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I opened my mouth, ready to defend myself, but before I could respond, he went on about the dangers of pools and little ones who didn’t know how to swim.
As he rambled, I pushed the cart down the aisle after Teddy.
I had lived in Half Moon Lake for almost two months, and I had been to The Dock a dozen times, yet this was the most I’d heard from this man.
He had seemed to purposely avoid me on more than one occasion, ducking out of the dining area or rushing off when I was near. I assumed he wasn’t a people person, but now…did he have an off button? He had a lot of words. And why could he rattle off the statistics of drowning deaths in children in the United States like it was common knowledge? Who lived with information like that in their head?
We backtracked, and I grabbed a few cans of soup and the corn that I’d forgone after Teddy knocked the cans over and took off.
We rounded the next corner and followed Teddy back up the cereal aisle.
Did I need more oatmeal?
“Hold up.” Kyle came to a stop and furrowed his brows. “Haven’t we gone down this aisle already?”
“Yep. We’re going in circles.” I shrugged.
He continued to stare at me, like he wasn’t getting it.
“It’s good exercise. He’ll wear himself out, then he’ll be easier to manage while I finish my grocery shopping. The best part is that I never forget things because we go down every aisle twice.”
“Okay…” He shook his head, his brows still pinched together. “Alright, so you’re not concerned about your child learning to swim so he doesn’t drown.”
That was not what I said.
What was it about single parents that made people think they were in constant need of parenting advice? Especially people who didn’t even have children who had no business spouting off their opinions. I should put this guy in charge of Teddy for an hour and see what he had to say then.
“Do you want his friends to make fun of him when he’s fifteen and still can’t swim?”
“Of course not.” I shot him a glare. “He’ll learn eventually. Maybe he’ll be more interested in the water in a few years.”
“That’s your solution? Wait until he’s older and more interested?” Kyle barked. “So you’ll what? Wait until he’s ten, then enroll him in a swimming class with a bunch of five-year-olds? Those classes are grouped by skill level, not age. You get that, right? Yeah, that won’t be embarrassing for the poor kid.”
I pushed my cart after Teddy, all the way across the store. I really needed to go back toward the meats, not the produce, but I’d wait him out. Most days, it was easier to just let him lead.
Teddy pulled up short in front of the mountain of bananas, and half a second later, he was pulling himself up onto the edge of the display.
With a gasp, I darted for him. Kyle beat me there, grabbing him around the waist and spinning back to me.
“Let me see your phone. At this rate, I’m not sure this kid will make it to ten without falling or jumping into the lake again. My sister Savannah was the same way at this age. I could tell you all kinds of horror stories.”
Pulling my phone from the back pocket of my denim shorts, I chuckled at the scene in front of me. This man who towered over me was holding my son like a football, and Teddy was having the time of his life, wiggling and laughing.
“Okay, little monkey.” Kyle took my phone when I held it out to him, deposited Teddy in the cart, and leaned his forearms on the edge. “Stay put for a minute.”
The muscles of his forearms work as he tapped out a message on my phone. Every few seconds, he looked over the top of the device and regarded Teddy, who wouldn’t stop squirming.
“There.” Kyle returned my phone, then turned to Teddy. “You are a wild one, aren’t you?”
My phone’s screen was still unlocked, and the message he’d typed out and sent to himself was still pulled up.
Me: Kyle, the swim master, can you please teach my kids to swim?
I threw my head back and laughed.
Kyle
With a nod to Tina, I turned and walked away. I was halfway down the aisle when she said Teddy’s name in a scolding tone, so I glanced back and gave the kid a look that I hoped saidbe good for your mom.
