“I’m good. I’d rather look around while we talk.”
Few men towered over Rowdy, but Reese was so damn big that he threw a shadow over everyone else. “Help yourself.”
Reese gravitated to the back room and the billiard tables. He rolled the cue ball, letting it clack against the rest, sending them to scatter and drop into pockets. “The place looks better every time I see it.”
“Those have been here awhile now.” Maybe, Rowdy thought, he could teach Avery to play. “The younger crowd likes it more than the regulars.”
“The night I filled in for you, you had so much business I couldn’t leave the bar long enough to look around.”
“We’ve been fortunate.” Wondering why Reese had come to visit, Rowdy folded his arms and leaned back on the wall, ready to wait him out.
“And you run a good business.” Reese checked out the jukebox. “Alice wants to come back some night, too. Maybe after we get settled in the new house.”
“Alice doesn’t belong here.”
Reese turned to face him. “And Avery does?”
There went his mellow mood. “If you’ve got something to say, Reese, say it.”
“All right.” Reese propped a hip on the side of a pool table. “You’re remembering the dive it was. It’s better now. Nicer. If you weren’t so close to it, you’d probably see that yourself.”
“Did you come here to nettle me or to schmooze?”
“Neither, actually.” He picked up a chalk cube and shook it in his hand. “Here’s the thing. You’re good with Marcus.”
Rowdy straightened away from the wall. “What’s happening?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
Grumbling, Reese set aside the chalk and stood. “Alice and I would like to name you as one of Marcus’s guardians. You know, for emergencies and stuff. If something should happen—”
Alarm sent a rush of heat down his spine. “What would happen?”
“Hell, Rowdy, I don’t know. Your own parents died in a car wreck, right?”
“They were drunks.”
“Well, I’m a cop. I know how fragile life can be. I’m not expecting anything to happen, but if it did—”
Panic throbbed in his temples. “You have Logan and Pepper.”
“Yes, we do. And they’d be great. But Marcus...” Reese pinched the bridge of his nose, then dropped his hand to pin Rowdy with his stare. “The kid admires you a lot. In rapid order you’ve become a hero, a pseudouncle and a friend to him. I want him, and the courts, to know that you are in fact his family in every way that matters. That includes putting you in a will.”
Anger started to edge out other more disturbing sensations. “What the f**k, Reese? Are you on your period?”
Reese scowled.
“What’s with all the morbid shit?”
“Reality is not morbid, damn it.”
For Rowdy it always had been. Until Avery. And now...
“I love Alice,” Reese said, his voice raised. “And I’m determined to make things right for Marcus. That means I’m going to do everything in my power to see it so—including binding you to them.”
“You’re not making sense.”
Annoyance growing, Reese loomed closer. “I don’t want you getting some harebrained idea about packing up and leaving again. You have roots here. You’ll have more roots if you know you’re partially responsible for Marcus. Is that too much to ask?”
Rowdy went tense from his ears to the soles of his feet. He wanted to stay and be settled and plan...things.
Carrying a crate, Cannon went past the entry to the billiard room. If he listened, Rowdy could hear Jones rattling pots and pans in the kitchen. Ella would be showing up soon.
And Avery... She’d be behind the bar by now, setting up her station and for some insane reason, happy to do it.
He shook his head at Reese. “No.”
“No what, damn it?”
“It’s not too much.” Hell, he had a life here now. A good life. He thought of Avery again and almost smiled. “I’m honored that you’d think of me.”
“Well.” Reese seemed surprised by the sudden turnaround, but didn’t question it. “Good. You’ll have some papers to sign.”
“No problem.” He leveled a look on Reese. “But be careful so it’s never necessary for me to do more than be around, taking part. Got it?”
“That’s the plan.” He reached in his pocket for a piece of paper. “In other news, I got a name to go with those plates.” He flipped open the paper and looked at it. “Fisher Holloway. Know him?”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s old news.” He’d totally forgotten that Reese was checking on things for him. “I know who the bastard is and I’m taking care of it.” Rowdy started out of the room.
Reese caught his arm. “No.”
Looking at that hand on his arm, Rowdy raised his brows. “’Fraid so.” He freed himself from Reese’s hold and walked away.
“Damn it, Rowdy.” Reese kept pace with him. “You can’t always do things your way. There are laws.”
Rowdy laughed. What did Reese expect him to do? Murder and mayhem?
Fuming, Reese asked, “Who is it?”
“Avery’s ex.” Though that wasn’t accurate since, according to Avery, they’d never really been together. “Don’t worry about it.”