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“Yes, you will. Just be calm and focus on the ball. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
Tim gave him a pep talk, ending it with a joke. They both burst out laughing and started to practice. Relieved to have bypassed his suit for a t-shirt and jeans today, Tim threw his windbreaker on the steps and enjoyed the physical exercise.
An hour later, the garage door opened and Erin stepped out, a lovely vision in a black and white turtleneck sweater reaching the top of her thighs molded in black leggings, her blond hair loose and flying around her face.
“David, go drink some water and bring a bottle for Mr. Kent.” A radiant smile on her face, she came toward them. “Mr. Kent, I don’t know how to thank you for helping David with his practice.”
“I couldn’t stand to see him crying over such a trivial thing. By the way, my name is Tim.” For the first time since he’d met her a month ago, he indulged in a look of admiration. Erin was no longer a married woman out of reach, but an attractive free woman with a gorgeous figure.
“I really appreciate your help, Tim. I never thought that raising the kids on my own would be so time-consuming.”
“It is.” He threw his hands up in surrender. “I’m dealing with only one child. You have two.”
The heavy lashes that shadowed her cheeks flew up. “No. I have six.”
Dumbfounded, he stared at her. “Six?” he repeated, his eyes rounding.
“David, my oldest is twelve. Rachelle is ten, Debbie seven, Becky three, and the twins Ethan and Nathan ten months. I have my hands full, but my mother came to live with us when Ben passed.” Children’s cries disrupted their easy chat. “Hold on a sec.” Erin rushed inside and appeared two minutes later pushing a double stroller with her twin babies babbling happily.
“They’re so cute.” Tim smiled at the babies and made funny faces for them. They lifted their arms toward him, batting the air. “May I take them?”
“Sure. They love to be picked up and carried.”
He plucked one out of the stroller and then the other, holding their backs firmly. The boys giggled. One pulled at his hair. “Easy boys. Don’t make me bald.” The other grabbed his glasses. “Not my glasses, you rascal.”
Laughing, Erin saved him from her little monsters and handed them each a rubber teddy to keep their little hands occupied.
If her youngest were still babies, her husband couldn’t have died too long ago. “I’m sorry about your husband. I know how hard it is to lose a loving spouse. How long has it been since …” He let his sentence hang.
“A month and half.” She blinked. “Ben died in the same plane crash as your wife.”
“Oh God, I didn’t know. The school should have honored him at the same time.”
“They do that only for their teachers. Besides, I was too busy organizing my life to afford a whole evening of … of …”
“I understand.”
Ben’s death had been as sudden and as unexpected as Annette’s. With six young kids, Erin and her husband must have been a very loving couple, dedicated to their family. Tim could vouch for these two giving their kids a perfect education.
He glided slowly down the driveway, swaying his little charges as he walked, Erin keeping pace with him.
“You’re doing a great job of raising well-behaved children. Debbie has been a good influence on Brianna. I’m the one who should thank you for allowing the girls to be together so often.”
“Well, Brianna reciprocated by helping Debbie with her homework. I can’t thank you enough for coaching David. He’s dying to be on the school’s team.”
“We’ll work on that goal.”
Tim promised himself he would take the Perkins under his wings, mother and children. They deserved all the help he could give them. David was a wonderful boy determined to work hard and succeed and Debbie a sweet girl who’d turned Brianna into a manageable child. He hadn’t met the two other girls, but the twins had conquered his heart on the spot. How he wished he’d been blessed with two adorable boys such as Ethan and Nathan.
He checked his watch. “I’ll take advantage of the fact that my daughter is under your supervision and run to my office for a few hours.”
“Your office?” She smiled, a curious glint in her indigo blue eyes.
“I’m a lawyer, specializing in hazardous waste litigations. I was a chemical engineer when my company offered to pay for my law school. I’ve never regretted it.”
“A chemical engineer, hmm … Ben was an electrical engineer, but he worked as a salesman forGlobal Items, traveling a lot. Unfortunately, it cost him his life.”
