Alec by Kaje Harper

Author:Kaje Harper [Harper, Kaje]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kaje Harper

Joe stood in his driveway, waiting for Tamsin’s rental car to appear. Beside him, Kevin fidgeted, setting his skateboard down, then popping it up to his hand.

“We don’t have to wait out here,” Joe suggested.

“Yeah, we do.” Kevin stared down the road.

Someone had once told Joe that kids forgive but they don’t forget. Kevin and Tamsin had a good relationship now, as far as he could tell, but the time Tamsin flipped her lid and discarded all of Kevin’s “boy clothes” when he was six had left him reluctant to let her into his safe spaces. That reluctance came and went, but today Kevin had said, “Don’t let her inside.”

Luckily, in southern California, meeting someone outdoors wasn’t a hardship.

A mid-sized SUV came down the road and slowed instead of going by. Kevin straightened and tugged his ball cap lower. The blinker came on, and Joe could see Tamsin as she made the turn into their driveway. She parked crookedly, jumped out, and ran to Kevin. “There you are! I’ve missed you so much.”

He hugged her back, face against her shoulder. They rocked together, then she set him back from her. “You look great. You’ve grown in two months, I swear.”

Kevin swept his cap off, chin high. “I cut my hair shorter.”

He’d asked for the haircut as soon as Tamsin had firmed up her dates, and while he hadn’t chosen a buzz cut, the top was only a little longer than the sides.

Tamsin said, “Oh, that’s good on you. Must be practical in the heat too.” Only the way her eyes cut to Joe for a second showed any awareness of history.

Kevin relaxed and grinned. “Yeah. Especially under a helmet.”

Joe said, “Kevin’s eager to be off, but you might want to walk around a bit, stretch your legs, take a look at the view.”

“The ocean’s awesome, Mom.” Kevin waved toward the breakers visible between the big houses across from them. “I can go down there anytime I want to. I have an octopus, though he’s not always there. I’ll show him to you sometime.”

“I’d like that.” Tamsin glanced at Joe. “I do need to use your bathroom.”

Of course. Pregnant. Her comfortable curves didn’t show an obvious baby belly, but Joe remembered the early days. He glanced at Kevin, ready to overrule him if necessary, but their son said, “Sure. I’ll show you where it is.”

Maybe seeing Tamsin in the flesh had laid some of the worries Kevin carried to rest. He seemed at ease as he ushered Tamsin inside the house.

Joe followed, pulling lemonade out of the fridge and pouring a glass, because Tamsin had always chugged the liquids when she was pregnant with Kevin. When she came back down the hall from the john, he offered the glass to her.

“I’ve been mainlining fruit juice the whole drive,” she said, waving him off. “Which is why the pit stop.”

He took a sip himself instead, something to do to cover the awkwardness. “You look good, Tam.”

“So do the two of you. Look at you, managing to escape the writing cave long enough to get a tan.

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