Broken Vows

Chapter 9

Erin pulled up outside Tyler’s on Friday night and extracted Alyssa from the car, her mind already thinking about picking up the pizza and getting to Brody’s.  She handed Alyssa’s backpack to her and then followed her up the small set of stairs to Tyler’s front door.

They didn’t have to knock before he opened it.  “Hey, how’s my girl?” he called, bending down to pick Alyssa up for a hug.

His eyes looked over Alyssa’s shoulder and took in Erin and she could see the question in his eyes at her appearance.  Usually, by the time she dropped Alyssa off on a Friday evening, she had changed into her weekend clothes which typically consisted of yoga pants or cotton shorts and a t-shirt.  Tonight, however, she had on a halter top and a pair of jean shorts.  She’d left her earrings in and pulled her hair up.  Even though she wasn’t going on a date, she still wanted to look nice.  She’d save the other stuff for later.

Tyler put Alyssa down and let her run into the house, then held the door open for Erin.  “You look nice.  Have plans tonight?”  he asked.

Erin thought she detected a hint of jealously in his tone, but she ignored it.  He had his chance and blew it.  Jealousy wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“Actually, I’m helping some friends prepare for their mother’s funeral tomorrow.  Just didn’t want to look like a slob.”

A brief moment of relief passed over Tyler’s features and then he looked at her in concern.  “Anyone I know?”

Erin shook her head.  “No.  Not personally.  I’m sure you know of them.  It’s the family who owns Marlin’s Delis.”

“Oh, yeah.  I heard about the fire.” Tyler nodded, then looked at Erin quizzically.  “I didn’t realize you knew them.”

Erin held in a sigh.  There were a lot of things Tyler didn’t realize, even when they were married.  And it certainly wasn’t his business to know now.

“Well, I do.  And I offered to help them get ready for tomorrow’s funeral, so I can’t stick around.”  She turned to Alyssa, who was already digging into her father’s toy bin.  “Can I have a hug and kiss, sweetie?  I’ve gotta go.”

“Okay.” Alyssa agreed, running over to hug Erin.  “I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Love you.  Behave and have a good time.” Erin told her, watching her dive back in to the toys.  Then she turned for the door, calling, “Call me if you need me.”

She escaped back to her car with a sigh of relief.  She was sure that the only thing harder than explaining Brody to Alyssa would be telling Tyler.  And she planned to put that off as long as possible.

Like never.

Erin pulled from Tyler’s driveway, pushing thoughts of him aside and then headed to pick up the pizza.  She pulled up to the Morgan household about thirty minutes later.  This would be the first time she had ever been to Brody’s and it felt weird, knowing that she was entering his parent’s home without ever having met them.  Hopefully she’d be able to meet Stan soon.

She unfolded herself from her car, grabbing her purse and the pizzas and then headed for the front door.  Erin felt a little déjà vu as the door opened before she could knock.  Brody greeted her with a grin.  “I was keeping an eye out for you.”

“I’m glad to know chivalry isn’t dead.” She teased.

He took the pizzas from her, standing on tiptoe to peer over them at her. 

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“I don’t see any pajamas or fuzzy bunny slippers.” He pouted.