by Natalie Ann
“Sort of? Did he grunt? I bet you he’s a grunter.”
“I don’t even want to know what that means,” she said.
Olivia had dated a lot before she gave up that life and decided she needed to mature. Not that Kristen had ever seen anything like the Olivia she’d often talked about. She’d only known Olivia while she was with Finn, but she’d heard stories that Olivia had told her herself about her wilder younger days.
“It means that some men only grunt when they first get up in the morning before they have their coffee. Or if they don’t want to be bothered to talk, they grunt an answer and look away.”
“Oh. No, he talked, but not a lot. I said hi to him first and then reminded him who I was. I doubt he remembered me and there was no use putting him on the spot and making us both feel bad.”
“Why would you feel bad?” Olivia asked.
“I’m nothing memorable, I know that. Not like you.” She ignored Olivia’s snort while she inhaled her breakfast. “I just said I took his self-defense class with you. Then he said, ‘Finn’s wife.’ So yeah, he remembered you.”
“He’s friends with Finn,” Olivia argued. “And how many men named Finn do you know? It’s pretty easy for him to remember me.”
“I guess. He was looking at my drinks and bag and I just held it up and blurted out you were expecting.” She started to giggle. “He asked me what you were expecting.”
Laughing, Olivia started to cough as she sipped her tea. “Typical man response.”
“Yeah. I could see he was uncomfortable then, so I just said it was nice to see him and left.”
“There is always next time,” Olivia said.
“Please. I sent him a flirting smile that most men would pick up and he just shrugged. Trust me, I’m not his type.”
A Lot of Changes
Landon got held up at work longer than his scheduled shift and he started to agonize about getting Chloe on time. He’d already called the daycare twice to check on her and had been told she was fine. That she was quietly playing alone.
All he knew was how thankful he was that he could find someone on such short notice. The guys in the department all knew his situation and a few had come forward offering to help. One of the wives of an officer ran an in-home daycare and had an open slot and he jumped on it.
By six he was pulling into the driveway and walking up to the front door, an hour late and hating that and wondering what Chloe must be thinking.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said to Gabby. “I’d like to say it won’t happen again.”
“I get it,” Gabby said. “Married to an officer myself. It happens. Mitch just got home a few minutes ago and jumped in the shower. Come on in. Chloe is just watching TV in the backroom while I cook dinner.”
Landon grimaced. “I didn’t even think of that. We’ll get out of your way fast. She was okay for you today? No problems?”
“Nothing. She’s a good kid. Really quiet. I tried to talk to her a little, but she’s skittish. I think it’s just a lot of changes at once.”
“I know. I don’t know what to do. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants.”
“You seem to be doing everything right. I’m here if you have any questions. Chloe, your uncle is here.”
He looked over to see Chloe sitting on the floor watching cartoons. She glanced in his direction and he tried to read her eyes. Was it relief? Did she think he wasn’t coming back for her? He supposed he should address this tonight if he could get her to talk.
Chloe stood up and walked over to get her backpack off the floor in the corner. He’d asked if there was anything she wanted to bring with her this morning, but she’d said no. So he’d packed her a lunch of the few things he knew she ate and then grabbed two of the dolls he’d seen her play with just in case she needed something of hers for comfort and threw them in there.
“Did you have fun today?” he asked her. She nodded her head but then looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry I’m late. Sometimes I’m going to be held up at work like this, but I’ll always be here to get you. I promise.”
She didn’t say anything and he wasn’t surprised. It’d take time he’d been told, but he was wondering how much time it would be before she’d say some simple words to him. Or at least words when she wasn’t prompted.
“Hey, Captain.” Landon turned to see Mitch standing there. “Long day, huh?”
“I’ve had better,” he said to the young officer.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner with us,” Gabby said. “There is plenty. Do you like pork chops, Chloe?”
Chloe dropped her head down in what he was coming to recognize as her signature move when she didn’t want to talk, but she did nod first. It was at least an answer.
He put his hand on his niece’s shoulder. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll take Chloe out to eat tonight.” It was that or stress about cooking something when it was the last thing he wanted to do or even think about.
“That sounds much better than pork chops,” Mitch said. “What do you think?” he asked Chloe.
Chloe did look up and smile at him and he’d take that as a win, especially when she nodded her head. It was the first they’d been out to eat and Landon was thinking maybe he should have done it before now. At least this would give her a reason to talk. She’d have to order her food.
The two of them left and climbed into his SUV. “Where do you want to go? Do you want pizza, or burgers, or something else?”
He was learning to not ask yes or no questions. “I don’t care.”
That didn’t help him much. He ran home quick and changed while she put her stuff away.
Then they left again and drove down Route 50 knowing there were a couple of chain restaurants there. He was going to ask her which one she wanted, but figured she’d say she didn’t care again, so he pulled into one that served pizza along with burgers and a little bit of everything.
It didn’t take long before he was seated with a kid menu in front of her and a regular one in front of him. The waitress came over and asked what they wanted to drink and he didn’t hesitate to order a beer. One wouldn’t hurt and he desperately needed it.
Chloe looked at him and he held his tongue. When she didn’t answer the waitress, he’d said, “Tell her what you want to drink. Do you know or would you like to hear your choices?”
“Can I have a soda?” she asked him.
If he was having a beer, he figured a soda wouldn’t hurt her. He didn’t have any in the house and if she thought this was a treat, he’d do anything to get her to open up just a little.
“Sure.”
The waitress left the two of them alone to get their drinks while he looked over the menu and Chloe started to color on her kid’s menu with the crayons that were provided.
Rather than ask her what she was going to order, he stayed silent and waited for the waitress to return. When it came time for Chloe to order she said she wanted to make her own pizza, so he sat back and let her do her thing.
“Did you have fun at Gabby’s today?”
“Yes,” Chloe said. Damn, he said he wasn’t going to ask yes or no questions.
“What did you do?”
“Not much.”
“That doesn’t sound like fun,” he said back. God, this was like pulling teeth. If she were a boy he could talk sports. Maybe he could try that. “Do you like to play any sports?”
She looked up at him. “Only in school.”
“What did you play in school?”
“Just in gym class.”
“Is there anything you want to play more of? Soccer? Baseball? Basketball?” What did girls play? He was trying to remember. “Field hockey?”
“I like to swim,” she said.
Figures it’d be something he didn’t have access to. But there was a YMCA he could get her a membership to and swim lessons or classes. “Did you take lessons or classes before?”
“No. My mom’s friend had a pool and I’d go there and play.�
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It was the first she’d mentioned anything about her mother. He wasn’t sure where to go with it and decided this might not be the place to talk about it unless she continued. “Do you want to take some lessons or classes?”
“They cost a lot of money,” she said.
“It’s not a problem,” he told her. “If it’s something you want to do, then I can look into it, but I don’t want to force you to do anything either.”
“Maybe,” she said and down went her head again.
That was better than nothing and he’d take the win.
***
Kristen was walking into the restaurant with her friend Emily when her radar popped up. She turned her head and saw Landon sitting in a booth with a little girl.
Damn it. She didn’t know he had a kid. Olivia never said he was married or had been. She’d never said anything about him that would lead her to believe he had a family.
Figures. Just like always, her taste and attraction in men were in the crapper. She didn’t need to get in the middle of any ex drama. Nor worry that she’d be put second, third, or fourth again.
“Two tonight?” the hostess asked.
“Yes,” Emily said. “How about a booth in the back?”
Double damn. It was like Emily knew where Kristen’s eyes went and purposely was aiming them to sit by Landon.
“This way,” the hostess said. They passed by Landon and he looked up and smiled at her. That was positive. Why couldn’t he have done that earlier when she saw him?
Of course then she wouldn’t have known he had a kid if he gave that encouragement, making her wonder if he was in a relationship now.
They were sitting a few booths back and the minute Emily slid into her seat she said, “Who is the hot guy that just smiled at you? You were looking at him when we walked in.”
“He’s a friend of Finn Abraham’s. He’s a Saratoga cop. Or captain or something, I think. Olivia told me a few months ago. Anyway, he owns a martial arts studio in town and teaches self-defense classes. Olivia and I took one several months ago.”
“I swear he was flirting with you. Is that his daughter? Is he single?”
“I thought he was single, but now I have no idea. The little girl looks like him, so my guess is it is his daughter. Again, I don’t know.”
Though she wished she did. Now she had a lot of questions for Olivia. Like how she could let her mind keep drifting toward someone that had complications written all over him.
“You should stop and say hi to him,” Emily said.
“Overkill,” she said. “I ran into him at the coffee shop today and said hi. Twice in one day is a nuisance.”
“Or a sign.”
“I don’t believe in signs any more than you.”
Thirty minutes later though, Landon walked by with the little girl and Kristen heard him say, “I’ll be right outside the door. I won’t leave, I promise.”
She wondered what that was all about.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet,” Emily said.
“I guess.”
When Landon walked back through with the child, he smiled at her and those hairs on her neck stood on end and she found herself smiling right back at him regardless of her confused thoughts about complications.
Everyone Has Drama
“Why didn’t you tell me Landon had a daughter?” Kristen said to Olivia the minute she walked into the shop the next morning.
“What?” Olivia said. “I had no clue. Finn has never said a word and they’ve been friends for years. How do you know that?”
“I went to dinner with Emily last night. As luck would have it, I saw him there with a little girl. And of course Emily being Emily thought she was being cute and asked the hostess for a booth so we had to walk by.”
“She saw you looking at Landon, didn’t she?” Olivia asked, smirking.
“Pretty obvious she did. Then Landon smiled at me when we walked by and Emily caught that too and wanted to know what was going on.”
“Over smiles? She got that from smiles?”
“She has radar miles long, she says. So I told her how I knew him,” Kristen said, sighing.
She didn’t like telling everyone her feelings about things. Not even her closest friend. She hated being rejected in life and it’d happened a lot due to her family circumstances. As an adult she kept closer tabs on what words came out of her mouth. No use giving anyone ideas she was like her mother even though they didn’t look alike. She’d seen that failed marriage and wasn’t going to make the same mistakes in her own life.
“Okay. Again, are you positive it’s his daughter? I can’t believe Finn would never mention that. Especially since Finn was a single father.”
Kristen knew that Finn had been raising his son, Trey, alone since his girlfriend left town when Trey was a baby.
“No. I mean she looked like Landon. Same coloring and some of the same features. It’s definitely a relative.”
“Don’t jump the gun. Let me go call Finn and see what I can find out. I’ll be right back.”
Twenty minutes later Olivia returned to the front of the shop. She’d called Finn from her office. “What did you find out?”
“I found out my husband is a toolbag.”
Kristen started to laugh. Olivia had the greatest sense of humor and though she just insulted her new husband she did it with a huge smile on her face.
“But he’s a very sweet good-looking toolbag.”
“Oh, no doubt there. Anyway,” Olivia said, waving her hand, “he said he forgot to mention it. That he found out a few weeks ago Landon got a call that his sister had died in a car accident and named him as his niece’s guardian. He had to drop everything and drive to Buffalo to pick the little girl up. Guess he just returned to work this week after trying to get things settled. He didn’t even know he had a niece before the call.”
“That’s horrible. I mean how could he not know though?”
“I guess he hasn’t seen or talked to his sister in years. Finn didn’t have the details and he’s not one to ask about something like that.”
“What about the girl’s father or Landon’s mother? Doesn’t a grandparent normally get custody or something in a situation like that?”
“She had a will and unless the father of his niece contests it, then no. Landon is the guardian. Or if he didn’t want to take on the responsibility, then my guess is she’d go into foster care. Landon would never allow that to happen.”
“I guess I was wrong about him then.”
“About what?” Olivia asked.
“I was kind of annoyed when I saw him with her last night. Then I told myself the last thing I wanted was that kind of complication where exes were involved and visitations and such. I was down on myself for letting my crush develop without knowing all the facts about him.”
“And you were ticked at me because you thought I hadn’t told you,” Olivia said, grinning. “Hence the marching you did into my office this morning.”
Kristen felt the heat of shame fill her face. “Yeah. A little. It just seems every guy I like has complication written all over him. Why can’t I find or even like some guy with a simple life? A normal one. I’m not looking for money or someone to take care of me. I just want someone with the same interests that I can have fun with and not have any drama.”
Someone that put her first now and again.
Olivia burst out laughing. “What world do you live in? Everyone has drama. Even you! If you keep looking for that, you’ll never find it. I had all sorts of drama with Finn, but that didn’t mean we weren’t meant to be together. That I should have written him off when I found out he had a kid. You don’t know until you try.”
“I know you’re right. It’s just I feel like I’m waiting forever for it to happen.”
“You’re twenty-eight years old, Kristen. That’s not waiting forever. That’s you being impatient.”
“Right again.” No one would look at Olivia and think she was this smart. Tall,
thin, blonde, and bubbly. But she had a heart of gold, was a hard worker even though she had a trust fund worth more than most make in a lifetime, and she always did the right thing.
“I told Finn he should reach out to Landon. Talk to him single father to single father. Maybe I’ll suggest Landon come to dinner one night. How old do you think that little girl was?”
“No clue. I’m not good at judging a kid’s age. Maybe around Trey’s age, give or take a year. She was shy and almost skittish. But Landon was so sweet. I guess it makes sense now what I overheard him saying.”
“What did you hear?”
“She had to go to the bathroom and rather than just watch her walk back and make sure she came out, he walked her there and stood by the door, then said, ‘I’ll be right here. I won’t leave, I promise.’”
“Yeah. Sweetheart material right there, Kristen. Landon is a protector. I know he’s big and rough around the edges and I said he was a grunter, but maybe I’m wrong. His world has just been turned upside down along with his niece’s and yet you can see he is trying. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in his shoes.”
“I know. I thought of that last night too. But then I also realized that I should get him out of my mind. Not just the complications, but he’d have no time in his life to date either.”
“But I’m sure he could use a friend,” Olivia said.
“I don’t know. And it’s not like I see him enough to talk to him or even ask him something like that. I guess I just need to put it from my mind. Someone will come along in my life, I’m sure.”
“You know they will.”
“I just hope it’s before I’ve got ten cats or my mother decides she wants to set me up.”
“Mary would never do that, would she?” Olivia asked, her eyes bugging out.
Kristen’s mother worked for Harper Construction, which was co-owned by Olivia’s brother-in-law. Mary Reid was a character. That was the only way she could describe her mother.
Her whole life her mother was the stand-out mom at school. Bright colors that never matched, huge accessories always reminding her of Phyllis Diller in some of her more lively performances.
