Avery threw terribly, but Miles enjoyed pushing the stroller. Despite his lack of experience with babies, Lennox had a special attachment to Miles. Anna Catherine called him “the baby whisperer” because he could calm Lennox in seconds. At first, he assumed she had liked something about his face. But Hayes had mentioned babies liked the sound of a heartbeat. Thanks to all his running, Miles’s heart rate rested at a nice, slow forty-eight beats per minute. It probably lulled her into contentment, and often, when no one else could soothe her, Lennox fell asleep on Miles’s chest.
“My arm is getting tired.” Avery handed him the ball. “Switch?”
He ceded control of the stroller and threw the ball. Lennox cooed in her seat and pointed at Casper as he retrieved it. Miles launched the next throw high into a tree. Casper jumped in a circle when he lost sight of it and Lennox screamed in delight as it came crashing through the branch canopy ahead, landing with athunkon the compressed gravel. Casper took off, jumped, and caught it on the second bounce.
“You should have been throwing the whole time.” Avery smiled.
Lennox wiggled in her seat and pointed at Casper. “Da, da, da.”
“Are you saying dog?” He stood in front of the stroller, blocking Avery’s progress to point at Casper. “Dog?”
Lennox lifted both her hands, waving at him.
“Oh, you want me to pick you up.” Within seconds, he had Lennox in his arms and Casper chasing a throw.
“Ba,” Lennox cooed.
“Did you hear that? She said ball. I’ve taught her two words.”
Avery rolled her eyes.
They were almost back to the parking lot, where he’d arranged to meet Hayes. “Now I am going to teach her to throw.”
Avery sighed. “Miles, she is too young to throw. She’s only ten months old.”
He put the wet ball in Lennox’s hand. She dropped it.
“You threw it!” Miles exaggerated his excitement.
“She dropped it.”
“I say she threw it.” He rubbed noses with Lennox, who laughed.
“Miles, Anna’s right.” Avery’s eyes turned gooey. “You’re a natural.”
He thought luck explained why Lennox liked him, especially given his lack of parenting experience.
“You haven’t seen me change a diaper,” he laughed. “I babysat for them once when Hayes cut himself cooking and needed to go to the ER for stitches. I put the diaper on backwards. Anytime it comes up, Anna laughs so hard she pees.”
“That’s karma, if you think about it.” Avery dropped her head to the side in thought. “But really, you’re great with her.”
“Thanks. This is fun for a while, but I don’t know. I never had siblings or cousins. And my family kind of dissolved during my formative years, so I’m not sure I know how to parent.”
A child needed guidance and understanding. Avery could probably do that without thinking. He wasn’t convinced he could. Miles wasn’t entirely sure he was a good enough boyfriend, and Avery deserved the best of everything.
His heartbeat quickened. He didn’t want to ruin the starry-eyed,fireflies-in-the-stomach feeling that had recently resurfaced, even though it felt like they had been together for a long time. Life with a stroller, a dog, and Avery seemed like it could be so fluid, so easy. This wasn’t just a walk. They were trying on a future and silently asking themselves if it fit. Avery might be imagining them as a family. What else was she supposed to think?
The next logical step for Avery would be marriage. With Lily’s wedding looming, she had to be thinking about it. He didn’t know if Avery wanted to get married, especially after what happened with Trent. Victoria had given Miles the nicknameMr. One and Done. And in some way, the moniker fit. Being a boyfriend was new to him. If Avery expected him to leapfrog right into a proposal, he wasn’t there yet.
He handed Lennox the ball again, and she dropped it. This time, his praise was less enthusiastic. His mouth went dry. He heard his own heart pounding rapidly and placed his free hand on his chest to check. This was not forty-eight beats per minute. It was double that. His forehead broke out in a cold sweat.
Avery put a hand on his shoulder and the other on Lennox’s back.
“Miles.” Her calm voice carried a hint of alarm as she tried to lock eyes.
He focused on the Mail Jeep and walked toward it. If only he could climb inside and hide until whatever this feeling was passed.
“Do you need me to take her?”
