by Claire Adams
“The trains!” she called when she saw the little train-shaped roller coaster. Gina was on the taller side for her age, so she reached the minimum height for her to ride alone. The attendant let her through the small gate.
Noah and I stood off to the side. Of course, she went for the conductor car. There was a little wheel there, and she pretended to steer the coaster, even though it hadn’t started moving yet.
“All aboard!” she called out.
“Choo choo!” Noah and I said in unison.
We looked at each other and laughed.
After two other tots had gotten onto the ride, the attendant went to each of the cars to make sure the kids were strapped in before he started up the train.
Gina screamed with glee when the coaster moved. My hands tightened on the metal fence. Even though it wasn’t far off the ground, I kept a close eye on her to make sure she didn’t fall out.
“Which types of rides do you like?” he asked.
“I’m not a ride person,” I said.
“Seriously?”
“I’m more of a games person. I like to keep my feet planted on the ground. How about you?”
“Anything with loops.”
“Of course.”
He chuckled. “Why do you say that?”
“You seem like the adventurous type.”
“I thought you were too,” he said.
I glanced at him to see if there was another deeper meaning to his comment, but it didn’t appear so. “Not when it comes to the loopy rides. These rides break all the time.”
“Don’t you love the risk though?” he asked.
I licked my lips as they were suddenly dry. “Not when it comes to my life.”
He nodded. “Good to know.”
“If you want to go on those rides, I can watch Gina,” I said.
“No, I’d rather spend time with the both of you. I’ll get my thrills elsewhere.”
I had no idea what to say to that. But I had a strong feeling about what he meant.
The coaster went around the track three times before it slowed to its original position. The attendant helped Gina with her belt and she hopped off.
“That was so fun!” she said when she came around to us.
I played with her hair. “What do you want to do next?”
Gina rode pretend rocket ships, space buggies, and several other rides for the rest of the morning.
Noah managed to get me on a swing ride and while Gina and Noah whooped and hollered while flying through the air. I held onto the ropes as tight as I could, wishing the ride would end. Though, when it was over, a trembling sensation flitted through my body, and I felt good. Maybe these rides weren’t as bad as I feared.
Noah lifted Gina off the ground as we headed out of the ride. She giggled as he tickled her tummy.
“Are your hands okay?” Noah asked me.
I looked at them. There was nothing out of the ordinary. “Yeah, why?”
“You held that rope pretty tight,” he said with a silly grin.
I swatted at him. “Ha ha, you’re so funny.”
“How about we take a break for lunch?” he asked us.
Even though my stomach was still flying high from the swings, I agreed. At least after eating, I could have an excuse not to go on any more rides.
The three of us sat under one of the pavilions and chowed down on chicken tenders and greasy fries. The park charged ridiculous prices for the food, but Noah didn’t care. He never did. Money was no object for him. I supposed that came with having a lot of it.
“These are so good,” I said, polishing off my third chicken tender.
“I’m going to have to work out for a week to burn these off,” he said, grabbing another with no intention of stopping.
“Oh, stop,” I said. “You can indulge once in a while.”
“Yeah, Daddy,” Gina said with a mouth full of fries.
His mouth slackened. “Is it pick on Daddy day?” he asked Gina and then ruffled her hair.
She giggled.
“I thought better of you, Jess,” he said with a smirk.
“I’m not as good as you think,” I teased.
“I had a feeling.” His gaze lingered on mine. .
I quickly glanced at Gina, and she was happily sipping her soda. “So, what are we doing next?” I asked, steering the conversation away from topics that had a deeper meaning to the two of us.
“Well,” he said. “I can’t do any more rides for at least an hour after eating.”
“That’s swimming, Daddy,” Gina said.
“It applies to rides too,” he said.
“How about some games?” I suggested. If I could, I’d avoid the rides for the rest of the day, but I knew Gina wouldn’t go for that. If I could steer her toward the ones that adults weren’t allowed on, then I would feel much better about continuing with that part of the park.
“Let’s do the water gun one,” Gina suggested.
“The water gun one it is then,” Noah said, tilting his cup to me.
I leaned over the table. “I have to warn you. I’m pretty good at that game.”
“I hate to burst your bubble,” Noah said, “but I never lose.”
An hour later, the three of us walked out of the games area of the park. I held two large stuffed animals in my arms and Gina held the smaller one. I’d won all of them.
“You were saying?” I asked when Gina hopped onto another ride. I placed the stuffed animals on a nearby bench. I made a show of how much my arms hurt from carrying the animals.
Noah raked his hands through his hair. He lifted his sunglasses to wipe the glass on his shirt. His eyes twinkled with mischief. “I let you win.”
“Oh, come on!” I said. “You were trying hard. I saw your scrunched up face when you were concentrating.”
“I don’t scrunch up my face,” he said.
I gasped. “Yes, you do!”
He closed one eye and shook his head in disbelief.
“Would it make you feel better if I gave you one?” I asked. I lifted the big purple gorilla and handed it over.
He reached out and touched my wrist. With him feeling the sensitive inner part of my wrist, my mind went blank. I couldn’t think of anything at that moment.
“Let’s have a rematch on another day,” he said.
“Deal,” I breathed.
His fingers moved to my hand, and he guided me to putting the gorilla back onto the bench. He slid them down to my palm.
My breath hitched in my throat. For a moment, I thought he was going to squeeze or hold my hand. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned to watch Gina on the ride. I stood there for a moment, staring at him.
It took Gina’s gleeful laugh to snap me back to reality. What had just happened between us?
I was no closer to getting an answer by the time we reached Noah’s house. With Gina in the car, it wasn’t an appropriate time to talk about us. It seemed like there never would be an appropriate time.
It was past her nap time, so when we arrived, she hopped out of the car, ready to lie down. She really was the perfect kid. I knew plenty of other kids who fought with me about their nap times.
Noah gave Gina the key to the house. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Bye, Jess,” she said and hugged me.
I kissed her cheek. “Sleep well.”
She yawned and nodded, trudging up the walkway to the side entrance.
“Thanks for having me today,” I said. “I’ll see you M—”
“Join us for dinner tomorrow,” Noah said quickly.
“Tomorrow?”
His shoulders lifted. “I’m taking Gina downtown to Eclisse. She likes to dress up for the fancier places.”
“Are you sure you want me to come?” I asked.
His eyebrows knitted together. “Of course.”
“I’d love to,” I said.
“Great,” he said then leaned over and kissed my cheek. “See you then.”
I nodde
d, unable to speak. I floated over to my car, unable to feel my feet touching the ground. I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from smiling. I had to play it cool, at least until I was alone. After spending an incredible day with Noah and Gina, our weekend together would continue, and I couldn’t be happier.
Chapter Seventeen
Noah
All day, I couldn’t stop thinking of Jess and the fantastic time we had the day before at Playland. Offering to take her to dinner was the second part of my plan. I wanted to show Jess that she would and always be a part of our family, even though she’d only been with us for a short amount of time. There was something special about her, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. I wanted to get to know every detail about her life and share every detail of mine with her. It would take time, but it would be worth it.
Jess was to arrive around five-thirty for our six o’clock reservation. I made sure I was ready before I started with Gina. She had a tendency to mess up her clean outfits before we even left the house, so getting her ready was last on the list before going anywhere nice.
“Which dress are you wearing?” I asked when I came into her room. I looked around and couldn’t believe what I saw. The room appeared as if her closet had exploded. There were clothes strewn on almost every surface. I pinched the bridge of my nose, attempting to push away my frustration. There wasn’t enough time to clean all of this up before leaving.
“This one,” Gina said, holding up a red velvet dress.
“That’s your Christmas dress,” I said.
“But I want to wear it!” she exclaimed.
“Fine,” I said, not wanting to argue. I picked up a few of the strewn outfits and placed them on the bed. I could at least get everything in one area before we left and then hang them up later on.
I went into her closet and picked through a basket overflowing with her shoes. Even though I installed built-in shelving units, Gina could never keep her closet clean, so I gave her a basket to store her accessories. At the very least, there was one place to find matching pairs.
I picked out a pair of black patent leather shoes. “Put these on.”
“No,” she said. “Those pinch my toes.”
“Okay” I said, tossing those in the back of the closet. I made a mental note to speak to Jess about helping sort out clothes and shoes that were too small for Gina. It wasn’t a task I had time for anytime soon.
There was another pair of black shoes a size larger. “How about these?”
“Yes,” she said, running into the closet and taking them from me. She sat on the floor and started putting them on. I walked around her room, picking up her clothes. By the time I finished laying them on the bed, it was already close to five-thirty.
Gina stood up and shoved her messy brown mane out of her face.
“We’ll need to put your hair up,” I said.
Gina cringed.
“Come on,” I said, shooing her out of the room. “We have only a little time before Jess gets here.”
While I worked through her tangled hair with a comb, I heard the door open downstairs.
“We’re up here,” I called into the hallway.
“Ow, Daddy!” Gina said.
“Sorry, honey,” I said, trying to untangle one particular stubborn knot.
“How’s everyone doing?” Jess asked from the doorway.
I turned, taking Gina with me. I dropped the comb from my hand, and it hung from Gina’s head. “Not so great.”
Jess tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “Let me have at that.”
With her focus on Gina, I took a moment to inspect her outfit. She wore pleated black pants and a white shirt with a low cut. Unlike Kimberly’s low-cut outfit, Jess’s was classy. Though when she bent over to help Gina, the thin fabric moved away from her body and revealed the top of one of her breasts.
Feeling like a voyeur, I said, “I’ll give you two some space,” then left the room. I took several calming breaths before heading downstairs. I trusted Jess to handle Gina’s hair, and I needed to cool down for a moment. That mere glance at her had sent my head into a tailspin. How much longer could I keep this up before I started something between us again?
I paced the kitchen a few times before I heard them coming down the stairs.
They entered the room, and Gina’s hair was pulled back in a loose French braid.
“You two look great,” I said.
“Thanks!” Gina said and twirled around.
My gaze shifted to Jess, and she offered a small smile.
“We should get going,” I said.
I’d reserved a window seat on the second floor of the restaurant for us. It was private enough to have a decent conversation with each other while not bothering others with Gina’s rambling. I loved her to death, rambling and all, but Eclisse was an expensive place, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone’s dinner with her curiosities.
“This place is beautiful,” Jess said after the waiter took our drink orders.
“It’s one of my favorites,” I said.
“Mommy and Daddy had their first date here,” Gina said.
I sucked in a breath and locked eyes with Jess.
I didn’t know what to expect from Jess. Gina rarely spoke about Wendy.
“That’s sweet you keep coming here,” Jess said, unaffected by the conversation about my deceased wife. I wondered if Gina and Jess spoke about Wendy when I wasn’t there. Not that Gina knew much about her mother, only what I told her.
“Yeah,” I said, looking down at my menu, even though I memorized it a long time ago.
“What is your favorite dish?” Jess asked Gina.
“Um,” Gina said, holding her little chin in her hand. “I like the spaghetti with broccoli.”
“Really?” Jess asked. “I thought you hated broccoli.”
I smiled. “Broccoli rabe,” I corrected. “It’s the garlic that she loves.”
Gina smacked her lips together for emphasis. “Gaaarlic!”
Just then, the waiter placed a basket of bread on the table. “Are you ready to order?”
Jess took Gina’s recommendation and ordered the pasta with broccoli rabe and sausage. It was a simple dish but prepared exquisitely.
I ordered last. “I’ll have the fish special.”
“Very well,” the waiter said, collecting our menus. “I’ll return with your drinks.”
“Did you take your date here?” Gina asked me after the waiter left.
“What?” I asked.
“Is this where you took your date last week?” Gina asked.
“No,” I said. I never took anyone but Gina here; it was special to me. At least until Jess came along. It was a grand gesture to take her out to dinner with us here. Though she didn’t know it yet.
“Oh,” Gina said. “Maybe that’s why it didn’t work out.”
I glanced at Jess. Her hand covered her mouth. But the corners of her eyes lifted with amusement. I was glad we were at the point of laughing at my tragic date with Kimberly.
“You may be right,” I said.
“You should go on another date soon,” Gina said.
I stared at Gina, not wanting to see Jess’s expression. Would she want me to date again? Would that get her off the hook about what happened between us last week? “I don’t think so, honey. I think I’m done with dating for a little while.”
“You’re wrong,” she said.
“How so?”
“You’re on a date now.”
I locked eyes with Jess.
“With me!” Gina said and giggled into her hands.
I smirked. “That’s right. We are,” I said without taking my eyes away from Jess.
Jess’s chest heaved as she took labored breaths. It made sense that I thought of Jess during my date with Kimberly. Being here with Gina and Jess solidified my need to have her in my life on a more permanent basis. She turned me on so much and had a genuine love for my daughter. What else did I need in a woman?
> We fell into a rhythm for the rest of the dinner. Being with Jess and Gina was so easy. I never thought anyone could seamlessly move into our lives as well as Jess did.
And when it was time to get the check, I knew there was only one way to prolong our time together.
When we reached the house, the three of us got out of the car. The beautiful weather from yesterday had continued through today. The sun was close to setting along the horizon, and a warm breeze moved through the trees on the edge of the property.
Gina shuffled toward the house. We’d stayed at Eclisse later than I’d expected, but I didn’t want the night to end. Though Gina had been a trooper, I knew she was tired.
“I want to talk to you about something,” I said to Jess. “Can you stay while I put Gina down?”
“Sure,” she said.
As if Gina knew that I was pressed for time, she didn’t fight me about getting ready for bed. I had her down in less than ten minutes.
When I came back downstairs, Jess was sitting on one of the kitchen barstools waiting for me. She stood up when I entered the room.
“We should talk outside,” I said, indicating the door. I knew Gina wouldn’t eavesdrop, but I didn’t want to risk it. Not until Jess and I figured all of this out.
“What did you want to talk about?” Jess asked when we reached her car.
My gaze fell to her lips. She’d reapplied her red lipstick that accentuated her thick lower lip. I remembered sucking on that when we kissed over a week ago.
I blinked a few times and cleared my throat, attempting to concentrate. “I wanted to talk about last week.”
She nodded. “It’s the elephant in the room, huh?”
“Yes,” I said. “I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
She tilted her head to the side.
I took a step closer to her, and she didn’t move. That was a good sign. At least she wasn’t repulsed by me. But I wasn’t sure how much time I had to convince her. “That night. I keep replaying it in my head over and over again. Every time I see you, I see you like you were that night.”
“But, Gina—”