Chapter Twenty-Three
Back at the table, Reed shook his head in disbelief. “Dude, you are so fucked. You’ll be surfing the sofa for months. Don’t you know when to shut the hell up?”
Apparently not. Seth had trouble hiding his laughter when the story of why Dare and his wife were barely speaking to one another came out. Dare had a righteous anger going that was completely misplaced and the poor bastard was going to have to apologize. Probably more than once.
Dare pointed to his chest. “She was yelling at me. She was the one who lost her temper. I was just standing there. It was totally unprovoked.”
Seth knew better. There was nothing his friend Dare liked more than a good argument where he had an excuse to scowl and be grouchy.
“And you were just standing there like a choir boy,” Seth taunted. “Totally angelic and pure as the driven snow. Fuck no, you complained about sex and anytime in the first year of a baby’s life you simply cannot do that. Unless you were looking for a fight. Then that’s different.”
Dare gave him an exasperated look. “But it’s true. We are having less sex, and she doesn’t cook as much. I’m not lying.”
Reed rolled his eyes. “Even I know that it doesn’t matter whether it’s true. That’s not the point.”
“How is it not the point?” Dare asked. “I said the truth and then she came back at me with a bunch of complaints. I do help around the house.”
Seth had vague memories of what he used to consider “helping” and how having two children had changed his perspective. “Okay, when was the last time you did a load of laundry?”
“Two weeks ago,” Dare said with a smug smile. “See? I’ve helped.”
Two weeks ago? Dare was delusional. With a new baby, there was laundry to be done almost every day.
Reed’s brow quirked up. “Did you do the load all the way through to the folding or did you just throw it in the washer with some soap and let Rayne take care of it from there?”
Dare’s smiled faltered. “I can’t fold clothes very well, especially those tiny baby pajamas with the feet in them.”
“Then you better learn,” Seth replied firmly. “Because ignorance of a skill is no excuse and I’m sure you managed to fold your own clothes before you got married. How about diapers? Do you change diapers?”
“Of course I do. I changed one tonight while Rayne put on her makeup.”
That was something.
“In the middle of the night when Cherish is crying do you get out of bed at least half of the time?”
“Rayne is breastfeeding.”
Poor dumb bastard. No wonder Rayne was pissed. But it made sense in a way. If Dare’s sister Sophie were still living with them this wouldn’t have happened but she was in college now, so he didn’t have anyone to straighten his ass out.
“You could get up and go get Cherish,” Seth suggested. “Bring her into Rayne. Maybe go get her some water or a snack if she’s hungry. You know, just be part of it and supportive.”
“Why?”
Reed cuffed Dare on the head. “You’re as stupid as a bag of hammers. Because it would make her feel more appreciated.”
Dare growled and bared his teeth but no one paid him any mind. “Then both of us get a lousy night’s sleep. How is that helpful?”
Seth realized he was going to have to draw Dare a map. “You need to listen to me very carefully. Rayne needs your help. She’s exhausted trying to take care of everything and frankly, your sexual needs aren’t even on the list. If you want to have more sex then step the fuck up and give her a hand. That woman needs some uninterrupted sleep. Have Rayne freeze some milk so you can give it to Cherish in a bottle from time to time, especially at night. Do the damn laundry. Fix dinner even if it’s only a frozen pizza or bring home takeout. Stop acting like a child and be a grownup. You’re the parent now and I will tell you that you two need to work together and help each other out. God help you if you don’t because you don’t want to turn on each other when the kid becomes a toddler. That’s going to make this time in your life look easy.”
From the expression on Dare’s face this was news he hadn’t known.
“I do want to help her out but nothing I do is ever good enough so I stopped offering.” Dare’s shoulder’s sagged in defeat. “When Cherish first came home I offered to give her a bottle but Rayne said no bottles. Then I offered to take her for a walk around the block in her stroller, Rayne said it was too cold. Then it was too hot. Or Cherish shouldn’t be around people because they had germs. Or I wasn’t holding her right and was going to drop her. I wasn’t going to drop my daughter. Nothing I do is right and she knows more about babies than I do. I figured I’d better do what she said.”
“What she says and what she feels is too different things. Presley felt the same urge to be supermom. Sometimes you have to wrest the baby out of their arms and send them to bed to get some sleep. You’re the dad and you get to make decisions too. As long as you’re not feeding your daughter lead paint and giving her poisonous snakes as pets it should be okay. Ben and Lulu love it when I take them out and it gives Presley some peace and quiet.”
Reed rubbed the back of his neck. “Just whatever you do, don’t complain about the lack of sex. Just don’t. Not even if you have flowers in one hand and a gourmet meal cooked in the other.”
Seth chuckled as he remembered the early days of parenthood. “The idea of what is romantic changes a little bit. At least it did for me and Presley. She didn’t want me to come home with champagne and chocolates. She didn’t care about going out for fancy dinners or expensive jewelry. It was the little things that became romantic. Shoulder and foot rubs when she was pregnant and achy. Changing the poop-filled diaper instead of pretending you didn’t smell it. And don’t say that you haven’t done that because we all have. Just find ways to help her. Clean the litter box for that crazy cat that looks like Kirk Douglas. What’s his name…Spartacus? And don’t forget to tell her she’s beautiful. When was the last time you did that?”
“Tonight,” Dare replied with a huff of impatience. “When I told her I wanted to have sex that means she’s gorgeous.”
Reed shook his head in amazement. “I have no idea how you ever managed to get a woman to fall in love with you. None.”
“You know I love Rayne more than anything,” Dare said, his voice soft. “She and Cherish are everything to me but I’m not always the most…communicative person.”
Both Seth and Reed laughed at the understatement.
“You don’t say,” Seth drawled. “Hard to believe.”
“I just don’t understand how we got so off track,” Dare said. “Everything was great and then suddenly it wasn’t.”
Seth nodded. “Babies will do that. But you and Rayne can fix this. Just apologize.”
Dare didn’t have a chance to say whether he was going to or not as the three women returned from their own meeting in the ladies’ room. Rayne’s eyes looked slightly red and puffy but she was wearing a smile that hadn’t been there twenty minutes ago. That was a good sign.
An even better sign was the way Rayne and Dare were looking at each other. Dare was a grouchy, scowling son of a bitch who hated just about everything and everyone. But his wife and child. He was looking at Rayne like she was the most perfect person on earth.
The way Seth looked at Presley.
Rayne’s hand inched out and grabbed her husband’s. “I’m so–”
“No,” Dare said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, angel. Really sorry.”
“I’m sorry too, my big grouchy bear. I’m just so tired these days.”
They were so going to bust Dare’s balls about the “big grouchy bear” nickname. But not tonight.
There was more nuzzling and kisses, plus promises from Dare that he was going to be more help from now on which Seth believed. Dare and Rayne were going to work this out.
The vibrations from his jacket pocket pulled his attention from his friends and onto his phone.
Evan.
“How’s sunny Florida? We had a nice cool day here.”
“It’s hotter than hell but I’m not calling to complain. There’s been a development I thought you might be interested in.”
Seth placed his hand over his other ear, blocking out the noise from the restaurant, so he could give Evan his full attention. “I’m listening.”
“Eric Harbaugh has disappeared from witness protection sometime in the early morning hours. He slipped out under the cover of darkness and so far they haven’t been able to find him. He might not be so innocent after all, my friend.”
* * * *
Presley pulled one of Seth’s old t-shirts over her head. He’d told her about Eric Harbaugh only moments ago while she was brushing her teeth and she still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel and respond.
“He ran away?” she finally asked, trying to grasp the stupidity of Eric’s action. After Seth and Evan had gone out on limb for him he’d thrown his chance at survival away.
“He did,” Seth confirmed, sliding into bed and flipping on the television. “Out of a window in the wee hours of the morning. I guess he’d rather take his chances on his own, which is dumb as hell but it’s a free country. People can be as stupid as they want to be. And often do.”
“Now Evan thinks that Eric might not be naive and innocent after all?”
“It’s a suspicious move.” Seth shrugged and clicked through the channels, landing on a news network. “I think he’s probably more scared than anything and he bolted. Maybe he didn’t think witness protection would work. Only he knows and he didn’t leave a note filled with his thoughts.”
Hopping into bed next to her husband, she settled down and picked up the remote. The news was depressing.
“Maybe he finally figured out where the money is.”
From Presley’s perspective that was the only explanation that made any sense, but it made her wonder how he might have done it.
“He’s still going to get his ass killed,” Seth scoffed. “Does he honestly think that he’s going to give the bad guys the cash and they’re going to let him walk away and back to his life? That’s a fantasy. These guys don’t leave witnesses.”
“Could we–”
“No,” Seth interrupted. “We tried to help him and he blew us off. I’m done with Eric Harbaugh.”
Presley found a movie on television she hadn’t seen in a long time, and she was far too keyed up to sleep. “I hope he really has found the money. For his own safety, of course, not because I don’t want you to find it and give it back.”
Seth frowned at her movie choice but didn’t say anything, apparently deciding it wasn’t worth the debate. “If he has a lick of sense – which I haven’t seen evidence of – he’ll use the money and completely disappear. Leave the country and change his name. Start a whole new, very low profile life in Portugal.”
“Why Portugal?”
“Do you know anyone who travels to Portugal? But it’s really beautiful there. I saw it on the Travel Channel.”
“Airplanes travel to Portugal every day,” Presley said as patiently as possible. “I’m sure lots of people travel there.”
“I bet no one Eric Harbaugh knows has been there.”
Sometimes marriage was strange as hell and right now was one of those moments. She was sure she hadn’t had conversations like this with anyone else on the planet.
“You might have a point.” She snuggled up to Seth, resting her head on his shoulder. “But there’s just one flaw in your plan for Eric to find the money and fly off to a foreign country so he can live happily ever after.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re looking for the money too, and I’d bet on you every day of the week to find it first.”
Chuckling, Seth ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re good for my ego, baby, but if Harbaugh knows where it is then he’s got a head start on me. Remember I wasn’t able to find it last time.”
“But you will this time,” she said confidently. “You’re going to talk to the girlfriends tomorrow, right? I bet they know something.”
“I hope so but it could be a complete waste of time.”
Presley traced circles on Seth’s bare chest with her fingernail. “You know…that kitchen and bathroom tile place is out that way. We could talk to the girlfriends and then stop and look at tile for the master bath. You’ve been promising to replace it and it’s on the list.”
“We?” Seth flipped her over so she was on her back, his fingers tickling her ribs. She giggled and batted at his hands ineffectually. “What’s all this about you going, too?”
“Stop it.” She slapped at his arm and kicked her legs. “Stop it, it tickles.”
“It’s supposed to.”
He did stop, but he didn’t back off, instead hovering on top of her. She lifted her leg and rubbed her thigh against his hard cock. Her husband. Always ready no matter what. They might as well. She was wide awake and sleep was far away.
“Seriously, I want to go. You never let me help with the police work because it’s official business. But this isn’t. It’s completely unofficial.”
Seth rolled his eyes before dipping his head down and nipping at her exposed shoulder where the t-shirt was askew. He was trying to distract her and doing a decent job of it. Her entire body was on red alert.
“I don’t take you because it’s dangerous.”
He began to press his body to hers but her hands came up to press back on his chest. Not yet. She had more to say.
“Are you expecting tomorrow to be dangerous?”
“If I say no and allow you to go will you shut up and let me kiss you?”
Giggling, she reached down and began to wriggle out of her t-shirt. She shouldn’t have even bothered putting it on in the first place.
“Yes.”
This is much better than the movie.