Page 13 of Late Nights & Love Lines
“Pappy did good watching us,” Miles says, then dusts off his hands in the same no-nonsense way my grandfather does.
“Pappy’s a stubborn old mule who believes he’s still in his prime,” Rowan mutters, then drops to her knees in the sand while Miles and I gape at her.
“Rowan, this is Miles and Kade,” I say, pointing to the boys.
“Hello, Walker boys. My name’s Rowan, and I’ll be hanging out with you for a bit if that’s okay with you?”
Kade pinches his face as though he’s in deep thought. “Do you like bugs?”
“I eat them for breakfast,” she replies without a moment of hesitation.
A bark of laughter escapes me.
“No, you do not,” Kade says with his mouth gaping in between words. “What about snakes and mud?”
“Snakes and mud together or on their own?” Rowan tilts her head as she nudges the ball back to his court.
Kade’s feeding off the silliness, and he scratches the back of his neck as if this is the most important question of his life even as his feet dance in the sand.
When was the last time anyone simply accepted my youngest’s energy and vivid imagination? Even his own mother was exasperated by him most of the time.
“On their own,” he says with a serious nod of his head.
“Well.” Rowan sits back on her heels, pure sunshine radiating from her mischievous expression. “I prefer my snakes behind glass, but mud can make for excellent spa days.”
Miles inches closer to me. It would seem he’s as curious about my childhood friend as I am, but he’s still partially hidden by my side, so I wrap an arm around his shoulder. We breathe deeply and in sync, the salt air settling into my bones.
“You play in the mud?” Because Kade can’t do anything with subtlety, his skepticism shows in his comically raised brows and impossibly wide eyes.
“Sure thing, kid. I don’t mind getting dirty.” Rowan places her hands in the sand, then leans around my legs to address Miles. “What do you like to do?”
He shrugs. “Whatever Kade and Seren want to do.”
She sits back on her heels and dusts the sand off her hands before placing them on her thighs and rolling her shoulders forward as though she’s creating a bubble around herself. Is she pulling back for herself or for my boys? “What if they were busy? What’s the one thing you want to do this summer?” Rowan watches him closely but allows Miles to make the first move.
As his shoulders hover around his ears, parental guilt rolls over and lodges itself in my throat. What does he want to do, and why the fuck haven’t I asked him that myself?
“I heard you can find treasure on the beach sometimes,” he says shyly. His feet move an inch in her direction.
“Treasure hunting it is! I’m sure we can find some metal detectors, too.” Rowan’s voice is almost cheery, but she still keeps that bubble of space around herself.
Kade is a tiny wrecking ball who has no use for personal space, and I can’t wait to see how he’ll break down that wall she’s putting up.
Miles takes half a step forward and scans Rowan’s face. A silent conversation drags out between them, but no one moves.
Her body language relaxes, and her face is kind when she finally holds out her hand to my little man. He tentatively places his palm in hers. “It’s nice to meet you, Miles.” She lowers her face and whispers conspiratorially, “I keep my promises, and I never promise something I can’t follow through on.”
My fist clenches against my sternum when a shooting pain lances my chest just as Pappy shuffles toward us from the water’s edge.
“How do you feel about spending some time with me for a few weeks?” she asks him. In fact, everything she’s done so far seems to give him the power. What would she do if he said no?
“Sure,” Miles says pleasantly, but his tone isn’t sure at all.
“It’s about damn time, Row.” There’s a fondness in my grandfather’s tone that’s generally reserved for my kids, and it tells me everything I’ve always suspected about Rowan Ellis—he loves her as if she’s his own flesh and blood.
“Pappy,” she sighs. Her expression opens, and for one moment in time, she’s the frightened little girl she once was, but as quickly as it came, she shutters it behind a smile that will fool everyone.
Everyone but me.
