Lake, it’s all right.” Manning shook his head quickly before turning to Mateo. “I did go to jail. Prison, actually. There’s a difference.”
Mateo’s brows drew together. “You told me you didn’t.”
“I never said that. I told you my dad went away for hurting Madison. Me, I was arrested many years later for a robbery I didn’t commit.”
“You were innocent?” Mateo stopped moving his feet, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the table. “That’s . . . that’s not fair.”
“Yeah, and it made me angry for a long time. Your mom, too. But that was twenty-something years ago. Look at the life we’ve built since then. Look at our family.”
Mateo glanced at me and Mads. “Your dad and I have made mistakes,” I said. “Some of them very serious. But we don’t let them rule our lives or change the kind of people we are.” I set Madison on the table next to Mateo, lightly holding her there. She reached a chubby hand up, smiling sunshine at him. “We treat people with kindness and respect, and we get that in return.”
Mateo patted her on the head. I had no doubt he was thinking about his own sister, whom he hadn’t seen since they’d been separated as kids.
Manning nodded at Mateo. “You asked me if it was wrong to defend your sister the way you did? If you’re a bad kid?”
Mateo put his hand back on the table, blinking at the ground. “Yeah.”
“You’re not,” Manning said. “You’re a man, and a good one, aren’t you?”
A good man. Chills rose over my skin. It was like watching Manning tell his younger self that there were great things in his future, and that he deserved them.
Mateo was pensive a moment. He was a smart kid, and we’d always treated his past with respect. We didn’t want to cover it up or sugarcoat it or try to erase it. It hadn’t always been the easiest route, but it meant we could have these conversations with him now. Mateo nodded. “I want to be.”
“Don’t let your past threaten what’s ahead of you, Mat.” Manning’s already powerful gaze intensified as he met my eyes. “We all make mistakes, but it was your mom who taught me that only I could decide whether to move forward as a coward or as a man. It’s up to you to make the same choice.”
* * *
After lunch, we sat around the picnic table in the front yard with empty plates and full stomachs. Mateo played a game on Manning’s phone while Henry watched, rapt. The dogs surrounded us, hoping for scraps, as Manning sat across the table from me with Madison in his lap.
“You can’t leave that girl alone for five minutes, can you?” I asked. I’d been ready to put her down for a nap before lunch, but Manning had insisted I wait until he went back to work so he could spend time with her.
“Don’t worry, Birdy.” He reached across the table, holding his palm face up. “You’re always number one in my eyes.”
I waved him off but took his hand. He pulled my arm taut until I was forced to stand. “What do you want?” I asked with a laugh.
“Come over here.”
I released his hand and switched from my side of the picnic table to his. “Better?” I asked.
“You have no idea.”
I smoothed pesky frown lines from between his eyebrows. Was he still thinking about what Mateo had said? We hadn’t been trying to hide Manning’s history considering the crime had gone down in Big Bear, but I’d hoped enough time had passed that people wouldn’t make the connection, or if they did, that they’d have the decency to keep it to themselves.