Page 31 of Whispers at Seaside
Oh yeah, the day just got miles better.
Matt glanced at Mira, and she knew he was looking for approval to confirm Hagen’s comment. “We had a talk about us.” She leaned closer and whispered, “I hope that’s okay.”
Matt draped an arm over her shoulder and kissed her temple. “Anything you do is okay.” He smiled down at Hagen. “How do you feel about that, little man?”
Hagen shrugged. “Good. But I wish you weren’t going back to New Jersey.”
Matt bristled. Mira had wrestled with telling Hagen the truth about Matt being in town temporarily. When she weighed the pros and cons, she felt it was better to prepare Hagen for Matt’s return to New Jersey than to let him build false hope. When he’d pushed about whether that would mean Matt would no longer be her boyfriend, she’d finally alluded to a long-distance relationship. She’d waited, dreamed, hoped, and fantasized about being with Matt for too long to even allow herself to consider anything less.
“I’m not sure if I’m going back or not, but I’m glad you feel good about me and your mom,” Matt finally said. “Because I enjoy spending time with both of you.”
“But you aren’t my boyfriend,” Hagen said. “You’re my friend.”
“Right.” He arched a brow at Mira.
“He wanted roles, so I gave them to him.”
“Friends are good,” Matt said, then quieter and for her ears only, “for now.”
She tried to pretend her mind wasn’t racing with that open-ended comment as they shopped in the outdoors store. Matt filled a basket with a first aid kit, bug spray, a battery-operated lantern, a utility tool that had no knife but a fork and spoon that folded up to fit in Hagen’s palm, and a compass.
“All right, little man. Time to find the sleeping bags.” He took Hagen’s hand, and Mira touched his arm.
“Drake has sleeping bags, and I’m sure he has all the other stuff, too. I usually just send him with a new pair of pajamas and a few little toys or books to keep him busy.”
Matt’s brows knitted. “Every boy needs his own camping gear. Would you mind if I bought him a sleeping bag? I don’t want to step on your toes.”
Hagen blinked serious baby blues at Matt and tugged on his hand. “Tell her it’sguy stuff.”
Mira could see she was outnumbered, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Flattered, for sure, but she didn’t want Matt to think he needed to spoil Hagen. She also didn’t want Hagen, who wasn’t a needy child, to think he had to have new things for every outing. One look at her son and boyfriend’s hopeful expressions and she relented.
“Okay, but this doesn’t mean every time you have an outing you need this much new stuff.”
“I know,” Matt and Hagen said in unison, which made her laugh.
They arrived back at her cottage later that evening with new pajamas, a sleeping bag, and a host of camping paraphernalia that Mira’s man and boy consideredessentials. Matt and Hagen spent the next hour meticulously going through each item, removing tags, discussing proper usage, and then packing the lot into Hagen’s camping backpack.
When they tucked Hagen into bed, he insisted he wear his hat, but Matt convinced him to hang it on the bedpost so it didn’t become misshapen. His robot sat in the middle of his desk, next to his book about building robots. Mira was glad Matt had given them extra batteries, because he’d been playing with it every free minute and had already gone through the first set.
She stood in the doorway listening as the two of them discussed the raft-building information Hagen had learned from studying the website. Matt listened intently and complimented him on his research skills.Research, that was exactly what her son loved. She hadn’t been able to pinpoint it until now.
“How would you feel about Mr. Lacroux helping us build the raft?”
“Mr. Neil?” Hagen asked. “I’d like that.”
Matt ruffled his hair. “Yeah, Mr. Neil.”
Hagen threw his arms around Matt’s neck. “It’s going to be the greatest raftever.” He settled back onto his pillow, and Matt smoothed the covers. “Matt?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Do you think I’m a nerd?”
Mira stepped into the room with her heart in her throat. Hagen had been teased in the past about being a nerd, but she hadn’t heard anything like that since he started attending camp.
Matt eyed Mira, who shrugged one shoulder and narrowed her eyes, indicating she didn’t know where this was heading, but please tread carefully.
“Why do you ask?”
