Page 143 of Fierce-Baker

“You have a great weekend too.” He looked at his watch, saw it was close to five, and said, “I’m going to head out myself.”

“Tell Tasha and Micah I said hi,” Jolene said, all but bouncing out of his office when she opened the door.

There was no way she knew what was going on. No one did at work. No one knew he hadn’t talked to Tasha in days, that the pain in his heart was growing as if a finger were in a hole swirling it around and enlarging it with each pass.

“I will,” he said, shutting down his laptop and grabbing it, then leaving the building.

He didn’t go right home. He went to Tasha’s.

They were going to talk because they needed to.

If she still wanted space, he might give it to her. But not without fighting first.

Not without telling her he’d said he’d be in her corner and that was what he was going to do. If she needed time to gather her thoughts. To figure out her future with Shane, he’d not step on her toes again.

He got to her house faster than he had thought. No time to think. No time to second-guess a thing.

He knocked and the door opened. She smiled as if she’d been waiting for him.

As if she knew he’d come, or she willed it.

“I saw you pull in and thought to myself, he read my mind.”

He moved in and went to give her a hug. To just hold her and tell her he was sorry they had fought. That he’d rather talk it out, but Micah came running full force.

“Bakeeerrrrrrr, play with me.”

He picked the toddler up, tossed him in the air and brought him on his hip. The sound of giggling made him feel as if everything was going to be okay.

Tasha wrapping her arm around his side said the same.

“We should talk.”

“Yes,” she said. “I was going to text you tonight. I want to start by saying I’m sorry.”

“So am I.”

She put her hand up for him to stop. “Let me speak first. Micah, do you want to watch cartoons? Mommy is going to start dinner.”

“You haven’t eaten yet?”

“I just got home a few minutes ago. I’ll explain.”

She took her son out of his arms and put him on the floor, then turned the TV on.

He went to the kitchen, out of the way, and waited.

“Go on,” he said. “Go first.”

“I talked to Shane today.”

He didn’t want to lose his shit that he hadn’t known that. “What happened?” he asked, his voice as flat as he could make it.

“I know you’re annoyed that you didn’t know. But you and I haven’t talked. He texted me last night that he wanted to meet today. It’s over with.”

“What is?” he asked.

“Everything.” She explained it all. That what he’d said to Shane made the asshole reevaluate his life and decide that there was no place in it for a child he didn’t know about weeks ago. “When I found out you went there, I’ll admit I was ticked off, but then I realized I never told Shane what I really wanted. If I had, this would have been over sooner.”