Page 17 of Penalty Kill

They nodded and we went back to the car. They were pretty good at buckling themselves in, so I just had to double-check while they dug into the snacks they found waiting for them.

“I love strawberries so much,” Finn said with a content smile.

He’d loved the sorbet we made using his favorite fruit, so I made a mental note to make sure we always had them on hand. Getting the boys to eat healthy was challenging enough. They were used to fast food kids’ meals, but I wanted to wean them off that as quickly as possible. Discovering one of his top choices so quickly was like striking gold.

Milo willingly ate the strawberries in his bag, but he’d told me yesterday that watermelon was his top favorite. As soon as they were in season, I promised I’d buy him the biggest one we could find.

Once they were situated and I climbed in, I turned to face them. “What do you guys want to do today? Park, home, or museum.”

Brandon gave me their family pass to the children’s museum last night in case they ever wanted to go. It was closer than the zoo, and since it was indoors, it was a much better option for the hot Utah summers. I had a feeling we’d be there quite a bit over the next few months.

“Can we go to the wood park?” Milo asked.

Wood park? I only knew of the park I met them at, but that one was metal and sand. No wood anywhere.

“Yeah, the big wood one.” Finn cheered.

Good. They were locked in on that one. I knew better than to try talking them out of something. A couple of days with them and I’d learned that was like negotiating with the very best lawyer. Not going to work out in my favor.

They continued eating and talking to each other about this amazing park while I did a quick search on my phone. Wood park in Salt Lake City brought up nothing. Of course not. I needed a bit more information, but it wasn’t like the four-year-olds had an address.

The only phone numbers I had for people here were Brandon and Chloe. Brandon had practice, and I doubted Chloe had any idea either, but she was my only option.

I called her and waited.

“Sydney, is everything okay?” Her voice didn’t sound anxious, just a bit surprised.

“Yes, sorry. The boys are fine. They just asked me to take them to the big wood park and I have no idea where that is. I tried searching for it online, but nothing came up.”

She let out a single laugh. “I’m not the park expert either, but let me see if anyone in the office knows.”

I waited as I heard her call out if anyone knew of the wood park in the area. The responses were mumbled but I wasn’t holding out much hope.

“Ask them if the playground looks like a castle,” she finally said to me.

I peeked at the boys through the rearview mirror. “Does the wood park look like a castle?”

Finn nodded aggressively while Milo beamed. “Yeah! There’s a flag with a dragon and a drawbridge.”

I relayed the information to Chloe who passed it along to someone on her end.

“Okay, yeah that’s the one. It’s up on the bench. It’s actually pretty close to my house.” She paused. “Huh, good to know. Emma probably knows where it is. Anyway, I’ll send you the location so you can follow the directions on your phone.”

“Thank you so much!” I couldn’t believe we figured it out together.

“No problem. I’ll send you Emma’s number too so if you get lost, she can help you.”

“Perfect. I appreciate it.”

“I’ll see you guys tonight at the game, right?”

“Yeah, we’ll be there.” I glanced back at the boys.

“Okay, see you later.”

She hung up and within seconds I got a text with the address. I got the directions and soon we were on our way.

“All right, boys. Wood park here we come!”