Page 17 of The Third Girl

His brow arches, and he points over to the slide for Sailor’s benefit. “Do you want to try the slide with Skylar?”

She looks curiously up at him, then nods her head. “Mm-hmm. Skywar.”

“Skylar,” Matt says, reinforcing my name for her. “Okay, then.” He sets her down, and she looks around, then toddles over to me.

I squat down and hold my hand out to her. She takes it, but then the other hand is immediately in my long, curly hair. Sailor pets it like it’s some strange animal, then wrinkles her nose. “Do you like my hair, Sailor?”

She nods, then points. “Side?”

“She still misses lots of her consonants. Laney says it’s normal.”

I glance up at him, closing one eye against the glare of the sun. “Yeah, completely normal. We still have some kids in kindergarten that haven’t mastered certain sounds.” I stand up and walk over to the slide with her. “Matt, do you want to help her up the ladder once I’m up there?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I shoot him a smile before turning my back and ascending the short ladder, then sit at the top of the slide.

“Ready to climb?” he says from behind me. I look over my shoulder to see he’s got his hands firmly around her torso and is mostly just lifting her as she moves her hands and feet over the rungs. He makes sure she’s up on the platform with me and I have her hand before he lets go.

“Okay, come sit on my lap and we’ll go down together,whoosh.”I make my eyes comically big when I saywhoosh,and Sailor giggles. “Come sit.” I pat my lap.

She looks at her dad, and he nods. “It’s okay. Sit with Skylar.”

“Have you not gone down a slide with her yet?”

“Nope. There’s a little plastic one that she sometimes likes at the wellness center, but that’s as adventurous as we’ve gotten.” His eyes crinkle a bit at the corners as he smiles up at us.

“Okay, Matt, get ready for us at the bottom, then.” Sailor is practically fearless, climbing onto my lap, even though I think she understands what we’re about to do. Once she’s settled, I wrap one arm around her torso under her arms. With the other I point. “See? Daddy is waiting for you at the bottom. Ready?”

Sailor nods. “Weady!”

I push off, and we zip down the slide faster than expected. Sailor lets out an excited squeal. Fortunately, at the bottom, I’m able to stop us from flying off the end of the slide with my feet. Matt reaches for Sailor and tosses her into the air. She squeals some more. “Was that fun, baby girl?”

She grins at him, her eyes wide as she claps her hands. “Again!”

Matt shakes his head, and teasingly groans, “Oh, man. We’ve created a slide monster.” He tickles her ribs, and she giggles.

We spend the next twenty minutes sliding. Over and over and over again. Sometimes she rides with me, sometimes with Matt. But I’d say the kid likes me. Or at least riding with me on the slide.

Finally, Matt squats down in front of her. “How about if we swing for a while? Does that sound good?”

Sailor nods happily and runs ahead of us toward the swing set.

Matt and I walk side by side at a slower pace. “Sorry, I figured if we kept sliding, we’d never get a chance to talk.” He chuckles. “She’s got a one-track mind sometimes.”

I duck my head. “Sorry. Totally my fault.”

He shakes his head. “Nah. She loved it. And she likes you. So that’s a good start.” At the swing set, Matt stoops to pick up Sailor and puts her in one of the toddler swings and gives her a push. She squeals some more, throwing her head back to look at the sky as she moves back and forth.

“She’s a happy girl.” I glance over at him to see he’s already watching me.

He nods. “Yeah. She can also be stubborn and opinionated and a real handful—especially at mealtimes—but I think most of it is normal toddler stuff.”

“So, assuming you’re comfortable with me, when is it that you want me to start?”

He rakes his hand through his hair, which is already windblown, but he manages to make it look good, unlike me, whose hair is whipping around, making me really wish I’d brought a hair tie with me. “I was thinking April 3, a few days before Mom’s surgery.”

I reach back and grab my hair, holding it in a ponytail at the base of my neck. “I think that’s a good idea. I don’t anticipate issues, but better to know before it’s a full emergency, right?”

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