Page 120 of Steel

“Faster,” Bea says to Austin as the sand drinks up what they just poured.

Her blonde hair is in a ponytail that bounces around as they run back toward the lake. I’m thankful Austin has a friend through this transition, and I hope that makes it easier. Someone for him to share movie nights and playdates with at our house.

Our house.

I don’t know when I started thinking of it like that, but that’s what it is now. A home when I’ve never really had one.

“I hear my grandson wised up.” Pearl smiles. “Congratulations.”

“Hope you don’t mind us sticking around. I know there’s not much peace and quiet with a four-year-old stampeding through the house.”

“Not at all.” Pearl shakes her head. “It’s been far too quiet for far too long. I love having Jameson back home again. And the two of you are an added bonus.”

“Thanks, Pearl.”

She nods, and Austin adds another bucket of water to the moat. He’s been quick about it, and it’s now overflowing.

“I think that’s enough.”

Pearl laughs when it splashes her feet, and I snatch the bucket up from him.

“You like it?” Bea and Austin look up at me, smiling proudly.

“It’s perfect.”

“Honey Bea,” Legacy calls for his daughter, holding up a bottle of sunscreen. “Come here.”

Bea’s shoulders sink, but she reluctantly makes her way over to her dad while Austin runs back to the water. I follow him, crouching down to help him dig a rock out of the ground.

“What are you up to now?”

“Jameson said if I get a flat one, it skips.” He grabs a flat stone and throws it into the water like he’s pitching a baseball, so it immediately sinks.

“You’ve gotta toss it like this.” I dig another flat stone out of the dirt and stand up. “Like a frisbee. Try to keep it flat when you throw it.”

I show him how it’s done, and my rock skips twice before sinking. Something Austin doesn’t seem impressed by.

He scours the ground around us, and when I spot a flat stone peeking out of the water, I hand it to him.

“That one should work.” I stand behind him, setting his hand in the right position with the stone. “Like this.”

I move his arm back and forth slowly so he can adjust to the movement before letting him go.

Austin’s entire face scrunches as he focuses on the water. He reels his arm back, and then, mirroring the movement I just showed him, he tosses the rock in. It skips once before disappearing under the water.

“I did it!” He jumps up, landing in his signature superhero pose, even if he’s no longer wearing his cape. “It skipped.”

“It did.” I smile when he immediately starts running around, looking for another stone.

I’m still figuring out what experiences Austin had when he was gone with Mom and what I need to make up to him.

I watch him toss rock after rock into the water, and I want him to have all of them. He deserves the childhood she never gave me. One where he could just be a kid, notworrying about the responsibility that eventually comes from growing up.

Bea gets distracted by a kite while Austin runs up and down the water. His feet splash with every step. After a few laps, he finally slows down, pausing beside me and resting his head on my leg.

I brush the side of his cheek with my hand and look out at the water with him.

“Does this mean we’re leaving?” Austin tosses a rock into the water, and it immediately sinks.

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