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“I’ll go get the steaks and hotdogs,” Maggie said, walking back into the house.
The grill sat in the corner, a dusty and forgotten beast.
His chest constricted as he thought of Kimberly and wondered if she’d ever learned to start the lawn mower or light the grill. He should find out. If he’d had the guts to stick around he would have been the one to take care of those things in Robert’s place.
Lexi handed him some matches and directed him to the lighter fluid. She continued to glare as though he might steal the family silver.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m preparing the grill. What does it look like?” He poured some coals out of the bag.
“Why don’t you just tell my mother that you hate her cooking? We both know it’s true.” Lexi crossed her arms.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. Why are you really here?”
“I’m helping your mother look for the missing boxes of your dad’s things.”
“She told you about my dad?” Her eyes widened.
“That’s what this is all about—your mother, trying to make it better for you.”
Lexi was about to say much more, of that he was certain, but Maggie walked outside carrying a plate of meat and wearing a floral sundress that showed off the best pair of legs he’d ever seen. He averted his eyes before the kid could notice. Too late.
“What are youwearing?” Lexi asked, her voice dripping with hostility.
“I found this in one of the boxes. I can’t believe it still fits me.”
“I can’t believe you’re wearing it.”
“Lexi, you’re being rude,” Maggie warned.
Jack tightened his jaw harder with each of Lexi’s words, but he kept quiet. Not his problem, but he wondered if Maggie’s husband had allowed the kid to talk to her that way. He assembled the coals and poured on the lighter fluid.
“Fine. I’m sorry, but it’s just that…”
Lexi glanced from him to Maggie and then back again. She groaned, threw up her hands in the air and stomped back inside the house.
Jack tossed a match on the charcoals and stepped back from the growing heat of the flames. He couldn’t help it when his gaze followed Maggie as she sighed and walked to the edge of the deck where she stared into the forest of trees behind them.
“These teenage years are going to be one big carnival ride. I can tell.”
“Hopefully, you like roller coasters.” He tried to keep his tone light, teasing. The effort exhausted him.
“I don’t. They make me sick.”
The pain in those green eyes nearly undid him.
“This might be my fault. She knows you told me about her father and the boxes.”
“If anyone misspoke, it would be me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, but I’m grateful you helped me look.”
“We didn’t get through everything yet.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I should bother. Finding those boxes won’t bring Matt back, and Lexi will realize that when we find them. Then what?”
“The next step. Facing reality. But the truth is having tangible memories does help.”
