“We should probably get going.” Dane’s tone was cordial enough. “And you can get back to winning your game.” He smiled at Nova.
“I will.” Nova smiled back. “You do look like Thor,” she whispered loudly. Nova didn’t do anything quietly.
Tansy thought this was hilarious, her laughter ringing out until everyone—but Charlie—was smiling in return.
Astrid stood, smoothing her hair from her shoulders. And then, without realizing it, his gaze was tangled up with hers. Why was she smiling at him that way? Looking at him as if she...what? What did that look mean?
The porch was shrinking in. Too many people. Too many unknowns. His nerves stretched tight, pressure clamped down on his chest and lungs, making his ribs ache, and heat seared up his neck to his face.Shit. He ran both hands through his hair, tore his gaze from Astrid and drew in a slow, steady breath.
“Where do you want this?” Dane’s voice pulled Charlie’s attention back to the man. He still held the handlebars of Charlie’s bike.
“I’ll take it,” Halley volunteered. “I got it out. I should put it away. See you, maybe, Astrid. Or not.” Her sigh wavered. “And...and thanks for bringing the bike.” With a long look between Dane and Tansy, she steered the bike down the steps and around the side of the house.
“What manners.” Astrid crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m impressed.” Dane chuckled. “I could send Leif over here for lessons.”
Not going to happen.He didn’t know who Leif was or why they were having this conversation on his front porch. Sweat was trickling down Charlie’s back now.
“Hey, Leif is getting better.” Tansy nudged him in the ribs.
“Leif is Dane’s teenage brother.” Astrid glanced his way. “He’s a great kid.”
Charlie didn’t care. All he really, really wanted was for them to leave. He’d also really like Astrid to stop looking at him in that sunshiny way. It wasn’t doing a thing to help him keep it together.
“If you get to meet Leif, he can tell you all sorts of stuff about bees.” Astrid turned those clear eyes on Nova now. “He’s a little older than Halley and funny.”
That told Charlie all he needed to know. Halley was too quick to get invested in boys. If this Leif kid looked anything like Dane, he suspected Halley would likely develop a sudden affection for bees.Not going to happen.
“I hope we get to meet your bees.” Nova surprised him by hugging Astrid around the legs. “I hope we get to play Monopoly, too.”
“Thank you for the hug,” Astrid said, holding her close.
“It will be fun and we won’t be bored anymore.” Nova smiled up at her.
Dane managed to turn his laughter into coughs but Charlie felt the sting of truth to his daughter’s words.
In Fort Worth, the girls had dance, swim, gymnastics and piano lessons to keep them busy. Yasmina had picked dance and the piano while Charlie had advocated for swim and gymnastics. He had always loved to swim. He’d hoped he and the girls would have a shared interest. So far, Nova was still scared to go into the deep end without her floaties and Halley had no interest in anything other than the boys that hung out around the pool. That was where Scott or Sean or Sam had popped up—he’d been on swim team, too. Which led to Charlie walking in on them, in her room, when he’d gotten home from work. Not what he needed to think about at the moment.
“I want to see the bees dance.” Nova shook her head, her curls bouncing.
“Maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll dance for you.” Astrid glanced his way again.
She’d put him in a no-win situation. If he said no, he was the bad guy—again. She’d offered up fun and he’d be the one to take that away from his girls. If he said yes... Why would he say yes? He knew nothing about these people. For all he knew, they could belong to some sort of radical bee cult or something. No. He didn’t want to know these people. “We’ll see.” Charlie tried not to snap, he really did. But he wasn’t sure he was successful. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you again.”
“It’s no inconvenience,” Astrid assured him.
“Astrid loves kids.” Tansy’s expression was more shuttered now.
Charlie nodded, but refused to change his answer.
“All right.” Dane shook his head, his disbelief bordering on scorn. “We’ll get out of your hair.”
Tansy and Dane headed down the porch steps and toward the truck without another word. Astrid hesitated. She rested one hand on the porch railing and glanced back at him. “We can be a lot, I suppose. Too much?”
“A bit.” Charlie hadn’t planned on answering so his reply surprised them both.
“I thought so. Dane is big all around and Tansy, well she’s a force of nature, too. But they’re wonderful, I promise. I’m not so bad, either, as neighbors go.” She shrugged. “It was my idea. The bike, I mean. I didn’t know how you’d planned to bring it back and I thought this would help. I was trying to help. I’m very good at helping.”
