Night Shift 2(12)

“We need to talk,” he said, coming to a stop directly in front of her. She glanced up, clearly surprised to see him. Yep, she still had remnants of last night’s makeup, a sure sign she’d stayed out a little later than planned.

“Great job on the arrest. Made this morning perfect,” she quipped, ignoring his comment as she lowered her head and continued working. “You look like hell.”

“I know about Christian and I’m not mad. We need to talk,” he said quietly, but sternly. He only dropped that little bomb to express the urgency he had in trying to make this right between them again. Her panicked gaze darted up to his. The normal disgusted glare she used with him, the one she tossed his way every time they had any sort of interaction, faded away, replaced now with an uncertainty.

“Hold on.” Teri stopped her task mid-motion and asked the woman next to her to cover her tables. Teri never looked back at him as she moved around the corner. Dylan followed her through the kitchen and out the back door. The minute they were in the alley behind the restaurant, she spun around.

She pointed her finger in his face, taking a defensive stance. “You give me nothing, Dylan. I’m alone all the time. You refuse to have sex with me unless you’re trashed. What did you expect me to do, remain celibate? Of course I found someone else.”

He placed both his hands on her upper arms when it looked like she was going to continue scolding him.

“Listen to me.” Either his actions or his words startled her, but she stopped and let out a breath. “We need to talk. I mean seriously talk. When do you get off?” The look she gave him lasted several long seconds, shifting from cautious to curious.

“I work a double today. I’ll be cut first,” she finally answered. He watched her expression change, almost as if she were truly seeing him for the first time in a very long time. Teri stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. Tears began to well in her eyes. The folded arms most definitely meant she was holding herself together.

Good. She knew they had come to a turning point.

Dylan nodded once and stepped back a single step to give Teri room to breathe. In college, she had become his best friend, his lifeline. He’d abused that friendship, and he needed to make this right by her.

“Okay, I’m going to pick up the kids, and we’ll be at home. When they go to bed, we have some decisions to make.”

Her shoulders slumped slightly, her defensive tone faded as she said, “They’re what I’m most concerned about. We have to do better. They deserve more from us.”

“Agreed,” Dylan nodded once. The door opened behind them, and he looked back to see the manager sticking his head out, looking around until his gaze landed on the two of them.

“Everything all right out here?”

Dylan hated he’d appeared so irrational that the restaurant management needed to come check on Teri; though, his day-old, rumpled clothing probably didn’t help in the staff’s assessment.

“We’re good.” He lifted both hands, trying to defuse the concern he saw reflected back at him from the manager and turned to Teri who had taken another step away. “Come straight home, please.”

With that settled, he left the back alley, heading the few miles to his parents’ house to pick up his children.



It certainly wasn’t a love for cleaning that had Dylan scrubbing the small house from top to bottom, sterilizing everything from the kitchen all the way to the one bathroom they all shared in the back of the house. He’d picked up and organized the kids’ toys, done all the laundry, and cooked a healthy dinner. He’d become a determined man, focused and resolved and on a new path.

With one or two solid pushes against the mop handle, Dylan stopped and looked around the kitchen. Funny, the tile floor was actually white. Who knew? He needed to help more around the house, pay better attention. Teri couldn’t do it all.

In all his haste, he’d accidentally mopped himself into a corner. He didn’t dare walk across the wet floor to place the mop back in the closet. Instead, he leaned it against the wall and swung around, looking over the open space that encompassed their kitchen, living room, and eating area. It wasn’t much, but the place was now completely clean.

Dylan lifted his wrist to look down at his watch. Ten fifteen. Teri should be on her way home from her double shift by now. He tiptoed out of the kitchen until he could walk on the freshly vacuumed carpet as he went for the desktop computer his parents had gotten them for Christmas and logged into the internet. Seconds felt like hours as he waited for AOL to load and his email to open.

He had mail.

One email. The one he’d been waiting for. His heart soared at the possibility, even though this message could easily say he’d abused his opportunities and they were no longer available to him. With his heart in his throat, Dylan clicked the message. Seconds later, after only reading the first sentence, he beamed at the screen. He hadn’t waited too long. His college professor and sometimes mentor had connections to put him in touch with a senior executive at Texas Instruments. They’d tried recruiting him for a while, even before he’d graduated from high school. He’d never settled down long enough to take any of it too seriously, but now, all of that was going to change. This was nothing more than a baby step, but his chest swelled with pride. His father would be pleased. Dylan was determined to do whatever it took to make a better life for his family and, by extension, for himself.

The front door opened. He swiveled in the desk chair, bringing his finger to his lips as he stared at Teri, speaking before she had a chance. “Shh, they’re all asleep.”

He could tell that little bit of information surprised her. She nodded and turned to carefully shut the door behind her. Chloe, their oldest, and Chad, their middle child, shared a bedroom. Cate, their youngest, was asleep in a crib inside the bedroom he and Teri shared. Though, most nights, Dylan passed out on the sofa, purposely avoiding their bedroom.

“You cleaned?” she asked quietly, walking to the small kitchen table, dropping her purse and coat on top of the well-worn wood. He could tell she was trying to figure out what was going on, but she couldn’t fully process the transformation right before her eyes. He regretted he’d let things get so far out of hand that she couldn’t believe he’d do something as simple as clean their apartment.

“Are you going out?” Teri asked cautiously as she looked him over. He’d also showered and actually shaved. Something he apparently didn’t do that often judging by the look in Teri’s eyes.

“Nah, I’m done with all that. We need to talk.”

“Look, Dylan, I don’t wanna hear about—”

He held up his hand, stopping her before her impending rant built steam. Whatever she had to say needed to wait, because it was guaranteed to change once she heard him out. The miserable lecture from his father this morning, then the time to think during the AA meeting had helped open his eyes to what his life had become and what he was doing to the people he loved more than himself. He’d firmed his convictions in that moment of blinding clarity and settled them around him like a shield on a battle-ready warrior. Until Teri heard him out, she wouldn’t understand that this discussion wouldn’t be like any they’d had before…no more false promises of changing. Not this time. This time she deserved—they all deserved—the whole truth. But having his wife standing in front of him right now, staring at him with questions in her eyes, allowed uncertainty to filter in again; the same uncertainty that had him reaching for a drink night after night. Despite his earlier resolve, Dylan’s fear crept back in as he started to reveal his long-harbored secret to his wife and best friend.

Taking a deep breath, he forced his spine up. He just had to say it. Getting to his feet, he walked toward her.

“Teri, sit down.” He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs—the one that wasn’t broken—turned it toward the living room, and offered it to her. “Please, just sit down. Hear me out first, then I’ll listen to whatever you want to say.”

Her eyes narrowed. She always seemed to have a reasonable argument ready at any given moment, but she kept quiet as she looked him up and down again. After a full minute, Teri finally took the seat.

Dylan sat on the coffee table directly in front of her, dropped his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together. The speech he’d rehearsed all day conveniently fled his mind as she stared blankly at him. Her one slightly arched eyebrow said more to him than anything that could come out of her mouth. His wife was something else, a force all her own to be reckoned with. She always had been. Teri watched him so intently, intimidating the hell out of him. Dylan stood. For some unexplainable reason, he felt more comfortable on his feet. He stuck his hands in his pockets and started to pace back and forth in front of her. His words wouldn’t come.

“Just say it, Dylan.”

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t look her in the eyes. He wasn’t sure now if he could even get the words out.

The truth will set you free. Wasn’t that the saying? Who the hell came up with that load of shit? No doubt someone who hadn’t been lying to everyone his entire life. Nervous didn’t cover half his emotions. He felt physically ill at the thought of what he was about to reveal.