Page 9 of Finding Forever

My threat fell on deaf ears as I left her room and headed to the kitchen to make sure Penny was fed.

“Daddy, I want to play with my donut in the pool alllll day,” Penny told me as I stood at the stove flipping her pancakes. She’d been itching to use that floaty since she got it, and I guess that meant I needed to finally add air to it.

I stared down at my present task. I’ve cooked twice in the last twenty-four hours. That had to be some kind of record for me.

I wasn’t lying when I told Gina I rarely had home-cooked meals, let alone home-cooked meals prepared by me. As I piled the pancakes onto my daughter’s plate, images of Gina standing over the sink assaulted me. Her shirt had gone nearly see-through when that damn faucet exploded last night. The way she had gasped when I started wiping her down. The way her eyes had widened. It was all trying to get to me while I made an innocent breakfast for my kid.

Shaking the tempting thoughts from my head, I walked over to the breakfast table where Penny was anxiously awaiting me. Penny ate and continued to tell me all about the day she had planned. All the laps she was going to swim and all the snacks she was going to eat.

I listened attentively until Victoria moved past us in a flurry and headed straight for the door. From the open living room window, I could see her driver waiting at the curb. Which meant Gina and Mycah would be on their own again today.

Our exes were clearly set on enjoying their vacation without us, leaving it up to us to keep the kids entertained. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten played by Victoria. Again.

∞∞∞

Penny couldn’t stand still beside me as we waited for Gina to come to the door of her cabin. My daughter’s go-with-the-flow attitude had rubbed off on me after breakfast when I decided to bite the bullet and walk over. I hated to admit it, but having Penny as a built-in excuse to see Gina again was nice.

My face fell when Gina pulled open the door. The sunny disposition that had pulled me in yesterday was missing and in its place was a mask of gloom that instantly caught my attention. I noticed right away that her son’s face was teary and sad until he spotted Penny. Mycah pulled her into a hug just as I closed the door behind us and pulled Gina aside.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I underestimated what being this close to her would do to me. Her soft, floral scent tickled my nose, momentarily distracting me.

Sighing, Gina studied me for a moment cautiously. Almost as if she was determining whether she wanted to confide in me. When she started talking, I couldn’t explain why it felt so good knowing she deemed me safe enough.

“You know, I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said. “It’s not like any of this is new. But I wish he’d just let us stay home instead of bringing us all this way just to do the same old thing.”

Everything she said sounded like an echo of my own thoughts about Victoria. Except I didn’t bother getting visibly upset about it anymore. It’d happened one too many times, and now I felt immune to whatever disappointment was lurking around the corner.

“He doesn’t get that every time he lets down Mycah, he’s leaving me to deal with the repercussions. I’m tired of cleaning up messes I didn’t make.”

Hurt laced her words more than anger, and the pang I felt in my chest had to be sympathy. Because I had just met this woman. There was no other plausible explanation for it. Because she had confided in me, it made it easier for me to open up about what had happened with Victoria earlier.

Sympathy was reflected in Gina’s dark eyes when she looked at me afterward. “I’m sorry that happened. That’s not fair to you or Penny.”

It was obvious that both of our exes had used this vacation as an excuse to further whatever relations they had going on. Like Gina said, it wasn’t fair. Not to us, but especially not to the kids. So right then, I made up my mind about what to do next.

“I’m going to make the best of what’s left of this vacation. For Penny’s sake. Do you want to make it a team effort? I think having Mycah around is good for Penny,” I told her.

For the first time since I arrived, the light re-entered Gina’s eyes, and she nodded.

“Yeah, I’d love that. There are some apps I have on my phone that give you ideas about what to do locally. I was planning to look through some of them before you showed up.”

Nodding, I smiled at her. I loved that she was determined to create special memories, regardless of her ex’s involvement. We were in the same boat on that one.

“I’ve got an idea,” I said.

Gina looked intrigued. “What’s that?”

“Let’s give the kids a mini pool party today. And then we can talk about the other activities you find.”

The wattage on her smile turned up as she nodded at my plan.

“Sound good?”

“That sounds great, Maverick. I’ll leave a note for Chris and we can be on our way.”

Gina

The sun beamed down on me, and the salty-fresh ocean air tickled my nose. Relaxation in its truest form took over my body as I turned another page. I have to be careful or I’m going to get used to this, I told myself. I stretched out languidly on the sunbed adjacent to the pool where Maverick and the kids were. Because he was keeping the kids occupied with a long list of pool games that had the kids screaming and splashing everywhere, I was able to just sit and be. Something I hadn’t been able to do in a long, long time.

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