by Natalie Ann
Kristen was having fun playing in the water with Olivia and the kids.
Chloe was a cute kid. Shy, but you could see she was just dying to come out. To play. To speak to someone.
She felt this pang of sympathy for the little girl that just recently lost her mother and had her world turned upside down by having to move to a strange place with a man she’d never met before.
“Do you know how to play Marco Polo?” Kristen asked Chloe.
“Yes. You close your eyes and call out Marco and we call out Polo and you try to tag us.”
“That’s right. Do you want to try it?”
“Can I go first?” Chloe asked.
“Sure you can.”
Chloe turned around and covered her eyes, then started to giggle before she called out, “Marco.”
Everyone shouted “Polo” back while they moved around. But it didn’t take long before Chloe was able to tag Olivia and it was her turn.
They played that game for about twenty minutes while the guys were sitting on the deck talking. She’d noticed Landon rubbed his hand over his face a few times. Like he was frustrated or nervous. Maybe just upset. Overwhelmed was probably more like it.
She supposed, for as out of place as Chloe felt, Landon was feeling much worse. She couldn’t imagine what the two of them were going through and realized that Olivia was right. That maybe the timing was wrong for a relationship with Landon, but she could be his friend. She could be Chloe’s friend.
She could stop being selfish and thinking about herself and what she wanted and instead help someone out in their time of need.
Maybe she could be a buffer if they needed it.
Another ten minutes went by and the guys came down to the pool and dove in. It didn’t take long before Chloe stopped smiling and playing and Kristen wondered if Landon scared Chloe. That maybe she wasn’t used to being around guys. Something to think about.
The guys got out of the water pretty fast and went to light the grill. Kristen had a hard time pulling her eyes away from Landon’s bare chest.
Yes, that man was in some marvelous shape. Not just from being a police officer, but from mixed martial arts. Six pack abs...he had them, and then some.
Lean legs with muscles popping out with every step he took. Yes, please keep walking.
Biceps bulging with each flex of his arm. Good lord, she was drooling.
“Why don’t you two stay in the shallow end while the adults get some snacks. Unless you want to get out and get something to eat?” Olivia asked. “Are you hungry, Chloe?”
“I’m okay,” Chloe said. “Thank you for asking though.”
Nice manners, Kristen thought.
While the kids were playing a ring toss game, she and Olivia got out and dried off, then went to the pool house and grabbed some snacks to bring out for the guys and the kids. She lingered over by Landon a few more minutes, figuring she could at least say hi now. Finn got the hint and moved away to give them privacy.
“Your niece is a good kid.”
“She is,” Landon said. “I haven’t heard her giggle before. Thanks for whatever you did or said. It was a nice sound. I’d like to know your trick.”
That was a depressing thought that Chloe hadn’t laughed like that once in the month since she’d been with her uncle. “No trick. We were just playing. Do you play with her?”
Landon snorted. “I can barely get her to talk to me. I know she likes to swim. I asked her if she wanted lessons and she told me they cost money. I told her it didn’t matter, but I haven’t wanted to push her. Hell, this morning she was crying on her bed because she couldn’t find her swimsuit and thought I’d be mad at her.”
“Would you have been?” she asked.
“No. I can’t tell you what it felt like to see her crying there. I don’t get much emotion from her at all, but that wasn’t the one I wanted to see. We stopped and got her a suit at the mall before coming here. She wouldn’t even pick it out herself.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Has she had any men in her life?”
He looked at her like she’d grown two heads. “I doubt it. I didn’t know my sister was gay until her girlfriend called me to say what happened. I asked where Chloe’s father was and Lynn said that Jennifer, my sister, didn’t know who the father was. That she’d gotten pregnant during a bad point in her life when she was trying to find herself.”
“So you think your sister was sleeping around?” Landon asked.
“No clue. I only know what was told to me. There is no father listed on Chloe’s birth certificate and Chloe said she’s never met any man that would be her father. So I guess the answer would be no, there haven’t been any men in her life.”
“I think she’s afraid of you,” Kristen said.
“I wouldn’t hurt her. She has no reason to be afraid,” he said, almost offended.
“I know that. I think she knows it too. But she doesn’t know how to act around you. Maybe she was used to getting in trouble for little things and now here is this big guy she doesn’t know that is the one controlling her. Or calling all the shots. Taking care of her. I’m just putting myself in her shoes.”
“I get that. The counselor has brought up things like that too.”
“You’re bringing her to counseling?” she asked, thinking that was a sweet thing to do.
“I got her in right away. She needs to talk to someone and it’s not me. I don’t know how much she’s talking to the counselor though either.”
“She’s been talking to me,” Kristen said.
“So I saw. What has she said?”
“Not much personally. We’re just playing and she’s having fun. She goes to daycare, are there any other girls there?”
“A few but they’re younger. Do you really think that’s the problem? Gabby, her sitter, said she does talk to her a little, but not a lot.”
“I think that might be some of it. Did you notice that the minute you and Finn dove in the pool Chloe stopped laughing and playing? She got all quiet again.”
“No, I didn’t notice. I mean that’s how she is all the time around me.”
“Maybe it’s something to think about.”
“If what you’re saying is true, I have no idea how to fix that,” he said. “What would you do?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just know that she was happy and playing and then she got all quiet again. But look at her now.”
He turned and looked and saw what Kristen was saying. Chloe was laughing and playing with Trey. “But Trey is a boy, so that goes against what you’re saying.”
“Yes and no. Maybe she looks at him differently because he’s another kid, and because she was having fun with Olivia and me.”
“This isn’t making me feel any better,” he said, running his hands through his hair again. She was starting to feel horrible she brought it up.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intent to make you feel bad. Do you do anything with her?”
“I’ve tried. I don’t want her to think I’m leaving her so I bring her to the studio with me. She watches but sits off to the side.”
“That might be why she is afraid of you.”
“Because she sees me doing martial arts?”
“It’s a physical thing. Maybe she is scared. I know it was scary to me when I was learning those things in your self-defense class and I’m an adult. Have you tried to show her moves or get her to participate?”
“I just figured she didn’t have any interest at all.”
“You won’t know until you ask. I heard Trey was interested in lessons. Maybe you could bring it up in front of Chloe and see how she is about it. Maybe she’d take a class if she thought there was someone she knew in it too.”
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt. Thanks,” he said.
“For what?”
“For listening to me. I’m sure there are more exciting things you’d rather talk about than my problems.”
“I find myself drawn to them. I see a little girl that needs help and a big strong guy trying and struggling.”
“Big strong guy?” he asked, starting to flirt with her. That was even more promising. Was Olivia right? Should she just let the chips fall where they will?
“You’re not blind. You know what I see.”
“I do. What I see is a sexy bathing suit testing me today too. My life is kind of a mess right now,” he said, laughing.
“So is everyone’s, right?” she said, trying to show a bravado she wasn’t quite sure she felt. Fake it till you make it.
“I suppose.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with being friends,” she heard herself say. She wanted so much more than that, but would take what she could get for the moment. Chips, please land in her direction was her first thought.
Just talking to him and seeing how much he was trying with his niece made her realize that though he had complication written all over him he was an absolute sweetheart. What woman wouldn’t die to get to know him better?
“No, there isn’t. As long as you know I can’t promise much more. At least at the moment.”
“I understand. What do you say we join the others by the pool? Maybe you could strike up the martial arts talk with Trey and see what Chloe says. Bring her into the conversation and play it out.”
“Deal. On one condition,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“That you go to dinner with Chloe and me one day next week. It was the only time I got her to smile. When I took her out. I don’t think she got to go out much and it was a treat to her. I’d like to do it again and if you were with us, maybe she’d warm up to me some more.”
“I can do that.”
He reached his hand down and held hers when she went to leave. Tinglings, here they come! “I don’t want you to think I’m using you. That isn’t my intention at all.”
“You told Olivia that already.”
“I figured she’d tell you, but I wanted to say it to you myself. I’m attracted to you too. If I’d known how you felt months ago, I would have acted on it, but now, well, now I’ve got to put Chloe first.”
It hurt to hear that, but in another way it was the right thing. She couldn’t fault a man who did the right thing.
“I understand that. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Let’s just play it out. We’ll start with dinner next week and see if we can get Chloe to warm up to you some more.”
“Thanks, Kristen.”
“You’re welcome, Landon.”
Punched in The Gut
Landon and Chloe left a little after dinner and Kristen stayed to help Olivia clean up. Trey and Finn were swimming in the pool and playing a game of basketball.
“So what were you and Landon talking about by yourselves over there earlier?”
“Not much. We’re going to have dinner one day this week.”
“Really? I thought you didn’t want to get involved with him,” Olivia said, nudging her shoulder.
“It’s not what you think. We are just going as friends. I asked him if he thought Chloe might be afraid of him. Afraid of men in general. Did you notice how her demeanor changed when Finn and Landon got in the water the first time?”
“I did notice that. It crossed my mind too.”
“Well, it didn’t cross his. I asked how many men Chloe had been around and he said he didn’t know but figured not a lot. Did you know his sister was gay?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“He said he didn’t know either. Not until he got the call from Jennifer’s girlfriend to come get Chloe.”
“So everyone is dealing with something,” Olivia said.
“Yeah. Anyway, I suggested he bring up the martial arts lessons to Trey in front of Chloe and see what she said or how she reacted.”
“She didn’t act interested until Trey asked her if she was going to learn too,” Olivia said.
“Exactly. Then she said she’d been watching the classes and trying the moves in her room,” Kristen said. “Did you see Landon’s face when he heard that?”
“I did. Poor guy looked like he was punched in the gut.”
“He just doesn’t know how to talk to her. She doesn’t know what to say to him. He asked if I’d go to dinner with them and said the only time he’d seen her smile was when he took her out. He’d like to see it again and thought maybe she’d open up more if I was there. But he didn’t want me to think he was using me.”
“I told you he said that to me,” Olivia said.
“And I mentioned that I knew it. He said he wanted me to know it was coming from his lips.”
“He’s a good guy, isn’t he?” Olivia said.
“Yeah, he is.”
“Then you go to dinner and see how it turns out.”
“That is my plan.” And for someone that planned a lot in life, this time she was trying not to.
***
So a few days later Kristen found herself walking into the restaurant she was meeting Chloe and Landon at. She hadn’t talked to him since Saturday other than him sending her a text where to meet and when.
She wasn’t sure why she was nervous. This really wasn’t a date, was it?
She took a deep breath and walked to the front counter, then told the hostess that she was meeting someone. She saw Landon and Chloe sitting at a table and made her way there with the little bag in her hand.
“Hey,” she said to them when she got there. “How are you doing, Chloe?”
“Good.”
“What do you have there?” Landon asked.
“Something for Chloe.”
She handed the bag over to the little girl. “Thank you. It’s not my birthday or anything though.”
“No, but isn’t it nice to get a gift for no reason at all?”
“I never have before.”
She glanced over at Landon and saw his frown, but she shook her head at him. Chloe wasn’t paying attention and was diving into the bag. “It’s a book on Marco Polo.”
“It is. You said you knew the game, but did you know the man?”
“No. I thought it was just a game,” Chloe said.
“Now you can read about him.”
“Thank you,” Chloe said. “I like to read.”
“You do?” Landon asked.
Chloe looked up and then put her head down. Kristen could see the frustration on his face, but she gave him the stink eye to keep his emotions in check. Didn’t they already talk about how Chloe hadn’t been around a lot of men? So seeing one bigger than normal frowning was liable to make her clam up.
“How come you didn’t tell your uncle you liked to read? Do you have any books at the house?”
“I have a few, but I’ve read them all. In school I get books out of the library all the time.”
“I can bring you to the library here in town,” Landon said. “Or I can get you a kindle and we can download books on it for you.”
“I can wait until school starts,” Chloe said.
“Or I can get you a library card and you can go pick out some books,” he said back. “We can go together.”
“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Kristen asked her. “I think that is nice of him to offer now that he knows you like to read.”
“He’s busy. He works a lot. I can wait,” Chloe argued quietly while she looked at the book in front of her.
“You can look at me and talk,” Landon said. “I won’t bite.”
The waitress came over at that moment and it was probably a good thing. “Can I get your drink orders?”
Kristen ordered a tea, Landon a soda, and Chloe asked permission for a soda before she ordered.
When the waitress left, Landon said, “You can order what you want. You don’t need permission. You had soda last time we went out.”
“So I can get it whenever we go out?” Chloe asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“Isn’t that great,” Kristen said to Chloe. “It’s like a double
treat. You don’t have to eat what Landon cooks for you and you get soda.”
Chloe giggled. “He isn’t a bad cook.”
“That’s news to me,” he said. “But I’m glad to hear it. Would you tell me if there was something you didn’t like?”
“I like most things.”
“I noticed that. But I asked if you would tell me if there was something you didn’t like. I keep making the same things.”
“Would I get in trouble if I told you I didn’t like something?”
“Not at all,” he said, looking at Kristen, sending her a plea for help.
“I think your uncle just wants to make sure you’re happy and he isn’t sure if you don’t tell him things. He asks you questions so he knows, not to get mad if he doesn’t like the answer.”
“Kristen is right,” Landon said. “I want you to be happy here. I want us to be happy together. We have to learn about each other. I know it’s going to take time. I know this move has been hard on you and you are probably missing your mother on top of it. But I really want you to talk to me.”
Chloe looked down at her book and just nodded her head. Kristen looked at him and shook her head. There was no reason to push anymore. They’d made their point and they weren’t going to get any further.
Their drinks were delivered and they ordered their meals. The rest of the dinner was spent with Chloe looking at her book and telling them what it said and everything she found out about Marco Polo. It was a conversation the three of them had and she could see where it might be a turning point in Landon and Chloe’s relationship and she was glad she was able to help.
When dinner was done and they were in the parking lot, Chloe got in Landon’s SUV while the two of them stood there for a minute. “I can’t thank you enough,” he said.
“No thanks needed. She talked a bit tonight.”
“More than normal. I guess I’ll stop at the bookstore before I pick her up tomorrow and grab a few things. I don’t want to force her to go to the library, but maybe if I buy her some books it will help.”
“Don’t buy them,” she said. “Go to the library and get her a card. Then take a few books out. She doesn’t feel comfortable with gifts. Don’t try to buy her.”