by Easton, Meg
The kids were all together, huddling under one of the platforms leading up to the slides, talking with some other kids they had made friends with since they’d been there. It was the first time they were all within sight at the same time and no one needed to go to the bathroom. Addison collapsed on a bench next to Ian.
“Thank you again for coming. Seriously—I don’t know how I could’ve gotten through this without you.”
“You say it as though we’ve already gotten through this, but I’m pretty sure they’re having a war council as we speak.”
“As long as they let me sit here next to you for thirty seconds right at this moment, I’m okay to let that be a problem for future me.”
From where they’d both flopped down on the bench, their hands were right next to each other, their fingers bumping. Ian moved his pinky finger, running it along the edge of her hand. She closed her eyes and let herself feel every single thrill of goose bumps that went all the way up her arm and to her heart. Maybe he really was feeling the same things she was.
Ever since he had told her how recent his breakup had been and how serious it had been, she had tried not to push him. Fear had stopped her plenty, too. But she was falling for him—more so every single time she saw him.
She was in the middle of imagining what it would be like if he ran those fingertips of his all the way up her arm when she heard breathing right next to her ear on the side opposite of Ian, and her eyes flew open. “I know you said no bugs, snakes, or... I can’t remember what else,” Chelle said, “but this isn’t any of those. Check out the frog I found!” She plopped the big-bellied thing down on Addison’s arm, and it let out a big Croooook! before jumping away, right as Addison screamed.
Chelle grimaced. “No frogs, either?”
“Pretty please?” Addison begged.
“Check,” Chelle said, drawing an invisible checkmark in the air with her finger. “No more frogs.” She was halfway back to the slide when she turned back. “Tadpoles aren’t frogs, right? Because I think there’s a pond back there.”
“I think we better say no to tadpoles and no to going to the pond,” Ian said.
Chelle wrote another invisible check, then turned to the others under the platform and shouted, “The tadpole plan is out, guys!”
Addison buried her face in her hands and mumbled. “How much more time do we have?”
“Until Bex’s three hours are up? Um, it looks like about fifteen minutes.”
That was worth taking her hands off her face for. “Oh, thank heavens. That means we can head back now, right?”
Ian smiled the sweetest smile at her, and then he reached out and gave her hand a squeeze before standing up. His hand had only been on hers for a second, but it sent such a jolt of electricity through her that she thought she just might be able to handle the monumental task of getting all four kids back in the vehicle.
She couldn’t help but check him out as he brought all of the kids together for a huddle and pulled her into it, talking to them like he was the quarterback telling the team what the next play was. Then he rallied them to grab any shoes that somehow fell off, water bottles that had been tossed aside, and anything else they left, and headed back to the Yukon. He was so cute with them that she could’ve watched all day. And, remarkably, they all listened and headed to the vehicle.
Getting them in was another story. She had never seen so much opening doors, running around to the other side, closing doors, opening again, and running around again, all the kids, all in different directions. If it was a choreographed show on Broadway, she still would’ve been impressed.
Ash and Beth were giggling on the other side of the SUV from her. She almost went around to ask them to get in, but Drew took off running at full speed toward the playground. No sooner had Ian run after him than Chelle took off the direction of the pond, so Addison chased her down. By the time they got them both back to the vehicle, she wanted to kiss Ash and Beth. They were both in their seats, seatbelts on, actually looking like angels.
And they even stayed there while she and Ian got Chelle and Drew buckled in. She let out a huge breath as she got into the driver’s seat and started the Yukon.
Ian motioned to the clock in the console. “With as long as that took, Bex will probably beat us back to the inn.”
“Music to my ears,” she whispered as she pulled out of their parking space.
A few minutes into their drive, Addison realized that this was the quietest they had been since the moment Bex left her with them. Enough that they could even hear the radio—she hadn’t even realized on the drive there that it had been turned on. All she could hear was whispers and giggles.
Ian must’ve noticed at the same time, because he said, “You all sure are being quiet.”
There was more giggling, and definitely more whispering and “Shh”s coming from them.
At a stop sign, Addison glanced over at Ian. “Maybe we just wore them out?”
Ian turned and looked at the kids, then turned back and mumbled only loud enough for her to hear, “Or this is the calm before the storm, and they are about to carry out those plans they made in their council of war earlier.”
She looked back at him in alarm. “No. It can’t be that.”
Ian looked out the window, squinting at something in the distance, not meeting her eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s fine.” He reached over and gave her knee a gentle squeeze, which wasn’t quite the comforting gesture he was probably meaning it to be. Especially when he added, in a voice she didn’t believe at all, “We’ve got nothing to worry about.”
13
Ian
The kids in the back seat of the vehicle stayed to whispers the whole ride home. That part was nice. It was the giggling that worried Ian. He actually loved when his nieces and nephews giggled about some secret plans they had. He had a feeling they weren’t giggling because they drew a smiley face in the inside bottom of his plastic cup of punch at a family party, and before long he’d notice it. Or because they hid their plastic insect toys like Easter eggs throughout the house.
Addi pulled into the circular drive in front of the inn. Unfortunately, her car—that Bex was driving—wasn’t parked in the lot. As all the kids unbuckled their seat belts and got out, Addi turned to him. “Thank you again for helping. Is there anything in your shop I can do that will help you make up the lost time? I could come over as soon as Bex gets here.”
He glanced out his window. Instead of the kids running off in all directions and having to be herded back into the house like he had expected, they were all in a cluster at the back of the vehicle. “I don’t think you better say goodbye to me yet. We might want to hold off on all plans until Bex is here.”
She must’ve caught some concern either in his voice or his expression, because she looked back at the pack of kids at the back of the vehicle, worry and wariness all over her face. When they got out of the SUV and went around to the kids, they were lined up with their backs against the vehicle, hands behind them, grinning like they had never been more proud of themselves.
“Look what we brought back with us,” Beth said, and all four of the kids motioned like they were Vanna White at a boy standing in the middle of their group. He was one of the kids who had been gathered with them under the platform by the slides at the park.
Addi’s gasp was audible, and her hands flew to her mouth.
“His name is Jaxon,” Drew said. “We made friends and he wanted to come over and play.”
“So we planned everything,” Chelle said, throwing her arms wide. “Aren’t we the best at planning? You guys didn’t even know we did it!”
“And we even got the timing perfect,” Ash said, puffing his chest out. “Drew and Chelle took off running so you’d chase them, which gave us all the time we needed to get Jaxon hidden under the blanket in the back.”
“And I stayed quiet the whole time!” Jaxon said.
These kids were young, and they pulled it off like pros. They probably ha
d a bright future ahead of them in acting, as strategists, or as bank robbers.
Addi started pacing in a small circle. “Oh my goodness. I just kidnapped a kid. His mom is probably running around frantic, searching for him, and the police are going to come and they’re going to arrest me and I’m going to jail for kidnapping.”
“It’s going to be okay,” he said as he took a step toward her.
“No it’s not. We have a kidnapped kid right here! What do we do? Take him back to the park and say sorry? What if they’re already out searching?”
Ian pulled out his phone and dialed 911. As he was waiting for them to answer, he said, “Let’s see what the police want us to do.” Then, because she seemed panicked, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She turned into him, and he hugged her to his chest as well as he could while holding the phone to his ear.
“Nine one one. What’s your emergency?”
“We want to report an accidental kidnapping. We were babysitting some kids and took them to the park. As we were packing up to leave, they very expertly snuck a new friend into the vehicle when we weren’t looking.”
“Can you describe the child for me?”
“Um, yeah. He looks like he’s about five.”
“I’m six!”
“Correction—he’s six, and his name is Jaxon. He’s got brown hair and a green shirt.”
“Which park was he abducted from?”
He flinched at the use of the word “abducted.”
“Pioneer. Listen, I swear this was an accident.”
“Pioneer Park. It sounds like another operator has his very alarmed mother on the line right now.”
“Do you want us to drive him back there?” All the kids were racing around to the back yard and Addi was chasing after them, so he followed.
“No. We have officers on their way to you right now.”
“Perfect. Thank you.” He hung up, grateful that they didn’t have to try and get all five kids back into the vehicle, and helped Addi get them back to the front yard. That way, when the police came, they wouldn’t have to explain how they just lost the kid they had kidnapped and the ones they were babysitting.
The first officer must’ve been close by, because he was there in minutes. Before long, there were four police cars, all with their lights on, pulled in from both sides of the circular driveway, surrounding the Yukon. He didn’t even know that Quicksand had that many police officers on duty at once. Right behind them, the local news station, who must’ve been listening to the police scanners, pulled in and started filming.
The officers split up, one asking him questions, one asking Addi, one asking Jaxon, and one asking the kids they were babysitting, probably seeing if their stories were matching up. While Ian’s officer was taking notes on what Ian said, he could hear Addison talking to her officer.
“No—we didn’t kidnap the other kids, too! They’re the nieces and nephews of my roommate Bex Sterling. She was supposed to watch them today, but then had an interview in Portland, and let me just call her. She can confirm.”
As soon as the guy interviewing him—a man who was in his thirties but balding and had his hair shaved close—started asking more questions, he couldn’t focus on Addi any longer. Until she grabbed hold of his arm and he turned to see a horrified expression on her face, her phone still up to her ear.
“Bex is still in Portland. She’s not finished, so she’s probably still an hour and a half from being home.”
Ian wrapped his arms around her like she had just gotten in a car accident and was going into shock. “We’ll make it.”
Luckily, Jaxon’s mom came speeding into the driveway not long after, skidding to a stop behind the police cars, and got out and ran to Jaxon. He eventually managed to wiggle out of her smothering hugs long enough to introduce her to his new friends, and asked if they could play again tomorrow.
If nothing else, Jaxon’s story to his mom assured the police officers and the reporter that the events of the day were unintentional by all adult parties involved, and whatever excitement they thought they were going to be a part of wasn’t exactly national news-worthy, and they left.
The entire afternoon had given him a lot of time to see how Addi handled everything. Her nerves were frayed and she was stressed and exhausted, but she never took it out on the kids. He was impressed.
He was even more impressed at her bravery in suggesting they go in the house and make cookies. Which, of course, made a huge mess and left two adults and three kids with shirts covered in flour and one with melted chocolate chips all around his mouth and cheeks. But they were quiet for a solid five minutes while they were scarfing down their confections.
Nearly five hours after she left, Bex burst into the house with apologies and professions of undying gratitude and excitement at her incredible day. She had barely set her bags down when the kids’ mom, Bex’s sister, came through the door. The kids came out of the family room, where they had been playing chase, all calm and full of smiles, looking like they had been angels the entire time.
While Bex was giving hugs to her nieces and nephews and saying goodbye, Addi grabbed his hand and pulled him into the family room. Tired as he was, the feel of her hand in his sent heat to his chest, and he knew he would’ve followed her anywhere.
Luckily, where she led him was to a couch, and he gladly collapsed into it next to her.
“Did you ever think five hours could be so exhausting?”
He laughed and shook his head. “If you would’ve asked me this morning what kinds of things were more tiring than taking care of kids for five hours, I could’ve easily listed a dozen. Now, though, I can’t think of a single one.”
Bex came into the room, holding a bag and a drink holder with two drinks. “I know that I still owe you both, big time, for watching the kids for me, and I will pay you back. But,” she dragged the word out as she put the items on the table, “for now, this is an apology for taking longer than I thought. And for that whole thing with the police.”
Addi leaned forward and peeked into one of the bags, and then her face lit up. “You brought us Dragon’s Chopstick?”
Bex nodded, smiling. “And now, I’m going to leave you two in utter peace and quiet while I go upstairs. And leave you alone. With no one else home. Just the two of you.”
Addi raised an annoyed eyebrow at Bex, and Bex held up her hands. “Okay, okay, I get it. No one said that ‘overdoing it’ isn’t my middle name.”
As the sound of Bex climbing the stairs, Addi just looked at the bags of food. “Are you ever so tired that you wish you could teleport yourself into bed? Well, right now, I wish I could teleport this food into my belly. I’m starving, but I think I’m even too tired to eat.”
“I don’t think I could ever be too tired to eat food from the Dragon’s Chopstick. Lean back.” He gave her a little nudge backward, and she let herself sink into the back rest of the couch. Then he pulled all the items out of the bag and opened each of the boxes. “Do you like sesame chicken?”
She nodded, so he picked a good-looking chunk of chicken with the chopsticks and brought it to her waiting mouth. She closed her eyes as she chewed it, and he just smiled at her, loving the way her eyes crinkled at the sides, the way her smooth skin looked almost golden in the light of the early evening sun, making her cheekbones look so touchably soft. And the way that her curls shone as they framed her face. Even after a day of stress and exhaustion, she was beautiful. How had he ever thought he could keep from being attracted to her?
With her eyes still closed, she opened her mouth again, so he fed her another piece of chicken. Then she smiled before opening her eyes and looking at him. “I think you just saved my life by feeding me those two bites.”
“So that’s twice I’ve saved you today.”
“You’ll be getting your medal of honor in the mail any day now.”
“No ceremony?” He took a bite of beef and broccoli, grateful for some meat when all he’d eaten since breakfast was cookie
s.
“You’ve got to save me three times for that.”
“Duly noted.”
After a few minutes of silence, where all their focus was on eating as a way to overcome their starvation and exhaustion, he said, “Do you want kids someday? Or did today make you forever change your mind?”
“I think today would be effective birth control for anyone. But yeah. I do.”
“Good. Because you’re good at it.”
She gave him a look that he wanted to search for hours, trying to figure out all it meant. He only got a moment, though. It was enough to know that she appreciated the compliment.
“How about you?”
He had always wanted kids, and jumped at any chance he got to hang out with his nieces and nephews. But as crazy as today was, it had gotten him thinking about how much he wanted kids of his own. After the way things ended with Zoe, not only had he not allowed himself to think about it being a possibility, but the whole experience had left him questioning whether he’d ever be good enough.
All day long, though, as he and Addi had cared for Ash, Beth, Chelle, and Drew, he hadn’t been able to stop imagining what a life might be like with Addi. And kids of his own. Even through the craziness of it all, he realized how much he loved being with her. How much she was helping him to heal. How much he hadn’t wanted to be anywhere other than by her side.
He knew the thoughts were dangerous, and he would likely pay later for the hope they’d raised that would be dashed, but right now, he didn’t care. He just wanted to live with the hope.
“I do, too.”
Their eyes met and for a long moment, neither of them broke eye contact. They just studied each other, and he would’ve given anything to know what she was thinking. She was the one to finally break the connection. She grabbed the box of Kung Pao Chicken, and while she was picking up a piece with her chopsticks, said, “Thank you, again, for helping me through a rather memorable day.”