“Sure. If that’s what you call it.”
Her shoulders felt a touch heavier. “You noticed that?”
“Hard not to.” He still wasn’t looking at her, just gazing at the sky.
She would not do the foot-toe thing simply because he asked. That was something she’d do because she wanted to do it.
Which is why she did it.
“I don’t want to argue,” she said, settling her toes into the earth once more.
He gave a subtle shoulder shrug. “Then don’t.”
“But I don’t want to do the right thing for the wrong reason.”
“Okay. Then let’s do the right thing for the right reason and let the rest go.”
Suddenly the comfort of the outdoors seemed a little chilly because—
“Is this that lesson you wanted to teach me?”
He grinned at the sky. “Maybe.”
“I don’t like this lesson.” She crossed her arms, a move that totally closed her off to the energy of the universe.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He did not check it.
“You’re all about providing a place to find calm, yeah?” he asked, still staring up into the sky.
“I am.” Well, it was the truth.
“Calm for moms who aren’t feeling so calm, uh-huh?” he asked in his warm butterscotch let-me-just-go-ahead-and-get-my-way tone.
“That’s accurate.” She may have lost her cool, but her goal was that other moms didn’t have to. To give them the tools so they could keep a level head all through motherhood.
“You’ve done a yoga series. A meditation series…”
“I’m not really seeing your point here.” Because weren’t they supposed to be talking about what she should do, not what she had done?
“What about music?” he asked. “Music’s calming, right?”
“Uh…yeah. And the kids love the free concerts over at the park. They go from spring through the fall. I’ll drag you there if you’re here for the next one.”
“The concerts are free?” he asked, sitting up, not seeming to buy it.
They were mostly free. “Well…they ask for a donation to the local food bank. You bring a bag of new groceries as the price of admission. Everybody wins.”
The kids even got such a kick out of buying for other families.
He lifted his eyebrows like she’d just gotten the point. “Everybody, huh?”
“I’m not a musician, Jack.” She couldn’t just do her own concert. What would she… Oh. Yoga. Right.
And…aw, damn. This was a good idea.
“Are you saying that I should do a yoga class and ask people to bring groceries instead of paying to attend?” She squinted at him.
“What do you think?” he asked, looking back at the sky.
