AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Kyle, Kyle.”
Between us, Teddy pulled dramatically on Kyle’s shirt.
“Hey, little monkey,” Kyle said, picking him up and nestling him in the crook of one arm. He turned and headed toward the group of tables.
I stood frozen and empty-handed, watching them go. Teddy’s fondness for Kyle sent a wave of relief washing over me. Maybe it was okay that I’d said yes to our date.
Kyle stopped and turned back to me. “You coming?”
I blew out a breath. “Yep.”
He raised one eyebrow like he too could hear the fake bravado in my tone. Our gazes stayed locked; the people, and noise faded away, and a calm swept through me, joining the relief. I’d never been a spiritual person, choosing to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground, but I couldn’t help but hope that this sense of peace was Levi saying this was all okay. I’d never thought about what I would feel when I was ready to move on, but knowing I had his approval removed a weight from my shoulders I hadn’t noticed I was carrying.
I still wished I had Callie’s, but I was hopeful she’d get there. I just needed to give her more time.
Chapter Eleven
KYLE
I tried notto laugh as we stood in line at the popcorn and candy table. Teddy had spent the last five minutes listing off all the things he wanted.
“You can pick one candy to go with your popcorn,” Tina said with a smile. “But just one.”
His lower lip puckered, but he didn’t argue. The wind ruffled his curly hair, and he turned his face into my shoulder.
With a deep breath in, I tuned out the sounds and people surrounding us, forcing myself to focus on Teddy’s breathing and the closeness of Tina’s body next to me.
As we stepped forward in line, Tina pulled her phone from the back pocket of the tiny-ass black shorts she was wearing. Iwas struggling not to stare at the creamy expanse of her bare thighs.
She smiled and looked around, then waved to someone.
A baby’s cry caught my attention, and I turned to see who she was greeting.
“Oh.” Sarah startled when she saw me and hoisted her daughter higher on her hip. “Hey, Kyle.” She looked from me to Tina to Teddy in my arms, then cocked a brow at Tina.
“You two know each other?” Tina asked, her eyes wide. Then she dropped her head and shook it. “Never mind. That was a stupid question. Everyone knows everyone here. I keep forgetting that.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. But I wanted to ask her the same question. “Yeah, we know each other. She almost became my sister-in-law.”
“You almost married Rhett?” Tina sucked in a breath, her eyes darting from Sarah to me.
Sarah sighed, and her cheeks reddened. “It’s a long story.” She turned to me. “And we both know he would have never gone through with it.”
I shrugged. Probably not. But at the time, we were all worried about how that situation would turn out. The baby in her arms drew my attention as she shoved her entire fist into her mouth and gummed on it.
Callie joined us in line then, waving at Ava as she and her parents headed toward the field where the crowd was gathering.
“Sarah is my assistant this year,” Tina said as she took the hair tie Callie was holding out to her. She stuck it between her teeth, then ran her fingers through the girl’s long hair, pulling it high on her head and securing it.
Ah. It came back to me then. I’d heard that Sarah had taken a part-time position at the elementary school after she quit her job at The Dock. Her mom was the music teacher. Or maybeshe taught art. I couldn’t remember. Either way, I’d heard that she’d retired.
“I’m going to find a spot to sit,” Sarah said. “Come find me?”
“Sure.” Tina nodded.
We moved up another few steps then, and for the tenth time in the last twenty minutes, my gaze drifted down to Tina’s long legs. Why did I find it so hard not to stare?
Once we’d gotten our popcorn and candy, we wandered toward the crowd.
