Page 128 of Winter Vows

“How can it be so easy for him?” she wondered. “It’s as if he hasn’t even been away.”

“All he knew was that he was away with his dad,” Dylan reminded her. “He didn’t know there was anything really wrong with that. Now he’s just falling back into his usual routine. Be grateful, Kelsey. You wouldn’t have wanted him to be traumatized by what happened.”

“Of course not.”

Bobby spotted her just then and ran across the yard. He flung his arms around her. “Mommy, I love you.”

Surprised by the impulsive and increasingly rare gesture, Kelsey squeezed him back, then forced herself to let go. Only after he was out of earshot did she whisper, “I love you, too, baby.”

She allowed her shoulder to brush Dylan’s as they sat on the back steps watching the kids play. He slid an arm around her waist, gave her a reassuring squeeze, then released her.

“They grow up so fast,” she observed eventually. “One minute they’re babies, the next they’re all but grown...or think they are. Bobby’s only three, but already I can feel the time flying by.”

Only after her comment was greeted with total silence did she realize the impact it must have had on Dylan. She touched his cheek. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s true. They do grow up way too fast. When I think of what I’ve missed with Shane, it makes me a little crazy. No more, though,” he said with quiet resolve. “I’m not going to miss the rest of it.”

She snuggled more tightly against his side, satisfied for the moment with no more contact between them than that. “Tell me what you remember most about him.”

“What a tough little guy he was,” he said at once. “There were some bigger kids in the neighborhood, but as soon as he could walk he wanted to play with them. He would fall down, get right back up and run even harder. He was the same way with his brothers.”

Kelsey stared at him in surprise. “You mean his stepbrothers?”

“Technically, yes, but that’s not how he thinks of them.”

“You’ve seen them together? I thought you hadn’t had any contact with him at all since you gave up custody?”

Dylan looked vaguely disconcerted that she had picked up on that. “I went by the house once, just to check on him,” he said defensively. “I needed to see for myself that he was okay.”

Somehow she found it reassuring that walking away hadn’t been easy for him. “Of course you did. Were you satisfied?”

His expression glum, he nodded. “He looked happy. They looked like a real family.”

“Was that the only time you saw him?”

“No,” he admitted. “There was one time at his preschool. Kit spotted me that day. She sent me a finger painting he had done of his family. I guess she wanted to be sure I got the message.”

“Or maybe she just wanted to reassure you that he was fine.”

“Maybe.”

“Dylan, can I ask you something?”

“Of course. After what we’ve been through the last few days, I think you’ve got a right to ask me just abut anything.”

“What was your relationship with Kit like?”

He regarded her with surprise. “Are you sure you want to hear about that?”

“Why not? You know all the gory details of my relationship with Paul.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. The truth is we never should have gotten married in the first place, even though we thought we were crazy in love with each other.”

“Why not?”

“We were complete opposites in every conceivable way. That’s probably why the attraction was so powerful, but in the end we couldn’t find a middle ground on anything. We argued over everything. She liked pasta. I liked steak. She wanted to sleep in. I liked to get up at the crack of dawn. She preferred one toothpaste. I refused to give up the one I liked. At least with two tubes, we didn’t have to fight over which way to squeeze the stuff out.”

“Sounds like the usual marital kinks that get worked out with time,” Kelsey said.

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