Page 126 of Broken Grump

“Mom! No!” she protests while looking around in embarrassment after I frantically pull her back to safety on shore and start to secure them around her upper arms.

“Well, I’m sorry. A few weeks ago, you were terrified of swimming!”

With a roll of her eyes, she says, “But these are for babies.”

I’ve already gotten one on, but I pause and read the small writing on the other. “Would you look at that? It says for ages four andup.You’re ‘up.’”

“Mom—” We both look around at all the other kids around who appear to be her age and are swimming independently.

“Fine.” I give up, realizing I might be a tad bit overprotective, and I take them off from her. “But stay close!”

“I will. I will!” If there’s one good thing that came out of Hayden’s momentary presence in her life, it was her getting over her fear of the water.

From there, I pull our stuff closer, I plop down on my towel, and watch her confidently splash around.

Soon after, a woman in a large sun hat perches next to me. “Is that your first?”

“Oh.” I glance over at her and shake some sand off my hands. “Yeah, she is.”

She then points to a little boy in blue trunks who is splashing around right by Luna. “That’s my Henry. He’s seven. And I’m LuAnn.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Addie. That’s Luna, she’s also seven.”

LuAnn clicks her tongue. “Well, isn’t that a coincidence.”

I nod and then peer down at her left hand.No ring.

“I’m sorry to be presumptuous, but are you a single mom?” she asks, apparently doing the same “recon” work that I was.

Rubbing my own bare ring finger, I say, “Oh, yeah.”

She shakes her head. “It’s so hard, isn’t it?”

Boy, is it ever.Right then and there, the severity of my next moves hit me like a brick wall. Once we move back to Phoenix, I’m going to have to rebuild our lives all over again. I’ll have to find an apartment that fits the two of us, a school for her, and a new job for me.

Ugh!Just the thought is so overwhelming.

But then I resolve that I’ll do it all in baby steps. Just like I did before.

Step one: Tell Luna that we’re moving tonight.

Chapter thirty-six

Hayden

“Addie! Luna!” I yellwhile rushing up the front door of their estate. But my hopefulness is diminished when I see a younger woman I don’t recognize shadowing the entryway.

“What’s all this yelling about, mate?” she asks.

“Um.” My heart feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest, and I take a moment to slow it down. “I’m here to see Addie and Luna,”

She laughs sarcastically. “Yeah, I got that.”

I put my hands on my hips and ask, “And you are?”

“Erin. Erin Flores.”

“Oh.” Judging by the last name, I can clearly assume she’s a cousin or something of Addie’s.Addie . . . Where is she?

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