Reckoning (Book 5, the Redemption Series)

Chapter 2

In the kitchen, Mary found Hunter at the table hunched over a bowl of sugary cereal. She ruffled his hair, and he groaned loudly. Mary had forgotten Hunter was at the age where he spent time fixing his hair and didn't want his mom messing it up. It was so hard. She still wanted him to be her little man. At least things had returned to normal after the bullying incident of last year. Hunter was excelling at school, had plenty of friends, and was looking forward to baseball season.

"Can you not do that?" Hunter groused as he smoothed his wild locks back into place.

She retrieved her travel coffee mug from the dishwasher. "Sorry, honey. It's just that you're so darn cute. I can't help myself."

"Mom!"

Lindsey came into the kitchen and rolled her eyes. "Is she doing that cute little man thing again?"

"Yes." Hunter dug his spoon back into the bowl.

"Mom, you really need to stop."

"Fine." Mary filled up her mug. "I'll try. But I can't make any promises. It's hard to contain my love for my children."

Lindsey extracted a piece of bread from the loaf on the counter and dropped it into the toaster. "About that . . . "

"About what?" Mary asked.

Crap. The kids had heard her and Jake last night. She knew it. How embarrassing? Could the ground open and swallow her whole? There would be no more sex unless the house was empty, which was almost never, so she knew she wouldn't be able to keep that promise, but she'd make a noble effort. She'd swing by Jake's office for a nooner if necessary.

"Since you have so much love for me, I have a big question to ask you."

"All right?"

"Umm . . . Tyler's parents are taking his family to Florida for spring break. He has two younger sisters, and Tyler gets to bring a friend, but Kyle got an offer to go to Jamaica, so I was kind of wondering if I could in his place."

"Florida with Tyler? Seriously?"

Lindsey got out a knife and the jar of peanut butter. "Yes. It would be a lot of fun. I wouldn't be the only girl because of his sisters, and his parents would be there the whole time supervising, so you wouldn't have to worry about anything."

Mary knew how resourceful hormone-filled kids could be. Heck, look at her, and she was an adult. However, if Lindsey and Tyler were going to do something, they didn't need to go to Florida to do it. There were ample opportunities in the back seat of cars while they said they were at the movies. Fortunately, Lindsey was on the pill for other reasons, so Mary didn't have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy, but there were plenty of other things to worry about.

"I don't know," Mary said.

"Come on. I don't ask for much, and a lot of my friends are going on spring break without parents."

"Yeah. That would never happen."

"I knew you'd say that, which is why I want to go with Tyler's parents where you know I'll be safe."

Mary frowned. "But we already have reservations for you to go to Cancun with us."

Mary and Jake had scheduled a vacation to Mexico for the family as a consolation prize for him moving into the house. Mary didn't think the kids would object. They liked Jake, but it was a good excuse for a trip. And it wouldn't hurt to escape for a week in case Jake's new investigation had stirred up trouble. But apparently, it didn't jibe with Lindsey's plans. Mary couldn't win.

"Can't you get a refund?" Lindsey pleaded as she spread peanut butter over her toast.

"It's too late for that."

"Then maybe Emma or Hunter could take a friend in my place."

"I don't know, Lindsey."

"Please!"

Mary wanted to delay the conversation until she could construct her counterpoints. Because like any teenaged girl, Lindsey was a world-class debater who could resort to pouting, tantrums, or outright blackmail if necessary. "Can we talk about this later? I have to go to work."

"Fine. But I need an answer soon, or he'll ask someone else."

"Ok," Mary said, knowing Tyler was infatuated with Lindsey and would wait for as long as it took to get a response.

Lindsey crammed her half-finished piece of toast into her mouth and headed upstairs. "I need to finish getting ready."

The peanut butter and knife were left on the counter in her haste to leave the room. Mary put the lid back on the peanut butter and returned it to the cupboard while she dropped the knife in the sink. "How about you, Hunter? Are you excited for Cancun?"

He mumbled a response through a mouthful of cereal.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm excited, but I really need to get some new baseball cleats before we leave. Practice starts right when we get back. Maybe a new bat too."

"I think we can do that."

"Awesome. When?"

The kids knew her well enough to stick her with a time. Mary was a world-class procrastinator. She mentally ran through her schedule and quickly realized there would be several late nights as she got things squared away for their trip. "What if Uncle Jake took you? He's probably smarter than me about that kind of stuff anyway."

Hunter shrugged and took his empty bowl to the sink. "That will work."

"Great. I know he's busy tonight, but I'll see if he's free tomorrow."

Emma entered the room with her backpack slung over her shoulder. "Where is Uncle Jake taking Hunter?"

Hunter smiled at his sister. "He's taking me to buy new gear for baseball."

"Do you think he could take me to the store too?"

Mary snapped on the lid to her travel mug and searched her purse for her car keys. "What do you need?"

"A new bathing suit for our vacation. Last year's is too small. I don't think you want everyone seeing my butt."

"No. I don't. But do you really want to put Uncle Jake through that?"

The two pieces that Emma had been eyeing on their last trip to the store probably wouldn't hide much more than last year's, but she got it. Mary had ordered two new ones off the internet for herself last week. Who wanted to wear a ratty old suit in an exciting new place?

"I'm sure he took Sam shopping for clothes."

"I'm sure he did," Mary agreed.

"Well, then he should take his other daughter too."

Mary's heart stopped. "Excuse me?"