ClarenceBN by Sarah M. Anderson Page A

daddy.”
    “Hey there, squirt,” Ezra said.  
    Tammy forced herself not to glare at Ezra. How had she ever though she’d loved him? Despite the years that had passed, he still had a childish, almost sullen, attitude that she’d once thought was the height of cool and now she recognized as sheer immaturity.
    And just like that, she felt foolish all over again. She’d fallen for that ? Really?
    Mikey, God bless his little heart, managed a perfectly polite, “Hi,” before burying his face in Tammy’s neck.  
    “Aren’t you glad to see your dad?” Ezra asked and for the first time, Tammy heard something else in his tone—hurt, maybe. As if he’d envisioned being this knight in shining armor, welcomed back with open and loving arms.
    As if Tammy really wouldn’t have moved on with her life.
    “I want Cwarence,” Mikey whispered into her hair, so quietly that she was sure no one else had heard her.  
    Her heart broke in ways she didn’t think were still possible. “I know, honey,” she whispered back. Then, in her best keep-calm-and-be-the-grown-up voice, she said, “It’s almost his nap time, Ezra.” She gritted her teeth. She knew what she had to do, but she wished that she didn’t have Clarence looming over her shoulder.
    She didn’t know he could be like this—so physically intimidating, so danged mean . Yes, she realized he was a massive tank of a man—hard to miss that when she was sleeping with him—but when he was with her, he was respectful and mindful and always put her first.
    Now? Now she’d seen him pick Ezra up, seemingly by the back of his neck, and physically throw him out of the clinic. And if Ezra said one more less-than-flattering thing to her, she didn’t have much doubt that Clarence would pound Ezra into the dirt.  
    There was no way to make everyone happy here. So she did what she had to. “Ezra, maybe you can come to dinner tonight? Mikey will be up from his nap by then.”
    Clarence growled behind her. She felt him move and tensed—she really didn’t want to have to hold him back while she had Mikey in his arms.
    Mikey, for his part, shook his little head back and forth in silent protest. God, she hated doing this. But the boy should know his father.  
    Shouldn’t he?
    “ He going to be there?” Ezra asked with a jerk of his chin toward Clarence.
    “No,” Tammy said at the exact same moment Clarence said, “Yes.”
    The door to the Clinic opened behind her. “I hate to interrupt,” said a tight female voice that could only belong to one woman—Dr. Madeline Mitchell. “Clarence, we have patients waiting. If there’s a problem, call Tim or Rebel.”
    Tammy cringed. She could imagine that Tara had probably already called Tim, the sheriff, just because Ezra existed. “I have to get back to work, too,” Tammy said, mostly because she didn’t want to be alone with Ezra, knowing that everyone in the Clinic would be watching and also because it was true. She was still on the clock and Melinda might cut her some slack, but getting all the kids down for naptime was a two-woman job.  
    There was a moment of tense silence and she could feel Clarence glaring at Ezra. For his part, Ezra had an eat-shit-and-die grin on his face that she’d once thought was such a bad-boy look.  
    “Watch yourself around her,” was what Clarence said. Then he was gone, stomping back to the clinic with enough force to make the ground shake.  
    Mikey whimpered against her neck. “I’m sorry,” she said to Ezra again. But then it hit her—why the hell was she apologizing to him? He was the one who’d left the first time. He was the one who’d broken his promise to her. And now he was the one who’d rolled in here without a single thought as to how this might upset Mikey?
    Now, without Clarence being angry behind her, she could feel the force of her own rage starting to build. “Actually,” she said, when Ezra took a step forward, like she was somehow the safer of the two