“I’ll go,” Mac says without hesitation. “I mean, I’m not his dad, but I can be that figure for him if it’s what he needs. I’m going. It’s done. Let me talk to him.”
I blink a few times at how sure he is of this.
“They aren’t your responsibility,” I tell him.
“No, they aren’t, but I want them to be. You too. So let me do this. I’ll take him over to the GellyBall area and have a little guy time. I won’t tell him you said anything. I’ll get him to talk to me about it, and then I will offer.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I ask.
He leans in, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “Trust me. I have their and your best interests in mind always. Let me do this for him.”
My eyes start to water, so I nod.
“Okay. You’ll find us in the big red barn doing crafts.”
He nods, walking back to the kids. I follow him.
“How about we play GellyBall?” he asks Tanner.
Tanner perks up. “What’s that?”
“I’ll explain on the way. Grab your funnel cake.”
“Emily, let’s go,” I tell her.
It’s a quick walk to the red barn, where they hold crafts. I get Emily situated, then watch her make her bracelet.
“What a beautiful little girl,” a man says from behind me.
I turn, startled by it.
“Thank you,” I tell him, feeling uncomfortable.
“She almost looks familiar, like a daughter of a friend. What’s her name?”
“I am not comfortable giving out my child’s personal information. Please move on,” I tell him.
“Mommy, look,” she says, holding up her bracelet.
“It’s beautiful. We should go find Mac now,” I tell her.
The man moves a little away, but his eyes are still on us. I don’t like it. We are several steps away when someone yells out Emily’s name.
“Mrs. Stephenson!” Emily yells, running toward her teacher.
My eyes aren’t on them, though. They are on the man who is studying us. I swallow hard, moving toward Mrs. Stephenson.
“Sorry, I was distracted. How are you?” I ask her, my eyes staying on the man as he slips out of the barn.
“Good. Emily is doing wonderfully in class. She is a joy.”
I force a smile. “That’s great to hear. I hate to be rude, but we are meeting someone, and they are already waiting.”
She smiles. “Of course. See you Monday.”
“Bye.” Emily waves, placing her hand in mine.
Then I speed walk us over to the GellyBall area. The boys are still playing, so we sit and wait as I keep looking for the unfamiliar man.
