is how are you? No more feeling sick to your stomach, I hope?”
“Nope. I’m all better. Except Mom won’t let me play outside with my friends.”
He lifted a brow at the querulous note in Ben’s voice. Poor Kylie had really had her hands full in trying to get Ben to rest. He found himself wanting to help in any way he could. “Ben, your mother is following the doctor’s orders. You’re not supposed to play outside with your friends. Not until we know your eye is fully recovered.”
“It doesn’t hurt, so it must already be fully recovered.”
“Pain isn’t the only thing to worry about. Remember when you had blurry vision?”
“Yeah,” Ben agreed reluctantly.
“Give your mom a break. If you behave yourself and listen to your mom, I’ll take you to the Packers-Bears game in Chicago next weekend.”
“Really?” Ben’s enthusiasm radiated through the phone line. “That would be so cool!”
Now that he thought about it, he realized he should have talked to Kylie about it first. “Ah, you’d better let me ask your mom about it, okay? I don’t know how she’s going to feel about going to a football game.”
“She’ll love it,” Ben said confidently. “Football is awesome. Here’s my mom. Bye, Dr. Seth.”
When Kylie came back on the line, he tried to think of an easy way to broach the subject. She was smart enough to figure out he’d overstepped his bounds, though.
“Seth, what did you just bribe Ben with?” she asked in an exasperated tone. “He’s promising to be good, but at the same time he’s hopping around like a jumping bean.”
“Kylie, don’t be upset. It just so happens I have tickets to the Packers-Bears game in Chicago next weekend. I thought it would be fun if the three of us went together.”
There was a long pause. “Seth, it’s not that I’m against attending a football game, but Chicago is a pretty long drive. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Especially considering Ben starts his first day of school the very next day.”
Well, that did complicate things. But the first day of school was fun, not exactly chock-full of hard work. “I was thinking we’d take the train down Saturday night. We could book a couple of hotel rooms so we don’t have trouble with traffic. After the game we can simply take the train back home. We won’t be out late, I promise.”
“Obviously you have everything planned out.” Her tart tone indicated she wasn’t too happy about it, either.
“Kylie, I’m sorry. I should have spoken to you first. But do me a favor—don’t decide anything right away. Think about it for a while. I know you’re not a huge football fan, but seeing the game in person, feeling the excitement of the crowd—it’s amazingly different when you’re sitting in the stands compared to watching it on television.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said slowly. “But no more promises to Ben without talking to me first.”
“Agreed.” He was glad she wasn’t too mad. “What time did you say your appointment was tomorrow?”
“Ten in the morning. But there’s no reason to come with us. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“I don’t mind. I’ll be there to pick you and Ben up at nine forty-five. See you then.” He quickly hung up before she could argue.
Because there was no way in hell he was letting her go see Greenley without him.
CHAPTER TEN
KYLIE hadn’t really thought Seth would bother to drive over just to accompany them to Ben’s doctor’s appointment, but he did.
“I’ll drive,” she told him, when he sauntered up the driveway. Her dependable car sat in front of the garage, ready to go.
He didn’t try to argue, especially since there was no way Ben’s child safety seat would fit in his cherry-red Corvette. The car obviously wasn’t built for a family, considering Charlene didn’t even have a backseat. Just seeing him with his racy car only reinforced how wrong they were together.
No matter how much she liked him.
“So, Ben, how are you?” Seth asked, as she clicked on her seat belt and started the car.
“Good. Although I can’t play outside until this patch comes off.”
She had to suppress a grin. Playing outside at day care was Ben’s favorite part of the day.
“Have you been listening to your mom, like I told you?” Seth asked in a stern voice.
Ben nodded enthusiastically. “Yep. And I told all the kids at day care how we were going to the Packers versus Bears game.”
She tried not to think too much about the football