I let out a long sigh.
“That’s a little more complicated.”
“Why? You love her, don’t you?”
There was no point in denying it with these two.
“Yes.”
Britt’s voice was urgent. “So, get her back, Dad! They belong with us!”
I shook my head. “She wants more kids.”
“Mom told us you always said you wanted a basketball team.”
Yeah, I had said that. More than once. But that was a long time ago.
“I think that dream died with Bodhi, guys.”
My too-wise-for-his-own-good teenager remarked, “Maybe it didn’t die; maybe it was just delayed until you found Gretchen and Jake.”
Britt piped up, “They need us, Dad. And we need them.”
I shook my head.
“It’s not that simple, kiddo.”
“I can’t believe you’re just going to give up,” Brayden groused.
I couldn’t either. But I knew it was for the best, at least for her.
Chapter Eighty-Two
Gabe
I’d dropped the kids off at Becky’s and headed back to Flannigan’s. I’d been in a bad mood since Gretchen and Jake moved out of my house, but knowing her ex was trying to get her back had put me in a downright rotten one.
I think I was pissed at myself, too.
Gretchen and Jake had helped heal a part of me that had been broken for a long time. But I was still too big of a chicken shit to put my fear aside and be the man she needed.
Now she was probably going to get back together with her loser ex and it was killing me.
Kinda like what this headache was doing to me now.
That’s what I got for trying to numb my pain with alcohol.
I rolled out of bed and went in search of water and pain reliever when the smell of bacon hit me, followed by a sense of panic.
Had I brought someone home last night?
I distinctly remembered the brunette lighting up when I returned. But just like before, I’d had no interest.
At least I thought I hadn’t.
I glanced down, relieved to find I had my boxer briefs on.
With quiet steps, I made my way into the kitchen to find Beau in the clothes he’d worn to the bar last night, turning bacon strips in the pan on the stove.
