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Grayson couldn’t agree more and didn’t want to tell them the pandas were no longer at the zoo.
Gemma held up her teacup and stared at him, as if she expected him to do the same. He reached for Lynnea’s and handed it to her before picking his up. They clanked their plastic cups together and then sipped. Grayson was out of his element, but he figured he’d watched enough television during his recovery that he could easily play along.
He hissed and fanned his mouth. “Oh, that’s hot, but delicious. You must tell me the flavor so I can make it at home.”
Gemma and Lynnea roared with laughter. “Our daddy used to do the same thing,” Gemma said. “You acted just like him.”
“Did I now?”
Tears welled in the back of his eyes. He pinched the outside of his leg to ward them off. He refused to cry in front of them, Nadia, or anyone for that matter.
“Do you have kids?” Lynnea asked.
“Not yet,” he told her. “Someday, I hope.”
“Do you have a wife?” Gemma asked.
“Almost. We are getting married next year. Do you want to see a picture of her?”
The girls nodded, and he fished his phone out of his pocket and brought his photos up.
“She’s pretty,” Gemma said.
While Lynnea pointed out the obvious: “She has Mommy’s hair.”
“What’s her name?” Gemma asked.
“Reid.”
“That’s a nice name,” Gemma said.
Nadia called for them. She stood on the deck and waited. Grayson helped the girls clean up and didn’t bother to remove his feathered boa. He thought if he did, he might insult Lynnea. Inside, they washed up, and Grayson helped the girls set the table outside. It was a nice night, and as the sun set, strings of white lights came to life overhead.
Grayson wanted this. He wanted the suburban lifestyle. The house with the picket fence, inviting backyard, and friendly neighbors: everything Reid had talked about before she’d given him the chance he begged for. Where they lived now, they said hi to the people they ran into, but they had no idea who they were or what kind of lives they lived. He hadn’t cared until now. Learning about Rafe and the man he was made Grayson want to be a better person.
When he sat down, he chose to sit between the girls. He felt at home there, nestled in their warmth and embrace. He didn’t care that they picked food off his plate. He accepted the hot dog Lynnea didn’t want when she pretended it was an airplane headed toward his mouth. When Pearce brought up his boa, instead of being embarrassed, he asked his friend if he was jealous that he didn’t have one. Gemma fixed that for him. After a quick run to her bedroom, she draped a purple one around his shoulders and placed a very elegant tiara on top of his head.
Grayson’s eyebrow popped as he waited for Pearce to say something. He didn’t. He bowed his head and continued eating.
It had taken less than an hour, and the girls had Grayson wrapped around their fingers. They owned his heart. The ache was gone, filled now with the love and laughter of two little girls who had lost their father way too soon.
He didn’t want to leave.
TWENTY-EIGHT
REID
For the past six years, Reid had watchedSay Yes to the Dress, critiquing every dress, admiring brides on their big day, and wishing her mom were going to be there on her big day. Most little girls grew up playing bride, either with the ever-popular sheer curtains hanging in their living room windows or the handy pillowcase standby.
Reid had done neither.
Being raised by a single father, she’d spent most of her time outside, digging in the dirt, making mountains in their backyard for her Tonka trucks to climb over, or watching whatever sporting event was on television. It wasn’t until she’d started going to sleepovers that things changed for her. She learned how to be more girly, as her father called the changes in her. Reid absorbed everything she could from her friends’ mothers. How to do her hair and makeup, how to take care of her body, and how to cook. She loved bringing home recipes to try for her dad. It wasn’t until she was a teen, when she’d started to dream about her wedding, that she’d learned from her dad that he’d kept her mother’s wedding dress.
Now, as she perused the racks, having gone from store to store and feeling no connection to any of the beautifully made gowns, Reid knew which dress would be perfect. “We should go get some lunch,” she saidto Melanie, whom she’d invited to spend the weekend with her, since Grayson was gone with Pearce.
“You haven’t tried on a single dress, Reid. I know you have time, but still. Don’t you want to get a feel for the style?”
Reid shook her head. “I already know which type I want to wear.”
