The snow covered both of them as they walked through the parking lot. A bell chimed when Chas opened the diner’s door and heat surrounded them, warming their cold bodies.
As they ate steak, eggs, and hash browns, Chas saw his ex-wife near the cash register, staring at him. What the fuck’s she doing back in Pinewood Springs? She waved at him, then started walking over to their booth. Shit.
“Hi, Chas. And Jack. How are you guys doing? You don’t mind if I sit for a few,” she said as she scooted in next to Jack.
The cheerful look on Jack’s face switched to a stoic one and he moved stiffly as he made room for her to sit down.
“Why’re you here, Brianna?” Chas asked.
“That’s the first thing you ask me after all these years? Don’t you want to know how I’ve been doing?” She put her arm around Jack. “What about you, baby? Do you want to know how your mama’s been?”
Jack shrugged off her arm and stared down at his plate.
“Fuckin’ cool it. I know you too well. Why the hell are you here?” Chas glared at her.
“My mom’s real sick. They don’t think she’s going to make it.” She brushed her finger over her cheek.
He liked his ex-mother-in-law; she was a genuinely nice person. In all the years that he and Brianna had been married, he’d tried to figure out how such a good person could have had such a mean and conniving bitch for a daughter. He’d thought it must’ve come from Brianna’s dad. He’d heard the man was one cruel sonofabitch, but he’d run off years before Chas and Brianna had met.
“Mom said she hasn’t seen Jack in a long time. I think she’d like to see him before she dies.” Her voice hitched on the last word.
He placed his hand on hers. “This must be tough on you. Your mom’s a good woman. The last couple of times I was gonna bring Jack over, she said she was busy. She didn’t tell me she wasn’t feeling well.”
“That’s the way she is. Doesn’t want to stress anyone out. I had no idea she had cancer. None of us did. It sucks.”
“I’ll bring Jack to see her. I’d like to see her too. Is she at Pinewood Hospital?”
Brianna nodded and grasped his fingers. “I’m so scared I’m gonna lose it when she dies. I’ve been working so hard to straighten out my life.”
“That’s good. Are you still in Durango?”
“No. Me and Johnny split up. It was the best thing for me. I got clean and sober.”
“Where’re you living now?” Chas smiled at the waitress as she refilled his coffee cup.
“You want something?” Stella asked Brianna. She shook her head and the waitress ambled away.
“I’m living here at my mother’s house. I got a job and everything.”
All of a sudden, he had a sour taste in his mouth. Glancing over at Jack, his heart squeezed as he watched the color drain from his face. He’s remembering how she treated him. There’s no fuckin’ way she’s getting close to him. Or me. He pulled his hand away from hers.
“Where’re you working?” he asked.
“I’m a receptionist for this charity. It’s called Brighter Lives.”
“Mom does stuff with them,” Jack blurted out, then clammed up when Brianna gave him a death stare.
“That’s right. Addie and several of the old ladies are involved in a fundraiser we’re doing next Saturday.”
“Are you still with her?”
“Yeah. Of course. We’re married and have a daughter.”
The lines around her mouth deepened. “Mom told me. She was surprised we didn’t get back together.”
“She never said anything to me like that.” What he wanted to tell Brianna was that her mother told him she was finally happy he’d found a good woman who would love him and be loyal to him. He waved Stella over. Visiting time is over. “Check, please.”
“How’re you doing, Jack?” Brianna asked sweetly.
Jack shrugged. “Okay. Are we going now, Dad?”
“Yeah.” Chas slid out of the booth.
“We should get together for dinner sometime.” She brushed against Chas.
“I don’t think so. I’ll take Jack to see his grandma.”
“When? I mean, I’d like to be there when you do.”
“Just when I get some free time. We gotta go.”
“It was great seeing you again. You look real good still. How do you think I look?” She ran her hands over her body.
“You look fine.” He walked to the cash register and Jack rushed in front of him. After paying, he headed for the door, and Brianna came up to him.
“Don’t I get a hug?”
“No.”
“Jack?”
Jack’s eyes darted to Chas. He pulled Jack to him. “He’s not into that.”
Bracing himself, he stepped out in the cold, and with his hand on Jack’s shoulder, they went to their car.
As they drove to Pinewood Hospital, Jack blew his breath on the window and made patterns on the steam with his finger. “Do I have to start going over to Mom’s again?”
“No way.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. I mean, if you want to, I’m not gonna st—”
“I don’t want to. I love Addie. She’s my mom. Is that bad?”
Chas shook his head. “Not at all. Addie loves you too. Your blood mom wasn’t so good to you. It’s okay not to love her the way you do Addie.”
A satisfied smile spread over Jack’s face as he settled back in his seat. Chas reached over and ruffled his hair, then turned on the radio.
There’s no damn way I’m letting Brianna start trouble. Clean or not, Brianna only had one agenda in life—getting whatever she could for her. It was her world and she didn’t give a shit about anyone. She gave up her parental rights to Jack years before, and there was no way she was going to start anything up.
Snowflakes swirled around and landed on the windshield.
“It’s snowing again. Maybe Ethan can come over and we can build a snowman. Can I ask him?”
“Sure.”
Jack took out his phone, and as he tapped his text, warmth spread through Chas. Seeing Brianna reminded him how lucky he was to have Addie in his life. His family was everything to him.
The SUV rambled down the slick, snow-packed street.
Chapter Sixteen
The Crazed Grinch
Laughing as he checked off the names of three more families, he leaned back against the car’s leather seat and turned the heater up. An eerie stillness sheathed the world outside as the falling snow choked the land, covering trees, lawns, roofs, and cars. It was like he was in a cocoon, safe and protected, all the windows covered by white making his world inside the vehicle charcoal gray.