Page 64 of Summer Heat
I gave her a look. "And miss out on fort night? Not a chance."
"I'm back!" Maya dived into the fort with an armful of stuffed animals. There were tigers, bears, sharks, snakes, and even an avocado.
Kinsley moved out of sight. "Dinner will be ready soon, and it will be served inside the fort."
"Yay!" Maya said excitedly.
I wasn't sure if this was something that Kinsley usually did with Maya on a Sunday night or if she was purposely making up for Derek's shortcomings.
Maya helped me string the rest of the lights. It gave the space a warm glow. Then I went outside to make the fort a little bigger so we could all sit inside comfortably.
"I have a little projector. We could shine a movie onto the wall of the fort. It won't be perfect, but it's something. We could do popcorn and a movie."
"Please, Mom?" Maya called from inside the tent. "It will be so much fun!"
"How can I say no to that?" Kinsley asked.
Maya whooped, and I hoped she couldn't see us because I walked up behind Kinsley and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her neck. "Mmm. I can't wait to be alone with you again."
She covered my hand with hers. "Soon."
"I'm almost as excited for that as I am for our fort night."
Kinsley shook her head.
"You need help carrying the food to the fort?" I asked her.
"That would be great."
She'd made mini burritos that we could eat with our fingers. I stacked the plates on my arms and carried them inside the fort.
Maya clasped her hands together in excitement when she saw me.
"Hope you're hungry. I think your mom made a million of these."
Maya rolled her eyes. "Did you eat one already?"
I finished chewing and set the plates down. Then I covered my chest with one palm, acting shocked. "I can't believe you'd accuse me of eating a burrito."
"You eat all the food in the house." Maya took a bite of one of the burritos.
"Unbelievable," I said as I sat next to her.
Derek sure didn't know what he was missing out on, and it was his loss.
I was a lucky bastard, and I wasn't going to take this moment or these girls for granted. Not now. Not ever.
Kinsley joined us with cups of lemonade and lids and a bowl of strawberries and a bottle of whipped cream. "Dinner and dessert."
We ate and talked about our weekends. Maya had gone to a playground with her dad, but she was annoyed that it wasn't the one she usually went to, so she didn't see any of her friends there. Derek probably didn't do fun things like teach her how to fix or build things like forts.
We shared our progress in the bathrooms with her. When we polished off the burritos, Maya ran out of the tent to go to the bathroom. Kinsley popped a whipped-cream-covered strawberry into my mouth. I chewed and swallowed it, snagging the back of her neck to kiss her before Maya returned.
She tasted like strawberries and cream. We broke apart when the flap lifted and Maya burst inside. She bounced on her knees. "Can we make popcorn now?"
"I'll grab the projector if you can get the popcorn," I said to Kinsley. At her nod, I went in search of the projector. I'd used it before I had a TV.
I set it up, making the screen smaller than usual so it fit on the sheet while the popcorn popped in the machine.
