Page 41 of Challenged by the Single Dad

Her smile was small. “Did your son have a nice Halloween?”

“I think so. He went as Spiderman for the third year in a row.”

They both chuckled softly. He really liked her laugh, and the way her cheeks dimpled as she scrunched up her nose, still smiling at him.

“And he collected his weight in candy. Then played every game twice at the school Halloween party. I’m sure he’s crashed out in bed now.”

“I remember those days. The sugar coma. And for whatever reason, Elliott never turned into hell on wheels on Halloween, even if he ate too much candy. He just … he had energy, but never destructive like some kids.”

“Si is the same. He was shooting pretend Spiderman webs all over the house and doing parkour on the furniture when we got home, but nothing too wild or dangerous.”

The crinkle at the corner of her eyes stirred all kinds of scary, wonderful things inside of him. That’s when he realized they were still holding hands. He wasn’t ready to let go.

It was crazy how well she understood him. It made him want to keep talking. It made him want to turn himself inside out and admit that he was scared. Scared of forgetting Remy. Of not keeping her memory alive enough for Silas. Scared of not being there enough for Silas. Of not beingenoughfor Silas. He’d never liked things he couldn’t control, and that included his feelings. He’d gotten used to doing things on his own, of it just being him and his kid—with his brothers and their kids—but if he was being totally honest with himself, he was lonely. His heart had developed such a constant, empty ache inside of it that it now felt normal to have it. But his brothers had all moved on, and there was once again that spark of joy in their eyes. The kind of joy that comes from having a partner in life whom you can share all the ups, downs, and inside outs with.

She glanced at her smart watch, then at the sky again. “I suppose we should probably get going. It’s getting late and the wind has picked up.” A quick gander at the candles proved that she was right. Only two of the seven she had lit were still flickering. The breeze had wafted the other five out.

Nodding, they released hands and he stood up, helping her gather all her offerings and put them in the flexible wicker basket she had. Dom held a framed photo of her son in his soccer uniform, his foot on a soccer ball. He had a big smile on her face and was missing a few teeth. He was a nice-looking kid and looked a lot like Chloe.

“I’m sorry about your wife,” she said, accepting the frame from him. “For all of your wives. That is just … wow. Very sad.”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry about your son … and your marriage.”

“It just wasn’t something we were able to move past. Now, Jeff is remarried, and he and his new wife just had twins.” Her chin and bottom lip trembled. “I’m glad he was able to move on. But a part of me wonders if I’ll ever get there. You know?”

Oh boy, did Dom relate to that. “Where are you parked? Did you walk down from the pub?”

She shook her head. “Just up here on the road. Then I walked down through the trail.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

She didn’t argue with him and he followed her lead, through the trees, the tall grass, and out onto the dead-end road where she’d parked on the shoulder.

“Do you want a ride back to the pub?” she asked, stowing her basket on the backseat. “I have to drive past it anyway on my way to the hostel.”

He shook his head. “No. It’s okay. I’m fine taking the beach back.”

“Are you sure?”

Truth be told, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her. He still felt like an absolute ass for making that comment about her not having kids, and even though she seemed to have let it go, he wasn’t quite there yet.

“Well … if you don’t mind?” he finally said.

She smiled. “Not at all.”

He stowed his duffel bag on the back seat of her sedan and climbed into the passenger seat. They were rumbling down the old pothole-riddled road in no time, but it wasn’t until they passed the driveway turnoff for Bonn Remmen’s land that he remembered the email from Gabrielle Campbell.

He usually turned his phone on “do-not-disturb” while he was with Remy at her altar, confident that his brothers could handle things for even just an hour. He brought his phone out of his pocket, lighting up the dark interior of the car, and there were the messages from his brothers.

Clint had gone and got the mail, and lo and behold, there was the golden ticket from Willy Wonka himself—or in this case, the notification from the Island Elders that Dom and his brothers were part of the five selected parties who submitted proposals for the land.

Hope filled his chest and he smiled.

“Good news?” Chloe asked, glancing at him.

“Yeah, actually. Some land that we really want and had to submit a proposal for is just one step closer to being ours. They’ve narrowed it down to five interested parties.”

“Congrats. That’s great.”

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