“We should discuss this elsewhere, Auden,” Conrad said coldly.

Auden leaned back and crossed his arms on his chest. “Why? Pippa got laid out in front of everyone to learn her lesson about going with the wrong crowd. How are you going to learn your lesson when you go your own way, having a blast, and you drag us along with you, not having a blast? Hunh, Dad? Who’s going to teach,” he uncrossed his arms to jab an angry finger at his father, “you?”

Conrad was losing control, I could see it in his face getting red and the way he leaned toward his son. “I’m an adult and your father and I’ll not have you speak to me that way ever, but absolutely not in company.”

Pippa was edging around them and I lifted my arms her way.

She ran into them.

I wrapped her close to me.

Lawrie got closer to us both.

“I’m not going with you,” Auden announced. “Pippa’s not going with you. And when I mean that, I mean now and I also mean to Texas. We talked in the car on the way here and we decided in like two seconds we’re staying here with Mom. So you go to Texas and be with whatever woman you’re gonna cheat on later there. We’re staying home with Mom.”

“This will be discussed later between your mother and me,” Conrad declared.

Auden looked at me. “Straight up, I want to live with you because I like your house, you and Mickey actually like each other and aren’t screaming all the time. Mickey’s decent and you love us enough to come to us, not jerk us around all over the effing country.”

“I wanna stay with you too, Mom,” Pippa whispered.

Conrad looked to his little girl, his little baby, his daughter who was always at his side, and the anger vanished.

His look was now beaten.

“All right, this is done,” Lawrie announced. “Con, the kids are staying with Amelia. You and she can sit down and have a talk when cooler heads can prevail. Right now, we’ve had a lot of drama and we need to calm things down and I’m afraid your presence here is not helping.”

“I—” Conrad started.

“Con, please. Go,” Lawr said low. “I can understand you don’t want to leave it as it is but quite honestly, it’s the kindest thing you can do at this juncture.”

My ex-husband stared at my brother and he wasn’t angry or nasty. He seemed dazed.

Then he looked to me. “We’ll talk?”

I nodded. “We will, Con,” I said quietly.

His eyes went to Olympia and came back to me.

“I fucked things up again, MeeMee,” he whispered.

Conrad calling me MeeMee?

Yes, completely dazed.

I pressed my lips together.

“Dad, Uncle Lawrie asked you to go,” Auden declared, moving to the door and opening it.

Conrad jerked and looked to his son. It took him a moment but he nodded and moved to the door. He gave Auden another look but Auden just scowled up at him.