Page 67 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
He swiveled as he passed, taking a few steps backward as he looked at me, those hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket and that beanie low on his head.
It amplified all the cut, imposing edges of his stunning face, his lips extra plump and red in the cold.
With a scorching grin, he turned back around and jogged down the path that led to the main motel building and disappeared through the trees.
“Crap,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Come, Mommy!” Finn was suddenly right back in front of me, grabbing my hand and towing me toward the field.
Disappointment surged when I saw the children who’d been playing earlier were nowhere to be found.
Finn’s little shoulders slumped at the sight. “Kids go bye-bye?”
I released a heavy sigh, breath vapor as I exhaled into the frigid cold. “I’m sorry, sweet boy. It was probably time for them to go inside.”
But Finn’s distress didn’t last for long because the air was shifting again.
Bending in the direction of the man who came hustling back up through the path, a red plastic sled in his hands. “Look what I got,” he called as he approached.
“Swed!” Finn pointed at Theo, his legs pumping in place, his tiny boots hitting the ground in excitement.
Theo let the sled drop to the ground and started to pull it through the snow.
He stopped right in front of us, and I was slammed with his presence.
Hit with an overpowering rush of volatility.
An aura of danger that radiated from his being.
But it was his kindness toward my son that had me trembling.
“Hop on, little man,” Theo said.
Finn tottered forward two steps, his little snow boots sinking into the powder. He leaned over to grab the edge of the sled, and he basically toppled in since he was so bundled up.
A rough chuckle rolled from Theo, and he helped Finn adjust to sitting.
“There we go. Now hang on tight because I’m about to take you on a wild ride.”
He sent me a wink that promised it wouldn’t be so wild, but I was pretty sure the one that gleamed in his eyes for me would be exactly that.
Wild.
Wild and ruthless and perfect and…
I ground my teeth.
What was he doing? Making me feel this way? This was reckless. The most reckless thing I could do. Thinking of him as…something.
But I didn’t know how to stop.
Theo grabbed the rope and began to pull Finn through the snow.
“Hold on tight,” I shouted.
“No worry, Mommy! I hold tight!” Finn returned.
Theo increased his pace just a bit, and Finn tipped his head back in glee. A peal of laughter rolled from his mouth and rang through the heavens.
