Page 4 of Playing for Keeps

“Yeah,” I told her. “More than I wanna admit.”

She reached over and squeezed my hand. “You deserve it, Max.”

I wanted to believe her, but memories of my past flooded back, reminding me of the harsh words I grew up with.

Grace must’ve read my face. “You’re not him, Max. You’re not our dad.”

“Stepfather,” I muttered.

She tilted her head. “He still raised us.”

I let out a humourless laugh. “Raised. Sure.”

She didn’t push. She never did. We both knew what that word meant.

For a second, I thought about saying more. Naming it. But I forced myself to swallow it. Not with the kids laughing out there and this peace around us.

I rubbed my jaw. “Doesn’t matter. What I do know is that I want something different. Better.”

Her eyes softened. “You will. You’re not like him at all.”

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I watched Lucas. Covered in mud, he was trying to climb the swing set, but slipped halfway down, laughing anyway. That sound hit me hard. “That’s it,” I said softly. “That’s what I want. A family that feels right. A home.”

Grace smiled faintly. “So what’s your plan? You can’t exactly draft a wife.”

I chuckled. “Guess I’ll actually date. Not just fool around. See where it goes.”

“You’re serious.”

“Dead serious.”

She leaned back, sipping her tea. “I’m proud of you. But you know it won’t be easy. You’ll have to let someone past the walls. Past the grin. Past the charm.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”

That part scared me the most.

The sun went down. Lucy slowed down her swing and dragged her feet. Lucas abandoned the worms to chase her and there was just mud everywhere. He flashed me a grin, gap-toothed.

“You, kid, are a disaster,” I yelled.

He giggled and bolted away.

We sat in silence for a while, with the swing creaking and cicadas buzzing. Then Grace cleared her throat. “Ran into Bridget the other day.”

I groaned. “Oh, come on.”

“She asked about you. Said she hasn’t seen you in forever. Which is true.”

“Yeah, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Grace raised an eyebrow. “You make it sound like she’s been chasing you for years.”

“She has since that night,” I said flatly.

Her eyebrows went up.

“We hooked up once, years ago. And she’s still trying to make it into something more. It’s always the same thing when I see her. Always confident. Always smiling like she already knew the answer to whatever she was about to ask. ‘When are we doing this again, Finn?’” I made my voice high, mocking without meaning to.