Page 30 of To Have and To Hold
“I can ask, but Ava’s gonna stay the weekend with her. She won’t be alone.”
“Offer it anyway. They can both stay here,” Wes instructed. “We’d love to have the company.”
“She’ll have Tesha, too.”
“All the better. Remind her the pool’s heated.”
Baz laughed at that. His father had clearly been paying attention because he knew exactly what to offer to make it enticing for JJ.
“If she doesn’t want to come out here, we’ll be glad to stop by and check on her. Your mom misses her.”
“And Aretha?” Baz asked, more so to remind his father that he was married to someone who wasn’t Baz’s mother.
Wes was quiet.
Too quiet.
“Dad?”
“Hmm?”
“Is everything okay with Aretha?”
Wes cleared his throat. “She went to West Texas to stay with her sister for a coupla weeks.”
Baz frowned, leaning against the counter as that news set in. Wes had been with Aretha for years, and not once in all that time could Baz remember her leaving for an extended period. Not even a weekend. Aretha was the sort who tagged along everywhere Wes went. Even on business trips. She claimed they were a good excuse to see the world, but Baz suspected she did it to keep an eye on his father.
Wes laid it out for him before he could probe his dad for more details. “Aretha and I are … we’re thinkin’ about separatin’ for a while. She needs some space.”
Baz sighed. “Dad.”
“It’s all right, son. I knew it was comin’.”
“Did you do somethin’?”
Again, Wes was quiet, but Baz waited him out this time.
Unfortunately, his dad used his silence to change the subject. “You got the room set up for the babies yet?”
“We’re workin’ on it.” They’d had the room complete, but that was before they learned they were having twins—a girlanda boy. “Dad, tell me what’s goin’ on with Aretha.”
“It’s nothin’ a little time won’t fix.”
Yep, that was his father’s standard answer for anything that went sideways in his life. Wes was an overly optimistic man. He saw only the good in every situation. Which meant he was likely thinking that a separation and/or divorce from Aretha was meant to be.
It seemed far too coincidental that it came on the heels of his mother’s separation from her husband.
“Your mom wants to know if she can throw the baby shower. The weekend after the weddin’.”
And once again, he’d effectively changed the subject. Baz went with it. “That’s fine with us. The sooner, the better. Are you comin’ to the bachelor party on Wednesday?”
“You sure you want me there?”
“Of course I do. Brantley and Reese insisted I invite you, so it’s not about me, anyway.”
Wes chuckled. “I’d be honored.”
“Good. And I won’t even ask you to pick up the tab.” He was serious since Wes was the one who’d made the ridiculously generous donation to Brantley and Reese’s weekend bachelor party. Wes had insisted on picking up the entire tab for Brantley and Reese, provided everyone else pitched in for the other guests. When JJ had contacted Brantley’s brothers, they’d quickly agreed to pay their way. As had Z and RT. And then Brantley’s parents had offered to pay for everyone else.
