Page 54 of Broken Grump

My heart wrenches in my chest at the sight of them together. And it doesn’t help that he looks like the Hayden Cohen I knew before, when he seemed to favor Nike over Armani.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” he says with a warm smile, still holding onto my daughter.

“Yeah, well. We didn’t have anything better to do today.”

He grins again. “Right.”

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been here myself, and I can’t believe how big the grounds are.

But as we travel between exhibits, it seems as though the bond between Hayden and Luna only deepens. She requests to be up on his shoulders, I help hoist her up, and she enjoys most of the park from that viewpoint.

“You can put her down whenever you want,” I remind him after an hour.

He looks over at me like I’m crazy. “Are you kidding me? I’m loving this.”

Seeing them together is already adorable enough. And I’ve heard at least two older couples pass us by and comment on how “lovely” of a young family we are together.

Ah!After being a single mother for the better part of a decade, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love soaking up every minute ofthat. There’s something about having a strong, handsome man by your side who is being so attentive and caring to your child. Italmostmakes my uterus hurt and yearn for more.

“I’m hungry,” Luna eventually whines.

“Oh! No worries, I’ve got mango slices—” I’m already rifling through my bag when Hayden stops me.

“Come on! She can have that healthy stuff any day.” Then, he looks around. “Oh, Looney Tunes, there’s cotton candy.”

She grimaces.

“Huh. No kidding. I hate the stuff too.”

No kidding?

“Too sticky,” Luna reports.

Hayden nods. “Too sticky indeed. What about ice cream?”

“Because that isn’t sticky at all,” I bring up.

They both wave me off.

Then, before I know it, they have dripping cones in their hands.

And you made fun of my preparedness,I mock internally before getting out my wet wipes and helping them clean up after their bellies were full of sweets.

“Thanks,” Hayden says sweetly with his palm right-side up in my hand.

Damn those green eyes.

“Yeah. Thanks, Mom.”

When I look down, I see the exact same-colored irises staring up at me.

“You’re—you’re welcome. Come on. We’ve still got a lot of ground to cover.”

“Yeah!” Luna and Hayden cheer in unison before she hops back up around his neck.

They go running off ahead of me, and another woman around my age says, “It sometimes feels like having two big kids, doesn’t it?”

“Oh.” I laugh. “Um, yeah. I suppose it does.”

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