“Their mom made them put sunscreen on, too. And look, they have floaties just like yours.”
His light eyes widen as he glances back to where Becca is helping Max and Joey pull them on.
Jesse lowers to a squat beside Jett while I dab the cream on his nose and the flash of hard abs snags my attention. His biceps, as he rests his forearms on his knees, are pretty spectacular, too, but it’s the tattoo over his heart that has my mouth falling open.
It was too dark on Friday night to get a good look at it, but in the daylight like this…
“Jesse, that’s beautiful.”
He frowns, then follows my gaze to his chest. “You haven’t… Oh. Yeah, you haven’t seen it yet, have you?”
“It’s my baby feet,” Jett says. “See?” He pokes his finger at the dark ink, which I honestly wouldn’t have known were feet if I didn’t look close.
The heart-shaped design is abstract and somewhat muddled, almost like black and gray watercolor, with the lines of Jett’s tiny feet looking like cracked glass. It’s delicate but masculine at the same time.
It’s also the sexiest tattoo I’ve ever seen.
“You like it?” he asks in a low tone.
“I love it. I…” I want to run my tongue over every inch of it. “It’s well done.”
A knowing grin tips one corner of his mouth, his eyes still shaded by those damn glasses. “I’ll let you take a closer look later.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Chuckling, he grabs Jett’s hand and they take off for the water.
While they play, I drift back to all the time Jesse and I spent here during our two weeks together. I’d come to the cabin every summer since I was twelve, but it’s our time here that I remember in the brightest colors and for obvious reasons.
But it’s not just the lake that shines for me. It’s this entire town. It’s Jesse and his family, and the smiling faces at the coffee shop, the grocery store, and every other little business I’ve ever been in. It’s the calm and the quiet and the easiness of it all. Like a lazy Sunday drive on a back road with the windows down.
Green Bay isn’t a big city, but it’s the Daytona 500 compared to this. The rat race I thought I wanted, because I’d equated its chaos with productivity and success. And with those things, I thought I’d be able to build a life that would ensure my kids never went through the heartache of being uprooted from their home and forced to start over somewhere new.
I was so focused on financial security and what I could see on paper and those damn plans I liked so much that I didn’t realize raising a child between two homes and two towns was already doing something very similar to what I’d wanted to avoid.
And now, to make matters worse, I really am uprooting Jett from his home. I really am forcing him to start over somewhere new, because of mistakes I made as a parent, just like mine made.
I could have saved us all the heartache… All the pain of splitting our time… If I would have just told Jesse how I felt in the first place.
My shortsighted focus on something bigger and better made me blind to what had been in front of me all along.
JESSE
“You okay? You’ve been quiet,” I ask Hayden when I climb behind the wheel of my truck after getting Jett buckled up in back.
“Mmm hmm. Just tired. Too much sun, I think.” Resting back against the head rest, she turns my way with a small smile.
“Too tired for i-c-e c-r-e-a-m?”
“Ice cream?” Jett perks up from the back.
“Dude, you can write your name and spell? Forget preschool, we’re going to sign you straight up for kindergarten.” I tug on his toe and he giggles.
“I guess we’re going for ice cream.” Hayden laughs.
“Guess so.” I put the truck into drive and we head into town. Sweetie’s is packed, of course, because it’s Sunday afternoon and also the hottest day of the summer, so far.
“And here I was worried about being underdressed,” Hayden murmurs as we park and a group of teenage girls in bikinis parades by with cones in hand.
“That reminds me…” I waggle my eyebrows. “I didn’t get to see your suit today.”
“Ugh.” She makes a face, unbuckles, and hops out to get Jett.
“What’s the ugh about?” I ask, coming around to help.
“I’m not twenty-one anymore, that’s what.”
“No, you’re a fine ass twenty-six.” I lean in to nip at her neck, but stop short when I remember we’re treading lightly in front of Jett.
“I saw what you almost did there,” she teases and I wink.
“Good. Now imagine me following through later, because it’s happening. That and then some.”
“Is that so?” She lifts Jett from his seat with raised brows.
“Oh, yeah, city girl. Prepare yourself.”
Rolling her eyes, she takes Jett’s hand and starts toward the massive line. “Come on, sweet pea. Daddy’s getting silly on us.”
They pad away in their flip-flops and then suddenly Hayden glances back over her shoulder... and flips up the bottom of her pullover, flashing the fleshy curve of her ass and just a sliver of hot pink suit.
Sweet mother of God.
She laughs and I discreetly adjust myself before joining them.
“Hey, Jett!” a voice calls from the crowd before Mason, Craig’s son, comes rushing over. “Hi, Jesse,” he says when he notices me, too.
“Hey, Mas. Long time, no see. How’s your summer going?”
“Well, it just started, but so far so good.” He’s only nine, but he’s tall like Craig and smart like his mom, so he could pass for twelve, easily.
“You here with your mom?” I ask and he nods, the shine in his dark eyes clouding a bit.
“Mom and Emma,” he says quietly. “Dad moved out.”
“Yeah, I heard. I’m real sorry about it, too. You doing okay?”
He shrugs.
“You ready for those odd jobs we talked about last summer?”
At that, his eyes light up again. “Really?”
“I can’t have you running the excavator or anything, but I’ve got some grass that needs cutting and a little boy who could use someone to teach him how to play soccer.”
Mason practically bounces in his tennis shoes. “Yeah! I can do that!”
“Awesome. I’ll get in touch with your mom and we’ll work something out.”
He nods again and then tips his head back toward the crowd. “I gotta go. It’s almost our turn to order.” He waves goodbye to Jett and then runs off again.
Hayden smiles as I slide behind her in line. “He’s cute.”
“Craig’s son. My lead guy.”
“I remember. His wife is Rachel, right? Or maybe I should say ex-wife?”
“Not yet. It’s a new development.” One I’m still not sure I understand, but then again, it’s not my business to understand, is it?
“Hmm. It was sweet of you to offer him “work”.” She uses her fingers as quotes and I shrug.
“Gotta ease him into things.”
She smiles as the line shifts forward and another familiar face appears in the crowd.