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Blake just nodded, his heart too big in his chest. So big, it crowded into his throat.
“He’s growing up,” Lauren said.
Blake took a drink of his soda pop, enjoying the burn that slid down his throat. “That he is.”
His son came back into view, and Blake pushed to his feet. Tommy held Kathy’s hand right there in front of him, and they led a group of three other teens.
“This is my dad,” Tommy said. “Blake; and his girlfriend, Lauren.” Tommy gave his dad the briefest of smiles and looked at Lauren as she stood too.
“Nice to meet you,” Blake said. He didn’t want to embarrass his son in front of his friends, because most of them lived on Carter’s Cove, not here.
“Howdy,” he said as she extended his hand—and Tommy cringed. He looked at his son. “What’s your name?” he asked rather pointedly, and Tommy flinched.
“Oh, uh, this is Kathy—uh—Baker.” His face flamed red, and Blake couldn’t wait to ask him if he knew the girl’s last name or not. “And her brother, Luke. Then their cousin, Jacob, and another friend I just met today. Uh…”
“Rob,” Jacob said. “He lives by me.”
“Great to meet you all,” Blake said. He shook Kathy’s hand, then all the boys with them. Lauren did the same, and Blake stepped out of the shade.
“Show me where you’ll be, son, and then we’ll leave you alone.”
“My mom dropped us off,” Kathy said. “She’s gonna come back though. She just ran to get fried chicken.” She smiled at Blake, and he could see why his son was enamored with her.
“That’s great,” he said. “We’ll be here a while. I just want to know where he is, since there’s so many people.”
“Oh, for sure,” she said.
“How old are you, Kathy?” he asked.
“Fifteen, sir,” she said. “Luke’s just about to turn thirteen. He met Tommy on SquareSpaces, and they figured out they lived on Hilton Head together.”
“Tommy’s on Carter’s Cove,” Blake said.
“Dad,” Tommy said.
He swung his attention to his son. “What? You are, especially now that school is starting up again.”
“But I live here with you too.”
“Also true,” Blake said, realizing he’d put his foot in his mouth. “He comes whenever he wants, actually.” He gave his son a smile.
“We’re right here, sir.” Kathy indicated a patch of multi-colored beach towels, a small cooler, and an assortment of T-shirts that had been discarded.
“We’re gonna play spikeball,” Luke said. “Right, Tommy?”
“Yeah, right.” He dropped Kathy’s hand and walked over to the black mesh bag holding the game.
“Okay, well, we’re right over there.” He and Lauren would be maybe fifty feet away, and if everyone would clear out and go home, he could spy on his son easily.
He looked at Tommy and muttered, “Don’t hurt yourself, okay? You start school in three days, and you don’t want to do it on crutches.”
“I got it, Dad,” he mumbled, his face burning a little redder than normal.
Blake went back to Lauren, who now held a Frisbee in her hand. He cocked one eyebrow at it and stayed in the sunshine. “What are you doin’ with that?”
“I bought it at the Lowcountry,” she said. Her smile tickled his hormones in all the right ways. Or maybe that was the black bikini that shown like a neon sign beneath her cover-up. “Have you ever tossed one of these around with your friends?”
“Have you?”
