Stranger in Town (Dundee, Idaho #5)(49)
Author: Brenda Novak

“In his room.”

“Is he okay?”

Russ shrugged. “He’s fine. Just mad.”

Hannah walked over and turned off the television. Finding Russ on her couch was bringing back some of the old helpless, I-can’t-escape feelings she’d had during her marriage. “Why?”

“Mom, I was watching that,” Brent complained.

“It’s getting late,” she told him. “Go take your bath and get in bed. I’ll tuck you in later.”

Brent grumbled some more but finally left, and Hannah turned back to Russ. “Why’s Kenny upset?”

“Because I made him go over to Sly’s house and apologize.”

Hannah stiffened, but quickly reminded herself that as Kenny’s father, Russ had the right to get involved. Still, it was difficult not to resent the fact that she hadn’t been consulted when she typically took care of Kenny’s every need and had already been dealing with Sly’s mother. “You know it was his fault?” she asked.

“Of course. He hit first, didn’t he?”

Russ finished his beer, then belched and crushed the can. When he set it on the accent table next to her couch, Hannah almost snapped at him to get up and throw it away instead of leaving it there. But she wanted him to leave as soon as possible, preferably without an argument, so she bit her tongue. The less said, the better.

“I wasn’t sure how it happened,” she said. “Did Kenny explain it to you?”

“He wouldn’t say much. But he admits to throwing the first punch, and I won’t have a son of mine—”

For a split second, Hannah thought he was going to say, “picking fights,” and was prepared to be mildly impressed. But she should’ve known better.

“—doing anything that could hurt his chances to play football.”

“You’re teaching him to take care of number one, I see.”

“Sly is Blaine’s nephew,” he said, as if that somehow justified his behavior.

“So? There’re more important issues at hand here, Russ. Dealing with anger and feelings of aggression. Solving problems in a constructive manner. Character issues Kenny could carry with him into adulthood.”

“Yeah, well, I want to see him carry a football into adulthood.”

Hannah’s mind reached for the memory of Gabe’s kiss as she strived for patience—positive to balance the negative. “You need to quit pushing him, Russ. If he continues with football, it has to be his dream, not yours. Kenny has a great mind. There’re a lot of paths for him to choose from.”

“He wants to play football, and you know it.”

“Why are you here?” she asked. “So we can have the same tired argument we have all the time?”

He shoved a hand through his thinning hair. “No, I…” He seemed to struggle for words, which wasn’t something he did very often.

“What?”

“I wanted to ask you to stand by me for a change.”

Stand by him? She’d stood by him for twelve years—until he’d completely annihilated all the positive feelings she’d ever had toward him. But…he looked pretty sincere today and, for her boys’ sake, she couldn’t give up hope that he might change. She didn’t want to let Brent and Kenny down if her cooperation might make a difference. “How?”

“Tell Kenny that I’m only trying to help him. I’m his old man, I love him.”

“He knows you love him, Russ.”

“But I don’t have any credibility when it comes to him. He…he pays more attention to what you tell him. He…respects you.”

Maybe Russ was reaping the rewards of his own actions, but Hannah couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. She would be heartbroken to think that her sons didn’t respect her. “What do you want me to say to him?”

“Tell him I know what I’m talking about when it comes to football.”

Football again. Hannah didn’t like the importance Russ placed on this one issue, but she supposed supporting him when it came to sports wasn’t too much to ask. He knew more about football than she did. “I’ll tell him you have his best interests at heart,” she said.

“That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“Sorry, no blanket endorsements.”

“What happened to that soft heart of yours?”

“You took advantage of it.”

He grabbed the ball cap he’d left on the arm of the couch. “Where were you today?”

She cleared her throat as guilt washed over her again. She wanted to believe she’d done what she’d done for Gabe’s sake. But deep down she knew making love with Gabe was exactly what she’d wanted for a long time, and the fact that she hadn’t been disappointed somehow made it worse. “I went for a drive.”

“Where?”

“Up in the mountains. It was nice, refreshing.”

“Must’ve been. I’ve never seen you look prettier.”

Hannah’s cheeks burned. “Thanks.”

“Any chance you might like to—”

“No, I’m sorry,” she said before he could even finish. She knew he was going to ask her out. He still did that, occasionally. But she had no desire to be with him and knew better than to give him, or their boys, any false hope.

“Right.” He nodded. “Okay, well, I’d better go.”

He crossed the room and stepped outside. She followed to say goodbye and lock up, but he came to a sudden stop. “What’s Gabe doing here?” he asked.

Hannah’s jaw dropped as she leaned around Russ to see that Gabe had pulled into her drive. Lazarus was in the back of his truck—along with the chair she wanted.

GABE HAD SEEN Russ’s car, knew Hannah’s ex-husband was at her house and that meeting up with him might not be the most comfortable of moments. But he wasn’t about to turn around without fulfilling the reason he’d driven all the way to town. After speaking to Blaine, he’d called Mike—and learned that Josh and Rebecca had spotted Blaine having breakfast with Kenny and Russ at the diner a week ago. He needed to warn Kenny not to get involved with Blaine, just in case.

Lazarus jumped out as soon as Gabe released the tailgate. Then Gabe started pulling the chair he’d brought for Hannah toward him by the legs, so he could lift it to the ground.

Russ reached him before he could manage it. “What’s this?”