Page 96 of This Broken Heart

I pat his leg. “You can stretch out on this side if you want.”

He extends his legs to my side with a grateful sigh. His fingers subtly trace lines on my thigh. “I’m so glad you let us drag you along on this trip.”

“Florida in January? Yes, please.”

“I would have been a hot mess if I had to wrangle the kids through security by myself.”

“They’re actually a lot of fun to travel with. Everything’s so new to them. Kind of brings the wonder back into it.”

“How often do you fly?”

I shrug. “A few times a year.”

“Just for fun?”

“Yeah. I like to explore new places. See what’s out there.”

His foot slips under my leg and I snuggle as close as I can without alerting the kids to our shenanigans.

“You don’t travel much?”

He shrugs. “Not much. My parents were never big on vacations when we were little. They didn’t start going down to Florida until Charlie was a senior in high school.”

“Why didn’t you ever go with them?”

“Too busy, I guess.”

“Lame.” I say, nudging him. “You’re never too busy to live life.” The words sort of drop off my lips. I’ve always been someone who believed in sucking the marrow from life, but that feeling has only intensified since my dad’s sudden death. But it’s a bit insensitive to say to a widower. He’s quiet while I squirm internally, regretting opening my big mouth.

“You’re right, of course.”

I glance at him. “I am?”

He glances at his kids, flying perfectly, like two little jet-set pros. “We always talked about traveling with these two.” He clears his throat a few times. “I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m going to drag these kids all over the place and you’re going to help.”

“Oh, am I?”

He grins. “Somebody’s got to manage the boarding passes.”

I laugh. “You literally just put them on your phone.”

He shakes his head. “Too much hassle. You put them on your phone, and I’ll carry the bags.”

“That sounds like a reasonable arrangement. So where do you want to go first?”

He thinks that over. “Florida?”

I wrinkle my nose. “Nah. How about Minneapolis? I hear it’s lovely this time of year.”

He laughs, nodding. “All that lovely snow.”

“So much snow.”

As we’re stepping into the terminal in Chicago, a woman who sat behind us, taps Josh on the arm. “I just wanted to say you have such a lovely little family.”

Josh holds Maven in his arms. “Thank you.”

She nods. “You and your wife did such a good job keeping them occupied. It’s so nice to see parents who obviously love their kids.”