Page 44 of Axe Marks the Spot

“Excited, I think.”

“You think, or you are?” As the words leave my mouth and repeat in my head, I see Sir has already rubbed off on me. I smile a little as I look in the rearview mirror back at Kas.

“I am. I just hope it’s not a lot of running. I hate running.”

Kas is definitely my kid. When Sir said he ran for workouts, I wanted to cringe. Not my cup of tea. It’s why I chose stretching as a way to move my body every day.

Kas looks out the window, and I observe her through the mirror when I can. Now she looks pensive, and I do think she’s nervous. I want to ask her more, but we pull up to the park before I can.

I see a bunch of obstacles laid out across the lawn of the park, which is surrounded by forest. There are some tires, a bunch of logs, and what look to be rubber axes. Not sure how those are going to cut wood, but I wouldn’t be okay with my eight-year-old swinging a real axe, anyway. There’s a bunch of other stuff, too, and I know one day they’re going to go to the public pool and do a log roll.

Kas has her seat belt unbuckled and is already opening the door before I can even fully stop the car. “Kas! At least wait until I—” But she takes off running before I can finish, the car door slamming in her wake. I sigh as I turn off the engine and look out the front windshield to see Kas nearly sprinting toward a group of kids that has already gathered, including her friend Moira.

I would never guess she hates running by how fast she sprints to them. I unbuckle my seat belt as she waves to Moira, but instead of stopping, she goes to the boy I saw at the games. What was his name again? Tim? Ted? No, Tyler.

Suddenly, everything makes sense. Is this boy the reason she wanted to do this? Why she even wanted to go to the course at the games?

Goodness, isn’t eight too young to have a crush on someone already?

I release a groan and push open my door. I’m not ready for my kid to have crushes. She was supposed to wait until she was a teenager. I was supposed to have several more blissful years until I had to deal with teenage stuff.

I glance at the reflection of myself in my car window and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. The other moms are probably wearing makeup, but I didn’t see the need to just to drop my kid off. Now, I’m kind of regretting it. While I did get some sleep last night, I can see dark circles under my eyes from lack of rest, and the whites of my eyes are still a bit red from all my crying. I need to pick up some eye drops in case this becomes a regular thing.

I tug my jeans up around my waist and exhale a breath, turning to see Moira’s mom, Mandy, with a few other parents standing near the entrance of the park. Sure enough, Mandy looks flawless. She’s thin, blond, and very bubbly. She’s a nice woman who is always kind to Kas when she comes over.

“Hey, Lindsey!” she calls as I approach, waving at the other parents.

“Hey, Mandy, how are you?”

“Good, good. Just another summer day. Can’t wait till school starts.”

“No kidding.” I laugh.

“Can you believe our girls wanted to do this?”

I chuckle. “I was thinking the same thing.” I look at Kas, who’s still standing next to Tyler. Tyler is talking to another girl, and Kas is staring at the side of his face like she can see through it. Damn, my kid’s got it bad. That’s how I used to look at Jeremy when we first started dating. Totally and completely obsessed. I guess I passed starry-eyed looks down to her, too.

“Have you met the teacher yet?” Mandy asks.

I shake my head. “Just got here.”

“Oh, right, duh. Mom brain.” She leans over so only I can hear. “Wait till you see him. He’s whew!” She snorts.

It’s loud in my ear, and I cringe. “Who is he?”

“Honestly, I forgot what he said his name was. I was looking into his eyes, and I think I forgot how to speak. Tyler’s mom said he’s the guy who won the speed pole event this weekend, and apparently, he lives here but rarely comes into town. I know I definitely would have remembered him if I’d met him.”

“Are you blushing, Mandy?”

She snorts again and whispers, “Don’t tell my husband.”

I shake my head and look around the park in an attempt to spot this man. I’m not one for jokes or anything alluding to cheating, but I know Mandy loves her husband. She’s just being—well, Mandy. She moved here around the same time I did when her husband got a job as the new sheriff when the other retired.

“I’m surprised you don’t know him,” I say. “You know everyone.”

“That’s what I said, but I guess he’s good at avoiding people. I tried to talk to him, but he doesn’t speak much. For every question I asked, he gave me short and concise answers. That young guy, Levi, was supposed to teach the course, but he broke his leg at the games. This guy is filling in.”

“Levi,” I repeat. “Oh, yes, he had me sign his cast.” I laugh. I’d met him once before in town at the diner; he was a sweet guy. Super flirty but too young for me.