Worth the Fall (The McKinney Brothers, #1)(12)

Because people didn’t always mean what they say. “I meant if he can. I’m sure he’ll come if he can.”

“I want to go to the pool with Matt,” Gracie said.

“We’ll go back to the pool tomorrow.”

“With Matt?”

“I don’t know, Gracie.”

“Don’t you like Matt, Mommy?”

Abby let out a long breath, not wanting to snap but weary of the questions. “Sure I do.” But I’m smart enough to stop there.

Thankfully they reached the end of the boardwalk and the kids hit the sand at a run. She followed and dropped their bags under the umbrella, the one Jack had so carefully described.

She spread towels, then picked up the mesh bag of sand toys. “Let’s dump these out and see what we’ve got,” she said, pulling at the drawstring top. No luck. She strained against the plastic, criminal-strength zip tie locking in the toys. Seriously? Who packed scissors in their beach bag?

Jack dropped to the sand, painting on his best frown. “I’m waiting for Matt.”

“No, you’re not.” They were not waiting on Matt or anyone else.

She pulled on the bag again.

“We need him,” Jack said. “He could open it and he knows how to build a castle.”

“We don’t need”—she strained against the unbreakable plastic—“any…help.”

Okay. Cleansing breath. Count to ten.

“You know what? We don’t need these. Let’s just look at the picture.”

Gracie placed an already gritty hand on her shoulder. “Will our castle look like that, Mommy?”

Abby studied the design depicted on the bag. No way had the children in the picture built that. Probably wasn’t even made with sand. “Nope. Ours will be better.”

Fifteen minutes and twenty loads of sand and water later, she had a giant, crumbling mess. Charlie took another roll down the short incline, coating himself like a piece of Shake ’n Bake chicken. Gracie and Jack inched closer and closer to the water, as if she wouldn’t see them. At least Annie stuck with her.

Jack’s head shot up. “Matt! You came.”

Abby looked up and there he was, walking straight toward her. Oh, Lord. He wore the same navy-blue swim trunks that hung almost to his knees and a plain white T-shirt. The blessed fabric accentuated every ridge and valley of his sculpted chest.

“Matty!” Charlie ran headfirst into Matt’s legs, latching on to him with his sandy body.

Matt smoothed his hand over the boy’s blond head and her heart did a complete somersault.

“Hey, little man. Why are you wearing the beach?”

Charlie arched his head all the way back to look up at him, eyes squeezed tight against the bright sun. “I at the beach.”

“I see that.” Matt turned his attention to her. “Hey. You look surprised to see me.”

She straightened to face the incredibly gorgeous man, who could be having drinks at the pool among a throng of admirers. “I guess I am.”

“I told Jack I’d help him build a castle.” He made the statement like that explained everything.

Jack pointed to the mesh bag abandoned in the sand. “We got some stuff, but it’s stuck in the bag. Mom can’t open it.”

Great. Only five and already throwing me under the bus.

Matt looked at the bag, then at her. “I don’t think we’ll need it.”

Gracie joined them wearing hot pink sunglasses and a pale pink ball cap.

“Hi, ladybug.”

Gracie grabbed on to his other arm and lifted her feet, getting a free ride across the sand and causing Matt’s biceps to flex as he supported her weight. She should have told her daughter not to hang on him, but she could only stare.

Jack chose a spot near the water and they got to work. They dug and carried and patted, Matt and Abby letting the children do the talking. An hour later they had an impenetrable fortress complete with a moat and a little bridge Matt had made with the sticks Gracie had gathered.

Abby sat back, taking a break, letting Charlie drive his Matchbox car over her foot. Annie silently observed the group from where she made drippy castles a few feet away. Matt listened intently to Jack, their heads close together, as they discussed and planned the neighboring castle of bad guys. It dawned on her just how little time Jack had actually spent with his father.

There hadn’t been any playing on the floor with blocks or trains, no working in the yard side by side, no guy time. Having his ideas and suggestions validated by Matt, someone he already looked up to, was priceless.

Worth the price of eventual disappointment? That was the question, wasn’t it? Her answer had always been no.

—

Matt was all too aware of the woman sitting in the sand just a few feet away. The tension that had threatened to choke him an hour ago dropped another notch as the sounds of innocent voices blended with those of the ocean.

“Mom, I’m hot,” Jack whined. “I want to swim.”

“Remember what I said. We play in the sand and swim in the pool,” she told Jack. Then, with a quick glance in his direction, added, “No way can I watch four children in the ocean.”

“But we’re hot. Please.” Jack and Gracie begged, looking to him to intercede on their behalf.