A Better Man. Emilie Rose

He almost barked the word, then took a moment to gather his composure. “My father will be with her.”

      Mrs. Hamilton’s face paled ever so slightly. “Seth is getting out?”

      So the people of Quincy hadn’t heard. Hadn’t they been following the release logs as religiously as Roth had? Weren’t they concerned about keeping that evil spawn out of town?

      “Scheduled for parole the last day of May. Released early for good behavior.” What a load of garbage.

      “I see. Well…” She pulled a flowered pad of paper forward and clicked her pink pen. Three times. “How many bedrooms would you like?”

      He shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter.”

      “Will someone be helping you choose your next residence?”

      Smooth, Mrs. H. “No. Just me. For now.”

      He deliberately tacked on the last to keep her guessing.

      “And what do you think a house will give you that an apartment won’t? You have a pool now. None of the houses around Quincey have pools. And there’s the extra work of yard upkeep, lawn mowers and whatnot to buy.”

      “Swimming in the river’s fine with me, and I’ve never minded hard work. I’m looking for space. A place to cook out on the grill with my friends and my coworkers. I believe in team building.”

      The corners of her lips turned down, reminding him his team had once been her husband’s, and she’d been the one to cook for them. “Will you have friends staying over? Is that why you need the extra space?”

      He had to fight a smile at her not-so-subtle inquisition. “Not sure yet. But it’s best to be prepared. It was good seeing Piper yesterday. She mentioned her fiancé.”

      Ann Marie blinked. Twice. “Yes. Tragic, how their love was cut short.”

      “Did you and the chief like him?”

      Six pendulum swings of the grandmother clock in the corner marked her hesitation. “We unfortunately never had the opportunity to meet him before his…accident. They lived so far away and Lou doesn’t fly.”

      Roth’s antennae sparked. Piper had said her father approved of the guy. So one of them was lying. But who? He’d guess Piper. What would Ann Marie gain by saying she’d never met her future son-in-law?

      “Piper didn’t mention what kind of accident, and I didn’t want to pry and upset her about…what was his name?”

      Click. Click. “Rick. And it was a motorcycle accident. You know Florida doesn’t have helmet laws?” She straightened her pen and paper. “Roth, Piper doesn’t need you…toying with her affections again. She’s made a good life here for herself and her son.”

      Her words shocked him like a Taser. “Piper has a son?”

      Ann Marie nodded stiffly. “Rick was killed just days before their wedding, leaving Piper pregnant. They were so in love and in such a rush to start their lives together that they jumped the gun a bit.”

      “That so?” Jealousy burned like a gas main break in his gut. He wanted to punch something, to shoot something, to annihilate something. He struggled to rein in his reaction. He’d vowed he’d never be the kind of man who could be ruled by his emotions.

      Obviously her fiancé hadn’t been the white trash she’d accused Roth of being since she hadn’t aborted Rick’s kid.

      Click. Click. “So please, don’t try to resurrect anything.”

      He tried to focus on Ann Marie’s last statement rather than the bombshell she’d dropped. “Reuniting with Piper is not part of my plan.”

      As Piper had said, the past was over. There would be no attempt at reconciliation. Loving and losing her had sent him to a very dangerous place mentally—one where he hadn’t cared whether he lived or died. And it had taken him a long time to crawl out of that dark hole.

      Ann Marie searched his face then nodded. “All right. There are not a lot of rental units available despite the market downturn. But I can make up a list of the houses that are available.”

      Roth had learned far more than he’d bargained for and he needed to leave to process it. He rose on legs that felt as stiff as telephone poles. “Do that, and I’ll give them a drive-by. If any of them grabs my interest, then I’ll be in touch.”

      He left the office determined to find Piper. At least now he knew what she was trying to hide.

      Piper had moved on. She’d had another man’s child.

      So where was the relief he should be experiencing?

      * * *

      “YOU DID WHAT!” The plate slipped from Piper’s hands and splashed into the sink filled with soapy water, shattering the peace of their Saturday-night after-dinner washing-up ritual.

      Her mother actually looked quite smug. “I told Roth our story.”

      “Why?”

      “Because Quincey has limited places to hide. He was going to find out about Josh sooner or later. It’s best to send him down the wrong path before he jumps to conclusions and finds the right one. And I wanted to warn him off.”

      Piper didn’t like the sound of that. Roth had never been one to back down from a challenge. “Warn him off how exactly?”

      “He needs to know you haven’t been pining away for him.”

      But she had. Despite the anger and hurt, for years she’d waited for him to find her and tell her he’d made a mistake. That he loved her. Wanted to marry her and raise their child together. Eventually that love had turned to disappointment then to anger and finally to determination. She didn’t need him to make a good life for herself and Josh.

      “Mom, I wish you wouldn’t volunteer information. The less we say the better. Roth has always been a genius at figuring out puzzles. That’s what made him such a good mechanic. If we don’t sync our stories perfectly, he’ll root out the inconsistencies.”

      “We’ve discussed this too many times to make mistakes, and to be on the safe side, I told Roth your father and I had never met Rick. That way our descriptions of him won’t contradict each other.”

      Piper’s stomach sank as if she’d swallowed lead. “Roth asked me if Dad approved of Rick. I said yes. Yes implies you’d met him. Our story is already getting tangled.”

      Had Roth caught that small contradiction? Was it enough to spark his curiosity? Would he even care? She hoped not. Otherwise, she could be in big trouble.

      “I’ll have to think of a story to cover that.”

      “Mom, telling more lies is not the answer.”

      “Then what is, Piper? I don’t put much faith in your belief that Roth won’t be interested in his own son.”

      “He wasn’t when I told him I was pregnant. Why would that have changed? If he confronts me, I’ll make it clear I want nothing from him. Him or Dad. In fact, I’d be happy not to lay eyes on either of the traitors again.”

      “If only life were as easy as ignoring what we don’t want to see. But it isn’t, sweetie. And we learn the most from our toughest obstacles. Avoiding your father is not the answer. He’s upset that you stood him up for breakfast today.”

      “He’s upset? After what he did? I don’t want him anywhere near us.”

      “Piper, I’ll be the first to admit he’s a bullheaded idiot sometimes. But he is your father and he loves you.”

      “He proved that well—by running off the man I wanted to marry.”

      “Lou did what he thought he had to do to protect you.”

      “He could have given