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“That’s good.”
It was good. But was it good enough?
He noticed she talked to him but kept her eyes straight ahead. Mesmerized by her, he didn’t even see the park right in front of them. There were only three kids out there. One slid down the slide, his hands in the air the entire time, his squeal echoing through the air. Another moved back and forth on a small, metal horse attached to a large spring in the ground. The movement made Drew dizzy. He could only imagine the kid would toss her lunch sometime soon.
The last little boy sat in the sandbox alone. With his head down, his golden hair shone in the sun. His tiny hands scooped up sand and let it run through his fingers. He did it over and over and over again.
Drew looked at Baylee, her eyes shining, a smile on her face as she watched the little boy.
“That’s Casey.”
She nodded, her curls bobbing with the movement. “Yes.”
Drew looked back at her son. The boy had looked up. Their eyes met and the same green as his mother’s danced in the sunlight. His cheeks were rosy from the sun, his lips pink against his fair skin, just like his mom’s. He blinked, tilted his head, then went back to sifting sand. Man, he was cute.
“Textures are important to him. He likes the feel of the sand.” She shook her head and smiled. “He’d sit there all day if I let him.”
“Not a bad way to spend a day if you ask me.”
She looked at him then. “You a sand kind of guy?”
He lifted one corner of his mouth. “You tease…”
“Maybe a little.” She put her hand up, her thumb and forefinger held about an inch apart. Her eyes twinkled and his stomach did a flip.
He shrugged and continued. “But the same goes for me and the baseball field. The sand of the pitcher’s mound, the smell of fresh cut grass. I love the way they cut it where the rows crisscross and make a design in the outfield.”
“You must miss it.”
He gave a slight nod, emotions backing up in his throat. He swallowed hard.
“I hope someday Casey finds something he loves that much.”
“He will.”
The smile she had going faded a bit. He didn’t like that.
“Baylee.” At the sound of her name, she looked at him. “He will.”
Her eyes searched his for answers he didn’t have. All he knew was he was drawn to this woman in a way that scared the hell out of him, and he wanted nothing more than the best for her and her son.
She blinked and looked back at Casey.
“We should go to a game sometime.” The words flew out of his mouth before his brain had time to register the repercussions.
“A baseball game?”
“Yes. A baseball game.”
She lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “I’ve never been to one. Just football games.”
Drew leaned back against the bench and tossed his head back. “You’re kidding me, right?”
She had to be joking. How could someone go through their whole life and not have attended a baseball game? He stared at her, disbelief pouring from him.
Her laugh warmed his heart. “Football, my dear. Football. I’m from Texas, remember? And it’s me and my sister. No brothers.”
He placed his hands over his heart in dramatic fashion. “You wound me. You have no idea how much you wound me.”
The bench shook now with her laughing, which was, hands down, the most beautiful sound in the world. Sitting on a park bench with Baylee, the afternoon sun warming him, her smile lighting up his heart. All the crap faded away. His instinct was to be terrified by that, but he’d be damned if he let fear ruin the moment.
“Well, we can’t have you heartbroken now, can we? I think a baseball game sounds like a great idea.”
Oh, if she only knew. His heart was on the line every time she looked at him. Every time she smiled. He was a drowning man. Heartbroken or not, he was willing to go down with the ship.
