The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set Read Free Page B

if he pretended she wasn’t here, he wouldn’t have to deal with her in any way. She wasn’t about to make it that easy on him. She was determined to repair their marriage. Being the cause of most of the problems, it was up to her to make things right.
    “I want the puppy story, Daddy.” Luke’s excited voice could be easily heard through the walls where Hank was helping his son choose between Iron Man and Captain America jammies. “Can I have two stories tonight?”
    Whatever Hank’s answer was, she couldn’t hear it. She swiftly cleaned up the bathroom and headed down the hall to Luke’s room, decorated in blue and green dinosaurs. It was one of the first things she’d done when he left his crib for a big boy bed. Even now the memories made her throat tight with emotion. He was growing up so fast. It seemed only yesterday she’d rocked him to sleep in front of the fireplace.
    “Where’s the rocker that was in the living room?” Hank and Luke were sitting on the bed, the lamp from the bedside table illuminating a semi-circle around them. Hershey was lying on the rug next to them but he jumped up and wagged his tail at her entrance.
    Hank looked up from the book that Luke was reading out loud, his expression blank. “It’s gone.”
    “Gone? Where?” She’d had a local craftsman make that chair by hand. She’d rocked her newborn son in it the day they’d brought him home from the hospital.
    “I gave it away.” Hank’s voice was flat and clearly it wasn’t up for discussion.
    Now. But they would discuss it.
    Alyssa bristled with anger at his high-handedness. “I guess we can talk about it later.”
    “There’s nothing to discuss.” His gaze was level, his dark eyes hard. “I can handle story time.”
    She was being dismissed. How charming. What Hank didn’t know was she wasn’t planning to allow him to do that to her. She opened her mouth to sweetly reply but her son beat her to it.
    “I want all of us to sit on the bed, Daddy. Like we used to.” Luke’s plaintive tone cut through the tension between Alyssa and her estranged husband.
    God bless the little ones. They said what adults wouldn’t say out loud.
    “I love this book. Go on, sweetheart,” she urged as she settled on the bed, the Lab at her feet. Avoiding Hank’s eyes, she instead kept her attention on her son who was carefully reading the book about a shelter puppy finding a forever home. By the time they tucked him in and kissed him goodnight, an observer could have cut the tension with a knife.
    She followed him into the living room, shutting her son’s door behind her in case their discussion got loud. She didn’t want to argue with Hank but he may not give her any choice. She could feel the waves of anger coming off of him. He was not happy about the turn of events.
    Hank went straight to the refrigerator, grabbing himself a beer. He didn’t offer her one but instead sat on the couch. His expression was forbidding and if she hadn’t seen the softer side of her husband, Alyssa might have backed down.
    “I want you to leave in the morning.” Hank’s voice was harsh and she had to hide her wince at his words. She needed to put on her big girl panties and deal with things. It probably wasn’t the last time Hank would be this way before things were patched up between them.
    Alyssa sat down on the overstuffed armchair across from him so she could see his face when she spoke. “I’m not going anywhere, Hank. I’m tired of running away. We have a marriage and a son. It’s up to us to be the grownups here. I know you’re mad and I don’t blame you. But I’m here to apologize and try to make this work.”
    Hank jumped to his feet and placed his hand on the stones of the mantel, unhappiness in every line of his body.
    “Nice of you to acknowledge that I have a reason to be angry. When did you realize that, Lis? When did you realize I was right?”
    She was finally getting past that brittle facade he’d placed between