Rocky stared up at him with her lips parted.

Then she asked, “Why?”

“Why?” Layne repeated.

“Yeah, why?”

Layne took his hand from her cheek, pulled in an impatient breath and tipped his head back to look at the wall before looking down at her and explaining, “Baby, ‘cause she wasn’t you.”

Rocky stared at him. Then the fire in her eyes went out.

“Poor Melody,” she whispered and she didn’t know the half of it.

Layne knew Melody was in deep with him, he even tried to find it in her, he just couldn’t but she never pulled away, she kept trying, kept hoping one day she’d get in. She never did. He should have cut her loose ages ago but even if she wasn’t Rocky, she was the closest he’d had.

“It’s over with her,” Layne stated and Rocky’s body relaxed beneath him.

“Does she know how to make Milky Way cake?” she asked softly.

“Ma taught her but Melody is not a kitchen person. Melody is a get dressed up, wait at the bar for an hour and half for a table and then eat a fifty dollar meal person.”

“That doesn’t seem your style,” Rocky noted.

“It isn’t.”

“I like to get dressed up,” she informed him, “um… every once in awhile.”

“Baby, you wear that dress you wore the other night, I’ll take you out where you can get dressed up every fuckin’ night.”

She grinned. “That’s not even my best dress.”

Jesus.

“Seriously?” Layne asked.

“Seriously,” Rocky answered. “I have this one, it’s clingier and shorter and –”

Layne’s brows shot up. “Clingier?”

“Yeah.”

“And shorter?”

“Uh… yeah.”

He rolled to his back, his arm over his eyes, muttering, “Shit. You’re killin’ me.”

She rolled into him, put her hand on his chest and called, “Layne,” he dropped his arm and looked at her, “how am I killing you?”

“Because Rutledge stares at your tits, Gaines stares at your ass and every other man who lays eyes on you finds somethin’ to stare at. This does not exactly make me happy.”

“Baby,” she whispered. “If I wear that dress, it’s just for you.”

He looked up at her and her eyes were half-mast, her mouth soft and he liked that look so much, that look directed at him again, finally, after all these years, that he lifted his hand to her jaw and ran his thumb along her cheekbone.

She turned her face into his hand, looked at his chest and kept whispering. “I wasn’t in my head because of Cassie and Melody.” Her eyes came back to his. “It was because I fucked up and your Mom talking made me realize just how badly I did it.”

“Rocky –”

She shook her head and kept talking. “I missed those birthdays and Christmases and horseback rides. I tried to remind myself while she was talking that if I didn’t, Jasper and Tripp wouldn’t be in that room but it didn’t make me feel much better.”

Layne rolled into her, putting his arms around her and settling them both on their sides.

“Roc, honey, I don’t know what to say.” And he didn’t because she was right, with her, there would be no Jasper and no Tripp and Layne couldn’t imagine that. Without her, he had them and he knew he was lucky, no matter how fucked up it got along the way.

“There’s nothing to say. I just need to lock myself in my head and sort it out.”

“I know how it is to fuck up and miss birthdays and Christmases with people you care about, baby. And I fucked up bigger than you because I didn’t miss just one person’s, but three.”

“Layne –”

“Don’t go into your head, let me in and maybe I can help you out. Yeah?”

She stared into his eyes for a beat that led into three and then she whispered, “Yeah.”

Layne smiled at her and leaned in to touch his mouth to hers but her head suddenly moved back and he stopped.

“Just that…” she hesitated, “can I ask that that’s the last we talk about the Cassies and Melodys in the life and times of Tanner Layne?”

He was still smiling when he rolled her onto her back, slanted his head and, with his lips on hers, he muttered, “Yeah, baby.”

Then he kissed her and Rocky kissed him back.

* * *

“Is Roc okay, Dad?” Jasper called out when Layne was walking down the stairs, leaving Rocky in his bed because she wanted a minute to “get presentable” which he figured meant she needed a minute to shore her defenses before she faced Vera again.

Not to mention she needed a minute to right her clothes considering Layne not only made out with her, he felt her up.

Layne hadn’t even made it to the middle of the stairs before Jas asked his question and by the time he hit the bottom, Vera and Tripp’s eyes were on him.

“She’s good, Bud,” Layne answered.

“She got quiet,” Tripp noted as Layne walked to the couch.

“She gets that way when her feelings get hurt,” Layne replied and Jas and Tripp both looked at Vera.

Vera looked at the television.

“What hurt her feelings?” Jasper asked after Layne had stretched out on his back on the couch, head to the armrest, and his eyes went to his boy.

As usual, Layne gave it to him straight. “She lost her Mom when she was fourteen so pretty much every memory for her is fucked. The birthdays and Christmases before her Mom died have bitter mixed in with sweet ‘cause she had birthdays and Christmases after her Mom died that weren’t so good because her Mom wasn’t there and she remembered them bein’ better when she was. So, talkin’ about that shit today made her realize she missed your old man during those times while we were apart and she got upset about it. ‘Cause of what happened with her Mom, she doesn’t deal with getting upset like other people do. She gets quiet first then she shuts down.”

Jasper’s eyes went back to his grandmother but Tripp asked, “But she’s good now?”

“She’s good, Tripp.”

Tripp nodded then muttered, “I got homework,” and he got to his feet and went to the stairs, avoiding looking at his grandmother.

“You got homework, Jas?” Layne asked.

“Yeah,” Jasper answered.

“It done?” Layne asked.

“No,” Jasper answered.

“Boy…” Layne said low and Jasper looked at his grandmother then to Layne.

“I was wondering if Rocky could help me. It’s English Comp. We’re diagramming sentences and it’s stupid. I try to get it but it just doesn’t make sense to me. My teacher is a dork and when I asked her after class if she’d give me some time, she made me feel like a dork because I didn’t get it.”

“Who’s your teacher?” Layne asked.

“Mrs. Reiger.”

Layne didn’t know Mrs. Reiger. What Layne did know was that diagramming sentences was stupid and the only person in that house who probably wouldn’t agree was Rocky.

“Roc!” he shouted.

There was a beat of silence then the, “What?” of Rocky shouting back.

“Jas needs your help with his homework!” Layne yelled.

There was another beat of silence and Layne and Jasper stared at each other as this became prolonged. Then Layne heard quiet footfalls on the stairs.

“What are you studying, Jas?” He heard Rocky ask from the stairs.

Layne grinned at his boy and Jasper’s lips twitched but he said to Rocky, “Diagramming sentences.”

“Get your books, honey, we’ll work at the island,” Rocky invited.

Jasper moved and Layne looked at the television set wondering if Jasper actually needed help diagramming sentences or if he’d just played his grandmother and Rocky.

Probably both.

“You shouldn’t say the f-word in front of the boys,” Vera murmured and Layne twisted his neck to look at his mother.

She caught his eye and tried to hold it but eventually looked back to the TV.

“Ma,” he called when she did and her gaze slid hesitantly back to his. “Don’t pull that shit again,” he whispered.

She pressed her lips together and glared at him for about a second before he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes and she looked back to the TV.

Layne sighed.

The front door opened and Blondie, who’d been flat out on her side napping in front of the television, shot up to her feet, barked and galloped to the door.

“Damn mutt,” Devin grumbled.

“She’s pure bred, Dev,” Jasper informed him.

“She’s still a mutt,” Devin returned. “Please God, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, tell me you have whisky.” Layne heard Devin call.

Layne didn’t bother lifting his head from the armrest when he replied, “What do you think?”

“Cupboard over the coffeemaker,” Jas answered.

“Thank fuck,” Devin muttered and Vera’s eyes shot to him, she had the tears under control and her eyebrows flew up.

Layne ignored his mother, leaned forward, nabbed the remote from the coffee table and found another football game.

* * *

Layne walked into a mostly dark house. He dropped his keys onto the kitchen counter and saw Dev’s head turn to look at him over the couch. He was watching TV which was, with light coming from upstairs, the only light in the room.

“Get anything?” Dev asked.

Layne had explained to Dev about TJ Gaines and his teenaged harem. He’d also gone to the church to see if he could tag Gaines and follow him home after evening service.

Gaines didn’t attend evening service.

“Nope,” Layne answered walking into the house. “Everything in his personnel file is bogus. I’m workin’ cold on this. Until I tag his vehicle and follow him home, I’m operating blind.”

Dev nodded.

“Jas and Tripp are gonna ask questions tomorrow at school. See if they can get a make and model and an address,” Layne went on.