Redwood Bend

Have a nice day.” And he stepped past her into the office building. But his heart squeezed. That was his mother, and she was still not above using him. No wonder he was so fucked up.
When he stepped into Jay’s office, Sean Adams was already there and rose to shake his hand. The first thing Dylan said to Jay was, “Your office is now off-limits. Cherise Fontaine met me at the front door, looking for work in a movie I haven’t even agreed to do. I think we’d better move this meeting to a more secure location or you might have every one of my extended family in the lobby. You have a leak.”
“Well, shit,” Jay said. “Come with me.”
“I hope there’s a back door,” Dylan said.
Katie had been cautious about how much time Dylan spent around her cabin while the boys were home so they didn’t start to think of him as a member of the family. If he was around for dinner or the evening, she shuffled him out the door by the time she was getting the boys ready for bed. But it didn’t take Andy and Mitch any time at all to notice Dylan was missing. They asked if he was coming over five minutes after they got home from summer program on Friday afternoon. Katie had talked to herself all day long about sucking it up; she did not want her boys to grieve his departure. “Well, funny you should ask,” she said with fake nonchalance. “Dylan had to leave town—he has to work.”
“When is he coming back?” Mitch asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I’ll be sure to ask him that if he calls. But, honey, if he’s out of town working, he’s very busy.”
“I don’t want to miss him,” Andy said. “When is he calling us?”
Oh, God, that shot her through the heart. He was not likely to call. All part of goodbye was admitting their relationship, such as it was, was over. He had to go where work led him and she had to get on with her life. That was a roundabout way of saying they’d go for the clean break.
But what she said was, “I’m not sure, sweetheart. But if he does, I promise to ask him if he’s coming back to visit.”
That brief exchange had prompted her to reach out to her brother. “I need a little backup,” she said. “If you have a little time this weekend, could you spend some with the boys? Anything that comes to mind.”
“Sure,” he said. “You and Dylan have some plans?”
“Well, that’s the thing—Dylan had to go to L.A. to work. Of course I knew this was going to happen soon. L.A. or Montana. The man has to earn a living.”
“Are the kids upset about that?”
“No, I wouldn’t say so, but they did have fun with him when he was here and they asked about him. I think it might be best to distract them. Do you mind?”
Conner, oblivious to what might be under the surface of Katie’s request, simply answered, “Be glad to. I love hanging with the guys. Think they’d like to go fishing?”
Katie let go a sigh of gratitude. “Sunday?”
“Sunday it is. You want to go?”
“I think I’d like to spend a little time with Les. Thank you for her, by the way.”
Conner chuckled. “My pleasure, but I didn’t exactly get her for you.”
Just what the doctor ordered, Katie thought. The boys were distracted by fishing with Uncle Conner and Katie had some girl time with Leslie. When Leslie suggested the front porch, Katie asked for the back porch, away from the curious eyes of neighbors who might pass by.
“Have you heard from Dylan?” Leslie asked right away.
Katie shook her head. “I’m sure that’s my doing. I suggested he had to do his thing and I should get on with my life. Les, I don’t fit into his life and he doesn’t really fit into mine.”
“Are you sure about that?” Leslie asked.
“From the first second I saw him, I knew we came from opposite worlds. He might be living in Montana and running a small airport, but he’s a movie star. All he had to do was pick up the phone and bam! Hollywood wants him back.”
Leslie was shaking her head. “He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy…”
“But he is, that’s the fact. He’s never going to be a regular guy who does ordinary work—he’s always going to be that guy that everyone wants, the guy with one foot out the door. And surrounded by a lot of irresistible women, I’m sure.”
Leslie straightened and leaned toward Katie. “Your feelings are hurt,” she said. “I don’t blame you, but I think you’re dreaming up roadblocks instead of bridges.”
“He told me he didn’t know when he’d see me