“No.” She kept her eyes blank so he wouldn’t see that she wanted to date Caleb. “This is a nice person helping our son with the sportheloves.” Jeff would take that as a low blow but she’d tried many times to explain to him there were a lot of different sports and one wasn’t better than another, but he didn’t get it. Everything was a competition to him.
Jeff’s gaze flickered to Krew. “Kid’s a wuss. Should be playing football.”
She wanted to scream at him for calling their son a wuss, with Krew right in the room, but she wasn’t going to get into it right now with him, especially as he already seemed more upset and aggressive than usual. She’d tried to explain that Krew loved lacrosse, and that Jeff had never worked with him on football, except when he pretended to play catch with him for media stunts, so why should he love it? None of it sank in. She didn’t really want Jeff working with him anyway. He had none of Caleb’s patience, and he would yell insults at Krew more than he instructed him.
She slid away from Jeff and walked to the front door, swinging it wide. “Let’s go, Krew.”
Krew didn’t need to be told twice; he hurried onto the wide porch and down the steps. Emily followed him into the crisp fall evening, praying that Jeff would take the hint and leave.
Sadly, she wasn’t that lucky. Jeff stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. “Do you want to lock the front door?” he asked.
“We live in a safe neighborhood,” she shot back. “Unless you come by,” she said under her breath.
“What was that?” Jeff jogged to her side and then matched her long strides as she followed Krew, who ran happily toward the path that led to the park.
“Nothing,” she muttered.
“So if you’re not dating this guy, why are you all dolled up?”
She shook her head. “I’m keeping my end of the agreement. No media is going to make you look bad, so stop worrying.”
He didn’t say anything as they hurried to keep up with Krew. Why, oh why was he coming with her? Why had he chosen this moment to show up?
They burst through the opening into the park, and Krew ran for Caleb, who was waiting by the chair and small table as usual. Caleb took Krew’s exuberant hug and looked over the boy’s head to see Emily approach. She forced a smile. He grinned back, but his gaze froze as he took in Jeff tromping by her side.
“Looks likehethinks this is a date,” Jeff grumbled, almost as if he were jealous. That made no sense; he seemed to loathe her, not want her back. He was so up and down, she never knew what he wanted or how he thought. She preferred to blame the head injuries, but maybe she’d simply been deluded and married an unstable jerk who didn’t know his own mind.
“You shut that mouth,” Emily flung at him, irritated that he’d followed her and ruined the time she had with Caleb. She also felt a sting of guilt. Maybe it was sort of like a date. She should just tell Jeff off and deal with the repercussions. The thought left as quickly as it’d come when she looked at her beautiful son. No. She couldn’t allow Jeff to be alone with Krew.
“Don’t you give me your lip,” Jeff shot back.
“Please just leave,” she said, thoroughly exhausted of the fighting, and he’d only been here for a few minutes. Why was he even here? She didn’t dare ask that and set him off again. If he grabbed her arms like he had at the house with Caleb close by, she could imagine Caleb getting in a brawl with him. The thought warmed her, but she didn’t want Caleb to fight him. Caleb was well-built and fit, but Jeff was huge and meaner than a rattlesnake. “Don’t you have practice or something?” she asked. He’d never missed practice except when he’d been ordered to by a doctor for one of his concussions or ordered to by a court for divorce proceedings. Those had each been hard days she was happy to never repeat.
“We’re done for the night,” Jeff muttered.
Caleb approached with Krew trotting happily by his side. “Dad!” Krew called, showing more excitement and confidence than he ever did around his father. “This is Caleb Jewel. Best middie in the NLL.” He tilted his head toward Jeff. “That’s my dad.” The excitement left his voice, but he seemed to understand how an introduction worked.
“Starting defensive end for the Denver Broncos,” Jeff said with a note of superiority in his voice.
“I’ve seen you play,” Caleb said coldly. He slowly removed his right glove and tucked it under his left arm, extending his hand as if it was physically hard for him to do so.
Jeff gripped his hand tightly but winced and pulled back first. Emily hid a smile. Whatever happened there was a win for Caleb, though she knew how ugly Jeff would get if he suspected how she felt about Caleb.
“Funny, I haven’t seenyouplay,” Jeff said.
Caleb gave him a cocky grin. “That’s all right. Lacrosse is probably too fast-paced for you to keep up with.” He turned toward Emily. “You look beautiful tonight, Em. Krew and I are going to get to work.” He winked at her as if nothing at all was wrong, yet his gaze questioned if she was all right.
She gave him an imperceptible nod. He gave Jeff a warning glance and trotted away, shoving his glove angrily back on and starting into a passing drill with Krew. Caleb always seemed so happy and easygoing, but right now, his emotions were high. Emily hoped he didn’t smack a ball into her son, yet she knew Caleb would never hurt Krew.
Jeff was fuming beside her. “Not a date? ‘You look beautiful tonight, Em’?”
“A man can notice I’m beautiful without us dating.” She folded her arms across her chest and focused on Caleb and Krew running through drills.
Jeff grumbled something, but she ignored him. The time spent on the field passed more slowly than it had this past month. It was getting dark, and Caleb and Krew were still going through drills. She’d rarely seen Jeff be this patient, but it seemed like he was waiting her out.
Finally, he hurled at her, “So you just sit and watch them practice?”
“Yep.”