The Good Father

“There’s no change that I can see in either of them,” Brett continued. “Personality-wise, or in their relationship, other than a certain emotional distance Chloe keeps from him. Timidity, maybe.”

Clearly he’d given the situation a lot of thought. He’d been sitting in the dark alone, with a houseful of people in bed behind him.

So Brett.

So heartbreaking.

“That’s a sign of abuse,” she had to point out.

“Not by itself, it’s not. It’s a sign that she’s struggling. Jeff doesn’t overdrink. He’s not short-tempered. Hasn’t shown anger once in this whole situation. At least not that I’ve witnessed, and certainly not even a hint of tension since we’ve been here.”

“We’re on vacation, Brett. Time out of time. There’s no responsibility. Nothing to stress about.” Other than the situation itself. One divorced couple and another one, estranged, sharing a cabin.

It was soap-opera fodder for sure.

But they’d all done great. As Brett had said, it had been a wonderful weekend. If she didn’t count the tension building inside her. She was tight enough that she could snap with the smallest provocation. A sensation she hadn’t experienced in ages—but one that had been her constant companion for the first year after Brett turned his back on her.

She’d thought she’d left that part of her behind. That she’d recovered from it. From hi

m.

Brett tipped his bottle to his lips. Maybe he felt some of the tension, too.

“He’s a great dad. Patient. But firm, too. Cody was clearly happy to see him. I think back to vacations with my dad and, even when we were having fun, there was always this underlying sense of being on a tightrope that could snap at any moment.” Brett was definitely focused on Jeff and Chloe.

While Ella sat there filling up her senses with him.

He was right, though. Cody had shown no signs of being afraid of his father. Or even hesitant around him. To the contrary, he’d begged to ride on his daddy’s shoulders. “Up! Up!” he’d cried again and again since they’d been here. Whether they were walking down to the dock at the bottom of the yard or just to the bathroom for a bath, Cody had wanted Jeff to carry him.

But Ella had another memory, too. One she’d forgotten about until that afternoon. The boat rocked and she held on, riding the small swell. “I was at their house about six months ago. Jeff had asked Cody if he wanted up, and Cody ran behind his mother and hid. I just thought it was because he was going through a phase where he was afraid of heights, but I asked Chloe about it this afternoon.”

“What’d she say?”

“That Jeff had grabbed Cody by the arm the day before and shook him once, asking him couldn’t he just leave him alone for a damned minute, when Cody had asked to be picked up. Jeff had just come home from work, and Cody had run to greet him.”

“We all get impatient. Most particularly after a hard day at work. And clearly it’s not something that Cody remembers.”

“According to Chloe, Jeff shook him so hard, he cried.”

“Did he leave a bruise?” The question sounded more informational than doubtful.

“Chloe said no.” But she’d looked away when she’d said so. And Ella had sworn she’d seen guilt in the other woman’s eyes. But then Jeff had called to her to get the life vests so they could go out on the boat, and the moment had been lost.

“I’m worried, Brett,” she said now. “I think Chloe’s in denial, too. That maybe things are worse than she let on.”

Brett shook his head. “Sometimes you worry too much, El.” He spoke with a strange hint of affection in his voice. A familiar tone that sent a tingling through her. “I’m telling you, I know the signs. I lived with them for too many years to miss one.”

“And Jeff knows them, too. Through you. He also knows to be on his best behavior with you because of that.”

“Jeff is a good man.”

“So are you. And you’re the last person he’d want to disappoint.”

He sipped his beer.

There might have been bugs out, if they’d been there a month or so earlier. And there were still no lights out on the ocean. She needed them there. Needed something to look at besides him.

Because out on the water, alone with Brett, all she wanted was to crawl on his lap, have him wrap his arms around her, grab her sides with fingers that could work magic on her body and never let go.