Together With You Read Free Page B

mean to take them. Penny ran off, and I got scared.”
    Officer Lewis crossed his arms over his chest. “I believe you, but you still have to pay for the candy.”
    â€œHe will,” Ryan replied.
    â€œI’ll let the manager know to expect you.” Satisfied, Officer Lewis gave a relaxed wave and left.
    Ryan turned to Eric and saw a stony expression he knew too well. Of his three children, Eric was the biggest mystery to him. They had no common interests, a fact evidenced by the SOS list. Ryan had jotted down several ideas, things like Eat dinner together once a week, Go for ice cream, and Have breakfast at Minnie’s Pancake House, a place the boys used to love. He’d also listed things to do with them individually. Between Go to Kyle’s baseball games and Swim lessons for Penny, he’d written Eric—?
    Juggling the needs of his three children was the hardest thing Ryan had ever attempted. When the boys were little, he’d been in med school and working to be first in his class, then interning at USC and working even harder to be the best. He missed out on their formative years without realizing those years would have also formed him as a father. Dealing with teenage problems when he was absent for the daily trials of a toddler left him handicapped—and divorced. Heather was right. He’d neglected their marriage in favor of his career, but that career, along with a healthy inheritance from his father, provided handsomely for his family. Surely that counted for something.
    With the shoplifting incident resolved, Ryan turned to his sons. “I need a few minutes with Carly. Eric, you can look around but stay where I can see you.”
    Eric glowered but headed for a barrel of rubber sharks at the end of the glass counter.
    Ryan turned to Kyle. “Stay with Penny, all right?”
    â€œSure.” He shifted the bag holding the baseball shoes to his other hand. “How about if I take her to pick out another rabbit?”
    â€œOr an outfit for this one,” Carly suggested.
    â€œGood idea.” Ryan wished he’d thought of clothes for the rabbit, but that’s what happened with Penny. He was so focused on the problems that he forgot to be an ordinary dad.
    Kyle reached for Penny’s hand. “Come on, Squirrel. Dad said to buy the rabbit some clothes.”
    It was just like Kyle to have a special name for his sister, and to share the credit for a good idea. He was generous in that way, maybe because he had success to spare. A solid student and natural athlete, he wanted to go to Stanford for premed. Twenty years ago, Ryan had been just like Kyle—assured, optimistic, and ready to take on the world. Now he was empty inside, tired of the fight, and afraid that someday Kyle would be just like him. It didn’t help that Kyle had inherited Ryan’s dark hair and lanky build. When Ryan looked at his son, he saw an untarnished version of himself, which reminded him just how tarnished he’d become.
    He wanted a cigarette. Badly.
    And a drink.
    But he wouldn’t.
    Fighting a scowl, he waited while Carly summoned a clerk to take over the register, and then followed her to a couple of chairson the far side of a play area designed for toddlers. The stuffed chairs were at a ninety-degree angle to each other and offered a view of Eric at the counter and Kyle and Penny at the end of an aisle.
    â€œThis is the dad spot,” she said lightly. “Have a seat.”
    â€œWhy the dad spot?”
    â€œMoms never sit down.” She sank into the cushions and crossed her legs. “When it comes to dressing up stuffed animals, fathers tend to watch.”
    Ryan said nothing.
    â€œDon’t get me wrong,” she said with a flutter of one hand. “The dads aren’t neglectful. If something happens, they move fast, like you did when you hurried into the store. Losing Penny had to be terrifying.”
    He gave her high marks for