that pretty much cover it?”
“You’re a pain in my side, Wynn Fahey. I’m trying to include you because it’s the best thing for Con, but you don’t make it easy.”
“You’re trying to include me because the judge said you have to. And the pain goes both ways, sister. Only I was thinking of a spot slightly lower than my side.”
She gave an audible sigh. “Do you take anything seriously or is life just a big joke to you? When you have children, Wynn, you can’t be so laissez-faire about things. Sometimes you just have to pull your big boy panties up and deal with stuff.”
“Well, gee, Syd. I would, but I stopped wearing underwear a long time ago.” He couldn’t resist the jab, and only wished he was there in person to watch the smoke escape from her ears.
“I’m hanging up now. You can tell Con we discussed the party and it’s not happening. You’ll pick him up Friday after school and bring him home Sunday by noon. And I swear to God, Wynn, if I so much as hear a whisper that you let him go to that party, I’ll have you back in court so fast your head will spin.”
“Don’t worry, dear. I never thought his going was a good idea to begin with. You just didn’t bother to ask how I felt about it. I’ll get him Friday. Have a nice weekend.” He ended the call and tossed the phone on his bed.
Whatever boner he’d had was long since forgotten after the conversation with Syd. He kicked out of his shorts and boxers and headed to take a much less steamy shower than he’d originally planned.
* * * *
Thursday morning, Wynn continued making rounds to the private schools while Mel visited their public counterparts. He’d just stopped for lunch when he cell rang with an unknown number. “Fahey,” he answered.
“Detective Fahey, this is Reilly O’Keefe from St. Sebastian’s Academy. I don’t know if you remember me.”
Remember you? Are you fucking kidding? Wynn cleared his throat. “Mr. O’Keefe, of course. Has anyone knocked you off your feet today?”
Reilly chuckled. “No one as good-looking as the guy who did it yesterday.”
Wynn’s eyes bugged as he realized what he’d said. Shit. “Well, that didn’t come out exactly like it sounded in my head.” Yet the man’s reply intrigued him. Could Reilly be gay? He struggled to bring the conversation back around to safer territory. “I feel lousy about that, you know. I really am sorry.”
“I’m not. It made for a memorable first encounter.”
Something about the way he said it made Wynn wonder if they might have a second encounter. “Okay, then. Good.”
“So listen. I spoke with Tim Andrews about the reason for your visit yesterday. The flyers are a good start, but I think we can do more. This is something I feel strongly about, and I was hoping we might get together to discuss it. Unfortunately, I don’t get a lunch hour, per se. It’s more like thirty minutes and some days twenty. So I was wondering about dinner.”
Startled, Wynn could only repeat, “Dinner?”
Reilly chuckled again. “Yeah, the meal at the end of the day, you know, after you’re done working?”
“I know what it is. I was just a little surprised. I might be able to do dinner. I guess it depends when you were thinking.”
“Well, tonight is pretty short notice. What about tomorrow night?”
Wynn’s mind raced. “Uh, can’t do tomorrow. Picking up Con for the weekend. I’m actually free tonight if you wanted to shoot for that. This is a time-sensitive business, so the sooner the better would probably be good.”
“I totally agree, the sooner the better. Tonight works just fine. You name the restaurant and I’ll find it.”
Since he didn’t eat out much, Wynn scrambled to come up with a place. Jeff Taylor’s boyfriend’s pub came to mind and he said, “What about the Cock and Bull British Pub on Troost? They have good food, and it’s a nice atmosphere. I know the guy who owns it.”
“Oh, sure. I’ve been there a couple of