Page 91 of Forgotten Romance

“Excellent.” Davey turns, grabs my hand, and the three of us cross to the stupid fucking train ride as fast as we can. Davey sets Van on his feet when we’re right beside it. “There. Train.”

The sobbing immediately stops, and the ringing in my ears dies down a notch. It’s not until they’re both safely strapped in the little carriage, ready to go around the tracks, that we step back from the safety fence and Davey’s arm settles around my shoulders.

“You okay?”

“Sorry.”

“What for?”

“I sort of … shut down. Left you to deal with it all.”

He squeezes me tighter. “Nah, that’s not something to be sorry for. We all have our limits, and you hit yours. I didn’t.”

The ride starts, and suddenly, Kiera and Van are angels, waving and laughing every time they pass us.

“Are we spoiling them too much?”

Davey looks indulgently on. “They’re kids. They’re still learning. We have our rules and boundaries, and we stick to those, but it’s okay to leave our rules at the door on nights like tonight.”

“But Van … he had a tantrum over nothing, and now we’re rewarding him.”

“Was that a tantrum?”

I shoot Davey a confused look. “He was kicking and screaming and elbowing you in the head. Yes. It was a tantrum.”

He ducks his chin into his coat to hide his laugh. “I just mean this kind of place isn’t a normal environment for a kid. It’s a lot. His emotions are a lot. I’m not going to expect him to behave like an adult because he isn’t one. Kids are held to an impossible standard, and they’re never given a chance to learn.”

I wind my arm around his back. Half because I love having him here and half because I’m shamelessly stealing his body heat. “When did you get so smart?”

“You have Beau’s word porn; I read parenting books while I’m away.”

“You do?”

He frowns a little. “Of course. I don’t get the same experience time as you do, so I have to keep up somehow.”

“You put me to shame.”

“You’re a thousand times the father I’ll ever be, and we’re not arguing about that.” He presses a hard, quick kiss to my lips. Here. In public. With who knows from town in plain view, and it makes my heart fucking swim. “No arguing.”

My cheeks heat as he pulls away, and I give him what he wants. No arguing.

After the first crisis, we go from ride to ride, and I don’t hit explosion level again. I wander slightly ahead as Davey waits for them at the bouncy house until I reach the Ferris wheel. We haven’t been on it since before kids, but every Winter Fair when we were together, we’d ride it and kiss at the very top.

Has tonight been perfect? Far from it.

Am I going to wallow in that? Fuck no.

So here’s one more ditch attempt to make a moment happen. I make a call, buy two tickets, and then wait. Keller and Will find me before Davey catches up.

“I’m so glad you were here,” I say.

“It’s Will’s first Winter Fair.”

“This is awesome,” Will says, face lit up with excitement. “Makes me wish Mols and I came before now.”

“Eh.” Keller shrugs. “He was trying so hard to be grown-up for a while there that I’m not surprised he avoided the place.” He turns to me. “Where are the kids?”

“They’ll be here in a second. Are you sure you don’t mind waiting with them?”

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