Love Rekindled (Love Surfaced) (6 page)

My feet move through the water, and Taylor backs up toward the locker room. Wes tries to reach for her, but Taylor shakes her head. Cami’s eyes volley between me and her. The little girl starts crying, and I’m guessing it’s from how hard Taylor has her face pressed into her jacket.

Taylor looks at me with a small shake of her head, but I’m not staying away this time. Then she turns around and bolts to the locker room.

Taylor

MY HEART POUNDS AS
I run to the locker room. Em cries in my arms and I hate how this whole situation is affecting her. If my keys weren’t locked in the locker with my purse, I’d have escaped this place by now.

“Taylor.” His deep voice sends a tingle throughout my body.

I unlock the locker and grab my purse before throwing Em’s coat over her small body. She tosses it to the floor, and I bend down to pick it up. My fingers reach for the down fabric and his feet appear right next to it. As I grasp it, my eyes skim up his near-naked body. I take in his strong calves, now covered in dark hair, and his taut waist, rising up into a chest of chiseled, contoured muscles. Our eyes lock, and his bear nothing but confusion.

That easy smile I had grown used to years ago isn’t there, but the lines on the outside of his eyes are becoming evident, showing the passage of time. We’re no longer the young, carefree college kids we used to be.

“Mama,” Em screams, and I’m jarred back to Earth.

“It’s okay, baby,” I soothe her, my hand holding her protectively against my chest. I look to Brad as he steps closer.

“Taylor?” he repeats.

My heart breaks. I don’t want to tell him he’s a father in the middle of this locker room. I had the whole thing planned for later this evening. Having Em’s usual swim instructor quit and finding her father as the replacement wasn’t part of the plan.

“I can’t,” I stutter, backing up while he steps forward.

“Who is that?” he asks, and I’m fairly sure we both know the answer, but he’s willing to act ignorant on my behalf.

“Can you just come over tonight as planned?” I take another step, and my back presses against the hard wall. Brad moves closer, and the smell of chlorine coming off his body is sweet torture. Reminding me of all those late nights when he’d promised me I was the only one.

“Who is the girl, Taylor?” He’s careful to move slowly as he inches closer, but remains far enough away as not to scare Em, who’s still tucked against me.

I swallow, feeling my pulse quicken. “Please, Brad.”

“No. Answer me.” His voice is casual and sweet; however, there’s authority in it as well. He’s not going to let this go.

The words are about to come out of my mouth when Em peeks out from under my chin like a joey kangaroo out of their mother’s pouch. Brad steps back, distancing himself from us as his eyes widen with disbelief.

“This is Em . . . well, Emerson actually.”

Seeing the man is not a threat, Em sits up more on my hip, intrigued about who he is. Could it be instinctive?

“Her eyes,” he softly says. The similarity in their eyes isn’t hard to miss. The gold flecks are a little more prominent in Em’s, but warmth shines from both. The long lashes only seal their commonality.

I inhale a breath, grasping for an ounce of courage, which I’m not sure I have. “She’s . . .” The words lock in my throat.

“Mine,” he finishes for me. Although there’s certainty in his tone, his voice breaks over the one word.

“I’m sorry,” I say, unsure of why the hurt in his eyes is affecting me to the point I’m apologizing, when he’s the one who ruined us.

His bare feet back up another step, and then his eyes finally leave Em and meet mine, switching from confusion to disgust. “How could you not tell me?”

His retreat has my arms tightening around Em, as though I can protect her from her father, who isn’t so enamored by her he swoops her up in his arms. Those few steps back spurs a rage so fierce, I want to run away and hide her in a tower, so she never experiences the sting of rejection.

“I told you,” I say. He might have been drunk and my voice might have been soft, but I did tell him.

“I think I’d remember you telling me.” He crosses his arms over his impressive chest and widens his stance.

“You were high on either drugs or alcohol and too busy scooting the blonde off your lap.”

Em’s hand reaches for my necklace, playing with it. I’m thankful she’s distracted. The diamond and emerald necklace is the last possession of my mother’s that my sister didn’t sell. Em always enjoys how the diamonds shine in the light.

“You could have—”

“Could have what, Brad? Stuck around to watch the two of you . . .” I glance to Em, “finish?”

He winces.
Yeah, the truth hurts.
“I tried to see you after.”

“You tried once, Brad. One time, and you were still high as a kite on my doorstep.”

His head drops between his shoulders, shaking lightly back and forth. “I was in a bad place.”

“I know, and that’s why I made the choice I did.”

“Which was to deceive me.” His eyes fly up to meet mine again.

“My only option was to raise my daughter with love. You wouldn’t have stuck around, and eventually, you would have resented me.”

“No, I—” He stops, because we both know it’s the truth. Two and a half years ago, Brad would have never wanted to settle down. I doubt he wants to now. He’s always chasing something, and it was a hard lesson to learn.

The locker room doors open and a family shuffles through, looking between us.

“I should go.” I glance at Em and Brad agrees with a nod.

Some things never change.

“Can I still come by tonight?” he asks.

My body stiffens as I think about him being a part of her life now. Suddenly, my decision to tell him seems worse than any choice I’ve ever made where Em is concerned. I’m not sure I can share her. Then, without knowing what’s going on, Em reaches for him, and my heart shatters and soars at the same time.

He takes it, and her little hand gets buried in his larger one. A smile creases his lips, getting wider the longer he admires her.

“Hi, Emerson,” he says.

She looks at me then back to him. “Hi.” Her voice so small and low, but interest fills hers eyes. She wants to know who he is.

“You have our address,” I tell him, shifting her to my other hip, ultimately making their hands separate.

Brad nibbles on the inside of his cheek, watching me back step to the door.

“I’ll be there.” He waves. “Bye, Emerson.”

“Bye.” She smiles as her small hand goes up in a wave of her own.

I exit through the locker room doors, glad to have a reprieve, to suck in oxygen not shared by Brad. There’s relief that the secret’s out. He knows he’s a father, and he didn’t run away, which is what I had imagined would happen when I thought about this moment. Could he have changed? The old Brad would have, at least, had to process the information before dealing with such a serious revelation.

Setting Em on the chair, I throw on her leggings and wrap her coat around her.

“Swim!” she screams, and I shake my head.

“No swim today,” I whisper.

“SWIM!” She becomes louder, and I know from prior experience, she’s about to have a meltdown.

“Not today, baby.”

“SWIM!” Her voice rises another octave, alarming the girl behind the desk.

“Taylor.” Cami walks out of the locker room.

“Hi, Cami. Sorry. I’ll pay for today, but we’re not going to have the lesson.”

“I know Em really liked Kevin, but Brad’s good. He has a lot of experience.”

Do I even bother telling her?

“It’s not that. It’s just—”

“SWIM!” Em yells again, and my face flushes with embarrassment.

“See, she wants to swim.” Cami holds her hands out and Em immediately goes to her.

“Cami.” I try to stop her, but she trudges through the locker room doors.

“Come on, Taylor. I’ll make sure Brad does a great job.”

I follow the spunky girl with my daughter, not stopping at the lockers this time. I’ll have all my belongings should I need to hightail it out of here. Under different circumstances, I’d grab my daughter and never return, but Cami was my sister’s friend since childhood. We’ve been through a lot over the years. Unfortunately, she knows Em’s the product of a college relationship gone bad, but she doesn’t know that the man is now her employee.

Brad’s leaning on a table with his ankles crossed casually while talking to Wes when we appear again. For some reason, I thought I’d shaken his world up by telling him he’s a father. Confusion swarms inside me as I wonder what he’s expecting from Em. Either he’s indifferent, making that the reason he can stand there unfazed, calmly, as though I’d just told him Em was a little girl I was babysitting. Or he’s confident, and figures he’ll patch everything up.

Cami approaches, holding Em out to him.

“Your next client,” she says, and Brad, having no choice, holds Em out at arm’s length, studying her from afar. I almost chime in and pinpoint each of his features our daughter has. Her lips, her cheekbones, and even the lobes of her ears are all him. Sadly, she only has my nose and hairline.

“I thought. . . .” His eyes seek me out, and they still make my heart gallop in my chest. I nod slightly, and he rests Em on his hip.

“You ready?” he asks her.

“SWIM!” she yells, and he chuckles.

“Okay.” He looks back at me one more time for approval and I nod again.

He kidnaps her to the water. At least that’s what I refer to it as, because she’s my baby and I can already tell he could very well be the person she’s calling out for in the middle of the night. Maybe it’s true that there’s an unbroken bond between parents and children.

“See, she likes him.” Cami places a hand on my shoulder and I sidestep. I fear telling her the truth of who Brad is because I can see her firing him, and there must be a reason he’s teaching swimming lessons. He was working at some advertising agency not that long ago. Google has been my friend over the years when it’s come to checking up on Brad Ashby. I’m guessing I didn’t cross his mind since he knows nothing about me or his daughter.

“Yeah,” I mumble. Wes eyes me for a second. He suspects something, but I’m going to ignore him with the hope that, if I give him nothing to work with, he’ll let the subject drop.

“We have to go,” Cami says, pulling me in for a hug. “He’s a hottie, and I’m positive he’s single,” she whispers in my ear.

I hate the feeling of being deceitful. Why do I care if Brad needs this job? I should just blurt it out. Hell, I need the friendly advice she would give me.

Wes comes out of the office with his keys in his hand. “We’re going to Carroll’s later if you want to join us.”

My eyes scan Brad, who’s currently handing Em a ring to play with.

“I have Em.”

“Ask Sam or find a babysitter. You should get out more, Tay,” Wes says.

“One day I’ll have a life again. You guys have fun.” They nod. Cami leaves to talk to Brad, and I’m alarmed when Wes wraps his arms around me. That same cologne he wore in high school is embedded into his white T-shirt. We went on one date when we were seniors, and I’m fairly certain it was to make Cami jealous. Needless to say, nothing happened, except I was left at a party while he drove off to chase after her.

“Try to hide the fact that you still love him,” he whispers, and my body tenses, but his hand rubs up and down my spine. “It’s him, isn’t it?” he asks, and a tear falls down my cheek. “I won’t tell Cami yet, but you’ll have to eventually.” He pulls back and his hands grip my upper arms, holding me steady. “I hope, for his sake, he’s changed. I’d hate to beat the ass of someone I consider a friend.” He laughs and I discreetly rub away my tears.

“Thanks, Wes,” I say, and he nods. Cami’s busy helping Em get acquainted with Brad, but from what I’m witnessing, Em’s just fine, smiling up to her—Brad.

“Talk to me anytime.”

I nod.

“Babe!” he calls out. “Time.”

Cami ruffles Em’s dark hair, which has yet to be wet.

“Coming,” she says. When she reaches us, she kisses my cheek before the two of them leave me stranded alone with Brad.

The locker room doors slam with a bang and my eyes scan the pool area. There’s a father sitting on the bench waiting for his child’s lesson with another instructor. A group of gossiping moms are huddled together on the other end while their girls and boys swim in the group lesson.

Brad and Em are busy getting used to one another. I notice she still hasn’t been dunked, and I wonder what Brad’s intentions on teaching her really are. Does he even know what he’s doing with a twenty-two month old?

I mosey on over to the bench and drop my bags next to me. The father looks over and smiles.

“Hi,” I politely say. He’s new or his wife usually comes, because I’ve never seen him here before. Then again, Sam brings Em sometimes too.

Brad hasn’t let go of Em once, nor has he taught her anything. I look up at the clock and see it’s only ten minutes into the lesson. I watch his biceps bulge from the small weight of Em in his arms. His jaw more chiseled than years before. I’ve never seen his body with hair on it, but it suits him. Nicely.