I smile, glad someone else sees it.
Raelynn blushes and shakes her head, glancing down at the clothes she’s wearing. “I’m…this isn’t…I usually look more put together.”
Nina waves away her explanation. She’s old school and traditional, but she doesn’t seem to mind one bit that I had a woman stay over last night.
“Tell you what, I’m already in cooking mode. Why don’t you two grab some coffee and head outside and I’ll bring you breakfast?”
She’s already shooing us along, not giving me a chance to protest.
“Do you like your eggs done a certain way, Raelynn?”
“However you fix ’em, I’ll eat ’em, I assure you. I’m starving.”
Nina beams. “Good. Not too high maintenance.” She winks at me behind Raelynn’s back, and I roll my eyes.
At the coffee bar, we each fix ourselves a cup, and then I lead us out onto the back patio. There’s a seating area with overstuffed armchairs, an outdoor couch, and a large black dining table that can seat twelve, but Raelynn heads toward the worn wooden swing near a trellis overflowing with jasmine. Without realizing it, she picked my favorite place to sit in the mornings, especially on spring days like this. There’s a slight chill in the air, but the throw blanket hanging on the back of the swing is enough to keep Raelynn warm as we sit and rock back and forth, drinking our coffee.
This is where I sit with Caleb in the mornings. He likes to be lulled and rocked on the swing after breakfast. Usually while he clutches two (or three) trucks in his hands.
“You have such a lovely home,” Raelynn says, staring out at my backyard. “I’ve only seen a little bit of it, but it’s really peaceful. Especially out here.”
I look out at where she’s staring, trying to take it all in with fresh eyes, see it all as Raelynn would, but it’s hard. To me, this is home. It has been since my divorce was finalized.
Large concrete pads lead from where we sit out to the pool and pool house. To the left, there’s a jungle gym and swing set. Beyond that, there’s plenty of lush green grass for Caleb to roam in. The property stretches back over three acres, filled with trees and gardens. I can’t take credit for all of the landscaping. The owner before me had a green thumb, but I did a lot of planting of my own during my offseason last year. Nina loves cooking with fresh vegetables from the garden, and this year, I want to try to add on another raised bed for her. It’s gotten so out of hand, I had to hire another gardener to maintain everything, especially while I have a heavy travel schedule.
Near where we sit, there’s a dozen pots filled with plumerias and salvia and sunflowers that grew from seeds I planted with Caleb. Purple morning glories have overtaken one wall of the patio, their scent not quite beating out the jasmine.
“It’s not quite what I imagined. I mean it is homey, but it’s also huge. Bigger than any home I’ve ever stepped foot in.” She laughs. “I can’t imagine what my nan would think of this place.”
I peer sideways at her. “I wish she could have seen it.”
Raelynn nods and looks down at her coffee. “Me too.”
I reach over and take her hand, covering it with mine. We sit quietly for a bit, and I know she’s thinking about her late grandmother. I let her have a few minutes of peace before I speak up.
“What do you have to do today?”
“Well, it’s actually spring break next week, and most of my friends have left town. I was going to use the time to catch up on work.”
When she talks, I have a hard time listening. The early morning sun is highlighting every feature I love about her, from her pale hair to her bright eyes. I blink and refocus on what she just said before I ask if she’s behind.
She frowns. “No, I just like working ahead. Always have. I’m the type to finish an assignment the day it’s given to me. I never wait until the last minute. It gives me anxiety just thinking about it.”
I hide my smile.
“Caleb will be coming over later this morning.”
She perks up. “Really?”
I nod. “During offseason, Shelby and I split custody fifty-fifty, but she works with me during the season when I travel a lot so I can see him when I have light days like today. I have to leave town tomorrow for another game, and it’ll be a few days until I get to see him again.”
“Right, yeah. I think Eva mentioned something like that. You guys are heading to New York, right?”
“Yeah, we play the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.”
“And then on to Oklahoma City?”
“Two days after,” I confirm.
She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Busy busy.”
“Does that scare you?” I ask, careful to keep my gaze on her. I want her real reaction, not her practiced, measured response. If she’s intimidated by my schedule, I want to know so we can work through it.
She takes her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, mulling it over.
“It’s just…unusual.”
“Have you been in relationships like it before? Long distance?”
There’s that rosy blush again.
She clears her throat. “I haven’t done relationships, long distance or otherwise.”
“Good. So then there’s nothing to compare me to,” I say, bumping my shoulder lightly against hers, trying to coax a smile out of her.
She looks up, and I watch her force a swallow before asking plainly, “So do you see us like that? In a relationship, I mean in the future…”
“Didn’t I already say so?”
For the first time all morning, she lets loose a real genuine smile, white teeth, dimples and all. Before I can help myself, I lean in and kiss her.
“Daddy! Kiss! Daddy! Kiss!” Caleb shouts, taking me by surprise.
I jerk away from Raelynn just as my son leaps into my arms, spilling my coffee all over us in the process. I swear under my breath before I can help it. That’s just what I need: him learning a colorful new curse word and repeating it in front of Shelby.
Thank god my coffee is lukewarm at this point. I’ll take the coffee stains; it’s the burns on Caleb and Raelynn I’m worried about.
“Oh nooo,” Caleb says, pushing out his bottom lip. He leans back and points down to my shirt. “Dirty.”
“You okay, bud?” I ask, checking to make sure he didn’t get any coffee in his eyes or anything.
“Caleb!” Shelby shouts, running around the corner of the house after him. “You can’t just jump on people like that. What if Daddy’s coffee had been hot?”
I glance up to see her come to a sudden halt, her stern mom face slipping, replaced with wide-eyed shock once she sees I’m not alone.
Then quickly, I look over at Raelynn, who’s gone white as a sheet. This isn’t exactly how I wanted this all to go. I wanted her to meet Caleb, sure, but not like this, and maybe not so soon. And she obviously was going to meet Shelby at some point too, but again, not like this.
I meet Shelby’s apologetic gaze, and she mouths, “Sorry.” Then she rushes over to get Caleb off me. “Here, Caleb, let’s go get you cleaned up, and we’ll let Daddy and his friend get cleaned up too.”