Page 62 of Reeves

My first instinct is to knock his hand away. To tell him not to touch my son.

Heishis son.

Benjy, meanwhile, is vibrating with excitement.

I should have shut this down earlier. When Benjy first suggested it. When Reeves hesitated. When the invitation was still small enough to pretend it was a child's meaningless chatter.

Instead, I let it grow.

“YES!” Benjy throws both arms in the air like we just got a new puppy. “Wait until you taste PopPop’s crawdads. He makes them spicy but not too spicy.”

We reach the parking area where my Subaru sits next to Reeves’s black Hummer. The size difference makes my car look like a toy.

“I’ll follow you?”

Reeves pulls his keys from his pocket, and I notice his hands are steady. Whatever internal conflict he had about accepting this invitation, he’s either worked through it or pushed it somewhere out of sight.

Or buried it.

“It’s the blue cottage on Magnolia Lane,” I tell him. “Right next to the seafoam one where we were yesterday.”

“I remember your parents’ house.”

Things are getting a little too comfortable too fast. All of a sudden, six years ago feels like yesterday, and the intensity of being around him again hits me like a tidal wave.

We have so much history between us.

And now we have a son.

I don’t know if I can do this. What in the hell was I thinking?

Benjy climbs into his car seat without being asked, still chattering about the pirate trap and whether we’ll see evidence of nocturnal reconnaissance.

After strapping him in, I get behind the wheel and glance into the rearview mirror. Reeves sits in his truck behind us, waiting for me to pull out first.

His hands are on the wheel, forearms flexing, and the sight hits low in my stomach before I can stop it.

This is all fucking too much.

I need to protect Benjy. He can’t feel the way I do right now. Ihave to shield him from the uncertainty, the fear, the possibility of heartbreak waiting around the corner.

As soon as that thought forms, I realize it isn't Benjy I need to protect. He wasn’t afraid out there or uncertain.

That was me.

I’m the one sitting here waiting for the ground to shift under my feet again, waiting for the moment when Reeves leaves, and everything collapses.

Benjy just wants to talk about recon and pirates.

I start the engine and pull onto Harbor Street, watching the black Hummer fall in behind us as we head toward Magnolia Lane.

The scentof boiled seafood and spices drifts through the screen door, mixing with the sound of Dad's laugh from inside.

This is really happening.

Benjy bounds ahead, screen door slamming behind him.

"PopPop! Gigi! We brought someone!"