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"We can leave it," she said.
Leo frowned. "Maybe I should knock it down."
"It was a lot of work, honey. Do you really want to knock it down?" she asked.
Indecision played through his gaze. Leo turned to Decker. "What do you think?"
"You should do whatever would be the most fun thing for you to do," Decker replied.
A smile spread across her son's face and then he lifted his leg and brought his foot down on the nearest part of the castle. To her surprise, Decker immediately joined in. Within seconds, their massive castle was nothing but a pile of sand. It bothered her a little to see it destroyed, but the males did not share her sentiment. They were laughing and smiling, having as much fun tearing it down as they had had building it up.
She put her shoes back on and got to her feet. Then they headed off to the next adventure.
ChapterTen
Decker wassorry to leave the beach. Building a sandcastle with Chloe and Leo had been ridiculously enjoyable. Seeing Chloe barefoot, her hair blowing in the breeze, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, had made him want to do anything he could to keep her in that happy moment. For a brief time, she'd been able to set down all the weight she carried and just relax and be silly. Being with them had reminded him what it felt like to be with his dad when there were no rules, no real problems, just enjoying the moment.
But that moment was over, and the sound of a train horn took his thoughts in a different direction. The sound pierced his memory, a troubling reminder of a past he didn't really want to remember but couldn't quite forget.
The train horn blasted again, louder this time, and as the path came out of the trees, he saw the open-air train chugging along the nearby track. Chloe came to a stop, and he pulled up next to her as the train passed by. There were four cars on the train with about a dozen people aboard.
"Can we ride the train, Mommy?" Leo pleaded from inside his carrier.
Chloe glanced over at him. "What do you think, Decker? Want to take a ride?"
He wasn't sure he did, but he thought he'd have one unhappy boy if he said no. "All right."
They rode across the park to the entrance and locked their bikes along the fence before heading to a small booth where an older woman was selling tickets. She greeted Chloe and Leo with a big smile. "It's nice to see you out of the restaurant," the woman said.
"It's nice to be out, Nancy," Chloe said. "We need two adult tickets and one child."
"Of course. And who is this?" Nancy asked with interest.
"This is Decker Hayes," Chloe replied. "He's going to be remodeling my parents' rental house."
"Oh, I heard about poor Ellie," Nancy said, her mouth turning downward. "So sad. I didn't know she was sick until it was too late."
"Did you know Eleanor well?" Chloe asked.
"I wouldn't say well. But she used to play bridge at the rec center with a bunch of us. She was a private person, never talked much about her personal life. I know she was a widow and didn't have any kids or relatives nearby, but she always had a smile on her face." Nancy paused. "It will be seven dollars for the three of you to ride the train."
"I've got it," Decker said, handing her a ten. "Keep the change."
"Well, thank you," Nancy said. "Enjoy the ride."
They stepped to the side as a mom and three kids came up behind them to buy tickets.
"That's the first person I've heard call Eleanor, Ellie," he murmured.
"She introduced herself to me as Eleanor. My grandmother might have called her Ellie now that I think about it." Chloe gave him a thoughtful look. "You seem a little tense, Decker."
He drew in a breath and let it out. "I don't know why I am, but…yeah."
A moment later, the train pulled up in front of them, and they got into the first row of the third car, with Leo sitting in between them. It only took a few moments for the train to fill up, and then they were off.
As the train moved through the park, past a pond, the children's playground, and through a canopy of thick trees, Decker felt the years in between trips slip away. And when the train horn blared as they came to the crossing by the bike path, his heart jumped, then beat faster as the train moved faster down a small incline.
"Faster," he said, clapping his hands with excitement.
