by Jaci Burton
It was just going to be that kind of day.
By the time Kal showed up, she was already exhausted and would have happily opted to spend the day curled up on the sofa reading a book.
He swept his knuckles over her cheek. “You look tired.”
“Kid’s giving me a hard time today.”
“Boys. They’ll do that. Or at least that’s what my mom always told us.”
She smiled. “Please tell me you grow out of it.”
“Some of us do and become amazing specimens of the male species.” He gave her a wickedly sexy smile.
She raised her hand and coughed into it. “Sure. Keep believing that.”
“Hi, Kal.” Oliver ran over and put his arms around Kal’s middle.
Kal seemed surprised but looked over at Hannah and grinned before hugging Oliver back. “Hey, buddy. How’s it going?”
“Mom made me take a shower.”
“Did you stink?”
“I dunno. Maybe.”
“Then you probably needed one. I took a shower, too. Now we can both smell good for your mom today. How’s that?”
“Okay, I guess. When are we going? I’m bringing my Iron Man costume. Jeff is going as Black Panther. Are you wearing a costume?”
“That sounds perfect. I’m not wearing a costume, buddy. How could I possibly compete with your awesomeness?”
Oliver laughed. “Mom, can I go get Jeff?”
“Sure, honey, but be careful.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back, Kal. Don’t leave without me.”
“I’ll be here.”
Oliver ran out the front door just as Hannah’s mother came down the hall.
“Hi, Kal.”
“Hello, Paige. How’s it going?”
“Oh, you know. Aging by the minute.”
He laughed. “Don’t believe it. Look at how beautiful you are. Are you coming with us today?”
She shook her head as she grabbed her purse. “No. I have plans with a certain gentleman for brunch.”
“Wait.” Hannah frowned. “I didn’t hear about this.”
Her mother came over and kissed her cheek, then patted her arm. “No, you didn’t, did you? You all have a nice time today.”
Hannah just stared after her mother as she walked out the door. “Huh. I had no idea she was even seeing someone.”
“Maybe it’s a first date and she doesn’t want to talk about it just yet.”
“Maybe.” It was none of her business who her mother saw anyway. But it was great that she was getting out and seeing someone.
Kal stepped over and pulled her into his arms. “Before the kids come back.”
He brought his lips to hers and kissed her. It was light and easy, but enough to let her know he’d been thinking about her. She fell into the kiss that suddenly turned more passionate, making her wish they had more time alone.
He pulled back and swiped his thumb over her bottom lip. “Damn.”
“Yeah,” she said, blowing out a breath. “I wish we had more time, too.”
“We’ll make the time. Somewhere. And today we’ll have some fun with the boys.”
She smiled, happy that he wasn’t frustrated or mad. “We will. I have a bag packed with donations for today. I got some hygiene items and some socks and a box of diapers for the homeless shelter.”
“Oh, that’s great. I have some stuff, too. I know they’ll appreciate it.”
The boys burst through the door. Jeff flung his backpack by the door, and they raced into Oliver’s room.
Hannah shook her head. “Let me give you the donation bag, and I’ll round up the boys.”
Once she made sure Oliver had his costume in his backpack, she hustled the boys out the door and into the truck.
Since the festival was in Pompano Beach, the drive took about a half hour. On the ride there, Kal engaged the boys in conversation about sports, comic books and superheroes. Hannah was amazed at Kal’s knowledge base about all kid things. Maybe boys retained all that knowledge from their own childhoods. She had to know stuff so she could talk to Oliver about his interests. It certainly wasn’t necessary for Kal to know any of it, since he didn’t have kids. She was impressed.
They parked in the lot and handed over their donation bags at the gate. Hannah’s eyes widened when she saw the multiple bags that Kal had in the truck.
“It’s not all from me,” he said as he easily hefted her two bags plus three more of his own. “Rafe and Carmen don’t come back from their honeymoon until tonight, so they wanted me to add stuff in on their behalf.”
“What are all the bags for?” Oliver asked.
“They’re donations for homeless shelters around the area.”
Jeff gave him a questioning look. “What’s a homeless shelter?”
“It’s a place for people to stay when they don’t have a home of their own,” Hannah said.
“Like an apartment?” Oliver asked.
“No,” Kal said. “Sometimes people don’t have a place to live at all. They live out on the streets either alone or with their families.”
“That sounds sad,” Oliver said.
Jeff nodded as they handed the bags to the people at the gate and got their wrist bracelets.
“And scary,” Jeff said.
They were given a pamphlet, and Hannah looked it over to decide which direction to go first.
“Do kids live on the streets?” Oliver asked.
Kal looked at Hannah as if to ask if it was okay to answer. She nodded.
“They do,” Kal said. “That’s where I lived when I was a kid.”
“No way,” Oliver said. “Were you scared?”
“Sometimes. But I stayed close with people I knew so I was never alone. In fact, my brothers that I have now became my brothers when I was homeless. We got rescued from a fire together when I was living on the streets, and we all got adopted by my firefighter dad and my amazing mom.”
“Whoa. That is awesome. You have the best life, Kal.”
Kal grinned. “Yeah, I sure do.”
Hannah thought it was incredible how kids could hear the worst circumstances but pull the highlights out and absorb only the best parts. She supposed that was the child in them. But Hannah had seen the shadows in Kal’s eyes and knew he was still haunted by his past. He probably always would be.
And who wouldn’t, having lived in those circumstances? She couldn’t imagine going to sleep night after night hungry, homeless, not knowing where your next meal would come from, or if you would ever be able to eat again. And being tossed away by your parents as if you never mattered. It made her love her mom even more fiercely, and determined to love her son the best she could.
She sighed.
“Okay, where to first?” Kal asked, oblivious to the deep emotions rolling through her. Obviously, the boys’ heavy questions hadn’t bothered him. But she still had to ask.
She put her hand on his arm. “Are you all right?”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’m fine. Why?”
“The boys. Their questions.”
“It’s all good. Thanks for asking, though.” He brushed his lips across hers, then immediately drew back, no doubt realizing what he’d done. They both looked at Oliver, who was staring at them.
“I’m thirsty,” Oliver said. “Can we get something to drink?”
“Sure,” Hannah said. “Drinks first, then we’ll go on a hayride.”
And later, when she had Oliver alone, she’d ask him how he felt about seeing her and Kal together.
He might just be seven years old, but he had feelings, and they were important to her.
The hayride was fun, and they were seated with eight other people, several of them kids, so Oliver and Jeff had a great time laughing and talking with the other kids. After that th
ey had lunch, though the boys could hardly sit still since they knew the costume contest would be next and they could barely contain themselves, so it was like trying to eat a sandwich around a couple of bouncing balls.
“Oliver, Jeff, sit and eat your food or we won’t be able to make it in time,” Hannah said.
“But we want to go now,” Oliver said.
“It doesn’t start until two, and it’s only one thirty.”
“So how much more time is that?” Jeff asked.
“Thirty minutes. And it’s only a five-minute walk to the arena, so there’s plenty of time to make it there. Now sit and eat.”
They finally settled and found something to talk about while they ate their food.
“You’re good at that,” Kal said.
“At what?”
“Parenting.”
She laughed. “It doesn’t always work.”
“I don’t know. You’ve got that magic voice that makes people want to do what you ask them to do.”
She leaned into him. “Really? Does it work on you?”
“You bet your—” He looked over at the boys. “Anyway, you should try it on me sometime. Anytime.”
“So if I wanted the house painted, for instance . . .”
He cocked a brow. “Not exactly the direction I was headed.”
She gave him a small smile. “I know. Come on. Let’s get these boys into their costumes.”
On the way to the costume contest, Kal got a text from Jackson.
“Jackson and Becks are here. I let them know where we were headed so they could meet us there.”
“Oh, good.”
Kal went into the men’s restroom with Oliver and Jeff while they changed into their costumes. When they came out, Iron Man and Black Panther were outfitted in full glory.
“My two favorite superheroes, ready to head into action,” Kal said, toting both their backpacks.
The boys struck fighting poses.
“I feel protected already,” Hannah said.
“We’re ready to kick some butt,” Oliver said.
“I’m so glad we have superheroes here to protect us.” Jackson leveled a grin at the boys as he approached.
“Me, too,” Becks said. “Nice costumes.”
Hannah stood. “Oliver, Jeff, this is Kal’s brother, Jackson, and Becks, his fiancée.”
“What’s a fiancée?” Jeff asked.
“That means we’re getting married,” Becks said.
“Oh. I knew that.”
Hannah smiled.
“How come you’re brothers but you aren’t the same color?” Jeff asked.
“Because we were adopted together,” Kal said. “We didn’t have the same parents when we were born. But we grew up together. We lived together. That made us brothers.”
“That’s so cool,” Oliver said. “Does that mean Jeff and I can be brothers now?”
Hannah smiled. “Not exactly. You have me and Jeff has his parents. And the two of you don’t live together. But you can be best friends.”
Oliver scrunched his nose as he thought. “I guess that’s okay. Mom, can we go now? I don’t want to miss the contest.”
“Sure.”
They all made their way to the entry point near the stage. There were quite a few kids entering the contest, so Hannah, with Kal’s help, registered both Oliver and Jeff. They were led to a gate where they’d go up on stage to show off their costumes.
Everyone took a seat, and the parade of costumes began.
“There are some really cute kids up there,” Becks said. “Yours included, Hannah.”
“Thanks.” Becks was right about that. She enjoyed watching kids of all ages walk across the viewing area. She clapped for all of them.
In the end, no one was singled out as the best. All the kids received a bag of treats and an award badge, which Hannah appreciated. Best of all, both boys were thrilled and already digging into their bags, which meant the adults could wander over to the wine and beer area without the boys complaining about it.
Kal got a beer and Hannah a cup of wine, and then they walked around the vendor booths to see what was being offered. Nothing she really wanted, actually, but it was still fun to browse to see what crafty items people made. She sniffed some soaps, ogled quilts, ran her fingers over some amazing woodcrafts and pondered buying a pink flamingo for her mother’s front yard.
“Does she like flamingos?” Becks asked.
“She’s crazy about them. But shockingly, she doesn’t have one in her front yard. And this one is adorable.” It was made out of brass and wasn’t pink, which was what made it so unusual and unique. She knew her mother would love it.
“Grandma would like that one,” Oliver said. “We should buy it.”
“Oh, we should, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re right. We totally should.” She pointed to the flamingo and dug the money out of her purse. The vendor wrapped it up nicely for her and put it in a bag.
“Cute flamingo,” Kal said as they continued to walk along.
“I hadn’t intended to buy anything. But my mom will love it.”
She stopped at another vendor that sold spices. She sniffed a few of them and loved the way they smelled. She could already imagine the different dishes she could make with those spices.
But she’d already bought the flamingo, and since she was on a tight budget, she walked away without buying them, catching up to Jackson and Becks, who were with the boys. They’d found a pet adoption corral, which made her heart squeeze.
“Look at the dogs, Mom,” Oliver said, already heading toward a small brown-and-white mixed-breed dog. It was cute and furiously wagged its tail when Oliver went into the corral to play with it.
Jackson and Kal were in there as well, both of them squatting down to pet the dog.
This was not going to end well.
“Which one of them do you think will end up with the dog?” Becks asked.
“My mother would kill me if I came home with a dog,” Hannah said.
“She doesn’t like dogs?” Becks asked.
“I actually don’t know. I never had pets as a kid. My dad never wanted them around, for sure, and after he died, my mom just didn’t have the time to take care of them.”
“We would make friends with the dogs on the streets,” Becks said. “Feed them scraps of food if we had some. I always wanted one.”
Jackson looked up at her. “You did? Why didn’t you say so?”
Becks shrugged. “It’s never come up.”
Jackson stood and came through the gate to walk over to Becks. “We should get a dog, babe.”
“Oh, it’s all right. I don’t need one.”
“Need isn’t what I’m talking about. What do you want?”
Hannah watched with interest as Jackson and Becks talked together about something as simple, and yet so complex, as adding a dog to their lives. It was something she and Landon had often argued about. He thought getting a puppy would be easy, when she’d been struggling with dealing with Landon’s job issues while working and raising Oliver, mostly by herself. After months of arguing, she’d told him if he brought a dog home, she was going to take Oliver and leave him and the dog and he’d never see them again. He’d finally let the topic drop, but she’d felt like the worst mother ever. But someone had to be the adult, and that responsibility had often fallen on her shoulders.
“Look how cute he is, Momma.”
She looked over and smiled at Oliver, who was playing with the same dog. “He’s very cute, Oliver. But we’re living with Grandma, and she doesn’t want a dog in her house. Maybe someday when we get our own house, okay?”
Her stomach twinged when she caught sight of Oliver’s crestfallen face.
“How about we do this another time?” Beck
s said to Jackson.
Hannah laid her hand on Becks’s arm. “It’s okay. You make your own decisions and don’t worry about Oliver. He’ll understand.”
Oliver got up and went over to the part of the corral where Becks and Jackson were looking at an adorable German shepherd mix who seemed to be a bundle of energy.
“He’s cute,” Oliver said, reaching out to pet the dog. “Do you like this one?”
“I do,” Becks said.
“You gonna take him home? I think he likes you.”
Becks looked at Jackson, who nodded. “I think we’ll apply to adopt him. If Kal’s okay to share the house with a dog.”
“Hey, I’m good,” Kal said.
“Did you hear that, Momma? They’re gonna adopt him.”
She was happy that Oliver wasn’t too upset about not being able to get his own dog today. But Jeff had a Labrador at his house that Oliver loved to play with, and maybe a surrogate dog was enough for him for now.
But someday? Someday she’d have her own place again. And then Oliver would have a dog of his own.
After Jackson and Becks filled out the application to adopt the dog, they wandered around and found a designated play area. The boys ran loose, and the rest of them sat at tables to watch them while drinking their wine and beer.
“I remember having that much energy,” Kal said as they watched the boys chase after each other, along with a few other kids they’d made friends with.
Jackson grinned. “You still have that much energy.”
“I don’t know about that.” He took a long swallow of his beer. “I’m pretty sure those two could wear me down in a hurry.”
“Trust me, they could,” Hannah said. “Oliver will go the entire day until he hits his bed at night.”
“Bet he sleeps well, though,” Becks said.
Hannah nodded. “Once he’s asleep, he’s out cold.”
Jackson turned to Becks. “Like you.”
She nudged him with her elbow. “At least I don’t fall asleep standing up leaning against a wall.”