When she spotted me walking her way, she waved me over, ignoring the two other mothers sitting nearby that shot me pensive looks. I was used to it. People thought I was scary. It was nothing but a superficial assessment. I tried not to take it personally. I was just glad that Erica either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“You brought food?” she asked as I sat both bags down on the table.
“Dinner,” I said, first straddling the bench seat across from her, then swinging my leg over and sitting properly. “From Tiny’s.”
“You’re the best.”
“How was your day?” I asked.
She chatted about her day while I set up the food, telling me about her yoga classes and the reading she’d done on meditation going hand-in-hand with her work. It was nothing especially significant, but I liked listening to her. It was nice to have someone to talk to about nothing over dinner. I wasn’t sure how I’d lasted so many years eating my meals alone and silent.
Dominic joined us as soon as he saw the food laid out on the table. “Are the chicken tenders for me?” he asked excitedly.
“Yep. Unless you want my catfish?” I asked jokingly. I’d gotten to know him well enough to know that the only fish he would eat was tuna casserole. He was a typical picky kid, but I figured I’d be safe going with chicken tenders and fries. What kid didn’t like that?
“Ew,” he grimaced and stuck out his tongue.
“Chicken, it is.” I placed the food in front of him, then gave Erica hers. “And for the lady.”
“Grilled chicken breast. How do you remember these things?”
I shrugged. “It sounds like a lame dating profile characteristic, but I really am a good listener.”
“Do you enjoy walks on the beach, too?” she teased.
“Very funny. As a matter of fact, I donot.”
“What?” Dominic asked around a mouthful of food. “Who doesn’t like the beach?”
“A man with a big old beard that had a tendency to trap sand.”
“No beach, huh?” Erica asked, shaking her head. “And here I thought you might just be perfect.”
“Afraid not,” I said, but the sentiment made something warm fill my chest.
Dominic spent the entire time we were eating talking about his day, telling me stories about children at his daycare and TV shows he liked watching. I found that he was usually rather repetitive, but I didn’t mind. Erica was a real champion, though. She listened to every word that he said, asking follow-up questions and making him seem like the most interesting person on earth. The woman had kid-listening skills.
“Hey, Trainer? Do you want to play catch with me? I brought my baseball and an extra glove.”
We had just finished eating, and I would have preferred to digest for a bit while sitting with Erica, but I couldn’t say no to an offer like that.
“Sure thing.” I took the spare glove from him. It was an adult-sized glove, but still a little small for me. I shoved my hand into it as best as I could and followed him to a patch of grass beside the playground. We were in the shade of a large tree, and I had a surreal moment as I looked around at the happy children and the idyllic surroundings. This wasn’t my kind of thing normally, but maybe it could be.
Dominic and I stood about twenty feet apart, and I held up my glove.
“Okay, throw it right to me.”
Dominic’s first throw went wide, and I had to chase it down. When I returned to my spot, he was staring at the ground, looking like he was close to tears.
What the fuck?
I jogged over to him and knelt at eye level. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t mean to do that,” he said miserably.
I was confused. Why was he so upset? One wide throw wasn’t a reason to go to pieces.
Then, I looked up and met Erica’s concerned gaze. Suddenly, I felt like an idiot. It was his dad, that was the reason he was so upset. An ugly hatred for a man I didn’t even know churned in my belly.
