Kelly gestured that she’d take care of the order and the two men walked to the booth and sat. They stared at each other in silence until she delivered the drinks and left, looking worriedly between them but not saying a word.

As an attorney, Mike knew how to keep his emotions at bay in a conversation. He kept his body relaxed and his expression neutral. Despite his personal feelings about Chris, the man was Hazel’s father. He deserved to have his say after what happened.

Chris took a sip of his beer, then met Mike’s gaze. “So I came back from my honeymoon to discover that not only was my ex having some guy sleeping over at her house, but that my teenage daughter caught them together. Tell me why I shouldn’t take you out back and beat the shit outta you.”

Mike’s first reaction was you and whose army? He was agitated enough to want a good scuffle, but that wouldn’t help anyone, least of all Hazel.

“Well, for one thing, what your ex-wife does or doesn’t do is no longer your problem. You left her for another woman, remember? The one you just married?” Mike’s voice was sharper than he wanted, but damn, the guy had just threatened him with violence.

“What the mother of my daughter does is very much my problem.” Chris glared some more, then sat back with a sigh. “Damn it, man—my daughter saw you buck naked with her mother. What am I supposed to do with that?”

“I covered myself. It was just a few seconds...” There was no good way to spin what had happened, especially to Hazel’s father. “I’m really sorry. We had no idea she’d be in the house that morning.”

“I know. Zoey made that clear. And so did Hazel.”

“How are they doing? Zoey and Hazel?”

Chris looked at him, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “You haven’t talked to her?”

“We’re on pause or something.” Mike took a sip of his beer. And then another. He had no idea what Chris knew or how much he could trust him. Chris drank his beer, too, and the booth filled with awkward silence.

“I know you and Zoey have been friends since you were kids.” Chris wiped his mouth. “But I did not see this coming. Were you two together while we were...?”

“Married? Absolutely not.”

“Was it serious?”

“It was for me. I’m pretty sure it was for Zoey, too.” He hoped that was still true. “You need to know that Hazel was always her top priority. She didn’t tell her because she was trying to protect her from more stress in her life.” It occurred to him that Chris might use this to make a change in custody arrangements. “She’s always put Hazel first.”