That Man of Mine (Whispering Bay Romance 3)

“Okay,” he said, without looking up from his textbook.

“You know, nothing between you and your dad is going to change. He’s still going to be at all your soccer games and we’ll—”

“I said it’s okay, Mom. I know the drill. Henry’s parents are divorced, and he’s cool about it.”

Henry was Cameron’s best friend and his mother Lauren was a good friend of Mimi’s. Lauren and Henry’s dad, Tom Donalan, had divorced two years ago. It had been an amicable separation that resulted in both of them sharing child care responsibilities while all parties kept a friendly kind of relationship. Mimi wasn’t sure she and Zeke would be able to maintain that sort of Kumbaya niceness, but she’d die trying on her end. Lauren had recently married Nate Miller, Whispering Bay’s new doctor, and Tom was of course engaged to Zeke’s sister, Allie.

Cameron looked so sweet sitting at the kitchen table working on his algebra homework. He was a good boy. He studied hard and never complained about his chores. She wished she could cocoon him. Keep him twelve forever. The idea of him growing up, becoming a teenager and distant like Claire…

“So, what about a dog?” she heard herself say.

Cameron’s head shot up. “What about a dog?” he asked suspiciously.

Not that Mimi blamed him. He’d been wanting a dog forever. Zeke had promised him one, but with the long hours he put in the police force, Mimi had known it would be up to her to help with the dog raising responsibilities. Cameron was old enough to take care of a pet, but it would still take adult supervision to make it work. Now wasn’t the best time to get a dog. She had a town to run and a city council to win over. But on the other hand, now seemed like the perfect time, too.

“Your dad has been promising you a dog for two years. If you think you can handle it, what with school work and soccer—”

“I can! I promise. You won’t even know it’s here.” His voice cracked again, this time with excitement, and Mimi’s heart melted into a puddle all over the kitchen floor.

“Did I hear someone say we’re getting

a dog?” Claire opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a diet soda. Mimi hadn’t heard her come out of her bedroom, she’d been so quiet.

Cameron pumped a fist in the air. “Mom says yes!”

“We’ll go to the shelter this weekend. I’ll call Lanie Miller and see what the procedure is.” Lanie was Nate Miller’s sister and the manager of the Whispering Bay Animal Shelter. Mimi would ask her for a small dog. A small dog that, hopefully, was already house trained and didn’t shed. It could happen.

“Can Dad come, too? Can he help pick it out?” Cameron asked.

“Sure. If he wants to,” Mimi said. Because what else could she say? This would be a good test to see how their newly separated lives would work.

Claire took a long sip of her soda, her seventeen-year-old-way-too-wise-for-comfort eyes staring at Mimi. “Can I have a new car?” she asked sweetly. Last August, they’d gotten her a used car for her seventeenth birthday, a little Nissan Rogue with seventy thousand miles and a strong engine. It had put a strain on their savings, but it had taken a huge load off Mimi. Without that car, Mimi would still be playing chauffer.

“What’s wrong with the car you have now?” Mimi asked.

“Nothing. Since you’re playing Santa Clause I thought I’d ask.”

“Nice try.”

Claire shrugged, tossing her long brown ponytail over her shoulder. “I’ll be in my room doing homework. Call me when the pizza gets here.”

The evening now seemed anticlimactic. Not that Mimi had been looking forward to telling the kids about the separation, but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined how things would go down.

She’d promised Cameron a dog.

She’d become one of those parents. The ones who got their kids whatever they wanted because they felt guilty. Her kids didn’t need to be showered with gifts. They needed to know that everything was going to work out all right. She needed to know that, too.

A pizza and the promise of a dog didn’t solve anything, but it was the best Mimi could do for now.

It was almost seven p.m. and time to call it a night. Zeke had just finished looking over the department budget for the fourth time when Rusty Newton came busting through the door to his office.

“I just heard the big news, Chief.” Rusty was breathing heavy, like he’d just run a mile. Zeke made a mental note to bring back the group beach runs they’d done a few years ago in preparation for the force’s annual fitness exam.

“What news is that?” Zeke asked. Knowing Rusty it could be anything. Rusty was one of the more experienced officers on the Whispering Bay Police force. He was a good cop, loyal, too, but he sure did love the drama.

“About you and Mimi gettin’ a divorce? Is it true? Penny Atkins heard it from the gal at the post office who heard it from Denise Holbert.”

For the second time today, Zeke felt as if a knife had been twisted in his gut. Only this one was all his doing. Why hadn’t he kept his mouth shut about the separation? It had been four days, fifteen hours (and counting) since Mimi had asked him to leave. So he’d packed up a bag and left. Since then he’d been biding his time, waiting for Mimi to come to her senses and ask him to come back home. But when he’d stepped into that board room and seen her there at the table, he’d lost it.