Page 34 of A Simple Regret

I exhale. “She did, but it was a long time ago. I’m sure she’d love a visit.”

“I heard she has a son.”

“Theo,” I reply, another smile in my voice as I say his name. “He’s pretty cool.”

“I bet,” she replies. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“You’ll love him,” I say.

“All right, well, I’ll let you go. I think we’re going to do dinner next Sunday. Your brother’s not on shift, and we all want to get some more baby snuggles in,” she says, referring to my niece, June.

“Sounds good.”

“Talk to you later, honey. Love you.”

“Bye, Mom. Love you too.”

I hang up and turn off my truck. My plan is to just hand over the snow toys, but when I see Theo getting back on the sled and how tired Maren looks, I know it’s not going to be that simple.

Decision made, I close my door and head for my house. Of course, as soon as I step away from my truck, Theo spots me. “Cam!”

I pause. “Hey, little dude.”

“I pway!”

“I see that,” I reply, hands shoved in my pockets and forcing my vision to remain focused on the boy. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay,” he replies.

When I reach my door, I key in my code and step inside. I quickly dig my snowsuit, boots, and gloves from the closet, tossing it all onto the kitchen table before I move quickly to my bedroom to slip on more comfortable—and cleaner—clothes. I should shower off today’s grime and grease, but I don’t want to waste a second. They could only be outside for a few more minutes, and I don’t want to miss them because I’m showering.

Once I’m in sweats and thick socks, I return to the kitchen and put on the rest of my winter gear. Once my boots are laced up, I shove my gloves in the pocket of my coat, pull my hat on my head, and walk out the door. Before I even hit the steps, I hear, “Cam!”

I hold up a finger and go to my truck, pulling the new sled and the bag out.

The moment I reach his driveway, he’s off the disc sled and running toward the chain-link fence. “What’s dat?”

“Well, I saw this snow stuff at the store and thought you might like it,” I tell him, opening the latch on the gate and stepping inside their backyard.

“Yay! Anoder swed! I wove sweds.”

“I figured you did,” I tell him, setting the bright orange toboggan sled down on the snow-covered ground. “Want me to pull you for a while?”

“Yes!”

“Yes, please,” Maren chastises gently, shaking her head.

“Come on, little dude. Let’s give your mama a break, and then we’ll see what other fun things I found for you.” He runs straight for the disc sled and plops back down on it, holding on to the two rope loops with his hands.

“Hi,” I say as I approach where Maren stands.

“Hi.”

“You don’t mind if I give him a ride for a bit, do you?”

“Of course not,” she says immediately, handing me the pull rope.

Since she’s wearing gloves, our fingers don’t touch, and that’s probably for the best. The last thing I need is to be skin on skin with her, even in the most innocent and slightest of ways, like a finger graze.