She hoisted herself up onto the handrail to take a seat beside him, her cowboy boots dangling over the bridge.
“That’s awesome because I’m usually the awkward one. I appreciate you letting me of the hook.”
“Ever the gentleman,” he remarked wryly, knowing he’d been anything but with her from the moment he’d barged into her store after hours and dripping wet, to the way he’d let his daughter have a meltdown in Erin’s office. “You’ve been the unlucky beneficiary of the Weldon family craziness this week, that’s for sure.”
Out here, he seemed to relax a little bit. He didn’t feel the same tension that he had experienced on the crowdeddance floor. The sound of the rushing brook and the soft breeze rustling the leaves helped ease some of the resentment he felt at his attraction to Erin. Even better, he didn’t need to be on guard to keep her safe from so many strangers.
“How’d your meeting go today?” she asked, tucking a strand of dark hair behind one ear.
The moonlight spilled over her in a way that made everything a shade of gray.
“It went well. Some of the guys on the crew think I ought to take over as the host for this segment, but I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “How did you know I had a meeting?”
“Sarah came by the store today and mentioned you went without her.” Erin traced the design on the skirt of her sundress and Remy realized it wasn’t a floral pattern like he’d thought.
The design was a tropical beach scene. A girl balanced coconuts in a basket on one hip while a canoe rested at her feet, just out of the surf. It looked hand painted.
“Have you seen Sarah tonight?” He didn’t want to get into another discussion about his daughter’s problems, hating to be disloyal to her even though Erin’s insights had helped him. “She sent me a text that she’d be here, but I haven’t spotted her.”
“I saw her when I first arrived. She’s with my niece, Ally, and some of her friends.” Erin didn’t seem worried.
But then, she didn’t know Sarah’s history.
“I had hoped to speak to her tonight,” he found himself confiding.
Ah hell. Talking to this woman was just too damned relaxing. Especially when he was overworked and overtired. What was it about Erin that made it so easy to be around her?
He hefted himself up onto the wooden rail beside her.They weren’t touching, but the spot made for close quarters.
Erin shifted slightly. “The teenagers usually park their cars alongside the playground area. They kind of tailgate during the early part of the evening, and then they take over the dark end of the town square once it gets late. Ally said some of them were bringing stuff for laser tag tonight, but if you want, we can go back and check on them?”
He debated. Sometimes his daughter seemed upset he didn’t pay more attention to her. But if he interrupted when she was making new friends…she might not thank him, either.
“In a few minutes maybe. Laser tag sounds fun.” Maybe being here would be good for Sarah. She could be a kid and roam around town with more freedom than what he liked for her to have in Miami. “She just turned eighteen, so I’m trying not to be Joe Overprotective. But she’s still in school and it’s been a rough couple of— Crap.” He shook his head. “I told myself I wasn’t going to burden you with this stuff even if you arewaytoo easy to talk to.”
“I bet I’m only easy to talk to because I don’t flirt with you.” Erin quit tracing the pattern on her dress with her black-painted fingernail. Her pale eyes met his in the moonlight. “Women must hit on you constantly.”
“You’ve seen my great dance moves.” He didn’t know how else to handle that one. Women did hit on him. “My wife used to say they only liked me for the accent.”
Erin grinned. “Smart woman. There’s something about a Cajun twang that is just an unfair advantage for a man.”
He braced himself for more questions about Liv, but Erin continued speaking.
“Seriously, I don’t blame you for wanting to talk about Sarah. It’s got to be tough raising a teenager alone and nothaving anyone to—I don’t know—bounce ideas around with. I don’t like making decisions about thestorewithout getting my sister’s opinion. If I had kids?” She rolled her eyes. “I’d have to poll all my friends constantly to see if I was doing the right thing. It’s a scary thing being responsible for a mini human.”
“That doesn’t mean I should unload my paternal worries on you just because you’re a nice person.” A nice person who’d felt way too good in his arms when they’d taken a few turns around the floor together.
“What worries? Sarah seems really great. She took the initiative to collect a bunch of stuff for my clothing drive today and brought it all over on one of the bicycles from the B and B. I was so impressed.” Her voice was animated. Genuine.
And it relieved the hell out of him to think about Sarah jumping on the chance to do something worthwhile in town.
“Really? That is pretty cool.” Good news about Sarah hadn’t come around often in the past two years, but then there hadn’t been much to celebrate in their lives. “I’m trying my damnedest to raise her right, not just because I love her, but I owe it to her mom.”
Erin was quiet for a long time. But then, he was used to people not knowing what to say when he talked about Liv.
“How unfair that she missed out on the chance to see Sarah now,” Erin said finally. “Good parents work hard for the chance to be part of their kids’ lives.”
Remy studied her profile in the moonlight. She seemed a million miles away.
