Page 63 of Forbidden Flame

The rest of the week, I tried to focus on work, at least enough so that I didn’t get hurt and I didn’t injure anyone else. On Friday, Heath let us go early because we were ahead on the project, and we were waiting for more materials to be delivered.

Heath was in the process of hiring additional crews to handle the requests for projects that were coming in daily.

When I got into my truck, I was looking forward to drinking a cold beer on the tailgate while I watched the sun set over the pond. Daphne had Izzy, so there was no way I could ask her to join me.

We’d said we’d figure things out, but we were a week in, and I still had no idea how to see her without tipping off our families.

It was bad enough that Heath was asking questions. My phone buzzed before I could back out.

I know we said we wouldn’t do this, but Izzy said she’ll only ride her bike if you come with us.

My heart soared. I knew we’d said it was a bad idea for me to be in Izzy’s life as we got to know each other better. But I adored spending time with Izzy, and I wanted to see her.

I’ll defer to you on this. But I’d love to be there.

I hated that Izzy had stopped riding altogether because I wasn’t around.

Can you meet us at her school?

She sent me the link to the address, and I smiled as I headed in that direction. Spending time with Daphne and Izzy felt right. I wanted to see Izzy’s progress, teach her how to ride, and celebrate when she was successful. How could that be wrong?

The rest of the way to her school, I tried to remind myself Daphne and I were in the getting-to-know-each-other stage. We had no idea if we’d stand the test of time.

I got there first and parked in the lot. There were a few teenagers playing basketball at the hoops, but otherwise it was vacant.

I lowered the tailgate and sat on it. The air was warm, but I could feel the coolness settling it. Soon, it would be fall, and my time would be eaten up with chores around the farm. Now that my cousins had busier social lives, I handled more than my share of shifts.

Daphne’s van pulled into the lot, and I couldn’t help but smile in anticipation of seeing my favorite girls. When Daphne parked next to my truck, the sliding door opened, and Izzy hopped out. “You came!”

“I heard someone didn’t want to ride a bike without me.”

She nodded and pointed to her chest. “That was me.”

I chuckled at her honesty. “I’m excited to see you ride.”

Izzy frowned. “I haven’t been practicing.”

I hopped down. “That’s what we’re here to do.”

Daphne opened the back of her van. The seats were flat, and the bike lay on its side. I lifted it out and set it on the ground. “Have you grown?”

“Maybe,” Izzy said as she buckled the chin strap of her helmet and climbed on.

“Still a perfect fit,” I observed as she attempted to push down on the pedal. I grabbed the handle holding it steady until she finally got a good grip on the pedal and moved forward. “You’ve got it. Keep going.”

“I can’t believe she manipulated me like this.” Daphne’s voice was low as Izzy rode farther away from us, her handlebars wobbling from time to time.

I didn’t take my eyes off Izzy. “What do you mean?”

“I asked her if she wanted to ride her bike today. I reminded her that it takes practice to improve. Usually, she’ll say she doesn’t want to learn because it’s too hard. Today, she said she’d go only if you did.”

I glanced over at Daphne.

Her forehead was wrinkled. “You made an impression on her. I thought if I surrounded her with family—her uncles and her grandfather—she wouldn’t miss her father.”

I thought about the father I’d had. The nights he was too tired or drunk to ask how school was or if I’d done my homework. He might have been there physically, but emotionally he was absent. “Fathers are an important part of a child’s life. I think their absence is always noticed.”

Daphne sighed. “I hate that for her.”

---