His smile fell just slightly. “We can try. No promises though. With the party happening, we’re going to have a busy day.”
“Okaaay…” she said with a slight whine to her voice. “Why are you at a playground?”
Seth looked over his shoulder toward the climbing structure and swings then glanced back at the phone. “It’s for the ice cream place that I’m at.” He turned his phone, slowly scanning the area. “See…they have tables and stuff.”
“Who’s that?”
He smiled over at me before holding the phone so she could see both of us. “This is Violet.”
“Is she your girlfriend?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, kinda.”
I didn’t know what to think of his admission. Technically, he didn’t need to tell his niece—or family for that matter—the lie. But maybe that was easier than explaining the truth.
“Dani, time for bed,” a woman called, followed by the little girl whining that she wasn’t tired.
“Better go get ready for bed.” Seth’s serious face was back. “You don’t want to get in trouble.”
“But I’m not tired.”
He raised his brows at her and she huffed. “Fine.”
I fought the chuckle that wanted to slip past my lips. It was times like these that made me envious of other people having siblings. I would be a kick-ass fun Aunt Violet.
SETH
“I guess tonight was kinda pointless,” Violet said as we made our way back to the car.
Pointless? What did she mean? I froze midstep, and when she looked back at me, I searched her face for the answer.
“You know, because no one was here to see us.”
Right. The whole fake dating thing. I was doing a crap job remembering that was what we were doing. I hadn’t thought about that at all tonight. I enjoyed just spending time with her.
“Maybe we can grab lunch on Friday.”
“That’d be good.”
I opened her car door, and my hand tightened on the frame as she brushed past me to climb in. Shutting the door as she turned away from me to buckle in, I took a deep breath before heading around to my side.
“Will you be here Sunday for the annual softball game?”
I nodded. “I’ll be on duty, not playing.”
“You did that on purpose, I’m assuming?”
“Chief wanted a mix of full-time guys and volunteers on the team, and then a mix on shift. Jay, Adam, and Zack really wanted to play, so Logan and I offered to be on shift.”
She tilted her head and studied me. I wasn’t sure why she was looking at me like I’d surprised her. I didn’t care if I played or not, so it made more sense to offer to work so the guys who wanted to play could.
“We weren’t given that option. There’s only like fourteen or so of us, barely enough to make a team. And no volunteers to call in.”
“They have to have someone on shift.”
She nodded. “Yeah, Ethan and Tim are on patrol. The rest of us are playing. Well, besides Martha. She said she’s too old. Although she’s not even sixty yet.”
I pulled into the small parking lot next to the police station where Violet’s car was parked.
