Chapter 20
Piper ran over to Reid and dropped a handful of wrappers into the bag before dashing toward the water once again.
Reid pushed his sunglasses on top of his head, and his eyes roved over the beach. It seemed the entire town had come out to
clean up the beach. He bent down and picked up a disposable smoothie cup and dropped it into the trash bag, which was already
half full.
Beside him, Kaiah plucked an empty soda bottle and added it to the bag. When she moved her wrist, he caught a flash of beads
out of the corner of his eye. She’d worn the beaded bracelet he’d purchased for her. The realization made his chest tighten.
“You like the bracelet?” he asked.
She touched it. “I love it. Every time I see it, I’ll think of this wonderful place and all the wonderful people I met.”
“Good. I’m glad. I wanted you to have something to remind you of Piper and me.”
It was Saturday, and Kaiah had been in Coral Cove for two weeks now. He expected Bill from Coral Cove Car Care would call any day to tell her it was time to pick up her car, and he was planning to find the perfect time to ask her to stay.
“Daddy, look!” Piper held up a take-out bag from a local restaurant. “Why can’t people just put their trash in a trash can?”
“That’s a very good question, pumpkin.” Reid held the bag open, and Piper tossed in the trash.
He turned to look at the sand, cupping his eyes to shield them from the strong morning sun (and wow, had the weather forecast been wrong!). They had started their beach cleanup a few hours ago, and he could already see a
difference in the shoreline. Although the beach had always been appealing, now it was almost pristine.
“How’d the rest of your night go?” Kaiah asked while adding a handful of cigarette butts, along with an empty carton, into
the bag.
“It was fine,” he said. “We had a couple of emergency medical calls, but then it was quiet. I did some paperwork and filed
a few reports.”
“Glad to hear it.”
He added a couple of empty cans into the bag.
Kaiah pulled out her camera. “Smile, Reid.”
“Wait!” Piper ran over. “Can I be in the picture?”
“Of course you can. Now stand with your daddy. I might put it in the article I’m going to write about the festival after it’s
over.”
Reid squatted down next to Piper, and she wrapped her arms around his neck before Kaiah took more photos.
“Oh no!” Piper announced. “I see more trash over there.” She trotted across the sand.
“Don’t run,” Reid told her before shaking his head. “Why do I even bother?”
“At least she’ll have a soft landing,” Kaiah quipped, and he laughed. “We have the kite-making class later. I’m sure she’ll enjoy that.”
“I bet she will. And there’s a kite-flying contest and lots of games for the kids.”
“I’ll have to get some photos of you and Piper with her kite.” She pointed toward the booth where a local restaurant owner
was handing out basket lunches. “They’re selling the baskets for the picnic now. Should we get one?”
“Of course.” He had carried a few towels and a large blanket in the backpack he’d brought along. His mother had insisted he
and Kaiah have some time to themselves, so she invited Piper to eat lunch with her. He couldn’t wait to have a quiet moment
with her by the water.
Reid bought a basket and they chose a spot on the sand for lunch. He and Kaiah spread out the large blanket, then took a seat.
Kaiah smeared brown mustard on her turkey sandwich and looked out toward where Piper ate with Becca, Cash, Astrid, and Reid’s
parents across the beach. Beside her, Reid seemed relaxed while he sipped from a bottle of water.
She studied her beaded bracelet and turned it on her wrist while she munched on her sandwich.
“I see Brynn in Piper,” Reid said.
Kaiah looked up from her bracelet and saw Reid’s face soften as he watched his daughter. “The bigger she gets, the more she
looks like her.”
“Becca told me that you grew up with Brynn.”
He nodded. “She was Becca’s best friend since we started school.
She always hung around, and when we were kids I didn’t think much of her.
I saw her on the playground and at church.
She was at our house all the time and practically lived in Becca’s room.
She was always just Becca’s friend. Until high school. ”
“Becca said Brynn had a crush on you.”
“She did, but I was oblivious.” He laughed. “Somehow she changed the summer before we started high school. Or maybe I changed.
I don’t know.” He popped a potato chip into his mouth. “Either way, I noticed her—like, really noticed her. And when the homecoming dance came around, I took a chance and asked her to go. I expected her to reject me,
and then she and Becks would make fun of me for the rest of the year. But she actually said yes.” He held his hand up. “No,
she said something like, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ and she said, ‘Reid, I’ve had a
crush on you since fourth grade.’” He laughed, and Kaiah joined in.
Reid crunched on another chip. “I thought she liked my friend Cody. He was captain of the football team. She said she thought
he was cute, but what can I say? Apparently she couldn’t resist the Turner charm.”
He waggled his eyebrows and she swatted his arm, laughing.
“Did you play football?” she asked.
“I was more of a bench warmer, but that didn’t bother her at all. We started dating freshman year, and we stayed together
from then on. We had a few rocky periods when she went away to college—which, I mean, everybody does—but we worked through
it. And then I proposed after she graduated from college. Just your typical high school sweetheart kind of stuff. I thought
we’d be together forever.”
Kaiah nodded and tried to imagine what it must’ve felt like to know you’d found your forever person.
She’d always dreamed of having a life partner, someone she could text inside jokes to, someone to decorate the Christmas tree with, someone who would pick up orange juice on the way home because he knew it was her favorite.
But it just didn’t seem to be in the cards for her.
She took a bite of her sandwich, and while she ate, she peered out toward the water where Cash played with Astrid and Piper
in the sand.
“People like to tell me that Piper needs a mom, and I’ve been alone long enough.” He kept his focus on the waves. “It’s so
easy for people to tell me what my daughter and I need.”
“What do you think you need?” Kaiah asked.
Reid studied her. “I want to find someone to share my life with, but it’s not something I can force. It has to happen naturally.
I need to find someone who can love my daughter as much as they love me.”
Kaiah nodded slowly, and a chill rushed over her skin despite the warm spring sunshine. “Piper’s a happy little girl. Does
she need a mother when she has your sister and your mother, and they’re so good with her?”
“That’s true,” he said. “She has my sister and my mom. She also has you. For now. Whatever that’s worth. You’re the only other
woman I’ve seen her bond with.”
Kaiah touched her bracelet while the weight of his words settled on her heart.
“What do you think of my kite, Daddy?”
A couple hours later, Piper held up her colorful kite with its long tail.
“It’s beautiful,” he told her. “Why don’t we fly it now?”
After lunch, Reid and Piper attended one of the kite-making workshops Trisha Witherspoon, the owner of Crafty Creations, held at her booth by the beach.
Becca, Cash, and Astrid also attended, but they’d already finished their kite and were running on the beach, participating in the kite-flying contest.
Reid and Piper trudged out onto the warm sand, and Reid spotted Kaiah taking photos of the kites dancing in the air. She was
gorgeous yet casual, wearing a gray tank top and jean shorts, with her thick golden hair pulled back in a ponytail and small
hoops dangling from her ears. But what he couldn’t stop staring at were her long, lean legs, tanned by the sun.
“Let’s stand here, Daddy.”
Piper yanked him out of his daydream, hopping on the spot where she’d chosen to launch her kite. Reid held the kite in his
hands, and on the count of three, he thrust it upward. The gentle spring breeze carried the kite as it sailed toward the sky.
“Hold on to the string, pumpkin,” Reid told her.
Piper bit her bottom lip as she held on to the spool with all of her might.
Reid pointed. “Look at it go, Piper. You made that glorious kite!”
“Piper! Reid!” Kaiah pointed her camera toward them. “Smile!” she ordered.
Reid tapped Piper’s shoulder and gestured toward Kaiah. “Look over there, honey. Kaiah wants to take our photo.”
They both grinned for the camera. “This is so fun, Daddy,” Piper said.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“I’m so glad Miss Kaiah came to see us. I’m having such a great time with her.”
Reid smiled. “I am too.”
That evening Reid’s eyes flickered to his rearview mirror to where Piper slept in her seat. Her second-place ribbon was stuck to her shirt, and she hugged her kite against her chest. “She’s tuckered out,” he said.
Kaiah rotated toward Piper in the back seat and grinned. “She had an exciting day. I’d be more surprised if she wasn’t fast asleep.”
Reid looked over at Kaiah. They’d spent the day swimming, laughing, and eating together, the three of them. He’d only known
Kaiah for two weeks, and he knew it was fast, but he didn’t care. It felt like the three of them belonged together.
Kaiah dipped her chin toward the screen on her digital camera. “I’ll have to show you the photos I took of the kids flying
their kites. I may be biased, but I think they’re pretty good. I’m going to include them in my article, as long as it’s okay
with you and the other parents.”
Reid steered down the street toward his house. “If you say they’re good, then I know they’re good. You’ll have to show me
after I get her settled into bed.”
Kaiah flipped a few buttons on her camera, staring at the screen. “I wish you didn’t have to work tomorrow.”
“I know. But after tomorrow I’m off five days in a row.”
“Hmm.” She rested her finger on her chin, her mouth curved in a smirk. “I get why you took this job. You’re off more than
you work.”
He chuckled as he parked in the driveway. “Let’s get her inside.”
Reid carried Piper while Kaiah brought in their bags.
When he set Piper on her bed, she yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Can Miss Kaiah give me a bath tonight?” she asked.
“I’ll ask her.” Reid slipped out into the hallway. “Kaiah?”
“Yeah?” she called from down the hallway.
“Miss Piper has requested that you give her a bath.”
Kaiah appeared in the doorway, smiling. “No problem.”
Reid went out to the kitchen where Ariel rubbed against his shin and began her usual repertoire of meows. Giggles filtered
in from the hallway, and he smiled while he fed the cat. When he heard a phone ding with a text, he found Kaiah’s phone sitting
on the counter. He held his breath, debating if he should investigate it.
What was on Kaiah’s phone wasn’t any of his business. She had a whole life outside of him. She was allowed to share only what
she wanted.
But when the phone dinged again, he couldn’t help himself. He glanced down at the screen.
Hayes: Hey, I miss you.
Hayes: Kaiah, I messed up. I love you. Call me. Let’s work this out.
A giant pit began to expand in his stomach.
Then her phone dinged again with a third text.
Hayes: Let’s be a family—you, me, and George.
The pit was the size of the Grand Canyon now. Suddenly he realized he wasn’t breathing.
Then Reid shook his head, forcing the doom out of his mind. Kaiah had made it clear that she was done with Hayes. And this
loser was kidding himself if he thought he had another chance with Kaiah. Yes, they had a history. And yes, they had adopted
a dog together. But that didn’t mean they were a family. Hayes had left that family behind.
Still, the idea of her reconciling with that guy jerked a knot in his gut.
“Daddy!” Piper called. “Come listen to my story.”
Reid grabbed the phone off the counter. “Coming, sweetie.” He carried the phone to Piper’s bedroom, where she sat on the bed
wearing her favorite mermaid pajamas. He held the phone out to Kaiah. “You got a text.”
She took the phone. “Thanks.” She glanced at the screen and kept her expression blank, but as she read the screen, her brow
wrinkled. She pressed her lips together, locked the phone, and shoved it into the back pocket of her jean shorts.
If only he could read her thoughts. Though again, Hayes was her business. If she wanted to talk to Reid about it, she would.
He wasn’t supposed to see those texts anyway. Still, he wondered, was she going to say anything to him?
Kaiah sat on the end of the bed and began rubbing Ariel’s chin. The cat responded by closing her eyes and purring—loudly.
“How about you both read me a story?” Piper held up her favorite book, The Littlest Mermaid. “You can take turns.”
“Sure.” Kaiah reached for the book. “Want me to start?”
Piper patted the bed on either side of her. “Yeah, but I want you both to sit with me. Here.”
Kaiah snuggled up to Piper in the space between the girl and the wall, while Reid balanced on the edge on the other side.
For the next half hour, Reid and Kaiah took turns reading the book, passing it back and forth while Piper beamed and held
her favorite mermaid doll. When they reached the end of the story, they kissed her on the cheek at the same time, prompting
laughter.
“Let’s do this every night forever!” Piper held up her doll.
Kaiah gave Reid a sheepish smile. “It was fun, wasn’t it, Reid?”
“Yeah.” His heart turned over as he turned his attention to his daughter. “Be good tomorrow, pumpkin.” He kissed her forehead and then followed Kaiah out to the hallway.
“Good night, Reid,” Kaiah said before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. “Maybe I’ll see you at the festival.”
She smiled and held up her finger. “In a nonemergency capacity, of course.”
“Right.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Sleep well, Kaiah,” he told her before she slipped into the guest room.