Redwood Bend

something on TV they can watch. But behave!”
He didn’t reply to that but he didn’t feel that he was the loose cannon—behaving was his sole intention. And he knew the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
He and Katie got to Conner and Leslie’s house before they were home from work. “The door will be unlocked,” she said. “I’ll take the kids in and get them settled in front of the TV with a snack. Conner has a few of their favorite movies and games here. Would you like something to drink?”
“How would he feel about me having a beer from his refrigerator?”
She flashed him a teasing smile, lifting her brow. “Need a little calming courage?”
“Baby, after what I learned about an hour ago, I should probably have a six-pack. I’ll wait on the front porch.”
He leaned against the porch rail and waited. This must be what it felt like to be a teenage boy who was meeting a girl’s father when he’d gotten her in trouble, except it was probably the rare father who launched an attack. Even with all the siblings Dylan had, he’d never been close enough to one to feel that kind of protectiveness. In fact, he felt more protective toward Katie after knowing her for half a summer than he ever had toward one of his own family members. He wondered if that little bun in the oven was making the difference.
She finally brought him a beer. “Sure you don’t want to come inside?”
“Nope,” he said. He walked down the porch steps.
“Where are you going?”
He turned to look at her. “I’m not doing this in front of you, Katie. I mean, you might see us, but I’m not having this conversation for your entertainment.”
“Trust me, I don’t feel real entertained.”
“If I’m away from the house, you won’t be tempted to put in your two cents’ worth.”
“Well, jeez, you’re a little bossy there, aren’t you?”
“Making us a very well-matched set, when you think about it,” he said, and he walked back to the street where her SUV was parked. He leaned against it. It was his own damn fault he had this mess to clean up and he was going to figure it out before it got any worse. When he thought about what Lang would do it didn’t really help his situation much. Lang wouldn’t hesitate to try to convince his woman to marry him, provided the woman had been Sue Ann.
Finally the yellow SUV that Leslie drove pulled up to the house and into the drive, all the way forward to the carport. Right behind her was Conner in his great big truck and Dylan thought, I should’ve rented a bigger truck. Conner got out of the truck and briefly glared at Dylan, and Dylan had to look at the ground in front of his crossed legs to keep from laughing. Conner had white tape across his rather swollen, purple nose.
Conner took his lunch tote into the house, but momentarily he was back, striding toward Dylan. Dylan just couldn’t help it, he grinned stupidly.
“You look in the mirror, idiot?” Conner asked.
“So,” he said, ignoring the taunt. “I’ve been told to work this out with you, so let’s work this out. I learned about one hour ago why you lost your temper.”
“Because you weren’t here!” Conner returned rather loudly.
Dylan came off the truck and stood straight, meeting him eye to eye. “You want the women involved in this conversation?” he asked. “Because at the first sign of trouble, they’re right in the middle of it, I guarantee it. I wasn’t here because I had to go to work. I told Katie from the day I met her, I was going to have to go to work, but because she’s Katie, I put it off as long as I could.”
“And you abandoned her,” Conner ground out between clenched teeth. “Left her pregnant and alone!”
“I didn’t realize what was going on and I apologized. Listen, it doesn’t really matter to me if you understand or sympathize or hate my guts, but I told her the truth, that I was not in the market for a girlfriend or steady relationship, that I was temporary here at best, and whether she believed me or not, she accepted that. At least when she had the chance to tell me to just hit the road then, she didn’t. I don’t know you, don’t know anything about you, but you’re at least my age and just barely hooked up with this woman,” he said, lifting the chin toward the house. That’s when he noticed Katie and Leslie sitting on the porch, watching them. He cleared his throat. “I’m guessing you had one or two situations like that in your time.”
“That doesn’t