Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 104288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
I try very hard not to dwell on the fact that Maren shows up ten minutes later wearing jean shorts and a sweatshirt. Her hair is pulled back from her face. Her brown eyes are . . . I wouldn’t say they’re happy. But they’re not sad either. They’re full. Soft.
Beautiful.
She’s so fucking beautiful.
Curling my hand around the keys, I force myself to look away. “All right, y’all. Let’s go.”
It might be the most gorgeous day we’ve ever had here on Bald Head. The October sky is bright blue, the sunlight’s clean and strong. It glints off a calm but cold grey-green ocean. The breeze is nippy enough to warrant long-sleeves. Refreshing but not chilly.
Was this really the same beach we came to last night? I feel a world away from that place. That news.
I take Katie’s hand and Maren takes the other as we climb down the steps onto the sand. The sun is warm on my bare legs. The air tastes like salt. Waves glide up and down the wide expanse of the beach, the receding tide like an undulating sheet of glass.
Usually Katie runs to put her feet in the water. But today she stays put between Maren and me, laughing hysterically when Maren and I swing her between us.
“Do it again!” she asks, over and over.
I pretend to be out of breath, but only because I don’t want Maren to overexert herself. “Aaaand now I need a break,” I say, and let go of Katie’s hand.
“But I want to swing again. Please? I loved it.”
Maren leans down to talk to Katie, her hands on her thighs. “How about we play . . . SuperKitty tag instead?”
“SuperKitty tag?” I ask.
Katie’s eyes light up. “What’s that?”
“It’s when you run as fast as you can so I can’t catch you. But if your daddy or I do catch you, we say, ‘tag, you’re it!’, and then you’re it.”
“I don’t want to be it.”
I grin. “Then you better run, girl.”
“Run!” Maren tickles her before sending her off down the beach.
I shake my head, watching my daughter kick up sand. “That was genius. My back is killing me.”
“I didn’t say you get a break.” Maren taps me playfully on the arm. “You’re it, Daddy.”
My lungs spasm. She’s calling me Daddy again. It’s as hot and wrong and hot as it was the first time.
“Seriously?” I manage.
“Seriously. Whoever gets to Katie last has to clean up the next poop. If that doesn’t motivate you . . .”
My lungs spasm for the second time. No, it’s my diaphragm. I’m laughing. Hard.
“I’m motivated. You sure you’re up for this, by the way?”
Maren nods. “I feel all right.”
“Tell me if you need to sit.”
“Definitely don’t need to sit now. Remember, you’re it!” Maren takes off at a sprint. She’s a graceful runner, her strides short but powerful. The muscles in her legs work in a way that makes me short of breath.
I bolt after her. The breeze rushes in my ears. Laughter bubbles up inside my belly when I tap Maren on the shoulder. “Poop is gonna be all yours.”
“We’ll see”—she throws an elbow into my side—“about that.”
I hold my side and make an exaggerated grimace. “Ow! You play dirty.”
“I sure do.” She wags her brows. Smiles. Then she pushes off me and takes the lead again. Katie’s just ahead, glancing at us over her shoulder and smiling.
That’s when I realize I’m smiling so hard my face hurts.
All three of us. We’re being silly. Stupid. I play with Katie a fair amount. But I don’t play like this. The kind of play that makes the time fly by.
It feels . . . nice.
It feels like freedom.
Maren and I are in some deep shit. The life that waits for us back home is heavy right now. But you wouldn’t know it by the way Maren totally abandons herself to having fun.
Fun—play—it’s never come easy to me. But this woman? She finds it wherever she goes.
I fucking love that about her.
Running faster, I grab Katie and lift her over my head. “You’re it, SuperKitty.”
“No, Daddy, noooo!” She dissolves in a fit of giggles as I bring her down for a kiss.
Maren is at my side, smiling up at us. The wind sends Katie’s hair flying. My heart is full inside my chest.
I get this feeling. A weird, wonderful sense that I’m exactly where I should be. There is no anxiety here. No doubts. No bad news. Only a joyful sensation coursing through my body.
I lean into it. I set Katie down, and then Maren and I are taking off again, Katie a giggling mess on our heels. I let her catch me. Maren ducks and weaves, but Katie catches her too.
We play tag up and down the beach. When Katie gets tired of that, we search for seashells. When she gets hungry, we hop in the golf cart and hit up a little hot dog stand right off the beach for lunch.