Page 71 of One Big Little Secret

Why on God’s green Earth is Patton being so nice to me that even my little boy notices?

“Oh, yeah? And what would’ve happened if you’d fallen off, big guy?”

“I wasn’t gonna!” he says dismissively.

“Sure.” I glance up as Patton arrives. “Thanks for taking him down, Patton. He really enjoyed that.”

“It’s been a while,” he says with a nod. “I used to come here a lot as a kid.”

“Snowboarding?” I laugh before I can help myself. “I can’t imagine your mom sledding down the hill.”

“Nah, she stayed at home. I didn’t hit the board until I was older. When I was little, my dad took us.” There’s a trace of sadness in his voice, but he hands Arlo the rope. “You ready to go again?”

“Yeah!” There’s no lack of enthusiasm on Arlo’s face. “We should have more sleds. Then youandMommy could go.”

“I’m okay, sweetie,” I say, waving them on. “I don’t mind watching. I’m having plenty of fun.”

“Boring.” Arlo wrinkles his nose.

“Why don’t you go on ahead this next round,” Patton says. “I’ll keep your mom company.”

You don’t need to do that.

On the other hand, seeing him with Arlo a second time might be worse for my tangled bird’s nest of a heart, currently wallowing in what-ifs and missed opportunities.

“Okay!” Arlo sits on the sled and Patton gives him a friendly push.

He screams his lungs out as he flies downhill, his small voice fading as he goes.

“I mean it,” I say, folding my arms tighter against the cold. “Thank you again.”

Patton sends me a wry, amused glance.

The glint in his eyes says he sees more than he should, more than I want him to. “Are you still the same manager who nearly threw me out of her office a few days ago?”

I’m thankful the hat and damp hair hanging around my face hides some of my blush. “Maybe if you weren’t so rude then, I wouldn’t have told you to get out.”

“Touché.” He looks back down the hill just as Arlo reaches the bottom. “I shouldn’t have come at you so hard.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

“For the record, I’m sorry.” There’s a strange softness to his voice I can’t quite quantify.

Reluctance, maybe, for having to be in this position. Hesitation for having to apologize. Uncertainty over the fact that he’s standing here in the cold watching my son.

Our son.

Oh, God, there goes my weepy brain again.

“It’s fine.” I look away before my face betrays how not fine it really is.

“Salem?”

Don’t do this. Please.

“Honestly, Patton. Don’t worry about whatever happened before…”

“I wasn’t,” he says. The sound of his voice makes me glance up at him.

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