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He laid Lynnea down and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for an amazing night,” he said to her before leaving the room. Grayson waited for Nadia at the bottom of the stairs. When she came down, her eyes were watery.
“Thank you for doing this.”
“It was my pleasure,” he told her. “I had the best time.” He kissed her on the cheek, said goodbye to Reuben and Gemma, and headed to his car. He made it as far as the corner before he began crying. The night had been emotional for the girls, and for him, but they didn’t know that. All they knew was that their mommy had an old friend who waswilling to do stuff with them. How would they feel once they found out the friend had their father’s heart beating in his chest?
Would they still accept him?
Would Nadia forgive him for the deceit?
Grayson didn’t want to find out. Reid’s ultimatum would have to wait. He’d tell Nadia soon. He just needed more time.
The next morning, Grayson was there bright and early. He didn’t bother to go to the front door, in case they were sleeping. Out back, he began opening the boxes and reading the instructions on how to put the swing set together. Reuben came out of the house, in sweats and no shirt, hair standing on end.
“You’re early, man.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Give me a minute or sixty,” Reuben said, laughing.
“Take your time.”
Nadia or Reuben had already removed the grass where the swing set would go. Once it was built, they’d haul in some straw and sawdust to pad the ground in case the girls fell. And Grayson expected Lynnea to fall a lot. He had yet to see it, but according to Nadia, she was a daredevil, and he pictured her doing some crazy shit off this swing set.
By the time Reuben came back, Grayson had everything laid out. He’d be able to build this in one day and mentally questioned why Reuben was there if he wasn’t actually helping with the girls. This should’ve gone up last year for them, to give them something to do.
Another hour later, Rafe’s best friend, Kiran, came over to help or take over for Reuben. Grayson wasn’t exactly sure. Not that he cared. He was on a mission to build the girls their play set. Tomorrow, once the cement footings had set for twenty-four hours, they’d be able to swing, slide, climb, and play princesses if that was what they wanted to do.
At lunch, they took a break. Nadia had made sandwiches for everyone. As soon as Grayson sat down, Lynnea crawled into his lap and rested against his chest. He didn’t mind, but he did wonder if she somehow knew the heart of the man she loved unconditionally still beat for her.
“Nadia says you guys dated in high school,” Kiran said to Grayson.
“Yeah, for about two years?” Grayson looked at Nadia for confirmation.
“No lingering feelings, huh?” Kiran looked at Nadia, who shook her head.
Grayson chuckled. “Nah, there aren’t any residual feelings there.”
“Grayson’s getting married next spring,” Nadia said.
“To Weid,” Lynnea popped her head up to say. No one had the heart to try and correct Lynnea on the pronunciation of Reid’s name. “She’s very pretty.”
Grayson smiled at Lynnea. “She is, isn’t she?”
Lynnea nodded. “Mommy said so too.”
Grayson glanced at Nadia, who blushed. “Should we call her?”
Lynnea sat up and nodded quickly. Grayson got his phone out and pressed Reid’s contact image and waited for her face to appear on the screen. As soon as she did, his heart raced, and his smile went from ear to ear. He was ridiculously in love with her.
“Hi,” he said, almost breathlessly. “Someone wanted to call you.” Grayson angled the phone slightly to show Lynnea. She leaned into Grayson and waved.
“Hi, Weid.”
“Hi, Lynnea. Did you have the best time last night?”
She nodded. “I twirled a lot.”
“Your dress was so pretty. Grayson sent me a photo.”
