“I’m just saying I think it might be wise to choose our battles,” I said to Tenille late Tuesday afternoon. We were discussing Charlie and the fact Tenille felt like she was out of control.

“So you’re the expert now, are you? A week or so of parenting and you know everything?” We’d been going over this for a good half hour, and I didn’t see the end in sight.

I raked my fingers through my hair. “No, but I’m not a fucking idiot, Tee. I’ve been watching you two fight and listening to what she’s saying about it all, and I think that you fighting every damn battle is just pushing her further away.”

“Oh, so you think I should just let her smoke and drink and give me attitude, do you? Not to mention cutting class and letting her grades slip.” I saw where Charlie got her attitude. It rolled off Tenille in waves.

“I’m suggesting you work on a couple of those things at a time. Pick the most important one, say her grades, and go to war with her about that. The rest, tread carefully. Have you seen her smoking or drinking since you got here?”

“No.”

I nodded. “She and I had a talk about it. I told her not to do it in the house. I figure I can’t control what goes on outside the house, so why fight her on it?”

“You’re delusional, Aiden, if you think that by simply telling her not to do it here will stop her.”

“I know it won’t stop her doing it. But I’m hoping that by not alienating her completely, I’m keeping the communication going between us. And that by giving her some room to figure shit out on her own, she will come to respect me and want to show me she can make better choices.”

My phone buzzed with a text. My dick stirred at the thought of it being from Monroe. We’d been exchanging dirty messages all day.

Monroe: You know how I didn’t want dick the other day?

Me: Yeah.

Monroe: I’m over that. Just so you know.

Me: Thank fuck.

Monroe: I want it every way I can have it tonight.

Me: Ass?

Monroe: Steady on, tiger. A man’s gotta prove himself first.

Tenille cut in, “Are you just going to ignore me now? Your woman’s got all your attention, has she?” She spat her words out like they tasted awful. I imagined they did, and I hated that I’d caused her to feel this way. I needed to fix whatever issue we had here.

“Tee,” I started, but the sound of glass smashing outside distracted me. Placing my phone down on the counter, I said, “Hold that thought. I’ll be back.”

Jogging outside, I discovered that some kids were playing ball on the road and had smashed one of my neighbour’s windows. He was already outside dealing with it, and waved me off, letting me know he had it under control.

By the time I got back inside, Tenille had my phone in her hands and had scrolled my messages with Monroe. She looked at me with a level of hurt I’d never seen coming. “I thought you didn’t really know Monroe.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. Yet another conversation I wasn’t prepared for. Scrubbing my face, I said, “I didn’t when you asked. Now I do.”

She shoved my phone at me. “So you coming back to us wasn’t you wanting me back?”

I frowned. “You’re married, Tee. While I’m not a fan of Craig’s, it was never my intention to break up your family when I came back.”

“Do you still love me?” she demanded.

“It’s been fourteen years. I never thought I could come back, so I had to find a way to move on.”

“So that’s a no, then?”

“I’ll always love you, but I’m not in love with you, no. You can’t stand there and tell me you’re in love with me. You moved on years ago.” Christ, this was a fucked-up mess.

Her breaths came hard and fast while she stared at me. She seemed lost, and I tried to figure out how to deal with that, but I was out of my fucking depth here. “I did move on, but you coming back has stirred so many feelings in me that I never knew were buried. I only moved on because I thought you were dead. Not because I stopped loving you.”

“You’re telling me you don’t love Craig?”

“I don’t know anymore. My thinking is all screwed up.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s working. Splitting his time between Melbourne and Perth.”

“No, I mean why isn’t he here? Why isn’t he fighting for you to go home?” She’d hardly heard from him as far as I knew.

She wrapped her arms around herself like she was trying to warm up, even though it wasn’t a cold day. “I don’t know,” she said quietly.

I moved to her and pulled her into my arms. Tenille would always be the woman I’d loved first and the mother of my child. I’d never stop loving her, but there was no way back to each other as far as I was concerned. However, my guilt at what I’d put her through over the years ate me alive. Some days I was sure it would consume me. They were the days I hit the whisky the hardest. If I had any chance at defeating my mother’s genes in me, I had to find a way past this guilt.

“I’ve got a guy looking into what’s going on with him,” I told her.

She jerked out of my hold. “What? Why would you do that?”

“To help you find some answers as to what the fuck’s going on in your marriage.”

“That’s none of your concern, Aiden,” she snapped.

“Is there something going on here I don’t know about, Tee?” She seemed cagey all of a sudden. Like she wanted me far away from her marriage and all the shit going on with it.

“No.” But she’d shut down completely on me, so I had to wonder the truth of the matter. As she turned to leave the kitchen, she threw out, “And Charlie isn’t getting that hair colour. If you say yes, there will be hell to pay.” She stalked towards her bedroom, leaving me clueless as to what the hell was going on.

Grabbing my phone, I tried to call Sully, but he didn’t answer. I hadn’t heard from him since he arrived in Melbourne a few days ago. That concerned me; Sully always stayed in contact. I sent a text to Bronze asking him to look into it for me. If anything had happened to him down there, I was hoping the cops would know.

After I had texted Bronze, I shot Monroe another text.

Me: What kind of proof are we talking?

She came straight back.

Monroe: Ever considered getting your dick pierced?

Me: That’s how a man proves himself to you?

Monroe: No. I was just throwing that out there for your consideration. Proof = time getting shit right.

Me: Noted. I’ll be there soon.

Monroe: If you come early, we could fit a quickie in. Just sayin’.

Well that was a fucking no-brainer. Ten minutes later I was on my way to her house.