Guys who had been married less than ten years should be less smug, Ty thought.
“Let me guess,” Peggy said. “You haven’t talked about Ollie kissing you either.”
He pushed his plate away so he could fold his arms on the picnic table and lay his head on top of them. “We haven’t had five minutes alone together since it happened.”
“So I’ve got a wacky question,” Henry said. “Let me know if it’s too out-there.” He paused for dramatic effect and then said, “What the hell are you doing here, Morris? Go get your man.”
Chapter 14
WHEN OLLIEwoke up, it was to Theo’s knee connecting with his thigh.
“Ow,” he said sleepily, and blinked his eyes open to find Theo staring back at him.
“Sorry, Dad.”
What was he doing here? What time was it? Whatdaywas it? Ollie rubbed a hand over his eyes. “It’s okay, buddy. I guess we fell asleep early last night, huh?” He didn’t remember getting up to get these blankets. Actually, he didn’t know if he’d ever even seen these blankets before.
Ty must’ve brought them, he realized, whenever he got done talking to the cops last night.
God, what had Ollie done, coming back to this town?
“Yeah. But we can get up now, right? Mel’s birthday party is today, and we still have to get her a present.”
Shit, and Ollie had promised his sister he’d help set up picnic tables and games and stuff goodie bags or… something like that. He needed to get up and get his ass moving.
Ideally he’d get to talk to Ty first. “We gotta get up,” Ollie confirmed, throwing off the blanket. “You get dressed while I shower, okay?” Ollie’s time in the military had at least taught him the value of a two-minute shower. He’d probably be done before Theo. Maybe he’d get a few minutes with Ty before he had to leave.
But a search of the house—unshaven, hair still wet—turned up nothing. Ty must’ve gone to the school to pick up his truck.
Which was fine. Ollie was not going to freak out about it. They could talk later.
He stopped himself from texting Ty about that. Nothing good ever came from awe need to talktext. He wrote a note instead, then spent thirty seconds debating whether he should draw a heart next to his name. Too forward? Too fast? He wrote an X instead and grabbed his keys from the counter. “Theo. Time to go.”
Picking out the correct toy took approximately seventy-five years, in part because Theo kept getting distracted by thingshewanted, and Ollie had to continually remind himself that it was a bad idea to assuage his parental guilt over yesterday through material gifts. “Your birthday’s coming up too,” he pointed out after the fifth very cool toy that would be discarded under Theo’s bed in three days while Theo shoved his nose in yet another book. “Why don’t you make a list when we get home later?”
Fortunately, or unfortunately in this case, Theo’s attention was as easily taken up by the task of figuring out what Mel might want. With about ten minutes to go before Cassie sent out a search party, Ollie put two toys behind his back and made Theo pick a hand.
He arrived at the house just as the frazzle entered full swing. Cassie opened the door before he could knock, made a dramatic shushing gesture, and then joined them on the front step instead of letting them in. “Mel hardly slept all night, she was so excited about the party. She’s having a nap now or she’ll be an absolute bear the whole time. Why do people have kids, again?”
Ollie blinked at her, then looked pointedly at his son, who was standingright there.
“Think how boring life would be without them,” he said, and then jabbed his fingers under Theo’s armpits to coax out a squawk of a laugh.
“Dad! That’s cheating.”
“It’s not. Dads always get to tickle. That’s the rules.”
Cassie smiled at Theo. “I think he used that same rule when we were kids, except he saidbrothers.”
Ollie wiggled his fingers at her. “You’re not too old.”
“You just keep in mind that I know where Mom keeps the pictures of you on that sheepskin rug. And naughty brothers’ kids get drum kits for Christmas.”
He lifted his palms. “I yield.”
Cassie put Theo to work helping her stuff goodie bags while Ollie set up ring toss and clipped plastic tablecloths to picnic tables. Crepe paper streamers went up above the doorways. Balloons were tied to mailboxes and fence posts. By the end of it, Ollie was wondering if kids still went to Chuck E. Cheese for birthday parties these days. Maybe that clip-n-climb place out on Front Road. Hosting a party at home seemed like a lot of work.
And God only knew what’d happen if the kids tried to play hide-and-seek in the Morris mansion. Ty kept insisting there wasn’t a sex dungeon, but Ollie wouldn’t put it past the place to have actual skeletons in a closet somewhere.
