Page 5 of Fight For Us
“Young lady,” he said, bracing his hands on his knees and crouching down slowly. “We are going to have a discussion later. You know better than to run off like that on Grandpa.”
“Sorry, Dad. Grandpa fell asleep in his chair and I was so bored.” She had the preteen angsty whine down to a T, complete with a full eye roll.
“I don’t care how bored you were. This lady is right. Something bad could have happened to you. You’re my responsibility this weekend.”
I clocked his words. So he’s divorced. Or separated. Not that I cared or anything.
“But Mom lets me walk to the store alone all the time. And sometimes even to the pool.” He huffed, standing back up with a grunt. A muscle ticked in his jaw. Maybe I should help hammer his point home.
“Lilly, everyone parents differently. When you’re with your dad, it’s best to follow his rules okay?”
“Okay,” she echoed.
The golden sun grazed the water’s surface as the waves and sand turned shades of gray.
“Alex, we should get going. I need to get some dinner in you.”
“Oh man. I wanted to play tag though.” He zipped his lips once I gave him myI mean businesslook. I bent to collect all of our scattered belongings. My hands trembled from the dispersed adrenaline and the knowledge that my ass was pointed directly at this guy didn’t help. I was exhausted. Releasing my thoughts drained the last dregs of my energy for the day. Maybe I was hungry too. Hanger was a real thing for Alex and me.
“Hey, um, can I buy you two some pizza? As a thank you.” His voice was soft and kind. It took me by surprise.
Teetering on my heels to collect sand toys, I almost fell at his offer. My usual “a man is interested in me” alarm bells were missing. That was a first. But I knew my answer. I didn’t even know his name. No way were we having dinner with him.
“Pizza? Sweet!” Alex said. “Mom, can we? I’m tired of all Grandma’s healthy dinners. Why does anyone need that many vegetables at one time?”
Lilly piped up. “How many?”
“Like three. And there’s always salad. Like every single day.”
Lilly’s dad chuckled, watching our kids exchange before bringing his gaze back to me. His brow raised and he shrugged.
“Thanks, but we’ve got to get going.” I stood and brushed my palms against my sandy shorts before giving Lilly a pat on the shoulder. “It was nice to meet you Lilly. Maybe we’ll see you again at the beach. If,” I glanced up toward her father’s towering figure, “you ask your dad first.”
“Nice to meet you too,” she said, sounding far more grown up than she looked.
“I’m Olivia, by the way. And this is Alex.” I offered a tentative smile, unsure why I was sharing our names with these complete strangers. He was a huge, tattooed guy with arms that could crush a boulder. I should be at least mildly put off, even though the way he spoke to his daughter was endearing. And maybe he wasn’t as negligent as I’d originally thought. In any case, I could unpack all of that later.
“Wes Reed,” he said, sticking out his tattoo-covered hand to Alex, who gave him an enthusiastic shake. My father would be proud since he’d been working on handshake etiquette with Alex lately. Then he extended his hand to me. He studied my face with his dark eyes as I wrapped my palm in his. “Nice to meet you, Olivia.”
I was most definitelynotfeeling an electric buzz where our skin met. And I was sonotblushing from his amused grin and extended eye contact.Not at all.
“Okay.” I cleared my suddenly dry throat and withdrew my hand. “See you around. Let’s go, Alex.”
Wes winked at me.Winked.Who does that? I let out a frazzled laugh and wave combo before I turned on my heel, beckoning Alex to follow.
Alex dragged his sand coated boogie board by the string and took his sweet time walking paces behind me. Whether he didn’t want to leave the beach or was still sulking about pizza deprivation, I didn’t know. But I wanted to get behind closed doors as soon as possible so I could replay every interaction from the last ten minutes through my mind again and again.
Maybe Wes watched us head home. I didn’t want to turn around and check. But the little voice in my head told me he did.
For the next three Saturdays, Lilly joined us at the beach. Each time, she promised me that her grandpa knew where she was, pointing across the street to their bungalow home. I felt even worse about going off on Wes once I realized they lived so close. I couldn’t help that my brain automatically went to her walking five miles with no shoes.
She and Alex would play tag, build intricate sand castles, and he’d boogie board while she preferred to venture no farther than the shoreline. I was thankful for that since I already had my hands full trying to keep myself from panicking at Alex’s affinity for going too far into the water. I was curious about Lilly, but never wanted to pry into her life. It’s not like I could overhearmuch about anything of importance when Alex and her only talked about video games and whose sandcastle was bigger.
Each Saturday, Wes would show up right around sunset, arms folded while he thanked me for keeping an eye on his daughter right before he scolded her for bothering us. And each Saturday he’d ask us if he could buy us pizza as a thank you. I’d graciously refuse, pack up, and we’d go on our way.
Until my mind shifted.
Maybe it was seeing my sister gloriously happy for the first time in forever. Or maybe it was that I had this whole comforting familiarity thing going with Wes. But on the fourth Saturday he asked us, I said yes.
