“I need you to tag me.”
Confusion came into Maddie’s hostile eyes. “What’s that?”
“You know when we watch wrestling, how the guys tag each other when they’re tired and want someone else to take over?”
“Uh-huh.”
Attention on his daughter, he held up his palm. “Tag me, Mommy, and make me the boss. I need our daughter to put on warm clothes.”
“No, Mommy, tag me. I want to be the boss.”
“Sorry, little one, it only works between parents.” Kayla slapped palms with Jared. As their daughter opened her mouth to complain, he shuddered dramatically and rolled his eyes.
Maddie was transfixed. “What you doing, Daddy?”
“It’s the magic. Quick. Get dressed before it wears off.”
Watching him carefully, Maddie hauled off her dress. “Is it still there?”
“Yeah, but we have to work fast.” He found jeans and a sweater and bundled her into them, stopping when one arm was still loose. “You’ll have to do the last bit. I’ve run out of power.”
Giggling, she finished dressing herself. “Silly Daddy.”
“Silly Daddy,” Kayla agreed.
As they left the bedroom, his wife caught his face and kissed him. There was tongue. He returned her wedding ring, then went outside, whistling, and attached roof racks to Kayla’s car. It was easier than moving the kids’ seats to his.
They all sang ‘Jingle Bells’ while she drove them to the Christmas tree lot, kids in the back, Jared in the passenger seat. He was reaching back to hand Maddie a book when he glimpsed a copy of Musique magazine wedged between the kids’ seats. His face on the cover.
“Where’d this come from?”
Kayla glanced at it and refocused on the road. “Dimity gave it to me yesterday. I meant to pass it on but when I got home, saw the party…I guess I forgot all about it.”
Except she’d buckled the kids in their car seats, not ten minutes earlier. The same thought must have struck Kayla, because a blush swept up her cheek.
Suddenly, they were on dangerous ground.
He flicked through the pages, trying not to feel self-conscious. “I’ll have to get it translated.”
“Dimity says it’s very complimentary.” Kayla’s voice was carefully neutral.
We have to talk about Simone. But not here. Then, about to put the magazine away, he snorted in startled amusement. “Sh…oot, where’d they find that picture of us?” He held it up so she could see it. “That was a great night.”
She barely glanced at it. “Was it?”
“Don’t you remember? It was the night we first…” He glanced over his shoulder, saw Maddie engrossed in her book, and played it safe anyway. “Went all the way home.”
“Like the little piggy?” Maddie piped up. There was no doubt about it, kids tuned into tone.
“Very much like the little piggy,” Kayla muttered. “Wow, you must have needed to get home real bad.”
“What do you mean?”
She shot him an incredulous gaze. “Seriously?”
He looked at the picture again, Kayla being the life and soul of the party, and himself trying too hard to look cool.
“I see what you mean.” He started to laugh. “What the hell did you see in me?”
She gave him an odd look, then her eyes filled with tears.
“Honey?”
“It’s nothing, ignore me.” She pulled into the lot and the kids yelled in excitement as they glimpsed a huge blow-up Santa, pulling gently on his tether above the red and white open marquee.
Shoving the magazine under the seat, Jared got out of the car feeling like shit. And it wasn’t his hangover. He tried again. “Kayla?”
“I’m fine. Honestly.”
They unloaded the kids. Maddie immediately ran toward the mini maze of Christmas trees that had been set up for small children. Rocco tottered through the parking lot after her, forcing Jared to follow.
Maddie went through the maze once holding Kayla’s hand, then by herself, and then insisted on taking Rocco alone.
Jared and Kayla stood by the entrance, waiting for them. He dug his hands in his jacket pockets, not because he was cold, but because he didn’t know what to do with them when he was nervous.
“What happened with Simone still hurts you, doesn’t it?”
She froze, then her gaze slid from his. “I overreacted.” When she moved toward the maze, he pulled one hand out of his pocket and caught her elbow. This was difficult for him, too.
“No,” he said. “You didn’t.”
They’d avoided this conversation too long and it had become a thorn in their marriage. Until it was drawn, the wound would never properly heal. “I did have a crush on her.”
Chapter Nine
Kayla could feel her whole body shrinking in on itself. She’d been embarrassed when Jared found the magazine—it was obvious she’d avoided giving it to him—and then incredibly touched by his inability to see how godawful she’d looked in that picture. Maybe Simone could be forgotten.