Page 13 of Second Chances

“I do have a couple pair of gym shorts.” He set the yoga pants back on the rack then leaned on it. “So, don’t you have a graduation to go to?”

She smiled and glanced at her watch. “I have a couple hours before it starts.”

“What about after?” he asked.

“After?” She felt her heart skip a beat. Was he going to ask her out? If so, what would she say? Did she want to go out with him?

Her mind raced over everything she knew about Todd O’Brien. Nothing in her minute knowledge of the man screamed stalker, wife beater, or psycho. But then again, nothing in the first few months of knowing Brock had screamed any of those thing either.

“After? I take my daughter home and we watch Frozen for the millionth time,” she answered easily.

“I mean after. Is Simona in summer classes?” he asked.

Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

He shrugged. “I guess I’m just not too sure what happens to kids during the summer months anymore. I mean, from what I remember of summers…” He shook his head. “Most of the time I was left to my own devices for far too long. After we stopped coming up here, anyway.”

“So, you used to spend your summers in Silver Cove?” she asked.

“Yes, until the summer after I turned nine.”

“What happened then?”

“My father was killed.” A look crossed his eyes and, for the first time since she’d met him, he looked… lost and sad.

She reached out her hand and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. I can tell that he meant a lot to you.”

He seemed to tense slightly but then nodded towards the front. “So, is there a night you aren’t watching Frozen with an eight-year-old?”

“Simona’s six. She turns seven next month. Most nights, it’s just me, Simona, and Elsa and Anna.”

“Don’t forget Olaf,” he supplied.

She frowned at him. “How do you know about Frozen? You are single and without children, right?”

He chuckled. “Single, no kids. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a good flick.”

“Something is wrong with you.” She shook her head, causing him to laugh.

“If it eases your mind, I was forced to watch it overseas with the rest of my platoon.” He shrugged. “It was either that or an old Bob Hope movie, and since some of the troops had kids and wanted to be able to talk to their daughters on video chat about the movie, Elsa won out.”

She smiled and nodded. “I suppose I never really thought how hard it must be for our military men and women to keep up with all of their family’s needs. If I wasn’t able to talk to Simona about Frozen and her other favorite movies, she’d be upset. Once I made the mistake of forgetting Kristoff’s reindeer’s name. You would have thought that I’d just told her that all dogs don’t go to heaven.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Forgetting Sven’s name is almost a rookie mistake.”

She leaned on the shelf next to him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Just how many times did you watch the movie?”

“I stopped before it became annoying. If you know what I mean.”

“I do.” She rolled her eyes. “How many times can a six-year-old watch the same four movies in her lifetime?”

“Let’s see, take the number that she’s watched it up to now, then triple that number each year from now until she turns twelve. I figure that’s when girls stop watching cartoons and start chasing boys.”

She laughed. “Great, now I have that to look forward to.” She sighed and shook her head. “I think I was just past sixteen when I noticed boys for the first time.”

“Oh?” He looked at her as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. “Something tells me the boys noticed you right away. I know I would have.”

She laughed. “Something tells me you were too busy chasing every woman you could to notice a skinny, awkward girl like me.”