Page 4 of Ridin' True

They were in the middle of their second round of Phase Ten when he put his cards down and said, “Your mom’s here.”

“Ah, man! I wastotallygonna win this time,” declared Axel, throwing his cards onto the table in dramatic fashion.

At nine, Wrangler’s son was full of big energy. He had his mother’s blond hair and blue eyes but all of his father’s fire. A natural born dare devil, he was meant for the outdoors. But he also had a competitive streak that made it easy for Wrangler to convince him to sit down and play a game every now and again.

Chuckling, Wrangler suggested, “Tell you what, leave the cards where they are, we’ll pick it up when you get back.”

Axel’s spine straightened as a slow grin spread across his face, lighting up his blue eyes.

“Dad, we’ll be gone two weeks this time, remember?” pointed out Marlowe. He looked across from him at his daughter as she continued, “You’ll need your table to, you know,eat.”

That was his Marlowe, almost eleven and going on forty, always looking out for her daddy. She was all his. Same brown-black hair. Same blue-green eyes. Same subtle-freckles sprinkled across her cheeks—darker and more obvious after time in the sun. She was a whole lot prettier, though. He could only hope as she got older, his bookworm would keep her eyes on her stories and off the boys—'cause he knew the boys would be chasing after her.

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” he insisted.

The doorbell rang, and their time was up.

“Go grab your backpacks. I’ll meet you at the door.”

He watched them hurry toward their rooms, pausing a beat before he got up and slowly made his way to his front entry. There’d been a time, years ago, when he couldn’t wait to see Nicole—but those days were long gone. Civility was only guaranteed when their kids were present, so he tried not to open the door too soon.

His ex had just returned from her honeymoon. It was why he got to keep his kids a full two weeks. He’d like to think that new ring on her finger and more than a week on the beach would have her in a good mood, but there was no guarantee. She had a special talent for being a bitch just because she wanted to be.

He opened the door and spotted Nicole a second before Axel came racing from his room and straight into his father’s side. He threw his arms around Wrangler’s waist, and the hard shell of the cast he wore on his right arm smacked against his back.

“Bye, dad.”

“Bye, Ax,” replied Wrangler, affectionately rustling his hair. “Be good.”

“Duh,” he said teasingly before bounding out the door. “Hi, mom.”

He didn’t stop but skipped toward the still running car in the driveway.

“Hey, baby,” greeted Nicole, a hint of laughter in her tone as she watched him go. She was still smiling when she shifted her gaze back toward Wrangler. For a fraction of a second, he was reminded of her beauty. He used to like the way her eyes got soft when she was happy.

He looked away from her when he heard Marlowe approach. Like her brother, she walked straight into his side, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Bye, dad. Oh, and don’t forget you said you’d return those books to the library for me.”

“First thing tomorrow. I know.”

She smiled, and he bent to press a kiss on top of her head.

“Bye, Lowe. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” She held on a second longer, giving him an extra squeeze, then stepped out to greet Nicole with a hug. “Hi, mom.”

“Hi, sweetheart.” She ran her hand over Marlowe’s hair and said, “Go join Axel and Evan in the car. I need to talk to your dad for a second.”

Marlowe looked between her parents warily then murmured, “Okay,” before she obeyed.

When she was out of earshot, Nicole asked, “So, how were they?”

Wrangler tried not to roll his eyes.

“They were fine. Last week of school was good. They’re excited to be out.”

“I’ll bet. And you remembered to wrap Axel’s cast whenever he got in the shower?”