“Then we drive over to his house,” Benji said simply, looking out the window, for what, she wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what Rick drove. “He’ll be here.”

Before she could say anything, she saw his car coming down the lane and she sat up straight. “There he is.”

Opening the door, she got out, meeting Benji at the front of the truck as Rick parked. Before he could even get out, though, Angie was out of the car and rushing to Lucy, wrapping her arms around her waist. “Mommy,” she breathed, her face in Lucy’s stomach, holding her so tightly she almost knocked the air out of her.

“Oh, honey, I missed you,” Lucy said, holding back her tears as she kissed her daughter’s head.

“I want to go home,” Angie whispered, and Lucy nodded.

“Of course,” Lucy said, but Angie didn’t let her go. “Are you okay?”

“I just want to go home,” she said once more, and then Benji was crouched down beside her, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

“Hey, sunshine,” he said and Angie peeked out.

“Hey.”

“Wanna get in the truck? I think your mom and dad need to talk.”

She nodded. “Can I play with your phone?”

He held his arms out. She went to him and he lifted her up. “Of course.”

Tearing her gaze from them, Lucy pinned Rick with a look that was straight from hell. He was glaring, his fists clenched as he watched Benji put Angie in the car. He didn’t even say good-bye; he was just glaring like a son of a bitch. When she heard the door shut, she cleared her throat.

“Why is she upset?”

“Who knows?” he said, meeting her gaze. “She’s always bitching about something.”

“Shouldn’t that make you realize something is wrong?”

He just shrugged. “What do you want, Lucy?”

She took a step toward him, her fists balled at her thighs. “You ever do that shit again, I will come to your house, and I will—”

“Stop,” Benji said as he came up beside her.

“Yeah, better listen to your boyfriend there, Lucy, even though we all know no one can control that mouth of yours,” he said, his gaze meeting Benji’s. “I wouldn’t even try.”

“Listen, buddy—”

“I’m not your buddy,” Rick snapped and Benji nodded. “And we have nothing to say to each other.”

“No, we do,” Benji said sternly, and to her surprise, Rick’s lips pressed together as he sized Benji up. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Benji could kill him; he had at least a foot on him and also sixty pounds. He was a tank, while Rick was a smart car. Well, he was stupid, but size-wise, the comparison applied. With a calm but firm voice, Benji said, “I don’t know how we got off on the wrong foot, but we need to fix this. For no one else but Angie. I don’t care that you don’t like me, because I sure as hell don’t like you, but I refuse to have what happened this weekend happen again. You can’t keep a mother from her daughter, and I know Lucy would never do that to you, no matter how much she hates you.”

“Not that you call, anyway,” Lucy added, and Benji shot her a look that she shrugged off. She understood his cool, calm approach, but she wasn’t going to let the bastard off without knowing she could and would cut him.

“I mean, this is all pointless. Nothing is going to change. I’m not taking her to hockey, and I’m not letting you speak to her. That’s final,” Rick stated, and while Lucy was ready to fly off the handle, Benji spoke first.

“Why is that?”

“’Cause I don’t want to. She’s with me. Don’t cut into my time.”

“It’s two hours on a Saturday! Hell, you can keep her two hours later on a Sunday if that will make it better.”

“No,” he said simply and Lucy’s blood boiled.

Benji, on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber as he said, “Okay, I understand that you want your time with her. But what about what she wants? She loves hockey, she wants to play, and Lucy paid a lot to get her started, I’m sure. So can we at least pick her up for hockey? Bring her right back?”

“We?” Rick asked and then he laughed. “Dude, I’m trying to make it so you never even see my daughter.”

Sucking his teeth, Benji glared and Lucy saw him cracking. “And why is that?”

“Because you’re a fucking alcoholic who preys on women with kids to replace the family you fucking lost,” Rick seethed, taking a step forward and leaving Lucy gasping for breath. How in the fucking world…? “And that little girl is mine. You can have Lucy. I don’t want her, but Angie, you can’t have her.”

“What in the hell? How dare you?” Lucy yelled and she was going to kill him, rip him limb from limb. But before she could even get close enough, Benji had his arms around her, stopping her.

“Lucy, stop!”

“He can’t talk to you like that. You don’t even fucking know him. He is twenty times the man, hell, the father figure to Angie, that you’ll ever be,” she yelled, her body shaking with anger.

“Lucy, Angie can see you. Stop,” Benji demanded as Rick laughed, and Lucy went still. She looked back, and thankfully, Angie was looking down. But he was right. She couldn’t be acting like this. Letting her go, Benji turned, looking at Rick. “While you are right, I am a recovering alcoholic and I did lose my family, I don’t want to steal your daughter from you. I just want her to be happy. And I’m asking you, please, work something out here.”