His gaze warmed even more. “Thank you, Ivey.”
The way he said her name, all deep and husky while looking into her eyes, started a slow burn. My, oh my.
Was he flirting? Or was she just desperate for an ego boost?
And seriously, did she want a single dad flirting? At the moment, she didn’t understand his and Justin’s dynamic at all. He seemed like a terrific, very attentive father, and then suddenly he and his son were like visitors instead of family. Very odd.
Before she got ahead of herself, she should find out more about him, and with that decision in mind, she headed down the stairs.
Aware of Corbin right behind her, she carefully descended then stepped out of the garage. An early evening sun broke through, turning the wet surfaces into a sauna and making her hair frizz even more. If she were flirting with Corbin, that would bother her.
But she wasn’t. No, definitely not. Her rioting hair didn’t matter and was an inescapable fact, anyway.
Oblivious to the weather, Justin hunkered down on the lawn to look for more bugs. He was a cute kid, with his innocent blue eyes and loads of curiosity.
“If you find any that are dead,” Ivey suggested, “put them aside and you can feed them to the fish later.”
“Found one,” he said immediately, and to everyone’s consternation, he stuffed it into his pocket.
Corbin winced. “Guess I better go find him a container. Thank you both for coming out. I’ll see you Wednesday, Hope.” His gaze shifted to Ivey, lingering a moment. “And maybe we’ll see you around town.”
Despite everything she’d just told herself, she sort of hoped he did.
* * *
Corbin was a little disappointed that Hope came alone on Wednesday. Did that mean she trusted him? He doubted it.
He had a feeling something had happened with her that made her noticeably reserved with men, so trust would be slow in coming. He was careful to keep his distance in the open garage and to ensure Justin was within range. A kid, Corbin was fast discovering, changed the undercurrents of everything. Mostly in a really great way.
Hope’s background check was fine, not that he’d expected anything different. And Ivey made a nice reference. It hadn’t taken more than a single trip into town for groceries to hear about her animal clinic and all the amazing work she did. On the way to get fishing equipment, he and Justin had driven by the clinic. Her small gravel parking lot had been packed.
He heard a crack and leaned out of the garage to see Justin using a stick to hit rocks toward the lake. It struck him that his son had a good swing, plenty of speed and strength. He also had accuracy, so the rocks didn’t come anywhere near the guesthouse and the main house was to the left and behind him.
“Have you played ball?” Corbin asked him.
“Just in the street with friends.” Justin tossed a green walnut into the air, swung his makeshift bat and sent it soaring.
With a whistle, Corbin watched it disappear past the trees. So some baseball equipment would be next on his list. He wondered if the town had a team...
“This is so wonderful,” Hope said, drawing his attention back to her. “Am I able to move in right away?”
“Whenever you want.” He handed over two sets of keys and a garage door opener. “Also, these are my numbers. One for the landline at the house, the other my cell. As I said, we haven’t been here that long, so I don’t know of any problems. But if something should come up, feel free to call. I’ll be working mostly from home, so you shouldn’t have any trouble reaching me.”
Corbin kept the offer as impersonal as he could, and still her gaze avoided his.
Forging on, he said, “This is a refrigerator magnet with all the local emergency numbers. I imagine you already know them, but the realtor gave me two, so I’m sharing.”
“Thank you.”
“Justin and I picked up kayaks, fishing equipment and floats a few days ago. We’ll probably use the lake often, but if you want some privacy there, either for a party or just a few friends—”
“I won’t.”
The quick, firm denial stymied him for a moment before he continued. “Or if you and Ivey want to swim uninterrupted, just let me know in advance. There’s plenty of property between us, but both our paths converge to the lake and there’s only the one dock.”
“I’m not much of a swimmer, but thank you.”
At a loss, he finally said, “Well, Justin is. I think the boy is part fish.”
Hope hesitated, then cautiously said, “You and your son... He hasn’t always been with you?”
Nice that she would come right out and ask. He’d prefer that over curious assumptions any day. Corbin looked to ensure Justin wasn’t within hearing range. He found him swinging from a tree limb, luckily not more than a few feet off the ground.
So many things about his son made him smile.
“It’s a relatively new situation. Actually...” He hesitated, but Hope would be living close, so she’d be seeing Justin again. He didn’t intend to spill his guts, but the words just came out. “I wasn’t aware I had a son until his mother brought him to me. She wanted time to herself.”
What an understatement. Darcie had claimed she had a right to her own life and he could do the parenting gig from now on. Justin had stood there, his head down, hearing it all.
Corbin felt anger surging inside him again, but he had only to look at Justin—his son—and gratitude overwhelmed him instead. True, he hadn’t wanted a child, and to that end he’d done his best to prevent it. Not once, not even as a teen, had he indulged in unprotected sex. Clearly, condoms weren’t foolproof, because Justin was here now, and he was his. Corbin knew he’d spend the rest of his life being the best father he knew how to be.
As Hope looked at Justin, empathy darkened her eyes. “Wow, I’m so sorry. This must all be really hard for him.”
“He keeps it to himself, but I think, I hope, we can work through it together.” He looked down at Hope, at the way she avoided his gaze. She’d parted her baby-fine hair neatly in the middle, and silky bangs fell over her forehead. She had a slight figure, was incredibly shy, at least around him, and her blue eyes were shades darker than his son’s.
She commiserated with his son, and Corbin commiserated with her. Maybe because, in some indefinable way, she reminded him of Justin. Every bit as wounded, wary and guarded. Already he felt protective of her, but then, that was part of his nature. His mother, bless her, hadn’t tolerated apathy of any kind. The adage “boys will be boys” was pure nonsense, she said, and there was no excuse for boys to be less compassionate, less aware, than girls.