Smolder (Wildwood 2)

She’d left him this morning too, which had shocked him. Yeah, he had to work. And so had she, but she owned her own business and for the most part could make her own hours. But he’d caught her getting her clothes on like she was going to sneak out or something and that had confused him.

What confused him more? He hadn’t wanted her to leave. At all. He’d tried his best to pull her back into bed but she’d resisted. And that bothered him too.

Tremendously.

He kept driving until he ended up in his parents’ neighborhood and headed down the narrow road that led to their house. He pulled into their gravel driveway and climbed out of his cruiser, glancing around. The sky was a blindingly bright blue and birds chirped from their perches in the pine trees that towered above him and surrounded the house. He could hear the faint buzzing of a boat engine coming from the nearby lake. It was a perfect summer day.

So why did he feel so full of dread?

He was heading down the walkway toward the front porch when his dad appeared, the screen door banging loudly behind him. He came to a stop at seeing his father, wariness filling him as the older man walked toward him, a grim not-quite-a-smile on his face.

“What are you doing here?” Lane asked as the man drew closer.

“Shouldn’t I ask you that, considering this is my house?” Wayne Gallagher stopped just in front of him, his hands on his hips, mouth drawn into a thin line, making him look old. Unhappy. But his father was still considered a good-looking man. He had a full head of silver hair and a few wrinkles lined his face, but otherwise he was in good shape. Looked pretty much the same as he had when Lane was a kid and actually admired his old man.

He could hardly wrap his head around the concept. The bad memories outnumbered the good ones. So much so that he couldn’t stay caught up in that dreamlike state he was always in while thinking about Delilah. He didn’t want a relationship. He couldn’t be good at one. Look at the example he’d been given. His father was a total asshole. Even worse? His father didn’t think he was a bad guy and blamed everyone else for how they treated him.

What if Lane turned into that? What if he eventually got married and had kids and turned into a bitter old man who was always seeking something better than what he already had? He’d hate himself forever.

Dragging an innocent woman and their innocent children through that? He remembered what it was like. It had enraged him but it hurt too. The pain he’d suffered watching his mom cry when their daddy didn’t come home at night.

It still hurt if he thought about it long enough.

“I came to check on Mom,” Lane finally said, stepping around his father to head toward the house. “How is she?”

“Resting. You should leave her alone. Do what you usually do and stay away.”

Lane turned, shocked to find his dad right on his tail. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” his dad said, his gaze penetrating.

“No, Dad. I don’t.” He wasn’t in the mood to play games. May as well start arguing instead of circling each other.

“You never come by to see her. Or me. Why change now? We don’t need you around. And you definitely don’t need us. You’ve made that clear.” The self-righteous smile on his father’s face made Lane want to punch him. He clenched his hand into a fist, ready to let it fly.

But this man was his father. And Lane was on duty. In uniform, driving his patrol car. He refused to risk his job over something his father said. The man made those remarks only to needle him and it worked like usual. His father had always known how to push his buttons.

Taking a deep breath, Lane turned and started for the house again, ignoring his father, who followed close behind. If he said something, they’d start arguing and he didn’t want to deal. He was tired of it. Tired of being mad. Tired of fighting. Tired of hating his father.

“Wren took her to get those tests. Why we’re wasting our money on that sort of thing I have no idea. Your mother is fine,” he said as they walked up the porch steps.

“She didn’t look so fine yesterday. She fainted. Not that you were there to see. When are you ever around to see her anyway? From what I hear, you’re never home.” He opened the screen door and went inside, stopping short when he saw his mother sitting in her recliner, a cat on her lap and the TV on, the volume turned down low.

There was color in her cheeks and her hair was down, falling past her shoulders. She didn’t look so worn and tired. Actually, she looked great.

“Why, Lane, you’ve come by two days in a row! How’d I get so lucky?” She aimed the remote at the TV and turned it off, smiling up at him. “Ah, look at you, so handsome in your uniform. So grown up.”

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He didn’t feel real grown up. No, he’d been reduced to the frustrated teen who despised his dad. And he hated that. The way all those old emotions and memories came flooding back. “How you feeling today, Mom?”

“Oh, much better. I’m taking it easy and doing a whole lot of nothing. Your dad made sure of that. He’s been so good to me, taking care of me all day long. He came home first thing this morning once he called and found out what happened. He’s been so attentive.”

Lane wanted to say something negative but kept his mouth shut. His dad didn’t do dick for his mother, so why start now? Was he acting nice out of guilt? Most likely. “You went to the lab this morning, right?” Wren had texted him earlier that everything went well, but he wanted to hear what Mom had to say.

“Oh, yes. They took so much of my blood I thought they must’ve been feeding a team of vampires, but the nurse reassured me that it was perfectly normal.” She laughed and waved a hand, making the cat sitting on her lap lift his head and meow in annoyance. “I think it was a fluke thing. I really do feel fine.”

“We just want to make sure, Mom. That’s all,” he said gently, going to her so he could pat her shoulder. She beamed up at him, looking so pleased that he was there it made him uncomfortable and reminded him that he was indeed a rotten son. “I can’t really stick around since I’m on duty. Just wanted to stop by and check in with you.”