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He chuckled, his warm breath near my ear. “Don’t worry. I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”
I’d never craved sex like this, but apparently, I was addicted to this man and the things he did to my body.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
TINA
“Then he turnsthe boat around and tells us this isn’t our thing.” I shook my head as I recounted the story to Emily.
My phone was propped up on the counter so I could chat with her while I made dinner. I stirred the beef stew one more time and placed the lid back on.
“How many times have I told you to get rid of that thing? It’s never going to beyourthing.”
She was right. I’d been putting it off for months, hoping that one day, I’d magically feel differently. I was concerned that it would upset Callie if I got rid of one of the few things we still had that really connected us to Levi. The boathad beenour thing. Callie and Levi had loved it, so despite the motionsickness, it was worth it for me. But now…was it worth it? The last few times we’d taken it out, Callie didn’t even seem to enjoy it.
I paused, listening for the kids. After we’d gotten home from school, Teddy went to his room to play. Worn out from the day, he’d fallen asleep on his floor, so I’d moved him to his bed. If I didn’t wake him up soon, he’d never sleep tonight. And I could still hear the water from the shower, so obviously, Callie wasn’t out yet.
I continued the story, telling Emily about kayaking and dinner with Kyle’s family. As I spoke, Joe appeared behind her.
“Hey, Tina,” he said, leaning down a bit so his face appeared on the screen. “How are you guys doing?”
“We’re good.” I nodded. “Kids are settling in nicely. They’re both loving their new school.”
“That’s awesome.” He massaged Emily’s shoulders and placed a kiss on top of her head, then stepped off the screen once more.
“When does he deploy?”
She let out a sigh. “Next week.”
I nodded, searching for another topic to distract her from the melancholy that had set in the instant I’d brought up Joe’s deployment. Until Levi was killed two years ago, the idea of losing one of our husbands had been a glimmer of a possibility, so far removed from us that neither of us had really embraced it. Emily worried about it more since I’d lost Levi. How could she not? We’d talked about her fear and the thoughts she’d had about how it could have easily been Joe or any one of the guys who didn’t come home that day.
“Callie passed the swim test at Pointe Beach last week.” I smiled.
“Aw, yay! So the swim lessons paid off, huh?” A smirk lifted the corners of her lips. “In more ways than one, it sounds like.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Man, I wish I could have seen her face.”
“Oh, I have pictures.” I opened the gallery on my phone and selected a bunch, then texted them to her. “We should go there when you guys come to visit. The kids would love it.”
She picked up the phone and went quiet while she looked through the photos. “Is this Kyle? He’s hot.”
I scrolled through the pictures I’d sent, and sure enough, I had selected the one of Callie and Kyle showing off their matching swim bands.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“Wow, Callie has gotten tall since the last time we saw her.”
“I know. I think she just had a growth spurt.”
“Hey, hun? Do you have…” Joe was back, approaching Emily from behind. “Whoa, Callie’s so big now.”
“That’s what I said.” Emily chuckled. “Here, look at these. Callie passed her swim test.”
Joe pressed his lips together, intent on the phone screen as he scrolled through the images. After a moment, his eyes narrowed. “This is Kyle?” he asked, turning to look at Emily.
“Yeah, that’s the guy who’s been giving the kids swim lessons and…” Emily trailed off.
