He had tried that in college and all he got for his efforts was a broken heart. After getting himself through that ordeal, he’d sworn that he would never let another woman take a piece of his heart as they walked out of his life. As a matter of fact, he now did the walking. Noel was in his office wearing his carpet out as he tried to come up with a strategy for dealing with Ryla. He adored Jaylen and would forever be thankful that she was his daughter. But when it came to dealing with Ryla—that was another matter altogether. The woman was driving him nuts with her demands and drama. If she wasn’t telling him who Jaylen couldn’t be around, she was dictating how long he could keep her out at night, even though Jaylen was on summer break and didn’t have anywhere in particular to be first thing in the morning. Ryla was driving him to drink, or at least to think about drinking more than he had in years past. Noel prayed that he could stay away from alcohol and all the things that came with it.
