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“Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but does she spend every day with you?” she asked.
He popped open his soda and took a long swallow before answering. “Only Tuesdays and Fridays. Camp ends at three, and I pick her up because both Taylor and Priscilla are still at work. The rest of the week Priscilla gets out in time to get her.”
“Curt, watch this,” Reese called out before doing a handstand in the shallow part of the pool.
When Reese popped back up, Curt gave the girl two thumbs up. “Nice job.”
“I never knew you had such a paternal streak.” Unless holding a baby counted, until this summer she’d never seen him interact with any children. Yet he looked perfectly comfortable and at ease alone with Reese. “She really likes you. How did you win her over?”
“Promised to teach her to play lacrosse, and I let her teach me all she knows about soccer. I think I’ve played more soccer games in Taylor’s backyard than I ever did in school.” Curt shifted his gaze her way. “Things not going well with Gavin’s daughter?”
“She’s been in Florida all month with her mom, so I haven’t met her. Gavin’s picking Erin up next Friday and bringing her back to New York for two weeks. And honestly, I’m getting nervous.”
“Why? You’ve been around kids before, Leah.” He tore open the pretzel bag and pulled out a handful before sliding the bag her way.
“But all of them are still in diapers. It’s easy to make them happy. Erin’s nine.” She estimated Reese was a little younger than nine, but not much. Whatever strategies he’d used with Reese in the beginning might also help her. “Since teaching Erin lacrosse is out, do you have any other suggestions?”
Rather than answer, he looked back at the pool where Reese was now floating around on a large pizza-shaped raft. “Reese was friendly from the beginning. The first time I had dinner at the house, she asked if I had a girlfriend. When I told her no, she suggested Taylor could be my girlfriend.”
“You’re not helping,” Leah grumbled before pulling out several pretzels.
“Be yourself. Find something you both like and do it together,” Curt suggested.
She’d hoped for something more enlightening, but it was a start. Once Gavin had started talking about Erin, she’d learned the girl loved all kinds of physical activity and art. There was no shortage of art museums in and around the city, and Leah could happily spend hours at any of them. A day exploring one might be the perfect way to start building a relationship with Er
in. When Gavin returned on Sunday, she’d run the idea by him.
Leah watched the girl relaxing in the pool. “Did she really say Taylor should be your girlfriend in the middle of dinner?”
Her brother picked up his soda can again. “It was at the end of dinner, but yeah. First she wanted to know if I had kids. Then she asked about a girlfriend. When I said no, she made her recommendation and added in how her grandmother was always telling Taylor to date more.”
She envisioned the scene in her head and laughed. “Just a little embarrassing for everyone.”
“I don’t know about all children, but Reese says anything that comes into her head. If Gavin’s daughter is anything like her, be prepared for some entertaining conversations while she’s around,” he warned.
They both remained silent and enjoyed the sun while Reese swam. Eventually another concern that had been popping up over the past week had Leah looking over at her brother. She’d never dated a man with a child, so she had no idea what kind of changes to expect when Erin came to New York. Would Gavin prefer she not stay at his place while his daughter was around? Two weeks without sex certainly wouldn’t kill either of them, but she’d miss it. Even more, she’d miss falling asleep and waking up next to him, if he decided it was better she not spend the nights with him.
Although Reese was not biologically her daughter, Taylor was, in all the ways that mattered, Reese’s mom. How did her brother and Taylor handle the more intimate side of their relationship?
“I’m not looking for details or anything, but how do you and Taylor handle sex?” she asked, her voice much lower than normal even though she doubted Reese could hear them on her raft in the pool.
Curt’s hand paused inside the pretzel bag. “The same way everyone does. Didn’t Mom have the birds and bees talk with you?” he asked with a grin.
“Very funny. You know that’s not what I meant.” She yanked the bag away from him and pulled out a handful for herself. “Reese and Taylor stayed with you in Newport. Did Taylor sleep with you or did she stay in a separate room? And I’m sure you don’t go weeks without sex, so either Taylor comes here or you go to her house.”
Her brother’s grin disappeared and his expression grew serious. “When we’re in Newport we share a room, but Taylor gets up before Reese so she doesn’t know we sleep in the same bed. Priscilla has no problem staying with Reese, so we get plenty of time alone, but Taylor never stays the night here.” He touched her arm. “You’re going to have to talk to Gavin about this one.”
Chapter Ten
Some time with her brother, or more specifically, Reese, eliminated most of Leah’s anxiety about meeting Erin later in the week. Throughout the weekend, Reese was just as outgoing and friendly to her as she was to Curt. When Taylor’s mom invited them over for a cookout Saturday afternoon, Reese pulled Leah into the soccer game she, Curt, and Taylor were having before they ate. Later, she insisted Leah had to come upstairs and see her stuffed animal collection. And the girl had quite the collection. Leah was positive the assortment of furry friends surpassed the one she’d had as a child.
And Curt was right. The girl really did seem to say everything that came into her head, including telling everyone about how her best friend, Hazel, was about to have a new stepdad and baby brother, two bits of information that for some reason had left both Taylor and Priscilla speechless.
Despite enjoying her time in New Hampshire, she’d left her brother’s after breakfast. With Gavin due back that evening, she returned to her place in the city instead of Greenwich so he wouldn’t have a long drive after a full day of travel. As she’d expected when she shared her intention, he told her not to worry about it. He knew she preferred her house in Connecticut to the apartment. But she’d held firm and promised to be there when he arrived.
After dropping her overnight bag in the bedroom, Leah switched on her favorite country playlist. Until recently country had been one of the few styles she didn’t listen to. Her cousin’s wife, Addie, had introduced Leah to songs by some of her favorite bands though, and ever since she’d been adding more and more country to her music collection. Somehow over the past year, the number of country songs she owned had doubled. Now she had more of them than she did classic rock hits.
Before leaving the room, she called room service and ordered a salad. One bonus to having an apartment inside a hotel was the ability to call room service whenever she wanted, something she did frequently when she stayed here despite the full kitchen she had, because unlike Gavin, her culinary skills were lacking.
