“You spit on me. That was literally the worst date of my life. So, no. Not surprised.” She wasn’t at all joking.
“I coughed … on you.” He shoved the second half of the sandwich back in the bag. “And you ordered without me.”
She made a sound of disbelief. “Youwere 21 minutes late.”
“Andyoutook forever in the bathroom.”
She glared. “You never apologized.” She pushed off the blanket, brushed her hands on her hips. “I think we need a time-out.” She stalked off.
Ben watched her go, hating that he could admire the view and still be angry at Avery. This woman was a thorn in his side. If he didn’t want to strangle her, then he was thinking about how those curves would fit against him.
Ben needed to walk, so he took off too. He didn’t make it three steps before he was a square peg in a round hole. Instead of wandering through the other parents, making small talk, he headed for the playground to find Savannah. As they’d milled about the parking lot before boarding the bus, he’d been asked to look into three investment opportunities of a lifetime.
Maybe Savannah would hang out with him and he could finish his dinner in peace.
He didn’t see her among the girls gathered at the top of the slide, chatting. So he walked around the equipment. Ducking to see inside a tunnel, he found Savannah, but she wasn’t alone. Avery had folded herself inside there as well.
What the heck? That was his daughter.
“Wanna go on the slides?” Avery asked.
Ben scooted so he couldn’t be seen but could still hear every word. It helped that the tunnel was made of plastic and there was an amplifying effect.
“Nah.” The resolution in Savannah’s voice about tore Ben in half. He glared up at the platform where the girls congregated. They were the same ones that had sat in front of them on the bus. Not once had they turned around to invite Avery to be a part of their group or even acknowledged her existence as they left Seattle behind.
“You know, my grandma taught me something once. It’s kind of a trade secret in our family—we keep it among us girls. But,” Avery sighed dramatically, “I don’t have a girl to pass it on to. Can I share it with you?”
Ben leaned closer, his hand on the cool plastic.
“When you don’t smile, people think you’re stuck-up.”
A small gasp came from Savannah.
“A smile tells people you want to be friends. Got me through junior high. You should try it this weekend and see if it works.”
Her information was met with silence.
“Besides, you have one of the prettiest smiles I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame to hide that away.”
“My mom says I have her smile.” Savannah’s voice was small, timid about mentioning her mother to another woman.
Ben leaned heavily on the tube, needing the support when facing his daughter’s vulnerabilities.
“Then she must be stunning too,” replied Avery. She had this quality when she spoke with Savannah that Ben had a hard time putting a name to. Honesty? That was almost right. An old scripture phrase popped into his head: “Without guile.” That was it. She was pure. There were no hidden agendas. In this case, she wanted to make Avery feel good about herself, to let her beauty shine forth. Which made it easy to like her at the moment. If the way to his heart was through his daughter, then Avery was working her way in whether she wanted to or not.
She probably did not.
He couldn’t blame her. In fact, he didn’t want her to want to be in his heart. She drove him crazy, and the two of them couldn’t be together for more than three minutes without blowing up.
She had a point, though, about him not apologizing. He’d skipped over that piece of etiquette, hoping she’d let it go. Well, she hadn’t. Which meant he needed to do something about his manners.
Every phone in the park dinged simultaneously. Before Ben could check the text message, he heard Avery moving around in the tube. “That’s the call for the ice cream sundaes. Come on, you can help me with the whipped cream.”
Ben shuffled backwards, trying to get out of there before either female saw him. His heel caught on the teeter-totter and he went down, arms windmilling. Several guys rushed to his aid. They surrounded him, pulled him up, and brushed off his clothing. In the middle of their “Are you okay?” and “Man, that was crazy” comments, he spied Avery and Savannah pass by. Savannah was walking so close to Avery she almost tripped her. The two of them were cute together. If he did end up pulling Savannah from the school, she’d miss her friend.
And even though he’d be absolutely nuts to admit it, he’d miss her too.
* * *
