A Rocker and a Hard Place by Hunter J. Keane Page A

evening.” Glenn grinned and I realized that he knew exactly what he had interrupted.
    “Where were we?” Tyler muttered, turning his attention back to me.
    My lower lip grazed against his lightly. “Right… about….here.”
    “Mom? Tyler?”
    T.J. was awake.
    “Be right there,” I called.
    Tyler reluctantly pulled away. “The universe is conspiring against us.”
    “The joys of a small town, boring life,” I corrected him as we headed inside. “Nosy neighbors and needy kids.”
    Tyler stopped just outside the door. “It’s a pretty great life.”
    “Yeah, it is. Plus we always have Monday.” I pushed up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly, as I had in that exact same spot over twenty years ago. This time I didn’t run away though. “I’m glad you came back to Salvation.”
    “I’m glad I came back to you.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Tyler
    When Emma agreed to spend an entire day alone with me, I knew I had to make the most of it. There was a high likelihood that it might be my only chance to win her back. When Emma and T.J. left after dinner, and after our almost-moment on the porch, I hurried to put a plan into action. It was already Saturday night which didn’t give me much time. Fortunately, almost anything was possible with enough money.
    Emma had to work on Sunday, so I convinced her to let me watch T.J. for the day. It was our first day alone together and I was more than a little nervous. But with him leaving for camp so soon, I wanted as much time with him as I could get.
    My house wasn’t exactly in a state to entertain a ten-year-old boy, so Emma and I agreed that I should spend the day at her house. T.J. was more than happy to take care of our agenda for the day. We started with a marathon of video games. After a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, T.J. invited me upstairs to see his room. It turned out that he was into building things- impressive Lego skyscrapers and an extensive model car collection. Even more impressive, an entire wall of bookcases filled with books.
    “This is quite the library,” I said, running a finger over the glossy spines. He read everything from adventure to science fiction.
    “I had more, but I donated a bunch to the library.” T.J. shrugged like it was no big deal. He plopped down on his bed with an exaggerated bounce. “Do you love my mom?”
    The question was more than a little surprising. T.J. was a smart kid, more mature than others his age, but until that moment I hadn’t experienced his powers of perception.
    “What?” I asked, sitting next to him on the bed.
    In comparison to my son, I sounded like a moron.
    “You’ve been spending a lot of time with us. Usually when a man spends time with us, it’s because he’s in love with Mom.” T.J. was talking about something very adult while sounding very much like a little boy.
    “I spend so much time with you because I like spending time with you.” I elbowed him softly. “Is that so hard to believe?”
    T.J. smiled bashfully. “I like spending time with you, too.”
    “So you won’t mind if I come around when you get back from camp?”
    “I won’t mind.” His smile turned into a grin. “Mom won’t mind either.”
    “Really? How do you know?” I wasn’t ashamed to hit my son up for intel on Emma.
    “ She likes having you around.” T.J. jumped to his feet and opened the small drawer in his nightstand. He pulled out a picture and handed it to me.
    I took it carefully. “What’s this?”
    “I found it in Mom’s room.” T.J. stabbed it with his index finger. “That’s you, right?”
    My mouth dropped open as I took in the picture. I had thought that Emma and I had never taken a picture together, but when I saw the two of us smiling up from the snapshot, everything came flooding back to me.
    Junior year spring break- Emma and I jumped into my old truck and drove down to Nashville. We made up a lie for our fathers about a camping trip with friends. Instead, we had accepted a