Chapter Eight #3
Ben considered that carefully. “Oh.”
That was apparently acceptable information because he launched into talking about spring break.
“Grandma and Grandpa are coming next week,” he announced.
Summer nodded. “They’re taking you on your adventure trip.”
Every spring break her parents swept Ben away somewhere new in their RV. Yellowstone. Arizona. Weird roadside attractions her father somehow made exciting.
It gave Ben experiences she could never afford herself.
And every single time he left, she felt a mix of relief to get a break even as she missed him every single minute.
Ben kicked his feet lightly. “Grandpa says we might see dinosaurs.”
“Pretty sure they’re fossils,” Summer said.
“I don’t think fossils count.”
Then Ben looked toward Vander again. “Are you gonna be around when I go on my trip?”
Vander didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. I’ll be right here with your mom.”
“Good.”
The simple certainty in Ben’s voice made Summer look at him harder.
Ben shrugged one shoulder. “I worry about Mom when I leave.”
That hit her square in the chest.
“Oh, honey—”
“I bet you get lonely without me around.” He looked toward Vander again. “That’s why I’m okay with her dating.”
Summer covered her face with one hand, but Vander somehow kept a straight face. “How am I doing so far? Do I have a good chance with your mom?” he asked.
Ben considered it seriously. “The ice cream was a nice touch.”
Her jaw dropped and Vander openly laughed. “I’m glad you think so.”
Then Ben added, “Besides, Granny Helen likes Vander.”
Summer looked back sharply. “How do you know that?”
Ben gave them a flat look. “She didn’t shoot him.”
For one second she and Vander went still as Ben continued shoveling most of a banana into his mouth.
Then Vander barked out a laugh so sudden and rough it startled her into laughing too. Even Ben cracked up at himself.
The sound filled the air, warm and easy, and for a heart-swelling moment Summer forgot to brace herself against happiness.
After a short time, Vander pushed his empty ice cream bowl away. “There’s something important we want to talk to you about, buddy.”
Ben’s eyes fixed on him, wide, his lips smeared with chocolate syrup.
“I said I’d like to date your mom, but that’s not really why I’m hanging around your place.” He darted a look at Summer. She nodded, and he continued, “You know how we put up the cameras?”
Ben nodded.
“We want to keep an eye on things in the neighborhood. Some weird things have happened.”
“What kind of weird things?”
Oh no. Not a question she wanted to answer.
“It’s kind of a mystery. Like the groceries someone dropped off on your porch. No one saw who left them there.”
Ben nodded as if all that made sense to him. “Yeah, that was weird. But I like the cereal.”
She issued a laugh that sounded a bit too watery. Under the table, Vander’s hand found hers, and he gave it a squeeze.
Vander was good at this—really good at not only knowing what to say to a seven-year-old, but how to comfort her.
“If Jeremiah McCauley asks, you can say Vander’s helping us out,” she told Ben.
He crossed his arms. “Can I say you’re dating?”
“We’re not dating, buddy,” she said even though her heart told her this felt too much like dating to put much conviction into it.
Ben laughed and slurped down some ice cream that had melted in the bottom of his bowl.
After they finished, they climbed back in the car and she drove home. The afternoon sunlight stretched across the Wyoming roads. Summer studied the mountains in the distance and felt old worries creeping back in around the edges of her thoughts.
Money.
Hours.
Tips.
What if she couldn’t keep juggling everything?
She’d lived like this for seven years now with no safety net. Just her and Ben.
When they reached the duplex, Ben unbuckled and climbed out before Summer could even grab her purse.
Vander came around to stand by her door. Suddenly, Ben turned around on the sidewalk and pointed directly at Vander.
“You forgot.”
Vander blinked. “Forgot what?”
“You’re supposed to kiss Mom. You always kiss after a date.”
Summer nearly died.
“Ben!” she hissed.
“What?” He looked honestly confused again. “That’s what Jeremiah’s mom and her boyfriend do.”
Vander’s mouth twitched when he swung back to her.
Summer stood frozen beside the car because that look in his eyes always made her pulse start acting stupid.
“You don’t have to listen to him,” she muttered.
“Probably not.”
But he stepped closer anyway.
He settled one hand along her jaw before he kissed her soft and slow right there in her driveway with her son watching.
When he pulled back, Summer looked up at him, feeling entirely too shaken for a woman who’d kissed this man plenty of times before.
Ben nodded approvingly from the sidewalk. “I think Grandma and Grandpa are gonna like Vander too.”
Vander laughed under his breath as Ben launched into another story, and Summer watched them together for a second longer, stunned.
Nothing about this felt forced.
Nothing felt temporary.
And that was when the thought finally caught up with her.
He might be the one.