“Does Harley ever see his dad?”
A small smile tugs at her mouth as she looks out across the yard. “I take him to Santa Fe once a month for visitation. It’s as much a part of his life he can be other than letters in the mail. He was never a bad guy. He had a hard life growing up. I’m not making excuses for the man, but he’s gotten better in prison. He’s gotten his GED. He’s staying out of trouble.”
“You guys planning on making it work when he’s released?”
She scoffs, her head shaking. “Not a chance. There was nothing there between Robbie and me. Once we were both clean and the highs wore off, neither of us could figure out how we connected in the first place. We aren’t compatible at all. We’ll always be in each other’s lives because of Harley, but there are no romantic inclinations at all.”
That’s good news.
“And Robbie knows this?”
She looks down at me, and I make sure to meet her eyes. The woman has to know that I’m interested, but just in case, I don’t want any trouble from the man. He could easily be biding his time, telling her what she wants to hear before he’s released and gets out, ready to stake his claim once again.
“That ship sailed a long time ago.”
“When is he due to get released?”
“Soon. Like in the next six months or so, but he has family in Las Cruces, so that’s where he’ll likely end up.”
She mentioned being in Robbie’s life because of Harley, but does that mean they’re going to be near each other? Does that mean she goes where he goes or that Robbie stays around here? It may be a little soon to ask these questions.
“Do you date?”
She’s silent a little too long, so I have to look back up at her.
She’s staring down at me.
“Do you?”
She huffs a humorless laugh.
“No. I’m a mom.”
“Moms date,” I argue.
“I tried dating several years ago, but my responsibilities are to my child.” She shakes her head as if she’s trying to rid it of bad memories. “Men aren’t interested in the real shit that comes along with dating a woman with a kid.”
I hate that she’s had bad experiences, but at the same time, I’m glad she hasn’t met someone worth keeping.
I stand, handing her back the empty coffee mug. “You just haven’t met a real man yet.”
I wink at her before walking back to my truck.
Chapter 5
Lucy
“After this, I have to take a nap,” I tell Harley as I pull the popcorn from the microwave.
“It’s Sunday,” he says, his little eyebrows dipping together from his frown.
“I picked up an extra shift.”
I won’t explain that it’s getting closer to Christmas because I don’t want to get his hopes up about extra presents. He could get sick, and I may have to use the extra money for a visit to the doctor’s office, or I could have a flat tire and need to get one replaced. Any number of things could happen between now and then, but I never turn down an extra shift. They don’t happen very often because all the ladies I work with need every hour they can manage.
“Don’t pout,” I tell him. “Get the movie started.”
“Maybe we can play Uno instead.”
I smile. “I’m not going to go easy on you.”
He narrows his eyes. “You never do.”
“Get the cards and get ready to get spanked.”
He laughs, the best sound I could ever hear, as he scrambles to his room for the worn deck of cards. I pour the popcorn into a bowl and pour a cup of juice for him and a glass of water from the tap for me. By the time I’m setting everything on the kitchen table, he’s there trying to shuffle the cards with his tiny hands. He can’t quite manage it, but I don’t step in. He hates it when he’s made to feel as if he’s not big enough to do something. I sit back, snacking on buttered popcorn and wait for him to either consider them shuffled enough or for him to ask for help.
“Are you going to go on a date with Micah?”
“What did I tell you about listening in on adult conversations?”
He shrugs. We had this conversation last year when he was being nosy during a conversation I had with Mrs. Greene after overhearing one of the other parents trash talking me at the end-of-the-year awards ceremony. I was ready to show the other mom just how trailer trash I was, and she was talking me off the ledge. Harley didn’t take hearing it very well and shoved that parent’s kid at the park that summer when he saw them a few weeks later.
“I like him,” Harley says as he passes out the Uno cards.
“Because he has a motorcycle.”