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“Is it the one in Long Beach?” Sarah asked.
It didn’t surprise him that she knew about it. He nodded. “Yep.”
“That’s not that far away,” she said.
His spine stiffened. “She’s only nine.” Not that he needed to explain this to her. She didn’t have kids, so he didn’t expect her to get it.
“You were only seven or eight when you started going away to football camp, weren’t you? And those camps were in Arizona,” she said.
How on earth did she remember that? He shook his head. “That was different,” he said as he started hammering again.
“How?”
Was she seriously still standing there, challenging him on his decision-making regarding his daughter? “She’s not ready to be that far away from home on her own yet.”
“She sounded ready…”
“Sarah!” The hammer hit the roof a little too hard, and his voice was a little too loud, but damn, the woman was driving him wild. “It’s a family issue,” he said, quieter but firmly.
She nodded, taking the hint. “Right. Absolutely.”
Wes sighed as he watched her disappear back inside the inn. He felt bad enough. Now he also felt like a hypocrite. Sarah wasn’t wrong. He’d started to go away for camp for a lot longer at a younger age. But his parents hadn’t had the same fears he did as a single dad. His parents had barely had time to even realize whether he was around or not. They’d shown their love with money. He was trying to be the caring, protective father he never had.
Unfortunately, even his voice of reason was starting to sound unfair.
…
She’d overstepped and hadn’t even realized she was doing it. Raising a child wasn’t something she knew anything about, but it couldn’t be easy.
Especially not alone.
Standing in the kitchen, Sarah stared out the window, across the yard at Marissa, reading a book on the swing, and her chest ached for her. Her parents had never agreed to send Sarah to camps like STEM as a child, either. They hadn’t wanted to encourage her passion for all things nerdy. They weren’t bad parents; they simply didn’t get her. Instead, they’d always tried to change her, forcing her to get outside with the other kids, put down the book, get away from the computer screen. They never understood her. While she didn’t think that was the case with Wes, she got Marissa’s disappointment.
Grabbing two Popsicles from the freezer, she went outside and crossed the yard to the gazebo. “Hey, Marissa…can I join you?”
The little girl shrugged. “It’s your swing.”
With her strawberry-blond hair and emerald-green eyes, Marissa looked exactly like Kelly. She had Wes’s height, though, and looked older than her nine years. This was the first time Sarah had met her. She’d been polite and sweet when Wes had made the introductions that morning, but Sarah could sense she wasn’t thrilled about being at work with her father that day.
Sarah handed her a Popsicle and sat on the old, faded cushions. Using her foot, she pushed off, swinging the chair gently.
“Thanks,” Marissa said.
“So your dad mentioned that you’re into science and technology?” Wes hadn’t said much at all, but the book on advanced coding the little girl was reading gave it away.
Marissa nodded, peeling the frozen treat.
“That’s kinda what I do for a living. The technology part anyway.”
Marissa glanced at her, her interest piqued. “Really?”
“I work for a digital marketing company in L.A. creating apps for different businesses.” Which she should be working on right now. Unfortunately, she couldn’t blame the inn for the distraction. She was stuck. She had no idea how to revise the proposal to something Gail wanted or the client wanted. The inn was an excuse to avoid it.
Marissa put the book down and turned to face her. “I made an app,” she said, excitement in her voice.
“You did?”
“Yeah, it’s a sports app for my dad to help him organize the Little League teams better—it takes attendance and keeps a schedule of all the weekly games, player positions, that kind of thing.”
