Chapter 42

“Aww,” Evie says again. “And the h-word!”

Brody grins. “Eat your lunch, honey, okay? Let your daddy and me talk.”

“And you think I’m bad,” she mutters. “At least I don’t curse!”

They share a look again and can’t keep from laughing. Confused, Evie shrugs and turns back to her hot dog, attacking it with a vengeance. 32

With Gavin and Evie helping out, the afternoon slips away quickly. At first Evie wants to go back to the water. “It’s right behind us,” she tells her father, pointing in case he might somehow not notice the waves crashing on the shore. The beach is a good quarter mile stretch between the boardwalk and the water. “I can go and play, and you can watch me from here.”

“No,” Gavin says.

Evie pouts. “But you’ll be able to see me! I won’t go far.”

She starts to edge off the boardwalk, as if sure he’ll say yes.

But he doesn’t. “I said no. Now sit down.”

With an angry hmrph, she crosses her arms in front of her and plops down on the boardwalk, right between the two folding chairs. Brody is in front of the table, straightening a few framed pictures, and glances over at Gavin to see how he’ll react. It’s obvious Evie hopes her father will say something she can get even madder about, maybe something like, “In the chair, not on the ground.” Brody can almost hear the cries of resistance that will accompany her move into the empty seat.

Apparently, though, Gavin isn’t in the mood for her games, and doesn’t comment on her sitting on the ground. When he doesn’t look at her, she wriggles a little in an attempt to get his attention. When that doesn’t work, she kicks the leg of his chair.

No response.

The next kick strikes his calf. He simply pulls his leg away and gives Brody a small shake of his head. Brody ducks in front of the display board so Evie won’t see his grin.

Finally Evie says, “Daddy, I want to walk around again.”

“We already looked at all the booths,” Gavin says. He’s flipping through the sketchbook Brody set aside and doesn’t bother glancing her way.

“I want to look at them all again,” Evie says. When that doesn’t get him out of his chair, she tries a different approach. “I need to use the potty.”

Brody points at the blue Porta-Potties lined up a little ways down the boardwalk. “It’s right there. Go on, I’ll watch you.”

“I don’t want to go in there,” Evie cries. “I want to go back in the w-w-water.”

Brody frowns at Gavin, who explains, “She’s wearing her bathing suit under her dress.” To Evie, Gavin says firmly, “We are not going back down to the water just yet. We have to stay here and help Brody with the booth.”

Evie lets out an aggravated sigh. “But I’m bored.”

“You two can walk around, if you want,” Brody suggests. “I don’t mind.”

Gavin gives him a sharp look that says, I don’t want to walk up and down this damn boardwalk again. When Evie starts to whine, he tells her, “You’ve already walked around. I want to stay here, okay? Can’t we just sit here quietly for a little while? Please?”

Evie pouts harder, if that’s possible. Brody can almost hear her counting off the seconds in her head. After half a minute, she asks, “How long is a little while?”

Gavin glares at her, but before he can answer, Brody steps in. “Hey, tell you what. I haven’t had a chance to look around yet. Evie, how about you show me all the cool things you saw earlier and we’ll let your daddy stay here and relax, hmm?”

“Oh-kay!” Evie jumps up, almost knocking her head on the underside of the table, but Gavin catches her before she can hurt herself. She doesn’t even notice—mentally she’s already halfway down the boardwalk, leading the way. “There’s this painting of a princess and a unicorn that would look really good in my bedroom. Maybe you can buy it for me for Christmas.”

Brody leans over the table to give Gavin a kiss. “Think you can manage by yourself for a few while we take a quick walk? We won’t be long.”

“Don’t buy her anything,” Gavin warns. He looks over Brody’s shoulder at Evie, who’s tapping her feet on the sidewalk, impatient to get going. “Don’t try to talk him into buying you anything, you hear? He doesn’t have any money.”

Evie sighs and rolls her eyes. “He has pocketsfull of money! I saw it!”

Gavin holds out a hand, and Brody empties his pockets into it. “There, no money,” he tells her.