“Nah, I’m gonna head home. We’re taking the kids to the aquarium this afternoon.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “And don’t forget about tomorrow. Come on over around two and we’ll swim and barbecue and hang out. Sound good?”
Smiling, she nodded. “Sounds great. Thanks, Quinn.”
After he left, Teagan wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. It was too late to make an appointment to get her hair or nails done, there was nothing to do around the house, and she was seriously bored. She picked up her purse and decided that maybe a little retail therapy would help.
Three hours later, all she had to show for her efforts were a pack of super hero underwear for Lucas and a tube of toothpaste.
As she walked back into her house, she put the lone bag down on the counter and sighed. “You’re a real rebel, Teagan. Way to be wild on a Saturday.”
Since shopping didn’t do it for her, there was only one other option.
Ice cream.
Lots and lots of ice cream.
And the brain freeze was totally worth it.
* * *
A week later, Teagan was bouncing on her toes, watching the clock. She had finally made the appointment at the salon and all she had to do was drop Lucas off at Anna’s. Then the rest of the afternoon would be filled with pampering and relaxation.
She couldn’t wait!
Last weekend, when she and Lucas had gone over to Quinn and Anna’s to swim, they had made the plans. All week long, she had been looking around for something new and exciting to do with her hair. She had some ideas now, and hoped her stylist would be able to make them work.
Fifty-five minutes.
It was like the clock didn’t want to move!
Lucas was in his room packing up a bag of toys to bring to Kaitlyn’s place. She’d limited him to three, and he’d been trying to decide on which three for over an hour.
The sound of her phone ringing practically had her jumping out of her skin. She saw her mother’s name on the screen and smiled. “Hey, Mom! What’s up?”
“Are you all set for your spa day?”
Sitting on the couch, Teagan felt her smile grow. “You have no idea. Just thinking about the mani-pedi I’m going to get has me giddy!”
“Good for you! You deserve it.”
“Thanks, Mom. What are you up to today?”
“Your father and I decided to take an impromptu trip up to Virginia this weekend. We’re so excited!”
“Really? What brought that on?”
“After touring the battleship last week with Lucas, your dad started doing some research and found there were more to see up in Virginia. There’s the USS Wisconsin and the Mariners’ Museum. So we’re going.”
“Good for you! I’m sure you’ll have a great time.”
Her mother made a noncommittal sound.
“Don’t you want to go?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to go…”
“But…?”
“But it would be nice if we could do something that isn’t military related. Maybe something I’m interested in.”
“Have you mentioned that to Dad?”
“All the time. It’s like he conveniently forgets that I say anything and then he makes these plans for both of us.”
“Dang. Sorry.”
“I’m sure there’s plenty of other things to see and we’ll explore beyond the battleship. And at the end of the day I’ll make him take me out for a nice dinner.”
“There you go!” Teagan said, chuckling. “It’s a bit of a silver lining.” She was about to say more when her phone beeped with an incoming call. She glanced at the screen and saw it was Anna.
“Mom? I need to go. Anna’s calling.”
“Have a good afternoon, and we’ll be back on Wednesday.”
“Have fun!” She quickly hung up and switched lines. “Hey! I’m counting down the minutes until we can head over to you!”
“Oh, um…”
“Do you need me to pick up anything?”
Anna sighed loudly. “Okay, please don’t hate me…”
“What’s going on?”
“We’re sick.”
“What?”
“Sick. Brian and Kaitlyn are both sick,” she said miserably. “It’s a stomach thing and it’s ugly. Save yourself.”
Teagan’s heart sank.
“I am so sorry. It all just started this morning and I hate canceling on you like this, but there’s no way I want to expose Lucas—or you—to this. Can your folks watch him for you?”
“Unfortunately, no. My mom just called to say they’re on their way to Virginia to look at battleships.”
“Oh, Teagan. I’m so sorry. Maybe you can call Zoe or—wait, hang on,” Anna murmured to someone on the other end of the line, but it was muffled and she had no idea who was Anna was talking to. Probably Quinn.
What was she going to do? She hated to look for a babysitter at the last minute, especially in a new town. What rotten timing!
“Okay, phew! Crisis averted!” Anna said happily. “I’ve both ruined your plans and saved them all in the same call.”
Teagan couldn’t help but laugh. “What are you talking about?”
“Like I said, I don’t want to expose you or Lucas to this mess, but Bobby was just at the door and Quinn wouldn’t let him in because we’re self-quarantined.”
“And…?”
“And we asked if he would mind hanging out with Lucas so you could go and have your spa day. You don’t mind, do you?”
Before she could answer, Anna was talking again.
“He’s great with kids and I know Lucas likes him, and it’s only for a few hours, so…what do you say?”
Don’t sound giddy, don’t sound giddy…
“Are you sure he won’t mind? I mean, I’m sure he has better things to do than babysit. And it’s not like he really even knows us.”
“Oh, stop. My brother is like a big kid himself,” Anna assured her. “He likes finding excuses to watch Disney movies and play video games. I’m thinking he and Lucas are going to be best friends by the time you get home.”
That had Teagan second-guessing everything.
Other than her father, no other man had really interacted with her son more than casually. Since she didn’t date, it had never been an issue. Of course, now that they were living close to so many relatives, Lucas was getting more and more comfortable having men other than his grandfather around, but would he get attached to Bobby? Maybe too attached? Wasn’t she at risk for the same thing?
“Um, Anna, maybe I should just reschedule. It’s not a big deal. Really. I can just—”
“No! Absolutely not. I refuse to let you do that. You never make time for yourself, and I’m here to make sure you at least take today—this one afternoon—and make it all about you. I swear you don’t have to worry about Bobby. He’s great with kids. I would never recommend him if he weren’t.”
Her mind was racing and before she could second- or even third-guess herself, she said, “Okay. You’re right. It will be fine. I’m sure the two of them are going to have a great time.”
* * *
“Whoa! I beat you again! Yes!” Lucas shouted, jumping to his feet and fist-bumping the air.
Bobby was on the floor, and he leaned back against the sofa and shook his head. Beaten. Again. By a five-year-old. Clearly, he was losing his touch. He laughed softly as the kid did a victory dance of sorts around the coffee table. As much as he hated to admit it, Lucas had some serious video game skills. Maybe they needed to move on to another activity.
“What do you say we put the game away and go outside and toss a ball around?”
Lucas instantly stilled and eyed him warily. “Why? This is so much fun!”
Because you’re the one winning, Bob
by wanted to say. But he held his tongue. No need to get snarky with a kid. “It is fun, but it’s also a great day out and we should be out there enjoying it!” He stood up and made the adult decision that video game time was over. Lucas whined—which was to be expected—but didn’t argue.
Much.
“So what’s your favorite sport? Basketball? Baseball? Football? Soccer?” Bobby asked as they made their way out to the backyard.
Lucas shrugged and looked down at the ground.
When they were in the middle of the yard, Bobby turned to him. “No favorites?”
Another shrug.
Then something occurred to him. Crouching down so he was eye level with Lucas, he softly asked, “Have you ever played any ball games?”
Lucas shook his head but wouldn’t look at him.
That would mean there weren’t any balls or equipment out here for them to play with.
Damn.
Straightening, he said, “How would you like to go for a ride with me?”
The boy looked up at him suspiciously. “Where?”
“Just to the store. You know… Walmart. Nothing major.”
“Did my mom say we could?”
Bobby hadn’t thought of that and wasn’t sure he’d be able to get an answer from her. He didn’t want to call and interrupt her spa time. His sister had been adamant that Teagan have the afternoon to herself.
“Tell you what, I’ll text her and let her know, because she’s getting her hair and nails done and might not be able to talk on the phone.”
“I’m not supposed to go anywhere unless my mom knows,” he said solemnly. “Not even with people I know.”
He stared down at the boy and pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly typed out a text to Teagan asking if she was available to talk. Less than a minute later his phone rang.
“Is everything okay?” she asked nervously rather than greeting him.
He laughed softly even as he shook his head. “First of all, calm down. Everything’s fine.”
“Oh…okay.” Bobby could hear the relief in her voice.
“I wanted to take Lucas to the store with me and he said we couldn’t go unless you said it was okay.”
“Why are you going to the store?”
“We came outside to play after your son annihilated me at video games, and he doesn’t have any kind of outdoor sports stuff. I thought we’d go to Walmart and pick some things up. You know, if it’s okay with you.”
“Um…”
“It’s no big deal, Teagan,” he quickly said because he had a sense she felt like he was accusing her of something. “I thought it would be fun to kick a soccer ball around or toss a Frisbee or even get a kite and go down to the beach with it.”
“What does Lucas think?”
He looked down at the kid who was watching him like a hawk. “Why don’t you ask him?” He handed the phone to Lucas.
“Hey, Mom!” He paused. “Uh-huh…yeah…I guess so.” He looked up at Bobby for a minute as he listened to whatever his mother was saying. “Okay. Thanks, Mom! Bye!” Then he handed the phone back to Bobby.
“Everything all right?” he asked.
Teagan laughed, and it was husky and sexy as hell. Not something he should be thinking about with her son standing right in front of him.
“It’s fine. We’ve sort of never done a lot of outdoor sports. Normally it’s the swings at the park or the jungle gym or we go to museums and stuff. So I don’t think he knows what to expect.”
“Ah, okay. No problem. If it’s okay with you, I’d still like to take him to the store and when we get there, I’ll let him decide.”
“You really don’t have to do that. There’s plenty of stuff for him to do at home to keep him busy.”
“Does he play cards? Because he’s such a whiz at games I have a feeling he’d be great at poker too,” he teased. He could hear someone talking to Teagan and realized he needed to let her get back to her appointment.
“Listen, go and enjoy your afternoon,” he said before she could say anything. “We’ll see you when you get home, and don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
“Bobby…”
“Tell your mom bye,” he said to Lucas and held the phone out to him.
“Bye, Mom!”
Bobby hung up, and when he looked down at Lucas, he smiled. This so wasn’t the plan he’d had for himself today. He hadn’t planned on coming back to town at all quite so soon. After being home for only a week, he felt like he’d done all that he could—settled back into his apartment, checked in with his regular doctor, even had a meeting with his captain about his recovery. But when he’d gotten up this morning, he’d felt a little lost about what to do with himself.
He missed his family. Plus, he felt bad about dumping the rest of the work in Teagan’s kitchen on Quinn—no matter how much he claimed otherwise.
When he’d shown up at his sister’s earlier and found out the kids were sick, Bobby figured he’d come over here and finish the sink project, but Quinn had already taken care of that as well.
That’s when Anna had suggested helping Teagan out in another way. He’d never thought he’d be thankful that his niece and nephew were sick, but right now, he kind of was. How twisted was that?
To her credit, Teagan didn’t look at him any other way than she always had—welcoming him into her home and thanking him profusely for coming to her rescue. He had been riddled with guilt the entire drive over because he was certain she was going to call him out for his disappearing act. And he was prepared for it. But…she didn’t say a word. If anything, she was overly chatty about where everything was, what Lucas was allowed and not allowed to do, and how he should help himself to anything he wanted to eat. Then she’d given him her number, kissed Lucas goodbye, and was out the door with a wave.
Part of him wished she would have at least tried to sound disappointed. He was used to women flirting with him or playing coy, but Teagan wasn’t like the women he usually dated. She didn’t flirt or pretend to be helpless, she was just herself. Something as simple as having ice cream with her last weekend had been better than the last several dates he’d gone on before getting shot. And clearly she wasn’t looking to play any games with him, so he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her.
It was oddly unsettling.
“Bobby? Are we gonna go to the store now?”
A quick shake of his head to clear it and he was smiling down at Lucas. “Absolutely! You ready to go?”
Lucas nodded, and together they locked up the house and headed out.
Teagan had left him well prepared, so he had a key to the house and Lucas’s booster seat. Once they were in the car, he began quizzing the boy on what kind of ball game he thought he’d like best.
“I don’t know,” he replied after a minute. “What’s your favorite?”
“Hmm… I played baseball and football in high school. And now I’m on a softball team with the police department.”
“You’re a policeman?” he asked with awe.
Bobby nodded. “I sure am.”
“Wow! That is so cool!”
Apparently now everything he said was way more interesting and Lucas—who wasn’t particularly shy to begin with—became even more animated and talkative.
Almost a little too talkative.
Bobby would have sworn the kid hadn’t taken a breath for a solid ten minutes, because he kept asking questions but never waited for an answer. The entire time they were in the store, he clung to every word Bobby said about the different types of ball games and outdoor gear they could buy.
“You played baseball, so I think I want to play baseball,” Lucas said. But as soon as he began picking out bats and balls, the kid changed his mind. “Or football! You said you played that one too! Can you teach me how to throw a football?”
�
�Yeah, sure.” Bobby returned the gear to the shelf and walked down the aisle a little further to find a selection of footballs.
“Wait, what’s softball? Is it like baseball? Can I join your team with the other policemen?”
While it was hard to get a word in, Bobby had to admit it was more fun shopping with Lucas than when he’d last taken Kaitlyn to the toy store. They’d spent an hour in the Barbie aisle. An entire hour. He’d never seen so much pink in his entire life. Now, as Lucas continued to chatter, he decided to just get a T-ball set and start from there.
They checked out, drove back to the house, went to the backyard to set up, and Lucas was still talking.
How did Teagan stand it? And where was the boy’s father? Was he back in Colorado? He must not have been much of a father if Lucas didn’t even know how to hit a ball.
There was no way he’d ask Lucas about his dad, and he wasn’t even sure he should ask Teagan, but he could ask Anna. Maybe she had some idea.
Then he remembered Lucas saying he didn’t have a dad.
Was that literally or figuratively?
Something to think about later, because right now Lucas was jumping up and down impatiently.
“Can I hit it? Can I hit it? Is this how I hold the bat? Are you gonna catch the ball?”
He was exhausted before they even began, but the kid’s enthusiasm was infectious. For the next few minutes, Bobby patiently explained the proper way to hold the bat, how to stand, and how to swing. The first few attempts weren’t pretty, and the ball didn’t move, but Lucas was determined to do it. Bobby wasn’t sure who was more surprised at the sound of the bat hitting the ball for the first time. They looked at each other in wide-eyed wonder and neither cared where the ball went. Scooping Lucas up in his arms, he cheered and high-fived him.
“Way to go, Bud! That was awesome!”
“I did it! I really did it! Can we do it again? Will you catch it this time?”
“You know it!” Bobby replied, setting Lucas down. He jogged across the yard and found the ball and set it back up. After giving Lucas a few more pointers, he moved back about ten feet and waited.
Lucas’s face was one of total concentration. His tongue stuck out slightly to the left, his dark little brows furrowed. Then he swung and the ball flew directly toward Bobby. He caught it easily and watched as the boy did a victory dance similar to the one he’d done after beating Bobby at video games.
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