AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Five
‡
Baylee leaned back on her hands and crossed one foot over the other. She’d taken off her sandals when they sat down, Drew spreading the blanket out on a spot not far from the pond. He’d gone about opening the big picnic basket and laying things out, shooing her away when she tried to help.
A little girl wandered close to the water and tossed a breadcrumb to a nearby duck. She squealed with delight when the duck stuck its head out and gobbled it up. Clapping her hands, she ran back to her mother who sat close by, smiles on both their faces.
Baylee leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting the sun wash over her. It was rare for her to have a time when her “Mommy antenna”, as she called it, was able to be down. It was down some when she was at work and knew that Casey was safe with her mother, but then she was so focused on work, it wasn’t exactly stress free. She loved her job, but it was still a job. This? This was pure heaven.
The rustling of papers and plastic beside her stopped. Drew wasn’t moving around anymore. She opened her eyes and found him watching her. Their gazes met and one side of his mouth lifted, but he didn’t say anything. She smiled back.
It was unusual, for sure, to be with a man of so few words. She liked it. But there wasn’t awkward silence with Drew. It was… peaceful. There was so much she wanted to ask him and yet, sensed he eased into things, thought things through. Wasn’t one to blab out his feelings anytime someone asked.
Only then did she notice the spread he’d laid out and her eyes grew wide. “Your mom really knows how to feed people, doesn’t she?”
Drew shook his head. “She can get… zealous about some things.”
“This is fantastic.” Baylee sat up and crisscrossed her legs in front of her. She took a green olive from a small container and popped it in her mouth. “Mmmm. I love these things.”
“Well, there’s plenty, so dive in.”
She smiled and grabbed a plate. Piling it with cheese, crackers, meats, olives… It was a smorgasbord. The small picnic basket she’d carried down the grassy hill sat untouched. “What’s in that one?”
“Mom packed that for your son.”
Baylee peered inside to find two juice boxes, a PB&J sandwich cut into the shape of a dinosaur, an apple, a bag of goldfish crackers, and two Oreo cookies.
She looked up at Drew. “This is precious. Your mom is so thoughtful.”
Her heart sank at the thought of Casey missing out on this. Maybe she’d made the wrong decision by leaving him home.
“What’s your son’s name? I keep calling him ‘your son.’ It would be nice to call him by his name.”
“His name is Casey.”
Drew nodded. “How old is he?”
“He’s five. Almost six.”
A smile graced his lips as he looked out towards the pond. He sat with his knees up, his arms resting on them, hands clasped together in front. “That’s a fun age.”
She laughed. “Define fun.”
He laughed with her. “Well, you got me there. I imagine raising a five-year-old isn’t the same as being one.”
“Nope. Not in the least.” She took a bite of cracker with cheese and looked at the water too.
“I think I was about that old when I started getting into baseball. Asking my dad to take me to games.”
Baylee looked back at him again. She could imagine him as a little boy. Although, Drew came across as an old soul. His eyes saying he saw what others missed, that he took in everything. Not unlike Casey in a lot of ways.
“Was your dad into baseball too?”
“Nope. Just me. Dad was more of a scholar. He read a lot. But he loved to be outdoors so he didn’t mind going to games. He spent time with each one of us kids doing what we enjoyed and taking it all in, whether it was his thing or not. Just loved being with us, watching us soak up what we loved.”
“He sounds like a wonderful man. You must miss him.”
He looked at her then.
