Page 82 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
“Wait!” Piper ran over. “Can I be in the picture?”
“Of course you can. Now stand with your daddy. I might put it in the article I’m going to write about the festival after it’s over.”
Reid squatted down next to Piper, and she wrapped her arms around his neck before Kaiah took more photos.
“Oh no!” Piper announced. “I see more trash over there.” She trotted across the sand.
“Don’t run,” Reid told her before shaking his head. “Why do I even bother?”
“At least she’ll have a soft landing,” Kaiah quipped, and helaughed. “We have the kite-making class later. I’m sure she’ll enjoy that.”
“I bet she will. And there’s a kite-flying contest and lots of games for the kids.”
“I’ll have to get some photos of you and Piper with her kite.” She pointed toward the booth where a local restaurant owner was handing out basket lunches. “They’re selling the baskets for the picnic now. Should we get one?”
“Of course.” He had carried a few towels and a large blanket in the backpack he’d brought along. His mother had insisted he and Kaiah have some time to themselves, so she invited Piper to eat lunch with her. He couldn’t wait to have a quiet moment with her by the water.
Reid bought a basket and they chose a spot on the sand for lunch. He and Kaiah spread out the large blanket, then took a seat.
Kaiah smeared brown mustard on her turkey sandwich and looked out toward where Piper ate with Becca, Cash, Astrid, and Reid’s parents across the beach. Beside her, Reid seemed relaxed while he sipped from a bottle of water.
She studied her beaded bracelet and turned it on her wrist while she munched on her sandwich.
“I see Brynn in Piper,” Reid said.
Kaiah looked up from her bracelet and saw Reid’s face soften as he watched his daughter. “The bigger she gets, the more she looks like her.”
“Becca told me that you grew up with Brynn.”
He nodded. “She was Becca’s best friend since we started school.She always hung around, and when we were kids I didn’t think much of her. I saw her on the playground and at church. She was at our house all the time and practically lived in Becca’s room. She was always just Becca’s friend. Until high school.”
“Becca said Brynn had a crush on you.”
“She did, but I was oblivious.” He laughed. “Somehow she changed the summer before we started high school. Or maybe I changed. I don’t know.” He popped a potato chip into his mouth. “Either way, I noticed her—like,reallynoticed her. And when the homecoming dance came around, I took a chance and asked her to go. I expected her to reject me, and then she and Becks would make fun of me for the rest of the year. But she actually said yes.” He held his hand up. “No, she said something like, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ and she said, ‘Reid, I’ve had a crush on you since fourth grade.’” He laughed, and Kaiah joined in.
Reid crunched on another chip. “I thought she liked my friend Cody. He was captain of the football team. She said she thought he was cute, but what can I say? Apparently she couldn’t resist the Turner charm.”
He waggled his eyebrows and she swatted his arm, laughing.
“Did you play football?” she asked.
“I was more of a bench warmer, but that didn’t bother her at all. We started dating freshman year, and we stayed together from then on. We had a few rocky periods when she went away to college—which, I mean, everybody does—but we worked through it. And then I proposed after she graduated from college. Just your typical high school sweetheart kind of stuff. I thought we’d be together forever.”
Kaiah nodded and tried to imagine what it must’ve felt like to know you’d found your forever person. She’d always dreamed of having a life partner, someone she could text inside jokes to,someone to decorate the Christmas tree with, someone who would pick up orange juice on the way home because he knew it was her favorite. But it just didn’t seem to be in the cards for her.
She took a bite of her sandwich, and while she ate, she peered out toward the water where Cash played with Astrid and Piper in the sand.
“People like to tell me that Piper needs a mom, and I’ve been alone long enough.” He kept his focus on the waves. “It’s so easy for people to tell me what my daughter and I need.”
“What doyouthink you need?” Kaiah asked.
Reid studied her. “I want to find someone to share my life with, but it’s not something I can force. It has to happen naturally. I need to find someone who can love my daughter as much as they love me.”
Kaiah nodded slowly, and a chill rushed over her skin despite the warm spring sunshine. “Piper’s a happy little girl. Does she need a mother when she has your sister and your mother, and they’re so good with her?”
“That’s true,” he said. “She has my sister and my mom. She also has you. For now. Whatever that’s worth. You’re the only other woman I’ve seen her bond with.”
Kaiah touched her bracelet while the weight of his words settled on her heart.
