Page 14 of Twice in a Lifetime

“I’m Blythe. The mother of these three rug rats.”

Her hand spasmed, her fingers squeezing almost to the point of pain as the smile fell right off her face and the color leeched from her cheeks. “Blythe.” She said my name like she was familiar with it, but while she seemed to know who I was, I couldn’t manage to place her. She looked to be a few years younger, and I scanned my memory bank to see if I could remember her from high school, but there was nothing.

I narrowed my eyes, studying her beautiful face. “Sorry. Do we know each other?”

She blinked then, like she was coming out of some sort of trance, and dropped my hand like my touch scalded her.

“Uh, no.” She took a step back, her gaze darting all around. “I’ll get someone right over here with a mop to clean this all up.

“Oh. Okay. Well . . . thank you.”

She blinked at me for a second before looking back at Rhodes who was standing silent. A flush tinted the tops of his cheeks above the scruff on his face. That longing was even stronger this time before she offered him a quiet goodbye and scurried off without a backward glance. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she and Rhodes had history and she very much didn’t want it to be in the past, I just didn’t know why she looked like she’d seen a ghost when I told her my name.

Adeline’s voice broke through the haze of memories I’d almost gotten stuck in. “What’s your name?” she asked, looking at Rhodes, as she skipped up beside her big brother.

My middle child had always been the more mindful one. Avett was the brave one, taking his role of big brother extremely seriously. Ainsley was my impulsive one. But Adeline was a planner. She liked to assess every situation before making a decision, and after seeing her brother’s acceptance of this man, she’d decided he must have been safe enough. To them, he was. To me, Rhodes Bradbury was anything but safe.

Rhodes crouched, bringing himself to eye-level with my two oldest. The bulky muscle of his thighs tested the strength of the denim they were wrapped in, and I had to silently scold myself to get it together. I had no business noticing his muscles or his smile... or his anything. Even if Rhodes and I didn’t have a past, it would have been inappropriate. I had more baggage than LAX during the week of Christmas. I needed to focus on getting my shit together and being there for my kids. That should be myonlyfocus.

“I’m Rhodes.” He held his hand out to Adeline first, then Avett.

“I’m Avett,” my son said, puffing his chest out and straightening his shoulders like a little man. “This is my little sister Adeline, and that’s Ainsley. And that’s my momma.” He pointed to the cart I was holding with a death grip, and my youngest—completely oblivious to my turmoil—lifted her hand in a happy wave.

Rhodes’s smile grew even bigger as he returned my baby’s wave, then his eyes scanned back around, landing on me and pausing briefly before returning to my son. “It’s very nice to meet you. And I know your momma.” My throat tightened as I tried to brace for what he might say next, but it was no use. He lowered his head just a bit, twisting to look back up at methrough an unfairly thick fringe of lashes as he spoke so quietly I nearly missed it. “We used to be friends.”

The emotion in those words and in his eyes landed like a gut punch from a heavyweight champion boxer.

Adeline gave a little hop in place. “If you and Mommy are friends, then you should come over for dinner!”

“Honey, that’s not?—”

Avett chimed in before I could object. “Yeah, you should! Mom’s like the best cooker in the whole wide world.”

One part of me wanted to squeeze him for the compliment while the other wanted to slap tape over his mouth to get him to be quiet.

“Want to know somethin’?” The two of them nodded with rapt attention. “I used to eat your mom’s cookin’ all the time.” That was another blow. If my ribs kept tightening, I wasn’t going to be able to breathe much longer. “And she’s the best cook I’ve ever known. Never met anyone as good as her.”

Avett’s cheeks grew pink, and his eyes glowed with excitement. “So you’ll come, right? I bet she’ll make something extra awesome for you.”

“Baby, I’m sure he has other things to do.”

Rhodes rose to his full height, a good few inches over six feet, and spoke before disappointment could wash over my boy’s face. “I’d love to come for dinner.” He looked at me, a smile slowly pushing the corners of his mouth upward in a smile.

I narrowed my eyes, trying my hardest to shoot lasers at him as my kids hopped up and down and cheered with excitement that their new buddy could make it to dinner.

And I was stuck, because it was the first time I’d seen the two of them this excited about something in a while, and I didn’t have the heart to take it away from them.

Which meant I was stuck having dinner with the first man to ever break my heart.

What fun.

Chapter Eight

Rhodes

Iknew it was a dick move, jumping at her kids’ invitation to dinner when Blythe so clearly didn’t want me to go, but I couldn’t help myself. When I rounded the corner and saw her standing in the middle of that aisle, it was like every nerve ending in my body sparked to life.

That magnetic pull latched onto me and wouldn’t let go. I’d been transfixed. There was nothing particularly sexy about the pale blue scrubs she was wearing, the boxy material hanging loose and hiding her figure, but she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. Even with the mascara streaked beneath her eyes.

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