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“I don’t know, Teddy. Kyle is probably busy.”
“You busy?”
“No, but I don’t want to impose.” Kyle shook his head.
“Impose?” Teddy cocked his head to one side, a frown marring his sweet face.
I sighed, letting my shoulders slump. The man had just spent an hour here teaching my daughter to swim. The least I could do was feed him.
“You’re welcome to stay. You wouldn’t be imposing. It’s nothing fancy, though. Just noodles and sauce.”
“Sounds great.” The corners of his lips lifted into a small smile.
I’ll be damned. Callie and Kyle smiling on the same day? And why was his smile doing funny things to my stomach?
And how had things changed so drastically since the day he pulled Teddy out of the water? Maybe all his text flirting was wearing me down. Even his closeness in the kitchen was unnerving.
As I dumped the pasta in the strainer, he stepped up next to me. “Where are the plates? I can help Teddy set the table.”
I pointed at the cabinet above the dishwasher and gave him a smile. The moment felt a bit too domestic. More than that, the scent of him, chlorine and a heady mix of pure male, sent a thrill through me. Before I could register what I was doing, I found myself breathing it in. It only took a moment to shake myself out of my stupor, though, and turn to him.
“Callie is supposed to do that.”
Kyle shot me an apologetic look and shrugged as he pulled plates from the cabinet.
I surveyed the open-plan dining room, then the great room. The lack of walls separating these rooms had been one major selling point. The natural light from the front and windows along the back wall made the space feel open and airy.
“Teddy, where’s sissy?”
He whipped around one way, then the other, like he was just realizing she wasn’t here.
Callie was back to hating the world. She spent the entirety of dinner scowling at all of us, like our presence offended her. When I excused her from the table, she went straight to her room.
“I’m sorry. She?—”
I wasn’t sure how to explain the way she swung betweenanger and sadness. Half the time, I wasn’t sure which way it would shift. I understood it. I wasn’t immune to those sudden feelings. Anger that Levi had been taken from us. Sadness that he was missing things. My own loneliness. So far, I’d found that people who hadn’t experienced a loss like we had didn’t understand. More often than not, they meant well. But I didn’t always find their opinions or advice very helpful.
“She lost her dad.” He looked up from his plate, his expression soft, like maybe he could relate. Only both of his parents were alive and well. “The anger stage of grief can be easier than moving into acceptance.”
In an instant, the gentleness in his expression turned hard. His gaze burned into me with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. Was he speaking from experience? Realization hit me then, and my stomach dropped. I hadn’t told him about Levi yet, so then how…
“How do you know?—”
“Rhett told me.” He blinked, averting his gaze.
“Oh.” That tracked.
Bella, Rhett’s wife, was one of the first people I’d met when the kids and I moved to town in June. Shortly after that, I had stopped by the marina to renew our slip lease and had met with Rhett. We’d kept our boat here for several years since we visited my parents often. Levi had always wanted to own a boat, but it wasn’t until both of his parents passed away that we could afford it. Being a late in life child and having no siblings, Levi inherited all of his parents’ assets.
“I should probably go.” The legs of Kyle’s chair scratched along the floor as he pushed back from the table and began stacking plates.
“You don’t have to do that.” I placed a hand on his forearm, and a surge of electricity shot up my arm. I yanked away, holding my hand to my chest and watching him. What the hell was that?
He turned my way, brushing his fingers down his arm where I’d touched him, fixing his attention on me. His eyes, eyes that had reminded me of a clear blue sky all day, were now a dark, vibrant shade of green.
He blinked and turned away before I could figure out whether the color change was a trick of my imagination. “I’ll clean up. It’s the least I can do to thank you for a delicious meal.”
I chuckled. “It was spaghetti.”
