Page 72 of Must Love Flowers
She couldn’t refuse them. “Then rest for a few minutes first.”
As she suspected, they were both asleep within seconds. Maggie sat at their side, her arms wrapped around her bent knees.
Nick stretched out next to her, leaning back on his elbows and crossing his ankles.
“You checked up on me with Joan, didn’t you?” she asked, knowing full well he must have. While she shouldn’t be pleased,he’d been wonderful with the two children. One afternoon and they viewed Nick as their hero. She had to admit the purchased food was a lot more appetizing than the lunch she’d packed. Besides his generosity in buying all the treats, Nick had been patient with the kids, laughing and teasing with them. He carried Victoria around on his shoulders and took her into the deeper part of the water, swimming with her on his back and then doing the same with Caleb. He even went down the big water slide, holding on to Caleb as the two flew into the water, landing several feet away from the end of the slide.
“Are you upset with me?” Nick asked Maggie.
She threw a question back at him. “Should I be?”
He hesitated before answering. “Probably. All I heard when we spoke was that you had plans with someone named Caleb. It knocked me off-balance. I wasn’t expecting Caleb to be a second-grader.”
“So you checked with your mother to see if I was dating some guy named Caleb.”
Nick chuckled softly. “I did, and Mom laughed at me and told me I was jealous of a seven-year-old.”
“You were jealous then?”
He exhaled and shrugged. “I didn’t do a good job of hiding my feelings, did I?”
“Not really.”
“I know we got started off on the wrong foot, Maggie, and then I took another misstep. I like you, and every time I take one step forward, I take two back.”
Maggie couldn’t deny the truth of that and wasn’t about to disagree with him.
“When Mom told me you’d taken Caleb and Victoria to Wild Waves I knew I had to come. I was here a full hour before I found you.”
“That long?”
“Don’t suppose you’ve noticed there are about five hundred people here today, did you?”
It was a packed park.
“I needed you to know spending the afternoon with you and the kids was far more appealing than sailing by myself.”
Maggie couldn’t hide how pleased she was. “You should know you’re Caleb and Victoria’s hero.”
“More important, am I yours?” His gaze held hers.
Maggie couldn’t keep a smile hidden had she tried. “That remains to be seen, Nick Sample.”
Chapter 26
All the talk about sons from the last grief therapy session had stayed in Joan’s mind for a long while, bringing with it doubts, to the point that she felt she had to confront her apprehensions. Her relationships with both Steve and Nick were important, and she wanted to make sure they knew that. She was grateful for the talk she’d had with her older son, as it had helped her understand how her grief had negatively affected them both.
In her conversations with Steve, she’d noticed how he avoided talking about Zoe. Whenever she asked, he quickly changed the subject, letting her know anything having to do with her was off-limits. It used to be that her son could talk to her about most anything. That had changed and worried her.
She feared Steve assumed her hearing bad news would somehow cause her to relapse. Or it could be that he hadn’t resolved his feelings about the loss of his father. She could be way offbase, but she needed to know and was determined to find out. With these thoughts weighing on her mind, she was uncertain how best to approach the subject.
The house was quiet. Maggie was out and Edison was napping in his crate. That seemed to be the place her puppy loved best. Joan had gotten him a comfortable, fluffy bed that he liked to circle around several times before nestling down for sleepy time.
Gathering her courage, she reached for her phone, hoping Steve was home on a Saturday afternoon.
Steve answered on the second ring. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?”
As usual, he sounded busy. He never had been one for lengthy phone conversations.
