That Man of Mine (Whispering Bay Romance 3)

Alex Powers looked weary. “Young man, I appreciate you coming by, but—”

“Mimi and I are getting married.” Her mother opened her mouth to speak but Zeke cut her off. “If I remember correctly, her birthday was two weeks ago, so she’s eighteen now. She’s legally an adult and old enough to make her own decisions. You can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to.”

“Mimi, we’ve been through this a thousand times already,” her mother pleaded. “Don’t ruin your life! We can get past this. I know it all seems incredibly sad right now, but you’ll see, a year from now this will all be some distant memory. You’ll be happy again, darling. You’ll be a Duke co-ed. You’re a beautiful, smart young woman and you’ll have the world at your feet.”

The room went eerily still, like someone had pushed a pause button on their lives.

For a second, Zeke thought Mimi was going to let go of his hand. He could see the indecision on her face as she went from looking at her parents to looking at him. He wanted to plead his case again. Only this time with more eloquence. He wanted to toss her over his shoulder and run out of her parents’ house and never look back.

But it wasn’t up to him.

It was all up her.

He had never felt more helpless in his life.

“Zeke and I are getting married,” he heard her say. It wasn’t until then that he realized he’d been holding his breath the entire time.

“Why do I have to tag along?” Claire asked, staring out the minivan window like she was being driven to the guillotine. “No one in town is even up yet!” Cameron had awakened at the crack of dawn, but Mimi had had to practically pull Claire out of bed to get them here in time to meet Zeke at the animal shelter. She knew it was normal for teenagers to sleep in, but she still hated it.

“It’s not like the dog is even going to be mine,” Claire mumbled.

“She’ll belong to the family,” Mimi said, trying to assuage her petulant daughter. “Won’t that be fun? To finally get a dog?”

“In seven months I’ll be away at college, so it’s really not fair to either the dog or me to get too attached.”

“So, you’ve heard back from some schools?” Mimi said, taking this opportunity to jump onto the subject.

“Not yet,” Claire said.

Mimi struggled to keep her mouth shut. She was tired of constantly haranguing Claire for a college update, so she’d quit asking a few days ago. But it was almost mid-February and Claire had applied to schools back in the fall. Shouldn’t she have heard from some of them by now?

“I thought this was going to be my dog,” Cameron said. “Who cares what Claire thinks?”

“It’s going to be seventy-five percent your dog since you’re going to take care of it, and twenty-five percent ours,” Mimi said. “It’s not like it’s going to live in your room. The dog should like all of us.”

“Even Dad?”

“Of course the dog should like your dad.”

“How much longer is Dad gonna stay away? If you guys get divorced, are you gonna split me fifty-fifty?” Cameron asked.

It was the first time either of the kids had inquired into the family’s future living arrangements. Mimi hadn’t been surprised by Claire’s lack of interest; the truth was she wasn’t interested in much these days, but she’d wondered when Cameron would bring it up.

“Split you fifty-fifty? Where did you hear that? And no one’s talking divorce here,” she reminded him.

“That’s how some of the kids at school do things with their divorced parents. Most live with their moms and visit their dads on weekends, that kind of stuff. Except for Henry. He stays with his dad a lot.”

Lauren and Tom had an enviable post-divorce relationship. Henry stayed with Lauren most of the time, but Tom picked him up from school, allowing Lauren to put more time into Baby Got Bump.

“There are a lot of things your dad and I have to discuss,” Mimi said cautiously. “Nothing’s decided either way.”

They hadn’t discussed anything yet, but whatever arrangements they did make, she was sure Zeke would want to keep things amiable. For the kids’ sake, if nothing else. If their time out went on much longer they’d have to sit down and work something out.

She cringed when she thought about the last time she saw him. She’d gotten skunk drunk on those margaritas and, alt

hough she didn’t remember an awful lot, the parts she did remember made her think she was never going to drink again. Shea and Pilar (those traitors!) had called Zeke to drive her home. She was grateful no one had let her drive drunk, but they didn’t have to call him. Allie would have been happy to come get her, and Mimi wouldn’t be racking her brain trying to remember what on earth she’d said to him.

They pulled into the parking lot of the Whispering Bay Animal Shelter. She searched for Zeke’s police cruiser, but instead found a lone motorcycle parked near the shelter entrance.