Page 98 of Torn In Two

Kara caught on and put up her hand. “Me! I think I can definitely beat both of you!”

Hayley Jade’s smile turned into a grin, and she ran on the spot, little legs pumping like she was warming up for a sprint.

It was amazing to see how she communicated, even without words, and a good sign her trauma hadn’t forced her so far in on herself that she couldn’t eventually revert back to the way she’d once been.

I rocked on my heels, making out like I was getting ready to sprint. “Okay, then. On your marks. Get set…” They both watched me, poised and ready to run. “Bananas!”

Hayley Jade took two steps and stopped, realizing what I’d said.

I frowned at her. “How come you aren’t running?”

She giggled.

Kara hid her laughter.

I grinned, enjoying the sounds of their amusement. “Okay, let’s try again. Ready?”

Hayley Jade nodded.

“Set?”

A look of determination came over her expression.

“Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!”

She shoved her hands on her hips and gave me a stare that clearly just meant, ‘seriously?’

I laughed. “Okay, go!”

Hayley Jade took off running, her tiny feet flying across the sand, her slight weight barely making a dent in the surface.

Kara grabbed my shirt and held me back. “Go, Hayley Jade! I’ve got him!”

God, I loved the sound of Kara’s laughter and the warmth of her body as she hauled me against her. Her breasts brushed across my back, and fuck if all I could think about was spinning her around, gathering her up into my arms, and kissing her the way Hayden and Hawk had earlier.

Instead, I howled out in mock frustration. “Cheating! There’s some cheating going on here!”

Hayley Jade glanced over her shoulder at us, her excitement clear in her expression.

Kara and I laughed our way down the path after her, both of us sinking into the sand and jostling each other with our armful of bags.

Kara dropped hers onto the sand at the designated spot, and I nabbed the blanket sticking out of one of mine, spreading it out for her to sink down onto. She curled up, tucking her knees to her chest, gaze trained on Hayley Jade, who’d lost interest in the race she’d so clearly won and was busily picking up shells to put in her pockets.

I sat beside Kara, watching her daughter. “She’s going to bring home half the beach. You’ll be doing shell and sand art for weeks to come at the rate she’s finding them.”

Kara smiled happily. “I like the sound of that. It’s so…”

“Normal?”

She twisted her head, laying it on her knees to face me. “Yes. Exactly that. Normal. Did you do that sort of thing when you were a kid?”

The idea of anyone sitting me down, getting out glue and glitter and paint, and telling me to have fun and be creative was so insanely foreign to me it was laughable. I had no memories like that. Only ones of places my foster parents had ruined for me, the beach being one of them.

While surfers sat out in the water, laughing and joking with each other, and in summer, this place crawled with teenagers and families having a good time, all it represented to me was pain.

My chest got tight as the memories flooded back in. Memories I’d tried to work through in therapy, and when that hadn’t worked too well, I’d fought to keep locked tight.

“Food?” I asked her, digging through the bags, pulling out the lunch meats and cheeses I’d brought. “What do you like? I brought chips and sandwiches and juice for Hayley Jade too. Cookies? Candies?” I glanced over at her awkwardly. “I didn’t know what any of you liked so I just bought it all.”

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