Page 9 of Heartbroken Husband
“What?” I asked.
“I heard Alex called you in,” he said. “Is everything okay? We’re not battening down the hatches for the next scandal already, are we?”
“Not yet.” I chuckled. “We’re all good for now. He’s just going to DC for a few days and he wants me to help Nate and Jesse cover some of his stuff.”
“DC?” He let out a low whistle. “He must not be happy about that. Doesn’t he hate that place with a fiery passion?”
“He does, but Dad insisted.”
Theo winced. “That sounds awful.”
“It’s notthatbad.”
He snorted. “You hate that kind of thing too.”
“I don’thateit,” I corrected. “I just don’t want it permanently.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Neither do I. Poor Alex.”
“Poor Alex has wanted that big chair our whole lives,” I reminded him. “He’ll live. Even if he might need therapy after a few days in Washington with Dad.”
“Ain’t that a fact,” he said, then laughed. “On the other hand, he needs therapy already. God knows, we all do. Especially after the last few years.”
“True. Maybe our next acquisition should be a mental hospital. We can all move in there together.”
Bear zigzagged ahead of us like he was mapping the neighborhood one scent at a time. Theo watched him for a beat before he nodded his agreement. “We could do that, but the hospital will have to be in Texas if you wanteveryonemoving in. Trent called earlier. They had an appointment with the baby doctor this morning. Charlotte is doing well and the little one is still on track for summer, but it sounds like Trent is still trying his best to keep Charlotte as quiet and relaxed as possible.”
I snorted trying to hold back a laugh. “Good luck to him. He’s definitely going to need it.”
“Oh, and I spoke to Jane too,” he said. “Apparently, Cameron tried to feed Emma a crayon. Kate was not happy.”
“What did Emma do?” I asked, chuckling as I thought about my three-year-old nephew trying to convince his two-year-old cousin to eat a crayon. “I bet she really let him have it. She’s going to run Nate’s house with an iron first by the time she’s five.”
“She probably already does. According to Jane, she turned the tables and grabbed the crayon, then tried to feed it to him instead.”
We turned the final corner into the dog park and our quiet walk turned into loud, joyful, organized chaos. Beyond the areathat had been fenced off for dogs, kids laughed and screamed on the playgrounds in the wider park, and where we were, dogs were barking and racing around.
There was a small art market set up in the adjacent park as well, folding tables standing under canvas tents with paintings propped up everywhere and other pieces displayed on every surface. Bear’s ears went up and he was pulling at his leash like he’d just remembered he had a purpose in life beyond chasing squirrels.
“Easy,” I muttered, adjusting my grip on the leash.
Theo scanned the area and I knew that look on his face the second he zeroed in on a target. It took me all of two seconds to find the group of women at the other side of the park.
“Nope,” I said immediately. “Leave them to their peace. They didn’t come here to meet guys.”
“Says who?” he replied, grinning like a Cheshire freaking cat and reaching for the leash. “Why don’t you let me take him for a while and you can go brood somewhere?”
“I don’t brood. I observe.”
“Observation is just brooding with better posture and a sharper sense of judgment.” Before I could argue, he took the leash from my hand. “Try not to judge too much, will you? Everyone is just trying to blow off some steam here.”
“Try not to embarrass the family,” I called after him when he took off.
He laughed and let Bear drag him away. Traitor that he was, not even the dog looked back, only too happy to go help Theo secure his next victim. I shook my head but drifted toward the market now that I was dogless in a dog park.
I refused to be the guy who hung around here without a furry companion and I wouldn’t go over to the playground without any kids either, so art, it would be. Our house was full of it,expensive pieces that’d been chosen by people who understood things I didn’t even pretend to.
While I’d grown up around it and learned the appropriate reactions as well as the right level of appreciation, I’d never bought any myself. Never invested in it either.
