Reed's Reckoning

He steps back and walks to where the kids are sitting on the grass. My heart drops to my feet hearing the tone of his voice. I feel the sting of tears and try to look away.

“Sweetheart, you okay?” Luke asks me quietly.

“Yeah, I said something that hurt him. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He nods his head but doesn’t say anymore. He and Sophie leave a few minutes later.

After an hour, I decide it’s time to go. I bend over to fold up the chairs and feel a hand on my back. I turn to see Reed staring down at me with a blank expression.

“Do you need some help?”

“Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”

We pack up all our things and say our goodbyes. When we get to the truck, I wipe Davis down the best I can and notice a note on Reed’s windshield. My stomach coils thinking it’s from the mom talking to Reed earlier. She wasn’t with a man, so what if she gave Reed her number? I snap Davis in and watch Reed open the note, read it, and slip it into his pocket.

The drive back to my house is nerve-racking. Reed and I don’t speak but Davis talks the whole ride. The tension is thick and I don’t know what to say. Should I apologize? Did I really do anything wrong? And what did the note say?

I don’t get to say anything because when we pull into the driveway, Grandma is waving at us from her front porch. Reed slows down and opens the window.

“Reed Matthews, I’ve stayed away long enough. It’s killing me to see you here all the time and keep coming up with excuses not to come over. I decided that today we’re going to have lunch. All of us.”

He looks back at me and his face is priceless. He’s scared of her. I nod slightly and smile.

“Sure, Katy. Let me get the truck unloaded and Davis cleaned up. Do you want to go out?”

“No, I made chicken salad. Come over when you’re done.” She turns and walks back into her house.

“Well, this should be interesting.” He mumbles.

“Reed, I’m sorry if I said something that upset you.”

“Ari, can we talk about it later in private? I’ve got something to say and I’m not sure it’s appropriate with Davis two feet away.”

“Okay, we’ll talk about it tonight over dinner.”

His face lights up. “You got a sitter?”

“Yep, now I just need to know where we’re going and what time to be ready.”

“Be ready an hour after I drop you off this afternoon.”

“What—”

“I’m taking you guys to the beach after lunch.”

“Yeah! The beach!” Davis yells from the backseat.

I guess I don’t have to bathe him just yet. But the thought of staring at Reed in a bathing suit on the beach gives me butterflies.

Chapter 9

Reed

If Ari would just bend a little more to the right, I could see her ass in the bright red bikini she’s hiding with her cover up. A throat clears beside me and I jump.

Shit! Katy caught me ogling again. She grins at me and I smile back. I am only human and Ari looks amazing.

As soon as we walked in the door earlier, Davis jumped in Katy’s lap and talked non-stop about his morning. She listened and asked the right questions then promised to be there next Saturday. Ari fixed our lunch and we told her grandmother we were going out tonight. Katy’s face lit up and she winked at me. I thought it would be awkward being around her again after all these years, but she makes me feel welcome. We only met a few times before but had a good relationship. We joked around and took every opportunity available to embarrass Ari.

Ari goes to get a wet cloth for Davis and Katy finally talks “Reed, I’m going to address the elephant in the room. Arianna told me what happened to you guys all those years ago. Even when I thought you hurt her, I always encouraged her to tell you about the pregnancy. When he was born, I thought about contacting you myself, but I was sick and we didn’t need any more worry in our home. I really hope you can work it out and be a part of that little boy’s life. I see how he looks at you and it fills my heart.”

“There’s nothing to work out. I’m not going anywhere.” I try to emphasize the last sentence and she understands. Her smile gets wider and she nods discreetly.

“What are you two talking about?” Ari asks wiping Davis’s face off and pulling him into her lap.

“Nothing, honey. I’m actually going out tonight too. We’re having the monthly book club birthday dinner.”

“You women will find any excuse to celebrate.”

“Yep, just because we’re old doesn’t mean we don’t know how to have fun.”