that she had made her mind up to say something, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She glanced over to where her daughter and Roxy were busy working. “Chloe is young...and...” Taking a deep breath, she tossed the rest of the sentence out before she could back out. “She seems to be developing a tiny bit of a crush on you. If you could keep that in mind when you’re around her, I would appreciate it.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “As in you want me to watch my p’s and q’s.”
“Or maybe maintain a little distance between you and her.”
“Between me and her.” His head tilted. “And what about you? Should I keep my distance there as well?”
Maddy’s mouth watered. That hadn’t been exactly what she’d been trying to say. “I’m a big girl. I think I can handle myself.”
“Can you?”
Okay, the man was playing word games, and she had no idea what he meant by that. But if he wanted to lob a few serves her way, she could match him stroke for stroke. “You can bet on it.”
“I might like to take you up on that wager.” Rubbing his chin with his thumb, he paused, something dark flashing in his eyes. But before she could look closer, it winked back out.
“Don’t worry, Maddy. I’ll keep my distance from your daughter.” He took a step closer, reaching out to take a strand of her hair and sliding it over her temple. “But I have no intention of keeping my distance from you.”
FOUNTAIN PARK WAS awash with people on the big day. There were kites of every shape and size imaginable.
Kites weren’t the only things being celebrated today, it would seem.
“Why didn’t you tell me it’s your birthday?”
Kaleb had overheard Roxy offer to take Chloe off her hands, so she could go home and celebrate by soaking in a hot tub.
“I’m trying to forget I’m another year older.”
Older? The woman was stunning. And right now, he was trying to keep his eyes on Maddy’s sister, as she tugged the string to her kite, and off the birthday girl and the image of her naked in a sea of frothy white bubbles.
Roxy’s kite made it off the ground and hung suspended for a minute or two. Suddenly, it began to spiral out of control, plummeting to the ground in the strong wind.
“I warned her about that glue and using too much fur,” he muttered as it crashed and burned—the first casualty of the day. Luckily for Roxy, though, all the kites’ prototypes were on display in the gathering tent, including her furry unicorn. It made sense, because once the kites were sent into the air, anything could happen. Including smashing into dozens of pieces. And since Roxy’s looked as if it had exploded on contact, it was a good thing.
“I can’t believe it crashed so soon. Is ours going to do that?”
“It shouldn’t.” He said it with as much conviction as he could muster, but kite-flying was more an art than a science. There could be a defect that avoided detection, even in the most flawlessly executed design. Even in the most beautiful creation.
Like the human body. His daughter had been a prime example of that.
“Oh, well.” Maddy settled into a lawn chair on the grassy area surrounding them. “Roxy said she handed out most of her business cards to people who came by to look at the kites. She said even if hers didn’t make it into the air, the effort had been well worth it. And at least she got it up.”
He brought his mind back to the present. “Are you doing anything special for your birthday? Other than a night at home alone?”
“Alone?” She glanced at him with a tilt of her head. “You make it sound like a bad thing. It’s not, you know. Sometimes it’s a luxury.”
Not always. Not when you’d gone from having a healthy, active daughter and a happy marriage to being alone. Every day. Every night.
Roxy came over moaning in despair, her poor tattered kite wilting in her hands. “It’s definitely ruined. Maybe you two will have better luck.”
The kites were sent into the air according to assigned numbers. It didn’t matter if the entrant’s kite stayed up for hours and hours, but it had to go up and be stable for at least five minutes to be considered in the running for the grand prize. They still had another ten minutes before they were set to launch their cat. Chloe was bursting with excitement, jumping up and down.
Roxy held out her hand. “Let’s go get a snow cone and burn off some of that energy until it’s time.”
“Jetta isn’t going up without us, is he?” Chloe gave her aunt a dubious glance.
“We’ll be back in plenty of time.” She shot Maddy a look. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Mind?” She settled deeper into her chair. “I’ll just sit here and figure out what the city looks like from the Space Needle. Because we’re going to... Go! Fight! Win!”
Kaleb couldn’t hold back a chuckle at the impromptu cheer. He had to admit, he liked seeing Maddy and her daughter this enthusiastic about the kite. He hadn’t felt this amalgamation of anticipation and dread in a long time. Probably not since Janice had left him.
No. It would have been before Grace died. Because since then his life had been consumed with more dread than anticipation. Dreading sleep. Dreading wandering into the pediatric oncology wing—even when Brenda Marlin had spotted him in the hallway as he was coming out from the meeting and hugged him last week. He’d thought of transferring hospitals to get away from those memories, but by staying here, he felt he still had some type of connection with his daughter. His ex-wife, on the other hand, had wanted to move away immediately after Grace’s death. One of the things they’d clashed about during that last year. And then she’d cheated, and he’d been left totally alone.
“We’ve got about five minutes left. Is there anything we need to do to get ready?” Maddy’s voice forced him from his thoughts.
He focused on her bright, shining face. This was the example Kaleb should follow. Despite everything that had happened with her ex-husband and that vicious attack, she’d maintained an inner glow that was undimmed.
Then again, she hadn’t lost a child.
He stopped himself right there. She’d lost a husband. But from what he’d seen, the man had been a bastard.
How could anyone have wanted to hurt this woman?
Not him. In fact, he was enjoying being here with her today. Maybe a little too much.
And when the day was over?
Kaleb didn’t want it to end. A thought came to him. It was her birthday. The perfect opportunity to prolong their time together. Not a wise choice, maybe, but it seemed a shame to let her go home to an empty house, despite her earlier words. It could be wishful thinking, but
