“What happened? You didn’t even call me.” Tears slipped from his mother’s eyes. “You were all alone out there and you never called me.”
“I was ashamed,” he admitted.
“And dumb as dirt because I read those case files and I’m pretty sure he got set up,” Armie offered.
Zep stopped, utterly shocked that Armie knew about his past. He thought he’d been so careful, but it turned out, he’d simply been a fool. Again. He couldn’t show his mother his frustration, but he damn straight could take it out on Armie. “Do you mind?”
“I’m sorry,” Armie said, getting to his feet. “We were sitting out here enjoying some cocoa and then you were talking and we didn’t want to interrupt you. Or we’re horrifically nosy. Delphine, don’t be upset. It was minimum security. It sucked, but he was released early for good behavior.”
Zep laughed but it wasn’t because he was amused. “Of course you’ve known all this time.”
Armie stepped onto his lawn. “You should understand that if I’d been the sheriff at the time, I would have come out there and dealt with this myself. And I definitely would have called you, Delphine. Like I said, I learned about it years later and I was curious. I followed up. Did you know that girl of yours had three other boyfriends steal from her mother?”
“Who is she?” His mom had a look of pure rage on her face now. “I want a name and an address, Armie.”
“She’s in jail. Her mother finally turned her in after the last check cleaned out one of her accounts,” Armie replied. “You don’t have to worry about revenge.”
“Is that why the dad hauled you off tonight?” Lila asked. “Was he giving you some bull about how Roxie can’t possibly have a career with an ex-con for a boyfriend?”
“He said that?” His mother had switched her outrage to the next available target. “I will have a talk with that man.”
“No, you won’t.” Zep had to put a stop to that right quick. The last thing he needed was his momma to show up at the Kings’ doorstep, trying to put the whammy on them. Of course, if she wanted to make a voodoo doll of Roxie’s dad, he might help stick the pins in. “He’s got a real good point, and I’ve made my decision.”
“It’s the wrong one.” Armie’s frown was illuminated by the moonlight. “You did something stupid. It’s not going to hold her back. It might cause her some ribbing from everyone else, but she won’t be the first cop in the world to fall for a less than perfect human being. Look who I married. Do you know how many tickets she has?”
“I’m known for my lead foot,” Lila said with a smile that quickly turned serious. “But Zep, he’s right. This is something the two of you can overcome. Did she tell you she was concerned with it?”
He hadn’t even opened up that argument because, while he’d been right, it was an argument he couldn’t win. “She didn’t mention it. She won’t. She’ll go into it not thinking about how I could hold her back. Maybe if we had more time, it would make sense. But she can’t give up her whole career for a man she’s spent exactly one week with.”
“I moved from Fort Worth to be with your father after a week,” his mother said. “He was in town negotiating for some equipment for the restaurant. I left with him when he went home, and I wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world. Nothing, Zep. Even knowing how it would end, I would go back and follow him time and time again because that man was half of my soul. I got to be whole for a while, and I know when I go, he’ll be waiting for me and I’ll be whole again. Baby, you don’t want to go through your life without the person who can make you feel that way.”
Emotion welled inside him. “I don’t know what to do. If I try to stay with her, I hurt her. If I ask her to stay with me, I hurt her. If I walk away, I hurt her, but at least she has a chance to find what she’s always wanted.”
“What if what she’s always wanted was you?”
He turned because Lila had asked the question. The nurse practitioner had joined her husband on the lawn. She always looked professional at work, but she was wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt that showed a slight rounding of her belly. She rested her hand there as she stared across the grass at him.
“That wasn’t what she said. I assure you Roxanne King didn’t spend her childhood dreaming about finding a man,” he pointed out.
A mysterious smile curved Lila’s lips up. “Neither did I, and I’m not saying she would take any man. I’m not saying she would give up her career and settle down into some perfect gender role. I never thought I would be here, and if you’d told my younger self I would find what I needed in Papillon, Louisiana, I would have laughed at you. But I found myself here. I found a me I like, a me who wants a family and who wants to raise them here. It was about more than falling for Armie. It was about finding myself. Have you asked her if she wants to stay?”