A couple of minutes after seven a.m., Vince returned from his forest run with Calliope. After some breakfast, he would drop Calliope off at the Sanctuary for training and get over to Lulah’s to pick up Gable’s wagon. Why was the kettle taking so long to boil? Oh, hell, he was so wired at the thought of seeing Taryn and Gable. The pressure inside made him feel as though he would erupt.

The run hadn’t burned off much of the crazy, so he dropped to the floor and went through a rapid routine of push-ups and sit-ups until Calliope joined in and started licking his face.

He stopped his ridiculous workout to give her head a rub. “Did a certain person teach you to do that when my pressure built too high?” He continued rubbing her, and the bird’s nest of tension in his chest unravelled. His breathing came easier, and now it was possible to picture himself driving up to his old home without a corresponding escalation of anxiety. This was good. Well done, Calliope.

He poured his coffee and took it through to the bathroom, because he was concerned about his appearance. He wanted to present a picture of normality to show that he could take care of himself without any crazy obsessive shit going on. That stuff set Taryn off. And it would depend on her mood as to whether ‘crazy shit’ would be classed as turning up military-groomed, homeless unkempt, or something in between.

Last week, he’d taken his hair close to a Marine high-and-tight. A habit he was yet to ditch, and if he glanced around his house, he’d have to admit that everything was at Marine standards. Even the shrubs in the yard were clipped into submission. Others called it topiary, but he knew it as order, and the way he’d clipped them turned them into lousy hiding spots for…

Who was he kidding? Right now he felt mad as a snake.

Pulling to a stop at Dog Haven Sanctuary an hour later, Calliope gave him the oddest look, as if she wanted to stay with him rather than do some training. Usually, she would hurl herself out of the vehicle for a quick wrestle with Joker or Justice, but today it was that ‘you need me’ stare. Vince held the door for her. “Come along, princess, my crisis is over. Off to school with you.”

He walked with her down to Sanctuary HQ. People would be milling about, drinking coffee before starting for the day. The volunteers received their duties, Lulah as the drill sergeant, Marlo the captain. As he turned into the kitchen area, he stopped. Lulah and Mike were by the coffee machine, and Mike crouched, getting something from a low cupboard, his hand resting behind Lulah’s knee to steady himself. She laughed.

Laughing! Yeah, deadhead, that’s what she does around normal, happy, upbeat people.

Neither of them noticed him, and he went to leave, but at that moment Calliope pulled the leash from his hand and bolted past him to greet Lulah. She turned and caught Vince at the door.

“Hey, Vince…”

Her face changed. Seeing him erased her smile, made her serious, ruined her moment with Mike. Fuck, this hurt. He focused beyond her, out through the doors that opened to a courtyard. Others gathered there with a small assortment of dogs.

It was Saturday, therefore more casual than the weekly routine. He’d done enough volunteer work at the Sanctuary over the last year to know how it worked. His focus stayed on one of the interns teaching a dog food refusal using his morning donut.

“Vince?”

He pulled his gaze back to her. Goddess-imp-freakin’-perfection. “I don’t want to bother you. I’m dropping Calliope off. Can I grab her from your place later?”

“Sure, but aren’t you coming into town tonight?”

“Town?”

“Yeah, remember, we were all going to meet at Be Hoppy? Beer, pizza, pool.”

“Oh, right, I remember. I’ll see you there.” Calliope returned to him, and he held her leash again, gripping it like some sort of lifeline. Under Lulah’s gaze, he relaxed his hold to pass it over to her, turned, and left.

He’d actually spent a lot of time trying to forget about the meet-up tonight. The bar was busy on a Saturday night, so it would be noisy, too many people. Marlo and Adam would be there, though, and he could do with some of Adam’s good sense right now. And, of course, Lulah would be there, most likely dressed up in something that would almost kill him each time he glanced at her. And Mike would be hanging off her like a lovesick hound.

The trip out to his old home passed quickly. It was completely the wrong way to go about a visit, but he knew if he asked Taryn if he could come and see Gable, the answer would be no. If he turned up, there was always a chance Gable would be playing outside and he could see her before Taryn snatched her away into the house.

He made the last turn into the street slowly and kept the pace of the pickup at a crawl, giving himself time to once more rehearse what he was going to say.

When he knocked on the front door, Taryn answered in an instant. “Did you forget—”

“Hi, Taryn.”

“I thought you were Andrew.” She seemed confused, peered quickly beyond him, and pushed to close the door.

He put a hand up to stop her. Aww, crap, he didn’t want to fall into this sort of shit. “Sorry. I know I should have called, arranged something, but I’ve no idea how we’re doing this stuff these days. I have something for Gable; I’d like to give it to her.”

“Go away, Vince.”

“I believe I have the right to see my daughter.”

“You don’t have any rights. You’re damn lucky I didn’t have you locked away after that last stunt you pulled.”

“That wasn’t a stunt—”

“Are you receiving help or are you still flipping out?”

“Please, let me see Gable. I want to give her something. Let me spend some time with her. Hell, even thirty minutes. Come on, Taryn, I’m begging here. She’s my daughter.”

“She isn’t here.”

“What? Where is she?”

“She’s out with Andrew.”

With Andrew? What the fuck? The Jerk-off? Christ, control, control, control. He studied his shoes and counted forwards and backwards—one to ten, ten to one—up and down the scale until he could trust his voice again. “What time will they be back?”

“They’ll be back when you’re gone. Now leave, Vince.”

He shook his head. “I’ll wait in the pickup until they come home.”

“Let go of the door and get off the property or I’ll have you removed. Your smooth-talking buddy’s not here to help you this time. I’ll call the police.”

He released the door and walked back to the truck. Incongruous as it seemed, he admired Taryn’s strength. It was good to know that such a formidable woman took care of his daughter. He climbed into his truck and sank low in the seat. Without a doubt, she would call the police, and if that happened, any chance of seeing Gable would be blown.

He took a few seconds to stare at his house, see if he could find the shift in the curtain that meant Taryn watched him. She was a fast mover, and the idea that she might already be on the phone to the cops spurred him into action. He’d have to go through his lawyer after all. Maybe she could try again to set up some access to Gable for him. He started the truck and headed back towards town where he could grab some lunch and take a hike out to the lake.

He stopped at a bakery for some food and a drink to take on his hike, and as he exited, someone called to him. Across the street, he saw two guys who he recognized from the Marines. They invited him to join up with them for the afternoon, and even though he knew he should continue with his idea to hike out to the lake, maybe swim, nothing had gone as planned so far, and he went and joined them outside the bar where they sat. If he stayed for an hour, there’d still be enough time to reach the lake. But ten minutes later, he had a beer in his hand and a weakening resolve for a hike.

* * *

Lulah placed the second dog bowl on the porch, setting a reasonable distance between Joker and Calliope. “Seems your daddy’s a no-show.” She stood back and watched each dog lift a bone and carry them off to their favorite eating spots in the yard. Where had Vince got to this time? Adam and Marlo would be along in half an hour to pick her up. Mike was catching a lift with them, too. She hadn’t made transport arrangements with Vince, so she hoped he would meet them at the bar.

An hour later, they pulled up outside Be Hoppy. They were launching a new beer at the boutique brewery, and among this current bunch of interns at Dog Haven Sanctuary were a few beer geeks, eager to grab the chance to sample a fresh brew. Inside, they ordered beer and bar food and headed for the pool tables towards the back of the room.

“So where’s Vince tonight?” Marlo asked.

“Busy being mysterious.” Lulah shot a quick glance towards Mike, but he and some of the other guys moved off to organize a pool competition among themselves.

“How are things going with him, when he’s not being mysterious?”

Lulah thought back to the other night. “He’s all over the place. You know, when he’s functioning well, he’s so hot he melts steel. Other times, he’s a hot mess.”

“Is he still going to counseling?”

“Sporadically, because the doctor he prefers has been away. But he’s back now, and Vince seems to be back in the program. When he’s doing his woodwork, he’s great, focused, calm. But this thing with not being able to see his daughter plagues him. In fact, I think it’s holding him back from any kind of recovery. He has it fixed in his mind that if he sees his daughter, he’ll be okay. That’s so off-target it isn’t funny.”

“Do you think he wants to reconcile with his wife?”

“No. He made it clear that their marriage was over some time ago. I think the reason the divorce has only now become an issue is that they were living apart because of his deployment. She has a new guy on the scene.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“What?”

Marlo shrugged. “Well, you know, the idea of the wife. They need to be dealt with and put in their place, emotionally.”

Lulah nudged her friend. “Is that what you had to do?”

“Yeah, actually, I did. Adam’s wife —”

“Emma,” Lulah corrected.

“Okay!” Marlo faked an eye-roll. “Emma could have been a bug for a while. I was uneasy there. At the time of her death, she and Adam were happily married, about to have a baby, still crazy in love, and, to make it worse, Adam blamed himself for her death. She ghosted around us for a bit.”

Lulah took a long draw from her beer, placed the glass on the table, and pointed at it. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“Lulah!”

She grinned. Like changing the subject would ever work with Marlo. “All right, I’ll be totally honest with you. I think Vince is hot.”

“That’s not news.”

“If I let myself, I could become quite obsessed with him. There are so many things about him I admire, but I can’t. I want to, and I can’t. Look how unreliable he is? He was coming around this afternoon to pick up Calliope, and I expected him here tonight. That’s a quinella. A one-two finish in the disappointment stakes for Vince right now.”

“Hell, Lulah, betting analogies? You’re really selling Vince to yourself as a baddie tonight.”

“Yeah, darn right.” Lulah started tapping her finger on the side of her glass. “A million other little things make him unreliable, and even worse than my dad—you know, my dad, the other completely unreliable dude in my life—Vince is emotionally unstable. So getting back to your question, when you take all of the other baggage into account, the fact that he has a soon-to-be ex-wife means nothing at all. It doesn’t take much analysis to realize that none of this shit adds up to the cozy boyfriend material I planned for myself.”

“God, you’re sounding so grown up. That scares me.”

“Ah, well, having said that, you know I’d jump his bones in a heartbeat.”

“Whose bones are you jumping?”

Damn, how long had Mike stood there? Trying to work out how much he’d heard made her head hurt. She checked Marlo who grinned stupidly at her table napkin. Lulah knew that look. Any minute now Marlo would break up laughing. Adam joined them at the table and she felt that little prick of envy as he bent over Marlo, kissed her long, before whispering something in her ear that made her blush.

Lulah turned to Mike. “They’ll need a room in a minute. Come on, is that pool table ready?”

Adam pulled away and winked at Lulah. “Let’s go, Sharky.”

She slipped off her stool, about to follow him across the room when Mike leaned in close. “So that you know, I’d happily jump your bones, too.”

Shit on a stick. She forced a laugh. “Who’s your partner?”

“I hoped it would be you,” Mike replied.

“Sorry, buddy, Adam and I are a team. We go way back. Marlo doesn’t play, so I get the hunky Kiwi for pool.”

Jono, one of the interns, joined up with Mike. “She’s a deceptive player,” he said, pointing his cue at Lulah. “Watch her.”

“I intend to,” Mike said.

Tell me this isn’t happening. She leaned into Adam. “Help me here,” she hissed.

Adam grinned down at her. “You better stay focused, girl, because I’m handing you over if we lose.”

The game swung back and forwards. None of them were particularly good, but the winning shot came down to Lulah. As she lined it up, a commotion at the bar where three guys had come in disturbed her. One of them knocked over a bar stool, spilling another guy’s drink. As they settled themselves down, she saw Vince. Turning back to the pool table she miscued her shot. “Sorry,” she mouthed at Adam.

He passed her a beer. “You threw the game to get your hands on Mike, you little hussy.”

Lulah indicated with a quick nod to the bar. “Did you see?”

“I did. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I think he’s been drinking.”

Adam glanced across, then back to her. “Well, he certainly is now.”

“He hasn’t had a drink in a long time, Adam. He swore off it until he got better. Said it didn’t help him.”

“Okay, don’t worry, hon. I’m watching him.”

Mike approached. “Best of three?’

Adam glanced at her, offering her the decision. “You bet,” she replied.

Vince watched the pool tables where the group from the Sanctuary sat. He should be with them, but right now, brimming with self-pity, all he wanted to do was get thoroughly shit-face drunk with the two Marines he had joined up with. Mike was hanging over Lulah, and inside he boiled and raged while he laughed at the joke someone told.

He took a position up against the wall from where he had the bar entrance, the bar itself, and the pool room covered. As he made another scan of the pool tables he caught Adam watching him. The man who sees all. Vince flicked his gaze back to Lulah, bending over to take a shot. Turning slightly, he noticed Mike watching Lulah, too. Glancing back to Adam, his friend shook his head: a small movement, almost imperceptible, but it said so much.

Inside Vince could feel the monster begging to be released. At the moment he held the power. He could sense Adam willing him not to make any stupid moves. And he could envision Mike’s surprise if he did.

Yeah, right now he had his small world captured in one hand, and a single little squeeze would change the game.

Yet, just as quickly he understood that the power was totally destructive. The only thing he could do with it was ruin an evening, wreck any opportunity of improving his life. This morning he’d given his power to Taryn, and it would be stupid if he allowed their inability to sort stuff out to influence everything else in his life. He leashed the monster, leaving it agitating on its tether.

Through calmer eyes he watched Mike line up a shot…and pocket it. The guy could play pool. Lulah, bless her, had not checked out Mike’s ass as he’d bent in front of her. She stood with Adam who spoke earnestly with her, before they looked his way.

Oh, shit, here she comes, and he’d have to introduce her to his two half-pissed mates who would be sure to say something stupid, or derogatory, or… fuck, he didn’t want to deal with this. He turned to the guys. “I’m going to head off.”

“Wait, we’ll come with you. Let’s try that new bar up the road.” With the four women from the neighboring table in tow, they stepped out into the street.

Adam caught Lulah’s arm as she went to go after Vince. Damn him. She swung back to face Adam. “He’s been drinking. I need to go to him.”

“No you don’t, you need to stay here. You aren’t responsible for him, Lulah. Let him make his mistakes, and if he’s drinking, the last thing you should do is be with him. Drunks don’t listen to common sense, you know that.”

“He’ll end up in trouble.”

“In that case, he’ll suffer the consequences.”

“I could stop this.”

Adam gripped her arms, “No, Lulah, you couldn’t. You can’t be there whenever Vince goes off the rails. He’s not drunk; he’ll be okay.”

“He can’t help himself.”

“Actually, that’s one thing he can do. But he may have some way to go before he comes to that conclusion. If you keep trying to rescue him, he won’t get better.”

“I haven’t tried to rescue him, I’ve listened, that’s all. But seeing him drinking like that tonight, I can’t sit by—”

“I’ll fix it, Lulah.” He pulled out his phone and took a few steps away as he made a call. He returned in minutes. “I gave a friend at the station a call. Not to have him picked up, but to let the patrols know he’s having a rough time.”

Lulah sighed.

Adam wrapped his arm around her. “Hey, carry on with what you’re doing because it’s making a difference for him. But you need to be prepared for moments like this for a while, heck, maybe forever. He’ll hate himself tomorrow and if it plays out right, you may be able to continue guiding him into focusing on his counseling, not drinking—all the good stuff you’ve already done.”

“Evidenced by what we’ve seen tonight!” She tried to pass her pool cue to Adam. “I’ll sit the rest of this out.” Suddenly she didn’t want to be anywhere near Mike.

Adam raised his hands, refusing to take the stick. “You, Sharky, are moving back to the table. Don’t even think of walking out on me at this stage.”

For a brief moment she considered throwing the game.

“And don’t think about throwing the game, either.”

“Scary mind reader. I don’t know how Marlo puts up with you.”

“I know, isn’t love awesome?” He grinned and took her arm again as she headed to the table. “When we’ve finished this game, I’ll have a look around for Vince, okay?”

The second game went to the last ball, too. This time, Lulah pocketed it and the best-of-three was on. As Mike racked up, Lulah drained her water and searched the bar.

“We’ll find him, Lulah,” Adam said quietly to her. “Let’s finish this game and we’ll head off. I can see Marlo yawning. There are plenty of cars around for Mike to grab a lift with one of the others.”

They won the final game, though Lulah knew it was no thanks to the way she played. She’d hurried her shots, her interest half-hearted. Outside the bar the evening had chilled so that Adam pulled both the women against him, one under each arm.

“At times like this it’s good to be the pickle,” he said. “I get warmed on both sides.”

Lulah scanned the window of every bar and restaurant they passed and she pulled up. “Uh-oh,” she nudged Adam, “The devil we speak of is at nine o’clock.”

“Brilliant.” He released the women. “You two stay right there, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Lulah craned her neck to watch Adam enter the bar and approach the large table where Vince sat with a group of men and women. She hated the little stabs of jealousy each time one woman in particular reached to touch him, so she turned to Marlo.

“Ugh, that woman needs to keep her hands off him. What do you reckon I go in like a mad hornet hunting for someone to sting, grab Vince by the ear and haul him out onto the street?”

Marlo laughed. “Great idea, Lulah. I can see you doing that.”

“Well, I hate standing here doing nothing.”

At that moment they saw Adam leave the table and head for the door. Back on the street he held up a set of keys. “He’s fine, Lulah, he’s not drunk. I have his keys so he’s not going to drive. Leave him to have a night with the guys. It may even do him some good.”

“If you say so. But for the record, if that woman in there, the one doing the cleavage reveals every ten seconds, lays a finger on Vince, I’ll pee in her gas tank.”

“That’s what we love about you, Lulah, you’re all class.”

“I blame that new beer we tried tonight. Maybe too many hops, it’s had an alarming effect on me.” Jealousy was fresh and puzzling to her. Other guys she’d dated had female friends, and that had never bothered her. Time to shut off these possessive feelings she had about Vince. And she’d stay away from over-hopped beer.