“Janis!” the girl squealed, reaching her arms around the dog’s neck to embrace her as she did.
Janis? What, did everyone on the beach know Maggie’s dog already?
Unless…
“Sophia!”
I turned to see Vince, now standing, cell phone abandoned as he called out, his face creased with what looked like the concern of a…of a parent. For his child.
Oh, God. I knew Vince came with baggage, as in the ex-wife variety, I just hadn’t counted on a kid.
He walked down the beach, his eyes lighting with recognition when he saw me.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said.
So much for a hearty hello-good-to-see-you-again.
“Yes, I was just taking Janis for a walk,” I hedged.
He smiled finally, relief evident in his features. “For a second, I thought Sophia was being attacked by a strange dog. So many labs on the beach. I guess I didn’t recognize Janis.”
So many girls, too. At least he recognized me.
“I like your bathing suit,” the little girl said, startling me. I looked up to discover she was now standing by my side, studying me curiously as she fondled one of Janis’s ears.
I felt an urge to pat the kid’s head.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Sage, this is my daughter, Sophia,” Vince said.
All the fight drained out of me, now that he had confirmed it. His daughter. I studied Vince as he smiled down at Sophia. He looked even more handsome, if that was possible, in a pair of cargo shorts and a white button-down rolled up at the sleeves. Sophia looked just like him, too. Same dark eyes and long lashes. Same exotic features.
A father. I guess it made sense. He had been married, and he had to be close to Tom’s age. But still, it disturbed me. I had never dated a man with children. Hell, most of the men I dated were children.
“How’s Tom feeling today?” he asked.
“He’s okay. He slept in a little bit.”
He nodded, as if this answer satisfied him.
“We gonna go in the water now, Daddy?” Sophia asked.
He sighed. “Not now, kiddo. We have to head back up to the house.”
Sophia’s face crumpled, and she looked ready to stamp one of her pretty little bare feet. I couldn’t blame her. I wanted to stamp my foot, too. This guy was always running off somewhere.
“Daddy has to send a few e-mails,” Vince replied. Then he looked at me.“You leave the office for a few days and chaos ensues.”
“But the office is closed for the holiday weekend,” I said.
He smiled ruefully. “They aren’t celebrating the Fourth in China, unfortunately. In fact, it’s almost Monday morning in Shanghai. And I need to get some information to my team at our factory there.”
Well, I like an ambitious man. But now I knew why I never dated them-—because they were never around to date.
“But I want to stay at the beach!” Sophia wailed.
I resisted an urge to clamp my hands over my ears. I wasn’t so sure I liked children. Well, I liked them well enough. Just didn’t want to deal with them.
Then I looked up at Vince, saw the struggle in his beautiful features and, before I could think twice about it, I said,“l could keep an eye on her.”
Vince looked at me. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” As sure as I’ll ever be.
Just moments after Vince left and Sophia sat looking up at me expectantly, panic set in. I hadn’t dealt with a kid since I was a kid, and then it had been my sister. What was I going to do with this one?
“Janis looks hot,” she said, smiling fondly at the brown lab, who had crawled under the umbrella to cool off, yet still sat heaving in the heat. “Maybe we should go in the water?”
“No,” I answered quickly. Not the water. “How about something to drink? You got anything to drink in the cooler for this poor old dog?”
Sophia giggled. “She’s not old. I’m. older than she is.”
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Six. But I’m gonna be seven after Santa Claus comes.”
Six. God, I couldn’t remember being six. I remembered Hope being six, but I don’t think I ever was.
I shook off the thought, stepping over to the small cooler and pulling off the lid. Three bottles of water and a few ice pops in an assortment of colors. I felt Sophia step up next to me. “Ice pops!” she squealed, grabbing one before I could stop her.
Well, I supposed a little sugar wouldn’t hurt anything. Besides, it might keep her occupied for a bit, I thought, watching as she struggled with the plastic wrap.
“Here, I’ll help you.” I took the pop from her, tearing the wrapper off and handing it back. She looked at me as if I had solved world hunger, smiling happily as she popped the tip of the bright green ice in her mouth.
Grabbing a bottle of water, I opened it and took a good sip before turning to Janis, who sat, tongue lolling, as she gazed up at me.
How was I going to get this water in her?
“Here, use this,” Sophia said, spotting my dilemma and reaching tor a yellow bucket that sat abandoned on the beach blanket.
“Thanks,” I replied, taking the bucket and filling it before I placed it before Janis, who perked up immediately, lapping up the water within moments.
Well, that took up at least four minutes. I looked at Sophia.
“Want some?” she said, holding out the pop to me as a gooey green line began to trail down her arms.
Yuck. “Uh, no thanks. I’m trying to quit.”
She giggled. “Silly,” she admonished. “Who would quit eating ice pops?”
Give it time, kid, you’ll see.
Sitting down on the beach chair Vince had abandoned, I studied the horizon, the waves crashing on the beach.
“So how old are you?” Sophia asked.
“Thirty-one,” I answered, surprised by her curiosity.
“Wow,” she said.
