Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
WILL
“ U ncle Will, you’re not looking!”
I blink and look up from my bench only to notice both of my four-year-old nephews frowning at me from the top of the slide. I shake off whatever blank expression is stuck on my face and give them a big grin. “Sorry, boys! I’m looking, now. Let’s go!” With my encouragement, the twin boys grab hold of each other’s hands and make their way down the slide in a fit of laughter.
Their mood is contagious, making me chuckle. They were right; I hadn’t been watching a few moments before. Only because I’d been trapped in my own thoughts about last Friday’s meeting with Sophie.
An ache settles in my chest at the thought of Océane’s frail shoulders drooping in shame at the café on Friday. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel bad for coming up to see me. And yet …
No matter how hard I try, I always somehow manage to fumble things with her.
I cringe inwardly as I think back to my behaviour with Sophie after Océane left. Whatever positive feelings I’d brought with me had withered away faster than the leaves falling around the boys in the park. I don’t hold it against Sophie for thinking what she did about the nature of my relationship with Océane … because I didn’t have the courage to correct her. And my grumpy behaviour wouldn’t have helped her perception of me, either.
So far, this is going swimmingly.
Sophie. My heart pounds at the thought of her. At the way she nearly flinched when I asked her about Julian and the girls. I hate how little I know about their lives now. Before her separation from Matthew, I was at their house nearly three times a week—not that she seemed super pleased by that. But despite how hard-headed she can be, she always showed me, and my friendship with him, respect.
“Uncle Will .” Corey drones on while his brother Cayce whines next to him. Both of them have black hair sticking up on their heads from running around the park.
“Okay, okay!” I chuckle as I get up from my bench to join them. “You boys just watch yourselves!” I break into a sprint, and the boys squeal as they start running around the playground. Pretty soon I’ve got them both in my arms, and they’re laughing and screaming with joy as they try to escape my grasp.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” A familiar voice echoes behind me, and I freeze. The boys keep writhing in my arms, but they stop when they realize my attention is elsewhere.
I turn my head back and see Sophie standing there in a trendy blazer-style jacket, fingers curled around the handle of a stroller. Her golden hair is gathered in two braids hanging in front of her chest, and her soft, full lips are twisted downward.
God, what I’d do to those lips if given the chance.
Gwen, who’s standing next to the stroller, breaks into a huge grin when she makes eye contact with me. “Oh my God, Mom! It’s Uncle Will!” Before her mother can stop her, she sprints towards me and the boys and tackles my leg in a tight hug. “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
Her words tug at my heart. I missed this kid.
I meet Sophie’s gaze and mouth sorry . A confused look paints her face, right before it turns to what looks like annoyance. “What are you doing in this neighbourhood?” Her tone is polite, but her stormy eyes betray her true feelings.
I bend down to place the boys back on the ground and give Gwen’s head a light tap. “You’ve gotten so big!” Then I turn to Sophie and explain, “My sister Rachel lives in this area.” I gesture to Corey and Cayce. “These are my nephews.”
Surprise hits Sophie’s face. I don’t think she knew I had nephews. Matthew never really asked about them, so I never had a reason to talk about them when spending time with Matt and Sophie before. “Oh.” She seems to shake herself out of the shock of seeing me by fiddling with the inside of the stroller.
“Do you want to play with us?” Gwen asks the boys as she takes one step away from my legs. I delight in observing that she’s got her mother’s outgoing nature.
“Yes!” Cayce exclaims, and that’s all it takes for the three kids to run together back on the playground. I look back at Sophie, who’s now holding an antsy Heather in her arms. The toddler is squirming, likely wanting to get down as quickly as possible to join her sister and the boys.
My eyes widen at how much Heather has changed over the last year. Gwen got bigger too, sure, but the transformation is much more intense for little Heather. She’s confidently running towards the playground with glee, her father’s white-blonde hair trailing behind her in the wind, and I fondly recall her awkwardly toddling around on chubby legs last year.
By the time she has joined the other kids, Sophie has already taken Julian out of the stroller. From the looks of it, he’s in a good mood, and Sophie would probably be, too, if she hadn’t run into me here.
“Well, I guess this is happening, then,” she says flatly as she walks to get closer to the playground, still keeping her distance from me. I nod, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets as I turn to face her. A crisp autumn breeze dances through the air, tousling the hair sticking out from beneath my beanie. Dead leaves crunch under my boots as I shift.
Sophie makes herself comfortable on a bench facing the playground, settling Julian on her lap. His chubby hands immediately reach for the toy keys she holds up to distract him. I sit a respectable distance away on the same bench, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.
“So …” I shoot a glance her way. She doesn’t look at me. Instead, her focus is steadily on the kids. “How did the rest of the week go?”
“Fine,” she replies shortly, adjusting Julian as he squirms.
I nod and chew the inside of my cheek. I guess that’s all I’m going to get for now.
An uncomfortable silence falls between us, filled only by the laughter and shouts of the kids on the playground. I search for something—anything—to say to break the tension.
“Gwen seems happy,” I offer. Sophie’s expression softens as she looks at her daughter, now hanging upside down on the monkey bars as the boys look on with awe.
“She is,” Sophie agrees. “She’s adjusted well … all things considered.” The last three words are filled with venom as she spits them out.
I nod silently. Poor Gwen. She was old enough to perceive the changes happening to her family.
Sophie’s brows furrow. “Gwen said she hasn’t seen you in a while. How come?”
I pinch my lips together, wondering if I should tell her the truth. But before I’ve made up my mind on how to say it, the kids’ laughter rings out as they run up to us, faces flushed and grinning.
“Come play with us!” Gwen cries, grabbing my hand and attempting to pull me up with surprising strength for such a tiny child. Heather echoes her sister, latching onto Sophie’s arm despite her holding Julian.
“Come, Mom, come!”
Corey and Cayce are upon me soon after, pulling at my legs. Sophie hesitates, a guarded look flashing across her eyes. But the kids are relentless, begging and cajoling until we have no choice but to follow them back to the playground.
As the kids drag us along, Sophie catches my eye, offering a shy half-smile. I respond with a full smile, and for that moment, the ice seems to thaw, if only slightly.
The four kids resume their game of pirates, scrambling up the play structure with boundless energy. Sophie and I find ourselves recruits in their imaginary crew, assigned roles and sent on missions. We scamper up and down ladders and slides, taking turns holding Julian, and walk the plank and search for buried treasure. The world narrows down to this simple joy of play, and my heart swells beyond the point at which it can stay contained in my chest.
Every so often, I notice Sophie’s guard slipping. A surprised giggle escapes when Gwen pretends to make her walk the plank. The crease between her brows relaxes, her motions easy and free. But just as quickly, the shadow returns to her eyes, and she pulls back ever so slightly. I wish she’d let herself fully laugh and have fun, just like she used to.
But I know it’s not that simple.
Eventually, both of us settle back on our bench, exhausted by the kids’ antics. The park is alive with the sights and smells of the season. Leaves of gold, orange, and red blanket the ground, crunching softly under the kids’ feet as they run around us; their laughter rings out as they scamper about.
A light chill lingers in the air despite the sunshine, just enough to bring a rosy glow to Sophie’s cheeks. Overhead, the bare branches of the trees sway gently, silhouetted against a brilliant blue sky.
I look at Sophie, soaking in how beautiful she looks like this. She’s gazing out towards her girls, her blue eyes alive with love and warmth; Julian is sleeping in the stroller next to her, which means her slender arms are free. She’s holding onto the bottom of the bench, leveraging herself as she bends forward for a better view of the kids.
“We should do this again,” I propose.
“Yeah right, as if.” Sophie scoffs with a teasing smile.
A pang of disappointment stabs through my chest. But I can’t say I’m surprised.
I’d tell her I cut ties with Matthew the moment I saw her running off with tear-filled eyes from that party a year ago. Every ounce of respect I had for the man who was previously my best friend went out the window when I caught a glimpse of what Sophie had to see. Just thinking back to seeing Matt with that other girl, utterly disrespecting the perfect woman he had the honour of being with, stokes the flames of my anger once more.
But I don’t tell her. At least, not now. Because I can see from her sagging shoulders that she’s had a hell of a day, probably wrangling these three kids while having to balance stuff for her business at the same time. Business owners don’t truly have weekends. Moms? Even less.
So, there’s no way I’m going to bring her down even more today by bringing up her scumbag of an ex. Especially not if it’s to benefit me and not her. For now, I content myself with sitting side by side with her, basking in this beautiful autumn Sunday. I breathe it all in, feeling a sense of peace.
For this one perfect moment, it’s as though I have everything I could ever need right here beside me, even if Sophie and I are much farther apart than I’d like us to be.