Page 17 of Everlasting Love

Shane’s face drops, and he quickly passes Jasmine back to me then turns around to include the woman, who’s holding the hand of a boy, in our conversation. “Hope. Evan. This is … uh … Violet and Jasmine. They’re … uh … friends of my boss?” His voice rises at the end as if he’s asking a question.

“You’re named after flowers,” Evan blurts.

I smile at him. “We sure are. All the girls in my family are named after flowers or plants.”

Hope smiles. “That’s so cool.”

I nod. “It sure is.” She reaches out her hand to me and I take it. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” I take a step away, putting distance between us. Of course, he has someone. A gorgeous someone. I’m not sure why my brain automatically thought he was single. This is good. In fact, it’s the perfect way to squash this attraction I’ve felt toward him from the second I laid eyes on him. It’s like an icy cold shower which is exactly what I need right now.

“It was so much fun watching you in the parade,” Evan says. His face is alight with happiness. “When I’m older I want to march just like my dad.” He looks up at his Mom. “Dad marched, didn’t he?”

She visibly swallows and strokes her hand over his hair. “Yeah, he marched in parades. Not this one, though.”So, he’s not Shane’s son.

Evan’s eyes light up. “I could be just like Dad.” Shane nods, sadness draping his features, and Evan turns his attention to Hope. “Could I march next year, Mom?”

Her brows furrow and she glances up at Shane. “Uh, I don’t think so.”

Shane grips the boy’s shoulder in a fatherly way. “You need to be in active service or a Veteran, big guy.”

The boy deflates. “Will you teach me how to march so when I can I’ll be as good as you?”

Shane’s jaw clenches and that tic I noticed atBrain Freezeis back. “Sure. It’s pretty easy.”

Hope smiles down at her son, but there’s a sadness behind her eyes that anyone would recognize. Her eyes dance from me and Jas to Shane and back again. “Okay, Ev. We should leave Shane to his afternoon. Say goodbye.”

Evan’s face fills with confusion. “Why? I want to hang out with Shane like we always do.”

“He’s busy.” Her eyes flick back up to me. “We’ll see him on Monday at soccer.” She turns her attention to Shane. “Will you be at soccer practice this week?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. But I need to stop by over the weekend to cut your grass.” Evan folds his arms across his chest and I recognize the stubborn set of his chin. He’s not prepared to budge. Shane turns his attention to Evan. “I could show you how to march after I finish the yard work.”

“Really?” His eyes open wide.

“Sure. Why not.” Shane smiles at the boy, ruffling his hair.

I feel like we’re intruding so I step a little closer. “Uh, we have plans so we’ll get out of your hair. We just stopped by because Jasmine wanted to sayhi.” I jiggle Jasmine on my hip as I semi-lie—we both wanted to sayhi. “Jas, say goodbye to Shane. You’ll see him tomorrow when he picks Poppy up for school.”

She turns her megawatt smile on Shane. “Bye, Sane.”

He leans in and hugs Jas while she’s in my arms, partially wrapping me in his embrace. He smells freaking amazing, and I shamelessly draw a deep breath of his delicious scent into my lungs. Clearly, I’ve lost my morals somewhere along the way to be enjoying his closeness in front of his girlfriend. I’m no better than the whore who was screwing Allen while he was a married man. I work hard to keep my balance and not lean into the warmth of his body since that would be completely inappropriate. He pulls back and taps her nose with his finger. “I’ll see you in the morning, Jasmine.”

“Otay.”

He sears me with his dark stare, and I feel it all the way to my core. He has a way about him that makes me feel like he only sees me and nobody else. It’s like we’re frozen in a moment of isolation where we are the only people around. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

Heat floods my body at the rasp in his voice. I’m pretty sure my face is beet-red at this point. “Uh … uhm, not sure.”

He nods. “All right then. Thanks for coming out today. Careful driving home.” His voice has turned cold as he dismisses us, and I swallow past the hurt of his dismissal. It shouldn’t matter to me.

“We will. Bye, Hope. Bye, Evan.”

They both say goodbye and we leave, making our way through the thinning crowd back to my car. “Are you ready to visit with Aunty Quinn?” I ask as I situate Jas in her car seat.

She kicks her little legs and cheers. She loves my best friend from high school. But what she loves more than Quinn are her special guests. Jas and I sing along to her favorite playlist on the drive across town, and when we arrive, Quinn rushes out to meet us before I can turn off the engine of my car. She pulls Jas’s door open before she even acknowledges me.

“Aunty Quinn!” Jasmine squeals.

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