friend.”
“So, it’s common practice for good friends to eyeball your package? Do Adam and Jeremy give you the ol’ sex eyes when you hang out?
Kyle choked. “Excuse me? Eyeball my what?”
I gave him a playful shove. “She wants in your pants, my friend. She was definitely thinking about you naked.”
Kyle laughed. A deep, rich sound that I felt to my marrow. He still held my hand. It was nice. More than nice, actually.
“Yeah, so these moms can be a little ... um …”
“Predatory?” I filled in.
“Friendly is what I was about to say,” Kyle corrected with mock indignation. “I told you about the playgroup that meets here on Saturdays. I’m the only dad. So it can get a bit much sometimes. Dani means well, though. Her husband died right after Saville was born. Do you remember Kurt Handle? I think he might have been a couple of years older than you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I do. He was on the golf team, right? I hadn’t realized he passed away.” I was so out of touch with the news of Southport. I hadn’t known Kurt well, but I had known him. You couldn’t live in a small town without being familiar with most people’s names, even if you didn’t know them well.
“It was a car accident. He had been working the late shift at the processing plant over in Kirksville. He fell asleep behind the wheel.”
Okay, now I felt bad for imagining ripping her fingers off.
“Oh, my goodness. That’s awful.” I covered my mouth with my hand.
“Yeah, it was pretty bad.” He looked around before dropping his voice. “But she was sleeping with three other guys at the time he died. The deputy that came to the house to tell her about Kurt found her there with Steve Young, the mechanic over at Hampton Tire and Auto.”
My eyes widened. “Oh, thank God. I don’t have to feel like a bitch for wanting to smack her then.”
Kyle laughed again. I almost wished he’d stop doing that. It did crazy things to my insides. “You can feel bad for her, but also want to smack her. It doesn’t make you a bad person. She’s a good mom, but a less than loyal partner it seems.”
We spent the next couple of hours running around after Katie, who seemed to have an endless supply of energy.
Finally, we convinced her to take a rest by bribing her with goldfish crackers and apple slices. Kyle pulled a blanket from the endless depths of the diaper bag and unrolled it beneath the willow tree beside the tennis courts.
“Do you have the kitchen sink in there too?” I asked with a grin, taking an apple slice.
“I’ve learned that you need to bring a little of everything, just in case. You never know when you’ll need a flashlight.” He pulled one out of the bag. “Or Katie’s favorite pair of socks.” He lifted a balled-up set of bright purple socks with orange polka dots. He rooted through the contents and pulled out something else. “Or a whiffle ball set, it seems.”
“If there’s ever an apocalypse, I know who to come to.” I took a bite of the apple. Katie was looking at a book and shoving crackers into her mouth.
“Take it easy, Bug,” Kyle coaxed, putting the sippy cup of juice to Katie’s mouth. With his daughter content with her book and snack, he stretched out his legs and braced himself on his elbows. “This is nice, Whit. Thanks for coming with us today.”
I crossed my legs and let my hair down from the bun I had put it in. I combed through the thick strands. “You need to stop thanking me, Kyle. This is what I do now. I come to the park with you and Katie. We have meals together. We go places together. That’s what families do, remember?”
I noticed Kyle watching me intently, his eyes following the movement of my hands in my hair. Then he cleared his throat and looked pointedly away. “I don’t want to overwhelm you. This is a lot to take on.”
“And I knew that when I agreed to marry you. So, stop feeling like you have to walk me through the shallow end first. I decided to take the plunge.”
“Dada. Seep.” Katie tossed her book aside and crawled into Kyle’s lap, her eyelids drooping. She snuggled into his chest; her cheek pressed against his shirt. She stuck her thumb into her mouth. I could tell by how quickly she got comfortable in her