“Oh. Sorry.” Then she whapped him on the arm. “Saggy old man skin, my behind. I hope Cord’s in as good shape as you are when he’s your age—if I don’t skin him alive first.” She sighed heavily. “Anyway, where was I? Right. Cord passing the buck. I was like…what? You think you handle all the discipline? Bullshit. Who had to deal with Vaughn biting other kids at daycare? Who had to go to the school when Beau stapled Julia Ragland’s dress to the bulletin board while she was still in it? Who had to attend a parent-teacher conference about why Foster’s grades have slipped since he got that damn guitar? Me! All in the last two months of school when my husband was busy doin’ ranch stuff.”
Carson wondered if he was supposed to offer advice or if this was one of those listen with your mouth shut conversations.
AJ’s hands stilled. “I just dumped my problems on you without even thinking.”
“Which is fine, because other people’s worries allow me to forget my own for a little while.”
“Did you and Carolyn have this problem? Where one person has a different vision of what’s goin’ on than the other?”
“It was better and worse at different times as the kids were growin’ up. Sounds like Cord is hardest on Ky, whereas I came down hardest on Colt. And look how that ended up. Colt hated me for a while and I didn’t even know it. He was drinkin’ and partyin’ and sleepin’ around to the point he wound up in rehab. I won’t say the similarities are there between Cord and Ky, but I ain’t gonna say it’s not a possibility given the stubborn streak Cord has. I will say that even if Carolyn and I disagreed in private about discipline, we never let it affect our united front.”
“So far we’ve been able to manage that.”
“Then you’re already ahead of the curve. What worked best for us was takin’ the discussion outta the house. We went out to dinner where we knew we couldn’t yell at each other.”
She laughed. “I’ll try that.” She dropped her arms around his neck and squeezed. “Thanks for listening to me blather.”
“Thank you for the massage.”
“We all hate this.”
“I know.”
“Since no one is home at your place, I’ve been fielding phone calls from your friends. I guess as your oldest son’s wife I’m supposed to be in the know. Got people who want to bring over casseroles and such.”
“Tell them that their offers of food will come in handy when Carolyn is home recovering.”
“I will.” AJ moved to stand in front of him. “Carson, is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Yeah, there is. I watered the garden and the flowers on the porch when I went home…yesterday? Time is a blur in here. So if you have a spare moment or even if Ky’s got time to do it I’d appreciate it. Carolyn wouldn’t be happy if everything turned dead and brown on my watch.”
“Since you’ve been right here by her side I think she’d probably cut you some slack. But I’ll send Ky over to check.”
“Thanks.”
“Take care. I could say this a hundred times and ninety-nine times you wouldn’t take me up on it, but if you need anything, call.”
As soon as she disappeared around the corner, he wandered to the window, his hands in his pockets.
It’d be another fifteen minutes before he could pay Carolyn his hourly visit. He watched the comings and goings of the vehicles in the parking lot below. A fixer upper old Ford truck screeched into the lot. A teenaged boy hopped out of the driver’s side and held the door as a blonde girl slid out, her high heels connecting with concrete. They indulged in a passionate kiss and a quick round of grab ass. Then after the couple cleared the tailgate, another boy exited the passenger side and joined them. The guys looked enough alike that they had to be brothers. The girl turned and laid a sloppy wet kiss on the second boy, keeping the first boy’s arm looped around her waist and the other boy’s arm draped over her shoulder.