Without thinking, I reach my arm out for her and bring her to me until her head rests on my chest and I can wrap myself around her to steady her. I can hear her sigh the second I’ve engulfed her, and I can feel the darkness melt away as fast as it came.
When I look up, Sloan is watching.
Her eyes are filled with the same mix of old hurt, unexpected relief, and deep gratitude I saw in her mother’s a few minutes before in the parking lot. Then, just as her mom did, she mouths the words, ‘thank you’.
KENLEY
Once everyone has their ice cream, and we’ve grabbed a bottle of fudge, we swing by the soup station in the deli to grab three spoons before we get in line to cash out. I notice Sloan makes it a point to call Knox ‘Dad’ at least seven more times before we’re finally walking out into the parking lot, and I can’t help but worry she’s making a habit of something she definitely shouldn’t be.
Not that I don’t understand the urge to just give into this feeling he seems to bring out in everyone. At least everyone in my household. He fits so naturally, first with me, then with the dogs, and now with Sloan. More than that, he’s easily filling a void we’ve been living with so long, I was just starting to come to terms with the fact it would always be with us, always empty.
“Can I have the fudge, please?” Sloan asks as soon as we’re back in the truck and settling in for our treat in the parking lot. I have to appreciate how random and not at all over the top this is.
“Here you go.” Knox twists in his seat to hand it to her. He’s back on the driver’s side. This time, I’m up front with him.
The next minutes pass mostly in silence while we each dig into our pints. Ice cream was a pretty perfect way to follow up the unpleasantness with my ex this morning.
“Hey!” Sloan pipes up, her wandering mind clearly having stumbled upon something. “Since I’m not hanging with Daddy today after all, do you think we could still go out on the boat with Uncle Devin?”
My little brother. Who towers over me by at least a foot. “I don’t know.” Once I declined the invite, I didn’t really bother to get more information. “I could call him and find out.” I look to Knox. “Would you be up for that?”
“Hell, yeah.” He points at my phone, still sitting in the cupholder where I put it on the way to my ex’s. “Make the call.”
I smile, slowly nodding. “Okay.” I guess we’re doing this.
As soon as I pick up my phone, I notice I have a slew of messages. Mostly from the same person. There’s one in there from Arizona I must have missed earlier. She made it home safe and sound.
I send her a quick thumbs up before I scan the rest. Ordinarily, I’d be in a panic, trying to smooth things over with Ebeneezer again. But there’s nothing remotely ordinary about today. So, I dismiss every last text for the moment and carry on with making that call to my brother.
“What’s up,” he answers two rings in.
“You out on the water yet?” I ask, trying to listen extra closely to see if I can make out where he’s at from his background noises. It’s pretty quiet though, which means he’s likely still on land.
“Just stopped at the gas station to pick up ice. Headed to the marina next. Why? You change your mind about coming?”
I take one last look around the cab of my truck. I already threw Sloan into the mix, why stop now? “As a matter of fact, wedid. Turns out, Sloan’s sleepover at her dad’s ended early so we were hoping to still tag along.”
“Absolutely,” my brother confirms. “Just meet us there. We’ve got plenty of everything, so all you need to do is show up.”
“Awesome.” I take a breath. “Can I show up with a date?”
There’s a pause at the end of the line, and while my brother is prone to getting distracted while on the phone, I don’t think that’s what this is.
“Like, adate-date?” he asks a second later.
“I mean, not like we’re going on a date on your boat, but like he’s my plus one. Or plus two. Since Sloan’s my plus one. And he’s a he. Who will be there with me.Notlooking to mingle.” Great. Now I’m rambling.
“So, like, you’re already dating,” my brother tries to summarize.
“Um, I’m not really sure we’re calling it that.”
Knox looks at me, trying to come across as stern but his mouth keeps giving way to a grin. “Do I need to talk to him? You sound like you’re having a hard time with this.”
I scowl, turning my head and thus my phone away from him. “I can do this,” I hiss.
“Doesn’t really sound like it,” Sloan chimes in dryly from the backseat.
“Look, just tell me you have room for three extra people on your boat and we’ll meet you at the marina,” I break it down to the basics for Devin.
