He tilted his head toward Grant, his dark eyes glinting with curiosity. “You are?”
Grant swallowed again, clutching Claude for moral support. “Yes.”
Yes?Yes?Is that all he had to say?Say something else, you dolt.
While Grant mentally berated himself, Ben’s eyes remained locked on his face, his expression unreadable.
After five seconds that felt like forever, Ben said, “Okay,” and gathered another wad of cotton candy.
“Bug, do you understand what we’re telling you?” Eliza’s gaze briefly met Grant’s, exchanging a flicker of uncertainty, before returning to her son.
“Grant’s my dad,” Ben said matter-of-factly.
“And do you understand what that means?” Eliza pressed.
“I have a momanda dad.”
A chuckle rose from somewhere inside Grant, and he coughed to keep it from escaping. Leave it to a seven-year-old to uncomplicate the matter.
“Are you going to come live with us now?”
Grant nearly choked.Scratch that.Ben had just made things a million timesmorecomplicated. “Um…” He looked to Eliza for help.
A shadow of sadness darkened her features before she forced a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “No, he’s not coming to live with us. Grant would like you to visit him in San Francisco for the summer. You two can hang out and get to know each other better. Grant even found an art camp that I know you’ll love.”
“Art camp?” Ben sounded intrigued.
“Yeah, you go for a few hours every day and they have really cool art projects for you to make. The city also has a ton of parks, museums, and a zoo.” Grant hated to feel like he was selling himself, but in a way… he was.
Ben perked up at the mention of the zoo. “Do they have lions?”
“Yep. And tigers and bears.” Grant caught himself before addingoh my!He glanced at Eliza, almost certain a microscopic smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. For an instant, a thin thread tied them together, and Grant wanted to hold on to it for as long as possible.
“Do you have any questions for us?” Eliza asked Ben, catching Grant off guard.
Questions? What kind of questions? And what if he didn’t have the answer?
Ben glanced between them, then shook his head.
“Well, when you do, you can ask us anything, okay?” Eliza reached out and gently brushed Ben’s bangs aside, and the tender gesture stirred the dull ache in Grant’s chest again, the one that made it hard to breathe.
A bell chimed, signaling the start of the dunk tank event, and Ben cheered. Jumping up, he raced down the steps shouting, “I’m going to dunk Uncle Luke!”
Eliza cast a sideways glance in Grant’s direction, as though she wanted to say something but immediately thought better of it. Pushing off the cool, stone step, she brushed the loose dirt from her hands, then took off after her son.
Grant watched her graceful form skip down the steps, then disappear into the crowd, realizing his heart went with her. He supposed it always would, leaving a hollow feeling in his gut.
Glancing at Claude, he flashed a wry smile. “What do you think? Am I a hopeless case?”
Grant tipped the dragon, and its floppy head fell forward.
“Yeah… that’s what I thought.”
Chapter 27
Eliza huddled in her circle of friends, thankful the hoopla surrounding the dunk tank drowned out her deafening heartbeat. But as soon as Colt ascended the ladder, her heart stilled, dread constricting her throat as their eyes locked.
He knew. She could feel it.
