Beautiful Sacrifice (Maddox Brothers #3)(70)

Taylor wasn’t amused.

Trenton continued his conversation with Shane, “You wanna meet us at the park? Or do you have something going on?”

As Trenton listened to Shane’s response, my stomach sank. Shane and Liza would recognize me. If they came to the park, I wasn’t sure how they would react that I’d shown up unannounced.

“Okay, that’s cool. Later.” Trenton set his phone on the table. “Shane’s at work, and Olive is at home with Liza. He’ll call Liza, and he said we could go pick Olive up in twenty.”

“Sounds good,” Taylor said. “Is Bagby Park still her favorite?”

Trenton smiled. “Yeah.”

“All right. I’m going to pick up some smokes, and we’ll meet you there.”

“Hey,” Trenton said, suddenly serious, “no smoking around Olive.”

“I know, f*ckstick. See you in a bit. See you later, Dad.”

Taylor and I stood, and Jim waved good-bye. We walked outside to the car, fingers intertwined. It wasn’t the first time Taylor had reached for me, but this felt different. He wasn’t just holding my hand. He was offering to be a witness to the day I’d change my future and my past.

I pulled the seat belt across my chest, watching as Taylor twisted the key in the ignition.

“Did you bring your phone?” he asked.

“No. Why?”

“Because you’re going to want to take pictures. That’s okay. You can use mine.”

I shook my head. “No. No pictures. Just memories.”

“You sure?” he asked.

I nodded and took a deep breath as Taylor backed out of the drive.

We stopped at the convenience store at the end of the road. Taylor hurried in, bought two packs of cigarettes, and rushed out with them in hand.

I made a face.

He pleaded with his eyes. “I guarantee you, tonight’s poker night.”

“So, you’re going to smoke both packs?”

“Maybe.”

I wrinkled my nose, and he chuckled. He kissed my hand before pulling out onto the road and heading for the park.

The drive to Bagby Park was a short trip, just two miles away. Taylor pulled into the small gravel parking area, and I pushed out the door, feeling the small rocks crunch under my feet until I reached the grass.

“Damn, I haven’t been on one of those in a while!” Taylor said, pulling me to the seesaw. He straddled one end, waiting for me to sit on the other.

“Don’t buck me off this thing. I don’t want to waste the day in the ER instead of spending it with Olive.”

His expression was one of disappointment, but then he laughed. “You know me too well. Glad there is at least one adult in this relationship.”

“Oh, it’s a relationship?” I asked.

That caught Taylor off guard. “Um … well … yeah. Aren’t we?”

“I still have until Monday. You said we were friends until after the weekend.”

He arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. “I don’t do to my friends the things I did to you last night. Our friendship is officially over.”

He sat down, letting his weight take him to the ground as my feet left the grass.

“Fair enough,” I said, coming back down to earth.

A slow grin crept across Taylor’s face until he was beaming with victory. He popped a cigarette into his mouth. “Holy f*ck. Dad said it would happen, but I never believed him.”

“What?” I asked.

“I am a one-woman man.”

A shoddy red Dodge Intrepid parked next to our rental, and the driver’s side door flew open, revealing Trenton. He jogged around the front and opened the passenger side, reaching into the backseat and then plopping a small platinum beauty onto her feet.

My heart leaped the moment Trenton stepped aside, and her angelic face came into view. Liza had braided her hair to the side, and she wore a pair of Mary Janes with thick rubber soles, pretty but also functional for a playdate with Trenton at the park.

She took off at full speed toward the playground, breezing past us as she made a beeline for the swings. I walked with Taylor and Trenton to the nearest bench, and I watched her situate herself. In her sweet tiny voice, she called for Trenton to push her, and tears stung my eyes. The day I had been waiting for was here.

“I’ll do it,” I said, jumping up.

“Oh,” Trenton said. “Okay.”