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“Really?” His voice squeaked.
Mike sighed. He might as well ‘fess up. His shit with Joelle was only going to get deeper…he hoped.
“I’m not dead, you know,” he chastised his children grumpily. “And Elle is a wonderful woman.”
“Pretty, too.” Tim chewed the bite he’d almost lost, clearly having gotten over Mike’s bomb drop. “I’d tap that if I were your age.”
Mike glowered at his son, a little shocked, and a lot appalled. “You did not just say that,” he growled. His two adolescent demons sure knew how to ring his bell, but they were clearly doing it on purpose, so he needed a moment to regain his equilibrium. “Tim, can you check on the bacon?”
Tim shrugged with a grin, then went to the microwave and removed the steaming plate. “No offense or anything about your girlfriend,” he responded easily, snagging the first piece for himself, and stuffing it into his mouth. “I’m just letting you know I approve.”
“Nice of you,” Mike grunted, amused despite himself. “Not that I need your blessing. But it’s good to know you two aren’t going to stage a protest.”
Dilly chimed in with an eye roll. “You think we’d do that? Geeze, Dad. We’re happy for you. It’s been over a year since Mom left, and we thought you were going to grump around and be single forever. This thing with Elle is very healthy for a man your age,” she ended, with what Mike assumed she thought was a well-thought-out dollop of wisdom. But seriously?
“Again, with the age thing?” he snorted. “I’m not in my dotage, you know.”
“Whatever that means.” Tim shrugged. “Now can you dish up the eggs? I’m supposed to meet Aiden in…” he picked up his phone and looked at it. “…ten minutes.”
“Fine. Eat,” Mike grunted, dividing the eggs between three plates.
He needed to get a move-on, too. His shift started in twenty minutes.
As much as he loved his job, he wasn’t really looking forward to it today. Both Kyle and Spence from his precinct and his SWAT team, knew he’d been going to meet Joe last night. They’d been introduced to her previously at the quarries, and had gotten an eyeful of the chemistry between them which had resulted in a combustive reaction. Which meant they’d be attempting to pry information out of him regarding last night’s activities. And even though Mike wouldn’t tell them everything that occurred, his poker-face sucked.
He'd get a razzing, and that wasn’t on his to-do list.
“Okay. I’m finished.” Mike pushed his plate away. “Dill, you need a ride to school this morning?”
“Nope. Caden is picking me up.”
Mike’s mind slipped off the Joe bandwagon for a moment as he wondered if he should be worried. Yeah, Dilly and Caden had been best buds since toddlerhood, but they’d kind of gone their separate ways in early high school. This was the second time in just a few days they’d seen each other as new friends.
“Anything you want me to know?” Mike asked, quirking a brow in his daughter’s direction as she shoveled in her breakfast. He’d just managed to snag the last piece of bacon before Tim-the-vacuum sucked the rest in.
Dilly looked contemplative for a minute, then shook her head. “Nope. Not yet.”
Mike didn’t know whether to be worried or relieved at her demurral, but he trusted his daughter. He’d give her space. And he supposed, for what it was worth, Dilly would eventually talk to Melanie about any…personal questions she might have.
“Hey, Dad?” Tim asked, finishing up the last of the toast. “We forgot to ask. Did you ever find out who put those cameras up?”
Damn. Mike was hoping they’d forgotten all about that. He should have known better, but he had his excuse ready.
“Yeah,” he lied. “It was an awareness drill. Mason put surveillance up at a bunch of the teams’ houses to see how long it would take before they got noticed. I was honest with him. I told him it was you who’d discovered the cameras, and he said he’d give you points for paying attention, while I got some big fat demerits,” Mike teased.
Would that explanation fly?
“Cool,” Tim stated happily, although Dill looked a little skeptical. “I haven’t even joined the team yet, and I’m already earning points.”
Mike knew Tim was planning on going into the police academy, following in his old man’s footsteps. At least that was his trajectory for now. Teenagers changed their minds all the time, so Mike wouldn’t hold his breath.
“Okay. Now I’ve really got to go.” Mike stood up, grabbed his cap, dropped a kiss on each of his kids’ heads, then headed for the door. “Have a good day. Last one out, lock up,” he said.
“We will,” Dilly assured him, and Mike wasn’t worried they’d forget. The pair were very conscientious. He was lucky as hell he had these kids.
Mike was halfway to work when his phone rang. He looked at his dash, and saw it was Joe.
Grinning, he pushed to connect the Bluetooth call. “I thought you’d still be asleep,” he answered.