The boys and I got to Barrett’s house about two hours ago. We ate dinner that we convinced James to make for us and are now currently sitting in the living room watching a basketball game on TV.

The girls are all over at Christine’s, and I can’t help but be a little jealous. I know she loves her time with her friends, and I would never take that away from her, but I’ve gotten used to spending time with her on the weekends.

“The boys and I asked Christine to come to the cabin with us over spring break,” I announce with little pomp and circumstance. Just put it out there.

“I’m sorry. What was that?” Barrett asks as he’s wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, just after spewing beer over the coffee table in front of him.

He reaches down and aims the remote at the TV to mute the game.

“So, you two are serious, huh?” Josh asks, eyes wide.

I shrug, not wanting to put too much stock in to the fact that Christine is coming with us to the cabin, yet… it’s a pretty big deal that she agreed to come to the cabin with us over spring break. Especially if it’s the first and last time we’ll get to bring her there.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t play dumb well,” James murmurs without looking at me as he tips his bottle of beer back and takes a long pull. He’s the picture of relaxation, complete with the fresh tan from the honeymoon he recently returned from. He has one foot up on the coffee table.

“Fine,” I concede after not putting up a fight what-so-ever. “Start asking. What do you want to know?”

“You’re giving us free rein?” Josh asks, rubbing his hands together.

“Shh! Don’t spook him. I get first question!” Barrett shouts, as if someone were challenging him. Just then, Grady walks into the living room.

“You’re starting what?” he asks his dad as he plops down on the other end of the sectional, sweaty and heaving a sigh.

“What’s wrong? Did the boys wear you out?”

When Barrett called to see if I wanted to come hang out with the guys tonight he made sure to let me know that the boys were welcome to join us. The minute we walked into the house, they immediately went to the basement to find Grady who, being the great kid he is, welcomed them both with open arms. They’ve been playing Xbox, had a Nerf war, and from the sounds of it earlier, had a little wrestling match when Grady’s friend Blake came over.

“What did you feed them today? They have so much energy!”

I chuckle. He speaks truth.

They’ve exhausted me for fourteen years now, so this isn’t news to me.

“You leave Blake down there alone?” Barrett raises his eyes wide as he leans on the back of the cushion to look around the corner.

“Eh. He can handle it. He’s hyper, too. I think he downed a Red Bull earlier. So, what are you starting?” he asks again.

“Oh, Andy’s just about to tell us all about his and Christine’s relationship.”

“Uhhh…” Grady hesitates.

“Grady?” Barrett leans forward, his voice a warning. A warning that says, “boy you been holding out on me?”

“I know nothing.”

“Starting out by saying that you know nothing when we never asked if you do only makes us more suspicious that you do know something. You know that, right?” James teases.

“Wait. Guys. This… just no. If he knows something because of Bri, then Bri trusted him with that and Christine trusted her with it. It’s not right,” I say, hoping they’ll listen.

“But they won’t know that you know,” Josh says, leaning forward in his seat.

“Oh, they’ll know that we know,” Barrett jokes.

James groans, throwing his head back. “Stop! Holy shit y’all are so damn annoying. Between the Friends shit and talking in circles… just… stop! Grady. Kiddo. Sorry, but you’re gonna have to throw Andy a bone here.”

“I invited her to come with us to the cabin. Did I push it?” I blurt out the main question and concern that’s been on my mind.

“Nah, man. You didn’t. She’s excited. Nervous, from what Bri tells me, but excited.”

I blow out a breath.

“Good. Good. That’s good. Anything else?”

“Just that she seems really happy. Bri said she’s never seen her mom as happy as she is now.”

We hear a grunt and some loud raucous laughter before Blake yells, “Grady! Get back down here! They’re too much!”

Grady chuckles before standing up to head downstairs. “I’m glad you and Christine have each other, Andy. But as someone who’s loved her like a second — or third — mom for a long time now, I gotta say… if you hurt her? I won’t be happy. I mean that. She’s a good woman, a great mom. She’s one in a million, just like her daughter, and someone who means a lot to me and my family.”

I press my lips together. A threat coming from an eighteen-year-old should be funny, but I know it’s coming from his heart. Christine is everything he said and so much more.

I hold his eyes as I nod and reach up to shake his hand.

“Got it, and you don’t need to worry.”

“Good. I’m heading down to save Blake from your little heathens.”

“Thanks for letting them hang out with you two. They really needed it. Been a bit of a rough week for them.”

“It’s no problem. They’re fun to pick on,” he says with a grin.

As soon as he’s out of the room, the men turn to me, Barrett speaking up first.

“We wanna hear it from you, Andy. What’s going on in your head? You gonna keep that promise to Grady?”

“I really like her,” I admit. “I know that sounds like I’m back in high school but… I do. I feel like there’s something bigger there. Stuff between Heather and me, it’s been over for a long time. I just didn’t want to admit it.”

“The divorce with Heather? When’s it final?”

“We meet with the lawyers the week after we get home from the cabin. Typically, it would take longer because of the kids. I’m not sure how my lawyer got it pushed through but I’m grateful. I don’t know why she’s dragging her feet.”

“Probably to piss you off.”

“It’s working.”

“She’s really giving you the boys? No fighting?”

“Oh, she’s fighting. Dirty. She’s taking the cabin. She decided to top off her year of bitchiness by taking something the boys have loved since they were babies. She told us when she picked up her stuff. It was either the cabin or the boys, and I wasn’t willing to continue to fight. I want the boys, and she knows it.”

“Can’t you just look for a different cabin?”

I glance over at James who’s now leaning on his knees, his beer bottle dangling between his fingers.

“Could. But this one’s been in my family for generations.”

He whistles. “Exes, man. They’re a real joy, yeah? There’s a reason she’s in your rearview mirror. Keep looking forward.” He tips his beer in my direction, and I return the gesture.

“Right. Heather didn’t even like it there. She’s just doing it out of spite. And I think she caught wind that I was moving on — that I was hoping to keep things going with Christine and wanted to act like a supreme bitch one more time.”

“How’d they take it?” Josh asks, motioning his head toward the basement.

“Not good. They both yelled. A lot. Which was good. They needed to get it out, and Heather heard firsthand what her actions did to them.”

After Heather left and Christine came over, it was like the calm before the storm. Over the course of the next week, the boys went from sullen to pissed off to happy then back to sullen again. It was like living with a couple of hormonal teenage girls starting their periods. It made me feel for Barrett, having Maggie in the house and for Christine having to deal with that all on her own when Bri was going through it.

That’s when the decision to go away to the cabin came to my mind.

A change of scenery had to be good for all of us.

Barrett grunts. “Good. Serves her right.”

“That’s what I figured. Called Christine after she left. She didn’t hesitate. Jumped in the car, came over. I walked in from the back yard to see the boys practically sitting on her lap, all three of them huddled together on the floor as she held them while they cried. Man…”

“And that’s when you knew,” James says, eyes boring into me.

One single nod. “And that’s when I knew.”

“All right men, I think we’ve had enough girly chats for the evening. Wanna play some poker?” Josh asks the three of us.

We all agree, and for the next few hours, I lose my ass at some Texas Hold‘em, my mind drifting to Christine, as usual. I know that as soon as I leave here, I’ll end up going to Christine’s house because I can’t go a day without seeing her.