RaeAnne Thayne - A Merger...or Marriage?

“Is Ethan’s mother in the picture at all?”

He wasn’t sure he could honestly say Lynne had ever really been in the picture. Their relationship had been a mistake from the beginning and he suspected they both would have figured that out if not for her accidental pregnancy that had precipitated their marriage.

“Is that the wrong question?” Anna asked quietly and he realized he had been silent for just a hair too long.

“No. It’s fine. The short answer is no. The long answer is a bit more…complex.”

He wasn’t about to go into the long and ugly story with Anna, about how Lynne hadn’t wanted children in the first place, how she had become pregnant during their last year of law school together, that she probably would have had an abortion if she hadn’t been raised strict Catholic.

Instead, he had talked her into marrying him.

Though she had tried hard for the first few months after Ethan was born, Lynne had been a terrible mother—impatient, easily frustrated, not at all nurturing to an infant who needed so much more.

It had been better all the way around when she accepted a job overseas.

“I’m sorry,” Anna said again. “I didn’t mean to dredge up something painful.”

“It’s not. Not really.”

She didn’t look as if she believed him, but by then they had reached the shaved ice stand. Ethan was waiting for them, jumping around in circles with the same enthusiasm as Anna’s little dog as he waited impatiently for them to arrive.

“I want Tiger’s Blood, just like I always have,” Ethan declared.

Richard shook his head. His son rarely had anything else but the tropical fruit flavor. “You need to try a different kind once in awhile, kiddo.”

“I like Tiger’s Blood,” he insisted.

“Same here,” Anna agreed. “You know what’s weird? It’s Lilli’s favorite flavor, too. I think it’s the whole dog-cat thing. Makes her feel like a big, bad tough guy.”

Though Ethan looked puzzled, Richard felt a laugh bubble out as he looked at her tiny dog prancing around at the end of her leash.

His gaze met Anna’s and for just an instant, he felt like he was back in high school, making stupid jokes and watching movies together and wondering if he would ever find the courage to tell the prettiest girl in school he was crazy about her.

They weren’t in high school anymore, he reminded himself sternly. She might still be the prettiest girl he had ever seen but he certainly wasn’t crazy about her anymore. The years between them had taken care of that, and he wasn’t about to change the status quo.

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