Page 55 of Playing With Forever

“What was I wrong about?”

“It’s not Kane who relentlessly teases me, it’s DJ.” Her words were snappy, but her tone was wistful. Just like it had been every time she’d called me over the last two weeks to complain about something the boys did.

I loved it.

Every part of it.

The boys teasing her.

Her calling me to mock complain.

Them calling me to gush about how awesome Lindy was.

DJ and Carrie FaceTiming so they could meet Evan since DJ’s work schedule hadn’t allowed them to come down for a visit.

Kane calling me but ending up on the phone with Evan.

All of it was perfect—including, and most especially, Evan.

There had been a time in my life when I’d dreamed of finding the perfect man. Age and wisdom taught me there was no such thing as perfect.

Evan proved that to be false. He was as close to perfect as there was. At least he was perfect for me and my boys. Bonus me and the boys were perfect for him and Lindy.

“The next time DJ’s giving you a hard time, send him a squirrel gif.”

“Why a squirrel?”

“He’s deathly afraid of them,” I told her, still staring into the parking lot.

“He’s afraid of squirrels?” Lindy laughed.

“Deathly,” I confirmed. “When he was about eight, we were at the park and a squirrel fell out of the tree we were sitting under. It landed on his head. Kane was four and laughed himself sick at his brother’s screams of horror.”

“Thanks, Mamalious, you’re the best!”

Mamalious.

My breath arrested in my lungs and my heart squeezed.

Lindy, my sweet Lindy, called me Mamalious.

“Anytime, sweet girl, but listen, I’ve got to scoot. I have a meeting in ten minutes.”

“Okay. Dinner at yours or ours tonight?”

That was something else wonderful that had happened, or rather two things—Lindy joined Evan and me for dinner, not every night but most nights, and that was the other thing, in the last two weeks, there had only been one night I hadn’t spent with Evan, and that was only because he had a middle of the raid.

So it wasn’t a question of if we were having dinner together it was which house we were eating at. Most of those nights were at theirs so Lindy didn’t have to drive home after supper.

“Where would you like dinner to be?”

“Do you mind ours? I’m working on a painting.”

Of course she was. The girl never stopped creating.

“That’s perfect because I’d like to see the canvases you picked out before you take them to the gallery.”

There it was, a flash of dark hair appeared between two cars.