“Sorry for running out on you so early this morning. I had a really great time last night.” He nodded toward the door as if to explain he had other obligations.I don’t need that reminder.
“So did I.” Before I could remember each movement of his fingers, the front door opened again, and curly blonde hair popped through the crack.
“Daddy, are you coming?” Maddie’s impatience was masked by her excitement, and she turned her head to look at me as she grinned wider. “We have to get ready togo!”
“You heard her. I guess I better go get ready.” Miles shrugged, dropping the plastic skeleton arm back in the box and lifting it from the ground. When he smiled, I completely forgot about the coffee I’d brewed that was still untouched on the counter. “See you soon.”
“Look at thesizeof this pumpkin, Daddy!” Maddie bent down, grabbing the stem of a pumpkin that might have weighed more than her. “It’shuge!”She dragged the word out while she heaved, failing to lift it from the ground before her hands popped off the stem. When she brushed them off on the front of her jeans and shrugged, I giggled.
“Is that the one you want? It’s the first pumpkin you’ve seen.” Miles put his hand on her shoulder, looking around the large, orange-spotted field. “We just got here. What if there’s an even bigger one?”
Maddie’s eyes opened wide, and she stretched onto her toes to look for a bigger pumpkin. “What if thereis?”
“Maybe we should go look for one. What do you think?” Miles grabbed her hand when she started to bounce around,
Suddenly Maddie came to a halt and nodded definitively. “Okay, let’s go. Come on, Harper!” she shouted, taking off into the field and pulling a more-than-willing-to-follow Miles along behind her. He looked back over his shoulder and winked.
“Yeah, come on, Harper.”
I followed, giggling past the butterflies.Be graceful.I danced over ridges in the field and stepped around smaller pumpkins, taking care not to trip. Miles was only a step ahead of me when he paused, watching Maddie clap her hands to her cheeks before squatting next to another too-big-for-her-to-carry pumpkin. When I stopped next to him, his hand bumped against me and his fingers brushed against mine. Then he wove them together, and my hand felt too natural cradled in his.
“This is the one,” Maddie said, smacking her hand on the side of the pumpkin in approval. She looked up at Miles and nodded before putting her hands on her hips. He laughed, letting go of my hand.
“Okay, okay,” he said, bending down and grabbing the pumpkin. He cradled it in his arm while Maddie spun in a circle and danced off to the right.
“I’m going to go get another one for you!” she shouted, already busy inspecting the pumpkins for one that met her expectations.
I laughed, crossing my arms and watching with amusement while Miles beamed over his little girl playing in the pumpkin patch. “You have to get one too,” he said, looking at me from the corner of his eye and nodding to the pumpkins as if to explain further.
“Oh, I don’t need one.” I waved my hand. What was I going to do with a pumpkin? It would just end up rotting on my porch until winter or until the squirrels got ahold of it and turned it into a mess. Miles shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter. You have to pick a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.” When he smirked, my stomach did flips that matched thecircles Maddie spun in. Wasn’t she dizzy yet? I laughed when she stopped spinning to shout back at us.
“Yeah, pick a pumpkin! We’re going to carve them and eat the seeds!” Then she spun again before skipping off.
“Okay, okay. But only if you help me find one.” I issued the challenge, and Maddie was eager to take it. She clapped her hands together, ready to set about her new, very-important-to-her mission.
“Deal!” Then she was gone.
When I looked back, Miles was staring at me “I think she likes you,” he said, and the butterflies in my throat raced back toward my stomach, causing it to sink. I shook my head.
“Everyone likes their dance coach.” I brushed it off.
He looked at me, and I felt his slow once-over travel my body. Then he lifted a brow and chuckled. “If you say so.” Miles gave me a look and when he reached for my hand again, I didn’t stop him. It was like he was trying to say she wasn’t the only one that might like me. If I wasn’t careful, I might start to like him too.I can’t replace her mom.
I let go of his hand, and he turned his head to look at me just as Maddie yelled. “Harper! Come here!” She waved her hand, showing me whereherewas. I nodded, thankful for the sudden interruption. It was just pumpkins.
“Okay, coming!” I shrugged to Miles as if to explain. His eyes still questioned the hesitation, but the smile on his face told me he wasn’t going to stop me—not when Maddie made the demand. She wasn’t going to wait long. I slowly jogged toward her, feeling Miles’ eyes on me while I did. “Did you find me a pumpkin?”
Chapter 13
Miles
“Can I have more pumpkin seeds?” Maddie leaned forward on the barstool she was perched on, resting her chin on the back of her hands against the counter and staring at her pumpkin. She twisted her mouth and narrowed her eyes, trying to mirror the face we had helped hercarve. Then she giggled, probably sure that she had nailed it, and she looked at me for an answer.
“You want more?” I asked, watching her droopy eyes fight to stay open. She hadn’t finished the last bowl of pumpkin seeds that I just put away. “It’s almost bedtime.”
Maddie sat up straight, shaking her head and opening her eyes as wide as she could. “I’m not tired at all, Daddy. Can I stay up with you and Harper?”
