My face shuts down. “What the hell happened?”
She smooths her hands over Axman’s hair. “Hey, buddy, why don’t you go put your things in your room and check out which cartoons are on?”
“Wahoo!” Axl unwraps himself from around her legs and zooms past his mother.
“What the hell happened, Lo?”
Lo straightens and pulls the door wider. “Come on. It’s too early for this conversation without coffee.”
I step across the threshold of our first house.Our house. Buying this place, swallowing my pride and touching money I vowed never to touch wasn’t easy, but once I found out about Axl, once that life with Lo was within my reach, my grudge against my father—against my family—paled in comparison to my need to protect and provide for my wife and child. I don’t resent her for staying in it, but sometimes I wish I was still living here. “A couple of guys got out of hand. The police were called.”
“What kind of out of hand?” I ask, pulling the oat milk from the fridge as she pours us both a coffee. I place two lumps of sugar in mine, one in hers, and she stirs both cups. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“I’m okay. Arturo drove me home.”
I clench my teeth tightly and take a slow, deep breath through my nose. “Good. I’m glad he was there.”
She gives me a wistful smile, because I know she knows what it cost me to say that.
“Listen, what do you think of getting out of the city for a bit?” I take a quick sip of my coffee and set down my mug as Lo sits at the tiny kitchen island. “I think Axman is struggling with this separation thing. It’s not good for him to see us fight so much.”
“I don’t disagree with you there.”
“I thought maybe we could take off to Lake Tahoe. Let him see the snow for the first time.”
Her eyes light up.So fucking predictable. So fuckingmine. “He’d love that.”
“Yeah, well, if he’s anything like you, he’ll lose his shit.”
She smiles, but it slips and she sighs, and I know that’s not a good sign. “I’d love that too, but ... I have work.”
“So do I. I’m already looking at postponing clients. I’m sure your boss will give you a few days off, given that you’re sleeping with him.” I mean for that to come out lighthearted and teasing, but I just end up sounding like a douche.
“You need to quit it with those kinds of remarks. He’s not the enemy, Gabe.”
“He’s fucking my wife, Freckles. You’ll have to forgive me for hating the man with every fiber of my being.”
She shakes her head and takes another sip of her coffee.
“I’m sorry.” I stretch my hands across the counter in a peace offering. The early morning sunlight catches the platinum band she bought for me after our nightmarish honeymoon and thesingle “hers” tattoo on my left ring finger. The other half of the one I gave her all those years ago when we made that stupid marriage pact. I still wear my wedding ring, and I don’t plan to ever take it off. “Our kid needs this, Lo.”
She inhales slowly and nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll talk to Arturo.”
I nod. “Just the three of us. We don’t need any more tension.”
She rolls her eyes. “No, we’re good at that all on our own.”
I stand and tip the rest of my coffee into the sink, rinsing out my cup and setting it in the drying rack. Lo watches all of this as if she’s never seen me clean up after myself before. I guess that’s fair. As far as husbands go, I was a pretty shitty one. I provided for my wife and child. I kept a roof over our heads, but I was rarely under it. I didn’t give her what she needed. I didn’t know how. Maybe, I still don’t.
I walk back to the table and lean in to kiss her forehead. She closes her eyes as I hold her head against my abdomen. “I want this to be good for him. I want us to be able to move forward ... whatever the hell that looks like.”
“Me too.”
I pull away and she stares out the window, the sun catches those golden eyes, and highlights the soft dusting of freckles over the bridge of her nose. My heart squeezes.
“So, when are you thinking?”
“Friday, I guess? We can take off early, get there with a little daylight to spare.”