Page 36 of Wed to the Devil
“Do you want to take her?” Dare asks.
Shrugging a shoulder, I try to appear as though I’m not about to burst into howls of laughter. “It looks like you’ve got it covered.”
A young boy runs up to me, his dark eyes assessing me. I take in his thrift store clothes and the inflatable beach ball clutched under his arm. I see his gaze trip over my giant wedding ring and then see his eyes narrow as he passes judgment on me.
For the first time, I feel like maybe I am overdressed in my black suit jacket and strappy black maxi dress. I should have taken my ring off at the very least.
“Who are you?” the little boy asks.
“Talia.” I kneel down, putting myself at eye level with the boy. “I work here sometimes. What about you? What’s your name?”
His jaw juts out and his mouth puckers up. “Will.”
“That’s a great name. And you have a beach ball under your arm… I love playing with beach balls. I like how they float in the air for a second when you toss them.”
Will frowns. “Yeah.”
“Do you want to play? You could stand over there and toss the beach ball up. Maybe we could keep it from hitting the ground. See how long we can do it for.” I slide Dare a look. “How many times do you think we can pass it?”
Dare clears his throat, prying Solana from his chest. “I don’t know. Maybe… four? What do you think, Solana?”
“A billion!” Will shouts, running to the spot I pointed out. “We can do a billion-trillion times, I bet.”
He hits the beach ball with a soft pfft, arching it into the air. I rush to hit it before it touches the floor, tapping it on the bottom a few times to boost the ball into the air. I pass it back to Will, who laughs and hits it to the side.
Dare sets Solana on the floor and stands up, reaching over to catch the ball. He taps it up a few times, then passes it very gently to Solana.
She looks nonplussed but hits the ball very hard in my direction. Luckily, the ball shoots up and then falls slowly. I hit it back to Will.
We manage to keep it going until Molly comes tromping down the stairs, cupping her hands to her mouth. “Lunch is ready! Come upstairs!”
Will catches the ball and then hits it to me. He runs to the staircase, looking back breathlessly. “Hold the ball while I eat. Okay?”
I catch it, holding the ball up. “Definitely. It will be right here when you get back.”
He pauses, looking at Solana. “Aren’t you coming?”
The little girl shrugs, her gaze darting to Dare. “I don’t know.”
“You should go eat, Solana. Dare isn’t going anywhere. Right, Dare?”
Dare glares at me and smiles thinly. “That’s right. I’ll be here.”
Will runs over to Solana, grabs her little hand, and hauls her upstairs. As soon as they are gone, Dare folds his arms across his chest.
“You are going to break that little girl’s heart.”
I smile at him, walking over and collapsing on the couch.
“Are you going somewhere in the next half an hour?” I ask.
He glares at me. “No.”
“Then what’s the harm?”
“I don’t want to…” He pauses, then releases a melodramatic sigh. “I don’t want to make the little girl promises that I can’t keep. And I don’t want Solana thinking that I will be here for the entire day. I don’t want her to expect a lot from me.”
“Because that would set her up for disappointment.”