before entering and this time was no exception.
“Hello?” he called once inside.
When no one answered, he followed the sound of laughter and found the whole clan grilling hamburgers by the pool. Just as he had when facing the prospect of Daisy moving into her new house without him, Luke felt irrationally slighted by not having been invited to the cookout.
Forcing a smile, reminding himself this was a place where he’d always been welcome even without a formal invite, Luke asked the chef, “Is it too late to get mine medium-rare?”
“Long time no see,” Dallas said, backing up when fat from the meat caused the gas flame to flare.
“Cooking burgers or your facial hair?”
“Little of both,” Josie teased, slipping her arm around Dallas’s waist, “just think of it as bonus protein.”
“I’ll try.”
As much as Luke enjoyed horsing around with his old friend, he searched the back porch and pool area for Daisy and his son.
“Looking for someone?” Dallas asked, a smile lighting his eyes.
Luke tossed the flowers on the table. “Nope. Just you.”
“I’m flattered. But in case you have a hankering to see my sister and nephew, they’re upstairs, getting into their swimsuits. Wanna borrow trunks?”
“Sure.” Had Dallas noticed Luke’s relief? Why, Luke couldn’t say, but lately he’d craved Daisy and his son more than his favorite brand of ice cream sandwich. “Your mom still keep a bunch of them in the pool house?”
“You know it.”
A few minutes later, Luke ditched his jeans and T-shirt to step onto the diving board he hadn’t played on in years.
“Cannonball!” Dallas shouted from the grill.
“Don’t you dare!” Daisy called from the shallow end. “I don’t want wet hair.”
As a kid, Luke would’ve ignored Daisy’s wishes, going so far as to get her as wet as possible. But as a grown man, he dove cleanly into the tepid water, surfacing with barely a splash feet from where she stood. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”
Just looking at her, he couldn’t help but smile. She’d piled her hair high in a messy bun, and still had curves in all the right places. Her black bikini didn’t leave much to the imagination. “Remember the last time we went swimming?”
“Shh,” she admonished, cheeks flaming. “You promised never to speak of that again.”
“But it was fun.”
“Luke!” Kolt rocketed out of the French doors. “We’re having a barbecue party ’cause we got our new old house. You wanna have hamburgers with us? I told Mom we should ask you, but she said you probably wouldn’t wanna come.”
“This true?” Luke asked his son’s mom.
Daisy focused on retrieving the beach ball floating nearby. “I know you’re busy.”
“Never too busy for a party.”
She rolled her eyes. For his ears only, she asked, “Do you intentionally send out such mixed signals, or is toying with me your favorite game?”
“What are you talking about?” Her question genuinely confused him.
“The way one minute you’re shamelessly flirting, and the next, telling me how we don’t stand a chance even as friends.”
“I wasn’t flirting,” he protested, slicking the water back from his hair. “Hell, I wouldn’t even know how.”
“You are so full of yourself.” She whisked her hand over the water just hard enough to give him a light splash.
Jumping back, he warned, “Watch it. For a woman wanting her hair to stay dry, you’re playing with fire.”
“Mom!” Kolt hollered from the diving board. “Watch me!”
Shielding her eyes from the sun, she called, “I’m watching, sweetie!”
Hopping on the end of the board, Kolt said, “Luke, you watch, too!”
“Okay, bud! Show me what you’ve got!”
Kolt’s dive wouldn’t land him in the Olympics any time soon, but Luke’s chest swelled with pride all the same.
“That was great,” he said when Kolt popped up from under the water. “You’re really good.”
“Thanks.” Kolt beamed.
“Sweetie,” Daisy said, “show Luke your fancy dive.”
“Okay!” While Kolt repositioned himself for another show, Luke studied Daisy—the way her whole face fairly glowed, watching their son. For each year she’d been gone, she’d grown infinitely more beautiful.
“Hold on tight for this one,” she advised. “It’s a pretty awesome move.”
Kolt ran off the board, giggling and wiggling. Any reputable judge would’ve scored him a zero. In Luke’s eyes, however, his kid had earned a solid ten.
“You’re amazing,” Luke said when Kolt swam his way.
“Really think so?” Kolt asked.
“Absolutely. You’ll need a pool at your new house so you can keep practicing your moves.”
Kolt’s reaction to the suggestion was to give Luke a huge smile and an ambush hug. “We’ll put the pool right by our tree fort. You need to help me pick