His Return

12~

Silently, I listen as Sofia and Arianna speak to their father. Their quiet chatter suddenly becomes hushed whispers, and from the corner of my eye, I'm able to see Michael lean the SUV seat back so that he can listen to Sofia's words.

He's been eerily quiet all morning and as curious as I am to know what they're talking about, I'll let Sofia have her moment and grill him later.

My mind starts to drift to how the day will go once we drop the girls off. The divorce papers and photos are in the attic, so I guess that's where we should start. Just the thought of the photos, brings tears to my eyes.

"Hey." A calloused hand rests against my own. "Are you okay?"

"Fantastic." I snap, and Micheal's hand jerks away from mine. "Sorry," I immediately apologize, knowing that I need to get a grip on my anger. He doesn't remember, so this needs to he handled gently. I can't hate him for something he doesn't even realize he did - I haven't even mentioned the photos.

Why did he have to do this?! To me. To his children. To our family.

"Mom," Sofia questions, pulling me from my angry, bitter thoughts. "It looks like sheriff Bailey want to talk to you." She points at the office waving at me from across the school's parking lot. I hadn't even realized that we had parked, and the girls were ready to get out.

"I guess I better apologize for your brother's behavior." I mutter, taking the key out of the ignition before looking at Michael. "You want to walk them to the door?" I ask him, noticing how his eyes flicker from the sheriff that's now approaching my car and back to me.

"Come on, Dad." Sofia taps his back and, with one more quick glance at me, he follows her, allowing her to grab his right hand and Arianna to grab his left.

I'm unable to dwell on a heart shattering image for long as Dan Bailey finally approaches the car.

"Kate," He extends his hand to help me out of the SUV, once I'm standing my hand brushes down the front of my legs. "I was hoping you'd be off today, and available to speak." He eyes travel from the black jeans to cream sweater. "Maybe we could grab coffee?"

I step back, putting even more distance between us.

"What?" I look at the handsome divorcee, the one who never called me back after our- what I though was a nice date- last year.  

"Coffee," He repeats his words, his caramel eyes studying my own of a similar shade. "And then I can apologize for my son's behavior. And my own," He adds as an after thought. "For the past year."

"I'm sorry." I shake off my confusion, glancing across the school yard, only to meet green eyes looking directly at me. Michael turns, nodding at something Principal Zimmerman is saying and I turn to the blonde in front of me.

"I can't," I shake my head with a wince. "The kids' father," Dan eyes look behind me, where I know my ex-husband stands looking like Adonis in old jeans from the spare room and one of Sam's white t-shirts that's much too small for his broad chest.

"Oh, I see," Dan looks back at me. "So I've missed my chance then." He genuinely looks upset.

How dare he? Who was the one who didn't call the other back? Who avoided the other person whenever paths crossed.

Him.

"Why didn't you call back?" I find myself asking quietly, the hurt evident in my voice.
Last year, after being single for seven years, I finally went on a date. Dan and I had met at a parent teachers conference right after we moved here. I was still traumatized from Michael leaving with no interest in any men.

Other the years, and the many parent-teacher conferences, we got to know each other.

He was a divorcee with two children. He spent a few years as a deputy in New York, but when his wife left, answered an ad by the town of stadia looking for a sheriff.

He was nice enough, and the only man I had been attracted to after Michael- though much different.

His blonde hair is always in a short buzz cut, much different than Michael's dark, Italian curls that spiral down his neck and around his ears. He's shorter than Michael too, but still much taller than at about six foot.

"I did call, Kate." He frowns at me. "Multiple times. Eventually a man has to grip his pride and realize a girl's not interested and move on."

"But-"

"Sofia promised to pass on quite a few messages and I realized that I was embarrassing myself after the fourth one."

Sofia.

My eyes search for the blonde with a boot on her foot. When I find her, she's looking up at her father, grinning ear to ear.

"She never told you." Dan pulls my attention back to him.

"No," I sigh with a small shake of my head. "She did not." I'm completely baffled as to why my daughter would do something like this. "I would have gone out again," I tell the man in uniform. "I had a good time and I actually was waiting for your phone call."

"Oh, well.. that is." He seems to be at a loss for words and we both look behind me when someone approaches.

"Hey Sheriff Bailey." My daughter smiles, not yet realizing the amount of trouble she's in.

"Sofia." Dan has the decency to still greet my troublemaker with a smile. One which fades a little when he glances up at Micheal. "You must be her father, Mikey looks like a smaller copy." He chuckles lightly, while Michael silently assesses him. "Ah, hello, Arianna." He greets my other daughter after not getting a response.

"Mom, guess what!" Sofia excitedly grips my hand. "Dad just-"

"Sofia," I interrupt her, honestly not in the mood for her schemes. "Are there any messages you forgot to pass on to me? Maybe about six months ago, in September." At first, she seems to have no clue what I'm talking about, and then her blue eyes spark with recognition. "Choose your answer carefully, Sofia, it will determine how long your grounded for."

"Sheriff Bailey may have called and said he would like to go out again, if you were interested." My daughter's voice is sadly quiet, and from the corner of my eye I see Michael stiffen- great. "He might have also mentioned something about really liking you and hoping you'd have dinner with him again."

I stare down at my daughter, all previous excitement drained, her head hung in shame.

"We'll talk about this later." I tell her, kissing the top of her head then her sister's. "Go to class." Then I turn to Dan. "I'm so sorry." He waves me off.

"It's fine, I have an angry teenager too, I get it. Next time I'll have to just keep calling until I'm able to talk to you directly."

"Yes," I find myself laughing. "Please, and don't stop until you hear from me or Sam, he's now the only person in my house I trust."

Dan and I both laugh, but my laughter fades when I start to notice signs of Michael growing angry.

Clenched fists.
Ticking jaw muscles.
Narrowed eyes.
Flushed neck.

"Anyway," I pull my keys out of my pocket. "If that coffee offer stands for another day, let me know."

"I'll call again." He smiles at me before nodding to Michael awkwardly. "Mr. Hastings."

Michael opens his mouth to speak but I beat him to it.

"The divorce papers are in the attic."

***
Thank you dmcawardsandcovers for the new cover!!!❤️😍❤️