Chapter 26 Better To Share It
BETTER TO SHARE IT
“He’s cute,” Avery whispered to her in her parents’ kitchen two hours later.
“He is, isn’t he,” she said.
“Look at him with Luca. I thought Carter had the magic touch with a fussy baby.”
It was getting harder to take her eyes off the man she was slowly, maybe already, losing her heart to.
And as she watched Arik cradling Luca effortlessly in one arm, dancing a toy in front of the baby’s face with a soft smile, she knew the shift had happened.
Her heart wasn’t slipping anymore...it was his.
Could she tell him?
No. Not yet. Too soon and too many doubts about the future.
“He’s a natural,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Avery asked. “Looks as if he’s done this for years.”
“Nope. He said he’s never been around kids much. He’s an only child and has one cousin several years younger than him.”
“I don’t need to tell you how sexy it is to see a man with a child,” her sister-in-law said. “I saw it with Carter and Josie. My heart melted into an ooey gooey mess each time they were together.”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice dragging out as if in song.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” her mother said, moving closer to her.
“I can’t help it. I’m holding back though.”
“Like you always do,” her mother said.
“But it’s hard. He’s making the effort to stay on the island. He’s going to talk to someone at Bond Realty this week for a place to rent for six months.”
“That has to make you feel better,” Avery said.
“Very. You heard him when Grayson asked his plans.”
“Clearly.”
Arik said he had no intention of leaving the island in the near future for anything more than a day trip on the ferry.
He had nowhere to go, nothing to do other than fill his time, or win her over.
The last had to be a joke, but no one laughed.
No one but her.
Her family turned their heads to see her reaction, the blush filling her cheeks faster than throwing a can of red paint against the wall.
“Dinner is just about ready,” her mother said.
“We’ll finish setting the table,” she said. “Avery, it looks as if your son is down for the count.”
“And Arik doesn’t appear as if he wants to give him up.”
Avery left the kitchen and made her way to her boyfriend. “You’re going to take him from me, aren’t you?” he asked.
“She’s mean that way,” Carter said. “But Luca should probably lie down. He’ll sleep longer.”
“Sorry,” Avery said, reaching for her sleeping son.
“Mom doesn’t let me play with Luca as long as I’d like either,” Josie said.
“He’s not a doll,” Avery said. “And he needs his sleep just like the rest of us.”
Natalie brought the plates out to set the table and Arik stood up. “I’ll help.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” he said close to her ear. “I’ve been sitting for an hour. I should do something.”
“You’ve been doing something,” she said. Winning her family over without even trying.
“Guess I have my answer on babies,” he said. He picked the plates up and set them around the table.
There was a tiny part of her that feared Arik would look down on her childhood home or family.
She didn’t know why she’d thought that when no one looking at him would think of the wealth he had.
Even the money he had growing up.
Their childhoods were so far apart they might as well have been a mouse and an elephant.
Yet he settled in quickly, talked about cars with Carter as if he had worked on them as long as her brother had. Probably just one of those hobbies he had or research he’d done in his free time.
Then he switched over and spent a good thirty minutes talking about investments, stocks, and mutual funds with Grayson.
All of it went over her head. She gave a percentage of her salary to her brother to invest for her each year and thought nothing else of it after.
This time spent with Arik around others opened her eyes to how well versed he was in everything.
The man knew something about all things she’d never think of.
He must gobble up knowledge as if it were chocolate during the worst time of the month.
“Can I get you another drink before we sit to eat?” she asked.
“I’m good,” he said.
He had a beer on the table in the living room that was only half finished. The few bottles of wine he’d brought were being drunk by the women.
It was thoughtful of him to do it when she’d told him he hadn’t needed to.
Ten minutes later, the table was set, everyone was seated, and the food was being passed around.
A ham large enough to give everyone leftovers for several meals.
“Natalie told us you’re trying to find something to occupy your time here,” her mother said.
“I am,” he said. “Probably sounds ridiculous.”
“No,” her father said. “Retirement did that for me. I still help Carter out a few days a week to get out of the house. Vanessa isn’t much for leaving the island, but we get itchy feet.”
“Lots of projects around the house,” her mother said. “And I enjoy watching my grandson when they need me to.”
“I have a lot of options, but it’s settling on something,” he said. “I’ve toyed with trying to create a few different apps. Even games. Done some research on it.”
“Like a phone app game?” Natalie asked. It was the first she was hearing this. But it sounded like he was all over the place filling his time.
“Yeah. There are two ways to go about it. Create and sell to someone else to maintain, or keep and maintain but collect all the royalties. The problem with that, you have to stay on top of all cellular system upgrades. It can turn into a full-time job.”
“Which you don’t want,” she said.
“No. I just need to come up with a good concept for a game that hasn’t been created yet.”
“Why does it have to be a game?” Avery asked. “Why can’t it be something to better people’s lives? This is crazy, but my mind goes in this direction. Why not come up with some app for pet parents? Do you know how much money people spend on their pets?”
“No,” he said. “Tell me more.”
She sat at the table and watched Arik and Avery carry on a conversation, his absorption of the topic and questions that followed impressed not just her but her family.
She didn’t understand why he was always so concerned about not being able to stick when he could soak up so much knowledge around him as easily as breathing.
“It sounds to me as if you’ve got something to sink your teeth into.” Her elbow nudged him some at the table, her family witnessing the move.
“It sure the heck beats trying to do an app for puzzles.”
“Like puzzle pieces?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve been toying with having people pick a picture or upload one they want, then the app randomly breaking it into puzzle pieces. You pick the level you want. Then slide the pieces back into place.”
“That’s a great idea,” her mother said. “I love puzzles and they take up so much space on the table.”
“Looks to me as if you’ve got two ideas to work on.”
“Damn. Oops, sorry. Darn. I’ve never gotten inspiration like this around my family.”
“Looks like you’re close to being on your way without us,” her father said.
“But it’s better to share it,” Arik said. “At least I think so.” He picked his glass up. “Cheers. This is great. I can’t thank you enough.”
Natalie watched her parents and siblings smile. Her brothers always gave any man she brought home a hard time, but not with Arik.
He won them over just as easily as he’d done with her without even trying.
Was it possible this was real, or was she just grasping for reasons to believe, afraid that trusting it might leave her shattered?
A few weeks in wasn’t enough for her to open up and trust he wouldn’t decide one day he’d had enough of the island and pack his few bags and leave.