Josh was up to his eyeballs in contract language when his father appeared. "Is this what you look like?"

"Ha, ha." It wasn't funny the first time, never mind the trillionth.

"Your mother is wondering when you'll come to visit."

"When am I invited?"

"Tonight?" Steve smiled.

Josh looked into matching hazel eyes. "Were you questioning me or yourself?"

He waved him off. "I told you your mother misses you."

Josh squinted at his father with a frown. "She said those words."

"Not exactly, but she complained about how I get to see you at work."

Josh's ironic laugh was authentic. "I haven't seen you in a week. I see Kenneth more."

"Don't start or your mother will complain that you like Alicia better."

He liked a lot of things about Alicia better, like her cooking, but he loved his mother.

"If mom wants me to come for dinner, I'll be there. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"What about your friend from Dwyer-Mitchell?"

"We have plans for tomorrow night."

"You can bring her."

Josh shook his head. "She's busy."

Josh wasn't stupid. He knew his relationship wasn't like most couples. Once Oliver and Emma started dating, they were inseparable. Even JJ mentioned Violet every chance he could. Josh hadn't decided if he was content with their casual relationship. Before Oliver found Emma, he would have been.

His father disappeared with a wave and a word to Joyce. Josh had already read the next line of legal BS. The next thing he knew, Joyce was checking if he needed anything before she left.

He packed his work up to finish over the weekend and walked home to get his car. The drive to Wellesley took longer with the rush hour traffic. He grew up in a home older than Oliver's. It was not a mansion like the Sumner's. They had completely redone the house through the years, but it still had glass doors separating the rooms, instead of a big open floor plan. The narrow backstairs scared Josh as a boy, but the small closet under the eaves was his favorite place to play.

When Josh arrived, he went to the backdoor to find it locked. Thankfully, he had a key. It figured that he beat both his parents. He should have waited and ridden home with his father. Steve lived in a modest home, but both he and Jill used the car service for their commutes. The unattached garage housed his father's convertible and an SUV for winter.

He wandered from the kitchen to the den. The house was the opposite of his modern condo. He liked both the old and the new. Looking around, he remembered the good and the bad. His parents could argue over a glass on the counter. Josh grew up waiting for them to tell him they were getting divorce. They came close once when he was twelve. He never understood what put them on the edge, but Alicia swooped in and took him to Newport for the summer. He returned with a new friend, a nickname, golf skills from a summer of lessons, and a calm home life. Oliver reaped the same benefits, except for the golf skills, and his life had always been calm.

He was about to take out his laptop and get to work when he heard a car. He reached the kitchen as his mother walked in the door. She jumped and put her hand to her heart.

"Joshy! What? What's wrong?"

Slightly moving his head from side to side, he sighed. "Nothing. Dad said you missed me and invited me to dinner."

"Oh."

"He forgot to tell you. I can go."

"No! I have missed you. We only see each other in a hotel ballroom every few weeks. You should have brought your girlfriend."

He felt like he was always defending his relationship. "Mom, we're not that serious. Her career comes first."

Jill Roche shrugged. "Nothing wrong with a hardworking professional couple."

"Maybe. I'm glad you aren't counting on being a grandmother."

Jill frowned. "Only if you are happy not being a father. You'd make a good one. Look at Oliver, if you want that, you should have it."

He shrugged. The truth was, his thoughts drifted in that direction more and more.

"I suppose you're hoping to be fed. I wish your father had given me a heads up. Let's start with a drink. I had a long week. What about you?"

She busied herself pouring wine. Josh took his glass. He thought for a moment. His ride and dinner at the McManus' on Sunday seemed like ages ago.

"Very long. I've taken up horseback riding."

She eyed him. "I remember you begging for lessons."

"You refused because your work schedule was too busy."

Jill shook her head. "Your nanny could have taken you. I once had a student with major processing disorders after falling off a horse. I couldn't risk my son..."

Her face looked tormented. "It's okay, Mom. I'll be careful. The horse is gentle."

"I parented out of fear. I knew too much. Your father disagreed. I also raised you to become an independent, smart, caring man." She looked at her phone. "Your father is picking up takeout. Good thing because the fridge is empty."

Mealtime was never a big event in his family. His father often had business lunches and his mother was a grazer. She was happy with cheese and crackers. He fell in between, but hadn't lied to Shaun about eating sandwiches for dinner.

He had resisted the urge to text Shaun about riding over the weekend, but knew he wanted to. He could be in Dover in fifteen minutes. Before he changed his mind, he took out his phone.

She responded quickly, reminding him Tansy wanted to swim. A smile spread across his face. He surprised himself with how much he liked the little girl.

His mother studied him. "Your special friend? It's nice to see you smile."

Not wanting to lie, he shrugged. "How's work? What's new?"

Jill Roche had started her career as a special education teacher. In time, she was promoted up the system until she ran the special education department for a large school department west of the city. After she received her doctorate, she worked in the Commonwealth's Department of Education to become the bureaucrat who ran the special education division.

She sighed. "We've been dealing with legislation on restraints. Whenever a video surfaces of a kid being restrained forcefully in a school, everyone panics. The trouble is, no one shows how qualified teachers use proper training to keep kids safe without putting a hand on them. A few bad apples get the attention."

"We didn't have problems like that in my school."

"Your father refused to send you to public school."

Josh had no regrets. He loved school. "I'm not complaining."

"My smart boy."

Her pride caused him to feel warm inside. He drank the full-bodied red and ate a piece of cheese his mother had set out.

"Any invitations this weekend?"

"None I care to accept. A quiet weekend will be nice. Alicia's in Newport. What about you?"

"I have a date tomorrow night and I'll ride on Sunday."

"Again? Where is the horse?"

"Did you know the McManuses?"

She thought for a moment. "Wasn't the auction woman a McManus? I don't know the family."

He impressed his mother by starting with Sarah. "Mrs. McManus is Sarah Sinclair. She's in a wheelchair and doesn't attend functions. She lost her husband recently. Their daughter was three years behind me in school. They live in Dover with a lot of land and a barn."

"And horses. Be careful. Does your friend ride too?"

"Ann? No, she's not interested."

The back door opened, and Steve appeared ladened with bags, including a brown one with handles. "Can someone help?"

Jill rolled her eyes while Josh jumped up. His mother complained about how Steve ran a business but was useless at home.

The bag felt warm and heavy as Josh took it from his father. "What is it?"

"Chinese."

Jill handed Josh three plates. He lifted the boxes out of the bag.

Josh laughed. "Did you get enough?"

Steve opened a box. "Leftovers for the weekend."

They sat at the counter in the kitchen. If they wanted a table, they had to eat in the dining room. Josh loaded his plate and grabbed a fork from a pile of utensils his mother dropped on the counter. The Roche's didn't fuss over place settings.

"Did you get chopsticks?"

"Forgot. I remembered you like the rangoons."

"Joshy, there might be some in the drawer."

The drawer was the junk drawer, catch all for everything. He walked around the counter and opened the drawer. There were cords and old batteries. He smiled at a few old Pokémon cards.

"When was the last time this was cleaned out?"

His mother shrugged. He dug a little further and pulled out his old high school ID, but gave up on his quest.

He held up the ID. "Seriously?"

"You were so handsome. You still are."

Steve smiled. "Like your old man."

He watched his mother turn to her husband and smile like she agreed. The older he got, Josh worried less about his parents divorcing. They gave off a vibe that made a child think 'gross'. He suspected they made up as passionately as they fought.

"Please, I'm eating!"

Steve said, "And you're not tangling with your DM agent?"

"I just remember why I never come home. I always wanted a sibling, but you are worse than Duff and JJ, and you're my parents."

They ignored him and ate. His mother poured more wine and looked at her husband.

"Has he told you about the horse?"

Steve shook his head. He ate while his mother talked about his new pastime.

"I knew Grant McManus. He was a good man. Can't say I knew you were in school with his daughter. Did you travel in the same circles?"

He shook his head, but felt bad that Shaun didn't have a social circle back then. "I tutored her, but she was younger than me."

"She's beautiful with her red hair. She looks like Emma Stone. I just love La La Land. Your father refuses to watch it, but we never liked the same movies."

"Jill, I'm a reader and always have been. I prefer an actual book I can hold."

Steve had seen his business change over the years with the emergence of ebooks. Roche-Sumner had adapted with the times. With the help of Oliver and JJ, Josh would steer the company into the future, although neither father was close to retiring.

Shortly after dinner, Josh stood. "I have to get home."

"Josh, don't stay away. If you're spending time in Dover, you practically drive right by."

Jill stood, and he leaned over to kiss her cheek. Her scent reminded him of childhood. He turned to his father.

"Dad, I'll see you Monday."

Jill stood in the door as he walked to his car.

"Bring a date next time. I'll plan a proper meal."

Josh waved and laughed. His mother never cooked. Her meals were either catered or ordered from an upscale restaurant. Alicia teased her and Jill was happy to let her friend do the entertaining.

Before he drove away, he texted Ann.

🗨 On my way home from my parents. Should I stop by?

Her response didn't surprise him. She was in the middle of a manuscript she couldn't put down. Hopefully, R-S would publish it. He wondered if La La Land was streaming. He had never seen it.