Page 51 of A Soldier's Return

She opened her mouth as if to argue, but her daughter interrupted before she could.

“What about here?” Skye asked. “Is this a good place to fly a kite?”

He managed to drag his gaze away from Melissa’s mouth to focus on their surroundings, the beach a short distance from his father’s house. “This looks like an excellent spot. No trees, no wires, no skyscrapers.”

“I agree. It’s a great place,” Melissa said. She set her backpack on the sand and reached inside, pulling out a rolled sand mat. After spreading it out, she plopped down, then calmly pulled a book out of the backpack.

“I do believe this is a great spot for me to sit back and relax with a book while you guys run around and get all sweaty trying to get that big kite up in the air. I’ll watch our stuff.”

Eli snorted. “You’re going to read a book while I help your daughter fly her kite. Why do I get the feeling I’ve just been played?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Nobody is playing anybody. If you remember correctly, I had no idea you would be here. We were only supposed to be dropping Max off at your place before coming down to fly the kite. I didn’t plan things this way, but since you’re here, I would be crazy to waste a chance to sit on the sand and enjoy this warm afternoon.”

He laughed, completely delighted with her. Every time he was with her, he fell harder.

She stared at him, her features still and watchful, with an expression he couldn’t read behind her sunglasses.

I wish you would do that more often. I like it so much.

He remembered her slightly tipsy words the night before in his dad’s SUV after he had laughed then, and his insides felt achy with need. That encounter seemed a hundred miles away right now on this sunny beach with the waves washing against the sand and the seagulls crying out overhead.

After a moment, he turned to Skye. “Your mom wants to read her book and I can’t argue it’s a good plan. I guess it’s up to us to fly this kite, then.”

“We can do it,” Skye said again. She jutted her chin into the air, looking like a mini pugilist version of her mother. “I know we can.”

“You got it. Let’s do this.”

The afternoon turned into one of the most enjoyable he had spent in a long time.

He tried to steel his heart against Skye, using as a shield an image of a little dark-eyed orphan with a shy smile, but he quickly realized it was pointless.

He couldn’t resist her any more than he’d been able to resist her mother.

Skye was completely adorable. She chattered endlessly about everything under the sun. She told him about the haystacks, how they had been formed by wind and water eons ago. She waved energetically at the people on recumbent bicycles who rode past them with some frequency on the hard-packed sand close to the water, telling him about the time she and her mother had rented them once when they first moved back to town and it had been really fun. She talked about her father and his new wife and the baby on the way and how it was a boy and she couldn’t wait to hold him.

She was smart and funny and as openhearted as her mother.

Max ran around in excitement as they worked to get the kite up. Once it was soaring and dipping above them on the currents, the dog seemed to lose interest and plopped down beside Melissa, who reached absently to pet him while turning the page of her book with her other hand.

Whenever he looked over at her, his chest seemed to ache all over again. The sunlight gleamed in her hair and she looked fresh and sweet and beautiful.

It was a perfect moment here, beside the water he loved. A girl laughing with glee, her mother soft and relaxed on the sand, the wind catching the colorful kite and tugging it ever higher.

The restlessness inside him seemed to settle for now, and he wanted the moment to go on and on.

He and Skye flew the kite for over an hour, taking turns holding it and letting it dip and dance on the currents.

He thought Melissa might have fallen asleep, but he couldn’t tell for sure with her sunglasses.

Sometime later, she finally rose with her elegant grace and came over to where he and Skye were holding the kite. “You guys have done a great job.”

“It’s higher than we’ve ever got it!” Skye exclaimed. “Eli is thebestat flying a kite. He said he used to do it with his mom when he was a kid and flying a kite always makes him think of her.”

Melissa sent him a swift look, and Eli pointedly busied himself with the kite.

“We should probably go, kiddo. We still have to fix dinner and get you to bed.”

“Oh. Do we have to?”

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