Page 51 of Tempt

I’m not going to argue with him.

“Let’s pick up ice cream.”

“Rocky Road,” he agrees.

We start down the street toward the grocery store.

Outside the day is cooling off, and I check that his jacket is fastened. Habit.

Once I’m satisfied it is, I shove my hands in my own pockets. “Didn’t expect you to pass up chicken nuggets.”

“I don’t want Kat to eat by herself. She picks out good clothes. She helped me get my friend back. We practice ballet moves together when I get stuck. She even got Miss O to come over and help when we both got stuck.”

I look over in surprise.

I knew they were getting along, but I never appreciated how much he looks up to her. I expected her to keep him safe and organized, not to teach him new things.

My kid is happier than he’s been in years. That’s what matters, not some illicit attraction.

Even if I can’t stop thinking about her body wrapped around mine..

We pass a pet store window, where a pen of three black and two white rabbits sits under the lights. Andy stops to watch, following them with a finger as they hop across their paper.

“How do you think Roger is? Do you think he likes living on the magic farm better than living with us?”

Roger was my kid’s first pet. My wife’s idea.

After he died, we weren’t up to getting a new pet, rabbit or otherwise.

“I bet he’s doing great.”

I tug him down the sidewalk toward the grocery store.

“Kat says missing people is good. That saying their name out loud helps us remember, and it keeps our missing them from getting stuck in here”—he points to his chest—“where it’s hard to breathe.”

Andy skips across lines on the sidewalk. I twist the ring on my finger and wonder when this woman started talking to my kid about things I don’t.

The door for the grocery opens automatically, and Andy bounces through ahead before turning toward me, his expression careful.

“Do you ever say Mommy’s name?”

My throat tightens.

“Sometimes.”

Andy reaches for my hand, and I wrap my fingers around his.

15

KAT

B+

A

A-

B-

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