Page 112 of Promise

I love you, I whisper in my head, knowing I’m not ready to share them yet either. I’ve always loved him and always will.

He’s been my romantic hero in so many ways.

Maybe he truly can be one again.

33

[Dart]

The first week Trin is back at work goes relatively smoothly. She’s on three days and then off until a new week begins. Her shifts are long but manageable for both of us. It gives me time with Mirabelle and provides Trin the break she needs to follow the career she loves.

I’m still floundering with what I want to do next for me, and I’m reconsidering the job offer from Clint. As a single dad, he’s understanding about childcare, and he suggested I could work part-time to start.

Since Trinity isn’t pressuring me and we’re only in her first week back to work, I’m in no rush to make decisions. I’ve got about six months before I really need to worry about finances. For now, time is about finding my purpose, and my purpose is Mirabelle.

Every day is something new. A new skill. A new expression. A new experience. And I’m just soaking it all up. When you’ve wanted something for as long as Trin and I have, you catalog every moment, making a mental note of even the smallest stuff.

I’m grateful again for the time Trin has given me. Grateful for Mirabelle, too.

As much as I don’t like spending time away from my girls, Trinity reminds me I deserve time to myself. A break with adults and my friends. So, her first week ends with me heading out to the ball field.

We have a decent team for the thirty-five-plus crowd. The games are supposed to be more about fun than competition, but Marshall and Tate can’t seem to hold back their competitive nature.

Tate just caught a pop-fly, making it the third out for the other team, and we slowly make our way back to our bench, when I spy Trinity approaching with Mirabelle in the stroller.

“Hey!” I blurt, rushing over to them. I clock Mirabelle first, her little brown eyes wide from the bouncy ride over the grass terrain in her stroller. “This is a pleasant surprise. Everything okay?”

Trinity chuckles. “Nothing’s wrong. We just thought we’d come watch your game. Cheer you on.”

“We did, did we?” I eye Mirabelle, as if a three-month-old has any say in the matter. Reaching for the light blanket over her legs, I jiggle her covered toes before I swipe my hand over her head. She’s so stinkin’ cute, wearing a pink jersey-like onesie.

Speaking of cute, Trinity is wearing my Velocity ball cap again with shorts and a fitted tee.

I lean toward her. “You know what it does to me to see you in my ball cap, right?”

A sweet shade of pink climbs up her neck before she sighs. “I don’t want to intrude on your guys’ time. I just wanted to get outdoors tonight.”

She is never an intrusion.

“I’m glad you’re here. Both of you.” I glance at Mirabelle again.

“Let me hear your cheer, baby girl,” I tease. Mirabelle smiles at me, and that’s all the inspiration I need.

“Go One-Eyed Snakes.” Trinity raises her fist, weakly chanting, before making a cringe face. “Really? That was the best name they could think of?”

“Want to guess who picked it?” I arch a brow.

“Tate.” She grumbles, shimmying with disgust. “He’s so immature.”

I chuckle and wrap my arm around her, kissing her temple. “Thanks for coming to the game.”

My girls are here to support me.

Trin and I are making a real effort at home, being present with each other. She has her book club, and I have baseball, but we enjoy being together. I never want us to be strangers in the same house again.

Sharing a bed every night, becoming reacquainted with one another, is a big help. Some nights we just talk; other nights are a sex fest before exhaustion takes over.

I’m loving it, and loving her, although I haven’t told her how I feel. The timing still feels too soon. Trinity still has a fence around her. Not a brick wall but an iron gate where I can glimpse a future, but sense her still keeping me at arm’s length. Like she doesn’t mind reaching through the bars, but isn’t ready to open the gate to let me in.