Page 37 of Forever Flirting

“Then I can only imagine…” he chuckled, nervously glancing at Dixie, before peeking at his phone and then closing the screen, letting out a heavy sigh like he was an innocent prisoner being condemned to hang.

“And Caleb is hungry,” she volunteered, trying to make small talk in the awkward silence. “Take half of this one and cut it up for him. I’m not that hungry.”

“Everly…”

“It’s fine,” she said, immediately interrupting him. “My stomach’s been upset a lot in the last few days, so we might as well not let it go to waste.”

“Would you like to go for a walk afterwards?”

“Walk… where?”

“Along the trail that runs by the creek. I thought maybe we could just walk and talk – AWAY FROM PRYING EYES,” he finished loudly, looking at Dixie pointedly.

The woman shrugged openly, not even bothering to deny it.

“Sometimes the baby bird needs a gentle shove from the nest,” Dixie said openly, smiling.

“Oh geez…” Alex chuckled, shaking his head as Everly choked out a laugh. This man before her wasn’t a baby bird in the slightest, and the comparison was just humorous.

“A walk would be nice,” she admitted quietly.

“Great,” he smiled, cutting up part of each sandwich and pushing her plate towards her. “Eat – and relax. Please.”

* * *

Thirty minutes later,she watched as Alex swung Caleb up onto his shoulders, making the child laugh as she grabbed the pink diaper bag dutifully, carrying it out to the car. She dropped it in her vehicle since her keys were accessible… and they left the cars where they were – circling down the sidewalk beside a strip mall.

Everly saw the stone steps that led down to a large sidewalk that ran along a creek for quite a-ways – and smiled. The trees were overhanging, shadowing parts of the path, and the water was bubbling in the distance.

“I pway, Daddy?” Caleb asked almost immediately, spotting the water. “Baff-time?”

“No, buddy,” Alex smiled. “That’s cold water and you can’t go in there, buuuut…”

Everly watched as he held both of Caleb’s hands straight out from where he was perched on Alex’s shoulders, akimbo.

“You can fly just like your Daddy does….”

Alex ran forward about ten feet, then turned, and ran back to where Everly was – grinning as Caleb was laughing in delight.

“I think you created a monster,” she smiled happily at him, feeling almost at ease and so glad she was getting a chance to glimpse this part of his personality. The joy in Alex’s eyes was not something he could fake, and it was there, sparkling, for anyone to see.

“I bet I did,” he beamed, chuckling. “I’ll be right back…”

“I’ll be here,” she quipped as he ran aways off, soaring and weaving, before pretending to dive bomb Everly by getting really close.

“Ebberrlleee gon-getchu,” Caleb shrieked.

“Oh no!” she replied instantly, looking frightened. “Don’t get me, Caleb!”

“You missed your runway, pilot…” Alex said in a gruff voice. “Come around and find your target, flyboy.”

“Again! Again!”

Alex laughed easily, looking at Everly as she mockingly waved him off, only to have Alex and Caleb run off aways again… before coming back.

“Attack pattern, Delta… do you copy, pilot?”

“Toppy!” Caleb shrieked in joy – and Everly realized that they’d played together like this several times for him to know to say ‘copy’ back to Alex.

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