by Nella Tyler
I watched Sophia walk across the parking lot to her father, who lifted a hand to wave at me. I waved back, mostly to be nice, but I didn’t smile at him. Peyton was getting out of her car as Drew helped Sophia into his truck. She stared at him openly, one sculpted eyebrow arched with interest. He looked at her only briefly before walking around the truck and getting back inside. I waved at Sophia as they drove away.
Peyton was giving me an amused look as she crossed the parking lot to get to where I was standing, her blue eyes full of excited mischief. She was wearing the cream-colored coat I loved, black skinny jeans, and her brown boots. She was always so damned stylish. Luckily, we were the same size, allowing me to routinely plunder her closet. Whenever she got tired of wearing something, I happily took it off of her hands.
“Was that your Valentine’s Day date?” she asked and giggled at how my face twisted.
“He’s not my date. But, yes, that’s Sophia’s father.”
“He is smoking hot, Abs. You need to jump at that opportunity.” Her smile sharpened. “Or maybe you should jump on that opportunity.”
I swatted her arm, but was laughing, too. “There won’t be any of that. He’s just a guy who needs me to help him out by attending this lunch.” I’d already told her all about what had happened at dinner last Saturday. “And, anyway, I have no interest in really spending more time with him after the first time we went out. Sophia is the only reason I’m even still speaking to him.”
“Well, if you decide you don’t want to go to the lunch, I’ll stand in to play mother to any of his dumb kids.”
My face fell into a frown. “First of all, Sophia is not dumb. She’s a bright little girl who misses her mother. Second, aren’t you engaged to be married?”
Peyton deflected my words with a graceful wave of her hand. “It’s called a joke, Abigail. Jeez. Lighten up.”
But I didn’t feel much like joking. The last week had been an emotionally trying one. It was my own fault. Nothing about this had ever been about dating, but I’d let Drew’s good looks work their magic. And the beginning of the dinner had gone so well that I stupidly let myself think what we were doing for Sophia could turn into something more. I couldn’t blame Drew for that, no matter how inappropriate his comment had been.
“I’m only doing this for my student,” I said, sighing the words I’d been repeating inside of my head for days. “After the Valentine’s Day lunch, things will go back to normal.”
“You don’t look very excited about that.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I’d hoped things would naturally develop between Drew and me, but he slammed that door shut on Saturday night.”
“So, that’s it? There’s not a chance anything could happen?”
“We’re going out somewhere on Saturday to try to salvage what we can of this agreement.”
Peyton looked excited, her blue eyes electric. I shook my head wearily to keep her from saying anything.
“It’s not like that, Peyton. I don’t even really want to do this, but I feel like I owe it to Sophia. She already heard me agree to go. I can’t take that away from her.”
“So, this devastatingly handsome guy was a bit of a jerk the other night, and for that, you’re willing to miss out on a great opportunity? He looks like he just stepped out of the pages of a men’s magazine for crying out loud, Abs. Give him another chance. When was the last time you dated?”
She knew it had been a while. I didn’t see a reason to say it out loud.
“Exactly,” she continued. “Give yourself the permission to have some fun for once in your life. It’s not like you have to agree to spend the rest of your life with the guy.”
I was beyond done discussing this topic. I was going out with him tomorrow, despite my reservations. I didn’t want to overshadow the wedding planning with it, as well.
“I have the magazines inside my classroom,” I said, hooking a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the building. “We can look at the flower arrangements here or go up the street to the coffee shop. I don’t know about you, but I could really use a cappuccino.” This entire week had seemed like one unending chore, but today was especially exhausting. If I didn’t get some caffeine into me, I might just fall asleep in the middle of the planning.
“I see what you’re trying to do,” Peyton replied. She stepped closer and linked arms with me. “I’m letting you change the subject, but don’t think we’re done talking about Mr. Right Now and how much fun he could be for the next couple of weeks. You need that kind of fun.”
“I thought you were letting me change the subject.”
“I am,” she assured me. “And, we should absolutely take the magazines to the coffee shop. Places where lots of little kids congregate give me the creeps.”
“You are so weird,” I said, and laughed. We walked into the building together, leaving the cold afternoon air behind us.
Chapter 13
Drew
Saturday
Abigail was due to arrive at the house any minute now. I’d already showered and put on a casual outfit — jeans, a nice but comfortable sweater, and a pair of broken-in sneakers — and was trying my best to remain calm. After the tense, borderline unfriendly conversation we’d had outside of the school, it wouldn’t have surprised me to have her not show up at all. She seemed like the kind of person who would call with an excuse, so I stayed on tenterhooks, expecting the phone to ring at any moment. Instead, minutes before one o’clock, the doorbell rang.
Squealing with pleasure, Sophia bolted past me to answer the door. I only allowed her to do that when I knew it was Brian on the other side. This was okay, too. I knew how much she loved her teacher and was looking forward to her arrival. I had to come help her, since the deadbolt was turned over much higher than she could reach. I flipped it over and stepped out of the way.
She threw open the door. “Miss East!” She jumped outside to give the woman a hug.
“Come inside, honey,” I said to her. “You don’t have shoes on or your jacket.”
“Hi, Sophia!” Abigail said, smiling down at my daughter. She was dressed in a dark coat and jeans. I’d told her to keep it causal and comfortable, but didn’t give her any more details than that. I really wanted us to have a good time, and I liked planning surprises.
“Come see my dress, Miss East,” Sophia said. She took her teacher by the hand and led her upstairs while I watched them go.
Brian came out of the kitchen with a mug of coffee, his light eyebrows raised. “Well, at least she showed up.” I’d been dumb enough to share my concerns with him earlier. He’d come over in the morning, bearing doughnuts and a new coloring book for Sophia, who loved any excuse to use her crayons and colored pencils.
“That’s step one,” I said.
“What’s step two?” he asked.
“Convincing her that I’m not a complete asshole after all.”
He laughed and snorted at the same time, nearly spitting up the coffee he’d just drank. “Good luck with that.”
The girls came back downstairs after about ten minutes, both of them talking about what they planned to wear at the Valentine’s Day lunch. It was a relief to hear Abigail say aloud that she planned to go. I should have known she’d never go back on her word to Sophia. There was still a chance of fixing what I’d broken between us if I played my cards right. I just needed to keep from saying something stupid today.
“Abigail, this is Brian,” I said, and she smiled warmly at him. A little too warmly for my liking, especially considering she’d barely looked at me since she arrived.
“You must be the backup father Sophia always talks about.” She extended her hand so Brian could shake it.
“That’s me. I’m here for whatever this little lady needs.” He dropped his hand onto the top of Sophia’s head. She’d gravitated to his side and was leaned against him companionably.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” Abigail said.
“You, too. Sophia talks about h
er teacher all the time.” He bumped her head with his hip, causing her to giggle and throw both of her arms around him. “You crazy kids should get out of here so we can get to what we have planned, right, Soph?”
She nodded, a serious look on her face. “Right, Bri.”
“Shall we?” I asked with a hopeful smile, looking at Abigail.
She glanced at me, her sunny smile tightening. “Okay.”
We walked outside together. “We can take my truck, since I know where we’re going.”
She stopped at the end of the walk, looking up at me, a serious look on her face that reminded me of Sophia. “Before we go, I just want to make it clear why I’m here.” She cleared her throat, but didn’t take her green eyes away from mine. “I made your daughter a promise, and I intend to keep it. If not for that, I’d never go out with you again.”
I drew in a deep breath, stung by the sharpness of her words, and nodded. “Okay. I deserve that after the other night.” I wasn’t sure what else I could say to that, so I didn’t try to come up with anything. I led her to the truck and opened the door for her while she climbed inside. I didn’t have anything major planned, but I hoped we could have some fun together, allowing the fuck up of our last time out to dissipate a little.
We drove to the adventure park in silence, the atmosphere inside of the truck much chillier than the winter temperatures outside. I just kept my mind on the possibilities that the day held instead of focusing on how poorly things were going at the current moment.
“The adventure park?” she asked, squinting through the windshield as we pulled into a parking spot.
“I bring Sophia here all the time. They have a top notch rock climbing area. It’s a lot of fun and great exercise. You up for it?”
She looked over at me like she was just seeing me for the first time all day. The chill in her eyes had warmed just a touch, and I took that as a good omen. We got out of the truck and walked inside, a healthy distance between us. We checked into the front area. I had a special card that gave me a discount since Sophia and I came here so often. We went into the humongous rock climbing gym.
At the sight of the different rock climbing walls, Abigail looked worried. “Is this dangerous?”
There were kids on the easier walls and more seasoned climbers on a few of the more advanced ones.
“No, you’ll be attached to ropes and won’t be able to fall,” I assured her as we worked our way into our harnesses. At that exact moment, one of the little kids slipped off of the wall and fell in a gale of giggles. She didn’t go far. The attendant underneath her tightened up on her rope, and she only fell about a foot.
“See?” I said, smiling over at her. “I can hold your ropes or you can get one of the employees to do it. I usually hold Sophia’s. She’s a great climber. She can do the intermediate walls now and hasn’t fallen or slipped since the middle of last summer.”
Abigail looked impressed. She pulled her loose red locks back and twisted it into a complicated-looking bun to get it out of the way. “Okay. I’ll try it. But I’m not a huge fan of heights.”
“I’ll be here to help. And just remember, you can’t actually fall more than a foot or two.”
She smiled, but still looked worried. I led her to one of the beginner walls and hooked her up to the safety lines. I grabbed a pair of gloves and assumed the position.
“Use the foot and hand holds to climb,” I told her. “Don’t look down if it scares you. I won’t let you fall. Your real power is in your legs, so use them to propel yourself upwards.”
Abigail started on the wall. I directed her from foothold to foothold. She used the power of her slim thighs to move herself up the wall. She moved gracefully, and I got a great opportunity to check out her athletic body in motion. Her jeans fit her beautifully, and I couldn’t get enough of the sight of her tight, round little ass in that harness. I couldn’t deny that I was attracted to her, more so now than before. And she seemed to be having fun.
“I made it!” she called from the top. She looked down at me, her smile triumphant and light eyes shining. From where I was standing, her safety line held securely in my gloved hands, she was the most gorgeously radiant woman I’d ever seen.
“Great job!” I shouted back.
All of a sudden, her face collapsed into a worried expression. “How the hell do I get down from here?”
She was only about thirty feet off the ground, but for someone who was afraid of heights, it probably felt like three thousand.
“It’s really easy and fun. You just use your feet to push against the wall and jump back down to the ground.”
Now, she looked terrified.
“Look at that little girl over there,” I said, using my chin to point. I didn’t want to move my hands out of their secure position. If she started to panic, I might need to keep her from falling suddenly. I was used to holding Sophia’s lines, but she was a lot smaller. “Just do what she’s doing. Once you get started, it’s very easy.”
Abigail watched as the little girl rappelled down the wall in wild, loping arcs, finally landing on her bottom on the padded floor.
“See?” I asked. “Nothing to it. You can go slowly. I won’t let you fall. I promise.”
Abigail looked down at me, her pretty face tight with worry, but she also looked determined. She pushed off of the wall a little at first, only moving down a few inches. I let the rope slide through my fingers as she moved down the wall, not going as quickly as the little girl, who was busily climbing up the same wall again, had done. Slowly but surely, Abigail moved down the wall. When she touched down again, she crumpled against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief.
I chuckled a little. “Was it really that bad? You did great!”
She looked at me gratefully. I was excited to see that all of the ice that had been in her eyes when she’d arrived at my house had disappeared. We were back to where we’d been before I opened my mouth last Saturday and jammed my big foot inside of it.
“That was terrifying, but amazing at the same time,” she said, sounding breathless, but she was smiling.
“You want to try another beginner’s wall?”
She didn’t even take the time to think about it before nodding. “Does Sophia really do this all the time?” she asked as I unhooked her from this station. I had my eye on one across the way. It wasn’t as busy today as it normally was on a Saturday afternoon. Soph and I liked to get here right when they opened at nine, but that seemed too early for a get together with Abigail.
“Yeah, she loves it.” We walked over to the other wall. I felt looser now, more comfortable. Abigail was enjoying herself, and the day seemed full of potential all of a sudden. “I know she seems bookish and more like an inside kid, but she rocks out at soccer and rock climbing. The girl has energy, and she loves expending it.”
Abigail grinned. “You are a pretty great dad. Sophia is over the moon for you.”
I hooked her up to this set of safety ropes, unable to wipe the pleased smile from my face. We climbed for a few more hours, until our muscles were shivering with delicious exhaustion and we could no longer deny how hungry we were. We turned in our gear and grabbed a late lunch in the food court of the adventure park, which was actually pretty damned good. Sophia and I ate here whenever we came to climb, which was just about every weekend. Abigail and I chatted over burgers, fries, and sodas, talking about our lives, where we grew up, what dreams we had that we were still working on, the conversation long outliving our food.
“It’s getting late,” Abigail said and, I thought, a little regretfully.
“Yeah, I need to get back to Soph. She’s expecting mac and cheese tonight.”
Abigail looked at me, her eyes shining with amusement. “You cook?”
“I have my specialties,” I said, and she laughed. “But this is from the blue box.”
We went back out to the truck, talking the whole way. I was in no hurry to get back to my house and end this wonderful day, but the drive wa
s a short one and before I was ready, we were pulling into my driveway. Brian’s car was parked on the curb, meaning he and Sophia were home from their own adventure.
“Thank you for today,” Abigail said, her lips curling into a small smile. “I had a lot of fun, even when I was scared to death.” She’d left her hair up, giving me a clear view of her tiny ears and the sparkling earrings she was wearing. I made a mental note to ask her about them some other time. Sophia had been begging to get her own ears pierced, but I didn’t know the first damned thing about it. How painful was it? Was she too young to have it done? Were there health risks? I couldn’t help wondering.
“Thank you for giving me another chance. I know it was for Sophia, but I’m still appreciative.”
Her smile widened. Neither of us were making any move to get out of the truck. I decided to take it as a sign and went for what I’d been thinking of how to say for the whole afternoon.
“I’d love to take you out again. This time on a real date. I already know Sophia likes you, which is the most important thing to me.” I forced a smile I hoped looked confident. “I like you, too, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Abigail’s face changed, her lips slowly losing the smile as she watched me. Her green eyes widened and it felt like the air was rushing out of the cab.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Drew. I really like you, too, but you’re the father of one of my students.” She unhooked her seatbelt. “I’ll see you on Monday at the car loop.” She hopped out of the truck before I could say another word. What was it with this woman and quick getaways?
I killed the engine to the truck and got out just as she was taking off in her little car. I watched her go and then went inside to find out what trouble my daughter and Brian had gotten into while I was mooning over Abigail East.
Chapter 14