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“We should do it now,” he said, grinning at her.
“Well, with the kids right there, waiting to say hello to me, maybe we should wait until after they go to bed.”
“Oh, okay. I thought you wanted to get knocked up right away.” He grabbed her and pulled her down on his lap and kissed her neck.
“I do, but I don’t think an hour will make a difference.”
They kissed for a minute. “How’d your day go?”
“It was phenomenal. It must be the tide. I had a huge catch, and everything sold before I got to the dock. Pierre radioed in what we had and the estimated weight, and a buyer was waiting. I wish every day could be like this.”
“Boy, this was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Katrina said, holding on to him. “I thought I’d have to beg you.”
“You mean to have a kid? I’m not completely sure it’s in the best interest of my kids, but I know you’d make a wonderful mother. And we’re good together.”
“We are good together.”
“How’s the house coming?”
“The kitchen is almost done,” she said. “Then I can move in.”
She got up after he released his grasp, straightening her shirt. “I’ll go say hello to your kids.” Everything meant something at that moment. Every thought, every word, every act. She’d be on her best behavior. And on the way to the kitchen, her first doubts entered her mind.
Around the block at Calista’s house, her children were sitting on the couch with an open book while she waited for Austin. Initially he wasn’t coming back until Wednesday, but he’d sent her a text earlier that he missed her and the kids and would arrive around nine p.m. Monday. She heard his car pull up and the excitement of seeing him again hit her like a wave of joy. She jumped up to let him inside.
“I’m so glad you came back,” she said. “I bet you’re beat.”
“I am pretty tired,” he said as she lead him to the couch.
“Have a seat. The kids are in bed; they have to get up for school in the morning.”
He said down and looked around the room, noticing a stack of what looked to be photo albums.
“Is that your wedding album?”
“Oh, no. It’s just photos. Do you want to look at it?”
“I do. I want to know more about you.”
She reached for it, and they looked together, at her prom, with handsome Rodney in a tux. “I was so jealous of him,” Austin said. “Look at that face.”
“Austin, you are every bit as handsome as Rodney was. And you’re nice! He wasn’t even nice.”
“In what way?”
“I don’t feel like I’m betraying him when I tell you he was a two-timer. He had an ongoing affair with Lola Beaumont. We just found out after Epiphany.”
“It was a real epiphany.”
“Yes. I’m still shocked.”
“Alphé doesn’t seem fazed by it.”
“Oh, he is. I think he’s had so much trauma with Lola, it just built up and he is numb. After what happened with Alphé and Rodney—”
“What happened?”
“You know how Rodney died, right? It seems like something you would know in your line of work.”
