Noah lifted Gina off the ground as we headed out of the ride. She giggled as he tickled her tummy.
“Are your hands okay?” Noah asked me.
I looked at them. There was nothing out of the ordinary. “Yeah, why?”
“You held that rope pretty tight,” he said with a silly grin.
I swatted at him. “Ha ha, you’re so funny
.”
“How about we take a break for lunch?” he asked us.
Even though my stomach was still flying high from the swings, I agreed. At least after eating, I could have an excuse not to go on any more rides.
The three of us sat under one of the pavilions and chowed down on chicken tenders and greasy fries. The park charged ridiculous prices for the food, but Noah didn’t care. He never did. Money was no object for him. I supposed that came with having a lot of it.
“These are so good,” I said, polishing off my third chicken tender.
“I’m going to have to work out for a week to burn these off,” he said, grabbing another with no intention of stopping.
“Oh, stop,” I said. “You can indulge once in a while.”
“Yeah, Daddy,” Gina said with a mouth full of fries.
His mouth slackened. “Is it pick on Daddy day?” he asked Gina and then ruffled her hair.
She giggled.
“I thought better of you, Jess,” he said with a smirk.
“I’m not as good as you think,” I teased.
“I had a feeling.” His gaze lingered on mine. .
I quickly glanced at Gina, and she was happily sipping her soda. “So, what are we doing next?” I asked, steering the conversation away from topics that had a deeper meaning to the two of us.
“Well,” he said. “I can’t do any more rides for at least an hour after eating.”
“That’s swimming, Daddy,” Gina said.
“It applies to rides too,” he said.
“How about some games?” I suggested. If I could, I’d avoid the rides for the rest of the day, but I knew Gina wouldn’t go for that. If I could steer her toward the ones that adults weren’t allowed on, then I would feel much better about continuing with that part of the park.
“Let’s do the water gun one,” Gina suggested.
“The water gun one it is then,” Noah said, tilting his cup to me.
I leaned over the table. “I have to warn you. I’m pretty good at that game.”
“I hate to burst your bubble,” Noah said, “but I never lose.”
An hour later, the three of us walked out of the games area of the park. I held two large stuffed animals in my arms and Gina held the smaller one. I’d won all of them.
“You were saying?” I asked when Gina hopped onto another ride. I placed the stuffed animals on a nearby bench. I made a show of how much my arms hurt from carrying the animals.
Noah raked his hands through his hair. He lifted his sunglasses to wipe the glass on his shirt. His eyes twinkled with mischief. “I let you win.”