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After setting down her towel, Emmy gathered her hair up into a ponytail, revealing a neck that didn’t help my imagination at all.
Unaware of my dirty mind, Emmy answered, “My mom took me to a Mommy and Me swim class at six months. So, I guess forever? I had lessons from a young age, and it wasn’t long before I loved jumping from the high diving boards. Maybe once you learn to swim, you can try them out at the community center pool.” She gestured toward her own tiny diving board. “I can give you a quick glimpse of what you can do eventually, if you want?”
“Yes, please! I almost never went swimming before, and only with Daddy. But I want to learn. Then maybe I can swim at Lake Sonoma later this summer, when we go camping.”
I mentally sighed. “We haven’t made any final plans to go camping yet, Avery.”
“But we might.” She smiled up at Emmy. “Maybe you can teach me too? With two teachers, I’m sure to learn super fast.”
Emmy glanced at me, a question in her eyes. She didn’t want to interrupt my father-daughter bonding time. I shrugged. “If Emmy’s okay with it, then why not? Just let me blow up Wyatt’s ring while you two get into the water.”
Avery frowned. “Emmy?”
“My full name is Emilia, but your dad calls me Emmy.” She bit her lip a second—and bastard that I was, I couldn’t stop staring at it—and added, “You can call me Emmy, too, if you want. I’ll answer to either.”
Avery nodded. “Emmy is much better. I like it.” She reached for Emmy’s hand. “Now come on! It’s hot today, and I want to get into the pool.”
Emmy walked toward the deep end and released Avery’s hand when they were nearly to the diving board. “Stay right here, okay? I’ll show you a quick dive, and then we can start your lesson.”
My daughter nodded, and I couldn’t tear my gaze from Emmy as she walked onto the diving board, perched on the edge, and bounced a few times—again, I couldn’t stop staring at her breasts—and then she jumped and dived in gracefully.
Avery clapped. “Yes, I want to be able to do that too!”
Emmy surfaced, and the ring in my hands was forgotten as the water ran down her face and shoulders. It made me want to go over, pull her out of the water, and give her a nice, long rubdown. One that ended with both of us breathing hard and desperate.
Scowling and scolding myself—my kids were here, for fuck’s sake—I put the ring to my mouth and blew it up, watching as Avery sat at the edge and slowly eased in, never letting go of the side. Emmy swam just beside her, treading water as if it were nothing, and murmuring something to Avery I couldn’t hear.
Soon Avery’s look turned determined, and she nodded then moved to hold on with only one hand. Watching Emmy encourage my daughter and then seeing Avery grin at Emmy, well, damn, it did something to my heart.
Because in a fair world, that sort of ease should’ve existed between Avery and her mother. Except Andrea had never wanted to watch the kids on her own. In fact, she had usually disappeared right after Avery or Wyatt had asked to do something with her.
Even something as mundane as eating dinner together, or making cookies, had sent Andrea scrambling.
Emmy glanced at me and frowned. Not wanting her to ask shit—because I might actually spill some of the truth—I turned away and headed toward my son. I handed him the ring and walked into the water, turning to face him. “You sure you don’t want to come over near us? The ring will keep you afloat.”
He shook his head and merely floated in the shallow end, his feet up near the surface. “Nope. Avery really wants to learn to swim. I don’t.” He hesitated and then added, “Do you think Uncle Beck will let us ride his horses again soon?”
I’d taught my kids to ride early. And while they weren’t old enough to go out on their own, riding with Wyatt had been one of our special things, back at his grandparents’ place. We’d only managed it a few times before the vineyards and winery had become too crowded. “I’m sure he will. It just has to be a quiet day.” Wyatt glanced away, and I added, “I’m not trying to do that adult thing where I say we’ll do it later and then never follow through.” Something my wife had done plenty. “Once the summer is over and the grapes are harvested, it’ll be a lot quieter, and we can ride all the time.”
Wyatt twirled in the ring. “If you say so.”
I stopped the ring and made him face me. “I promise, Wyatt.” I put my pinky up. “And you know how seriously I take pinky promises.”
Long ago I’d come up with a way to convince my kids that I’d follow through when their mother wouldn’t. And so the deadly serious pinky promises had been born.
I was sure my brothers would laugh their asses off at their growly brother doing such a thing, but when it came to my kids, I didn’t fucking care what other people thought.
Wyatt smiled and hooked his pinky finger with my much bigger one. “Pinky promise.”
Once he released my finger, I splashed him. And for the next few minutes, we laughed and tried to soak the other. Until eventually, Avery shouted, “Daddy! Come look what I can do!”
With one last splash at my son, I turned and swam to the deep end. I made the mistake of looking at Emmy’s face. She smiled, her eyes warm, and something about it just felt…right. The warmth and happiness were what she deserved, not the tears and fears of whatever she hadn’t yet shared with me about the past.
It was fucking difficult to tear my gaze away, but I somehow managed it. “Show me what you’ve learned, Avery.”
As I watched my daughter tread in place for five seconds before gripping the wall again, I smiled at her and then went to give her a hug.
And I felt Emmy’s eyes on me the whole time.
