One breath at a time, Zach regained control. His kids did not need to live with the memory of a scene. Rein it in and start the damage control. He wouldn't think about the past. And he definitely couldn't think about the woman standing beside him looking so hot she threatened to distract him from the mess in the making waiting on his couch.
Resolutely, he shut down everything inside him as fast as those engines on the runway.
"Hello, Pam."
Shelby glared at her mother sitting on the sofa gushing all over Ivy about their sleepover plans. Couldn't the woman give it a rest? She hadn't shut up since the Colonel had come home fifteen minutes ago.
Hopping on the floor, Shelby snapped for Aggie to join her. Julia and her father stood all stiff and uptight by the patio door, her father holding Patrick. His smile earlier when he'd come home had lasted all of four seconds, right up until he'd seen the witch sitting on the sofa. He'd gone totally tense, even worse than the time she'd cut school to go to the beach.
Her dad scowled. Julia picked at one of her curls.
One big happy extended family.
Not.
Her dad was pissed. Sure, he didn't say anything, just held Patrick and stayed silent while Julia hovered beside him looking so pretty. Shelby had hoped maybe her dad would notice.
But Germany, France, Italy had shown up.
Shelby wanted to scream. Throw things. Pierce a path up her body that would make everybody stand at attention and notice. / exist. What you do hurts me. Why couldn't you stay gone?
Why didn't you come back sooner?
"Shellie, sugar." Her mother leaned forward. "Are you sure you don't want to come along with Ivy for the night? Edward and I would love to have both of you stay."
Fat chance, Denmark.
Shelby looped an arm over Aggie and tucked closer to her dog's furry body. "I promised I would watch Patrick."
Julia released the curl to spring against her head. "I can find someone else or not go. You don't need to miss out on my account."
"No, I want to watch Patrick," Shelby said through gritted teeth, pleading with her eyes, Please don't make me go. She even included her dad in the look, not that the iceman commander seemed to notice. What a nimrod.
Begging didn't come easy, but this was extreme. She was not spending the weekend with Sweden and Eddie.
Julia cocked her head to the side, then gave Shelby a tiny nod of understanding. "Okay, hon, thanks." She turned to the other woman. "Shelby does have a band competition in the morning. It's probably simpler if she stays here."
Thank you, Julia. "Yeah, it's not like we can just drop everything because you decided to stop by. But then, if you stick around for, like, longer than a week this time, maybe I can fit you in.''
The room echoed with the ticking clock and Aggie panting. Shelby clamped her mouth shut. Why had she said that? She absolutely did not want to give that woman the satisfaction of knowing she'd hurt her kids.
Her mother pulled a smile, making nice like always. "Okay, Shellie, later then. I'll just enjoy some special time with my baby girl tonight. How about a hug before I go?'
Her mother reached. Shelby ducked away, pretending to tighten Aggie's flea collar, but she could still smell her mother's perfume, just like when her mom used to read her bedtime stories. Shelby stuffed away those thoughts that didn't mean a thing since her mother had left.
Her mother's smile tightened, and she patted Shelby's cheek instead. "I'll call you and we can schedule something. Maybe a trip to the mall."
"Sure. Whatever." Not in this lifetime. No way could that woman stroll back in with her chocolate and mall bribes. Geez, she couldn't buy them off with candy like some child.
Like Ivy.
Sucker.
Poor kid.
Ivy was gonna get her feelings stomped again. But not me. Not this time.
Shelby picked rug fuzz and listened to her mother's shoes click out the door.