“They’re going to a movie. A kid movie. I didn’t want to see it.”
Riley
nodded gravely, hiding his amusement at the gruff tone Mark had adopted in an attempt to sound older. He and Bud had debated taking both the children on the outing, but they’d decided one was all they could handle on this first excursion. Teresa had assured them she would keep Maggie entertained, so they needn’t feel guilty. It was nice for her to have a chance to spend some one-on-one time with her daughter, she’d added.
The front door opened and Teresa peeked out. “Mark? Are you— Oh. Hello, Riley.”
“Hi.” Why was it, he wondered, that the sight of her made him automatically stand straighter? And why did the sight of him so often seem to make her stop smiling? “I hear you and Maggie are going to take in a movie.”
Teresa wrinkled her nose, probably an unconscious reaction to the mention of the film. He didn’t envy her the next couple of hours; he’d rather scrub toilets than sit through one of the animated merchandise commercials that passed for children’s films these days. Just another example of how lousy he was with kids, he reminded himself.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” Teresa said, and he couldn’t help grinning again.
“Yeah, I can tell. Don’t worry about Mark. We’re going to have a great time.”
“Is there anything else he needs?”
“No, he’s dressed fine. Bud and I will provide everything else.”
“You have a life jacket for him?”
He wondered if she knew she was twisting her fingers in front of her. He spoke as reassuringly as he could. “We have a life jacket. Kid size. Bud borrowed one from a neighbor. I won’t let Mark take it off even for a minute. Cross my heart.”
That solemn vow made her smile a little. “Thank you.”
Bud’s truck turned into Riley’s driveway, and Mark started bouncing in excitement. “He’s here! We can go now.”
Riley rested a calming hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Careful, buddy. You’re going to float right off the porch.”
Mark grinned. “I’m excited.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” He couldn’t help being pleased by the boy’s enthusiasm. It felt pretty good to be partially responsible for making a kid this happy.
Bud sauntered toward them with a smile for Teresa and a thumbs-up sign for Mark. “You ready to catch some fish, boy?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Well, go get in the truck.”
Almost before the words were out, Mark was making a dash for Riley’s driveway.
Bud gave his nephew a wry look. “I think he’s ready. I’ll go make sure he’s belted in.”
Riley noticed that Teresa was chewing her lower lip. “We’ll take good care of him.”
“I know,” she said, obviously trying to sound nonchalant about it.
He could still see very faint impressions from her teeth in her soft lower lip. Because he could so clearly picture himself soothing those marks with the tip of his tongue, then erasing all evidence of them with a long, hard kiss, he took a quick step back from her. “I’ll, uh, see you later. You and Maggie have fun at your movie.”
The slightly quizzical look she gave him let him know she must have read something odd in his expression. He bolted before he could make her more nervous than she already was.
Teresa stood by her son’s bed that night, watching him sleep. The soft glow of a night-light gave just enough illumination for her to see that he was smiling in his sleep. Was he reliving his fishing trip in his dreams?
He’d had a wonderful time on his all-guy outing. He hadn’t stopped talking about it from the moment he’d returned home until she finally tucked him into bed, where he’d fallen asleep almost immediately.
Lying there sleeping in his Pokémon pajamas on his Star Wars sheets, his worn stuffed monkey beside him, he looked very young and small. She couldn’t resist reaching out to brush a lock of sandy hair from his forehead. He didn’t even stir.
She knew he wouldn’t appreciate her thinking of him as her baby boy, especially tonight after his adventure.