Calvin’s POV
Beta Zeon was giving his report in the car, and honestly, I was getting pretty annoyed with the whole situation.
"The new managent at our partner company wants an extra two percent on our existing contract," Zeon told .
I stared out at Ravenshade’s skyline, feeling my jaw clench. "Fine. We’ll find another partner then."
The urgent call had kept away for a whole week. A week without seeing Evelyn and the kids felt like forever.
I kept thinking about our conversation, how I’d finally started explaining things to her, actually apologizing for once, and then got dragged away before I could finish.
Now I just wanted to get back there and make her understand what really happened.
But when I got to her place, what I saw made my heart drop.
There in the garden, under this big umbrella, Evelyn was sitting with our boys in these little camping chairs. They had a table with fruit and drinks set up. What really got to though was seeing Leon Robinson sitting there with them, holding Alexis in his lap and feeding her waterlon pieces.
The whole thing looked so normal, so perfect. Like they were already a complete family without .
I walked closer and could hear what the boys were saying.
"Mom, how co the fish aren’t biting?" Rowan was staring at his fishing rod.
Rhys looked worried about his own rod too. "Maybe my bait isn’t good enough?"
Evelyn gave them this sweet smile. "Fishing takes patience, sweetheart."
She could tell they were getting restless, so she asked gently, "Are you boys getting too warm? Want to go inside and cool off?"
Rowan shook his head really fast. "No way! I’m gonna catch a huge fish and make soup for Alex."
Rhys sat up straighter, not wanting to be left out. "I’m definitely catching one too, Mom!"
Evelyn told them how proud she was, then looked over at Alexis. "You getting sleepy, baby? Need your nap?"
Alexis shook her head. "Not tired, Mommy." She hopped down from Leon’s lap and grabbed a fork from the table, then started offering fruit pieces to everyone. She even made sure to give so to Leon.
"Here, Uncle Leon," she said in that soft little voice that always got to .
Leon was still recovering and stuck in that wheelchair. Being injured like that had made him seem more gentle sohow, and Alexis was totally drawn to that. The way he looked at her with such care made my jaw tighten.
This terrible feeling hit right in the chest. Was this how Evelyn felt when she saw with Clara? This burning jealousy that made it impossible to think straight?
Alexis noticed first. "Uncle Calvin?" she called out, sounding surprised.
Everyone turned around then. I could see different emotions cross their faces. The boys looked happy, Evelyn seed cautious, and Leon had this calculating look in his eyes.
Rowan and Rhys imdiately dropped their fishing rods and ran over to . Alexis started to follow them, but Leon gently caught her arm.
"Hold on, sweetie. You’ve got waterlon all over your face. Let get that for you," he said, acting like he’d been taking care of her forever.
My hands balled up into fists.
"Thank you, Uncle Leon," she said sweetly, standing still while he cleaned her face.
She didn’t notice how much it bothered when my sons finally reached .
Rhys grabbed my hand and pulled toward the pond. "Dad, Rowan and I are trying to see who can catch a fish first, but we’ve been sitting here forever and got nothing."
"It’s fine, Rhys," Rowan said, trying to make his brother feel better. "I haven’t caught anything either."
Even though it wasn’t far from the gate to where they were sitting, I kept staring at Evelyn the whole ti. I wanted her to see everything I couldn’t say out loud. How much I needed to explain things, how desperate I was to fix the ss between us. But I kept my face blank so no one could tell what I was thinking.
After that first quick look when Alexis called my na, Evelyn wouldn’t even glance my way.
I pressed my lips together, pushing down whatever feelings were trying to co up. When I followed the boys to the edge of the pond, I imdiately figured out the problem. There were these tiny baby fish swimming around, and the boys had bait chunks that were way too big for them.
I almost smiled. No wonder they’d been sitting here getting nowhere.
"So what brings you by?" I asked Leon.
Leon smiled back.
"Just wanted to say thank you," he said, looking over at Evelyn with obvious affection. "For everything she’s done."
Evelyn gave him a polite smile and said "you’re welco."
My hands clenched into fists again. I was trying to stay calm, but sothing possessive and wild was taking over. When our eyes t across the garden, I could feel the tension between us.
"Dad, co fish with us! We can make it a competition!" Rhys’s excited voice cut through the mont. He grabbed an extra kid’s fishing rod and handed it to , his face lighting up with anticipation.
"I’ll team up with Dad, and Rowan can be with Mom. Let’s see who catches sothing first!"
When she heard about the competition, Alexis got all excited and started waving her hands. "I want to be with Uncle Leon!"
Rowan scooted closer to Evelyn, looking enthusiastic about the whole thing, so she decided to go along with their little contest.
I looked completely out of place standing there in my black business suit, having co straight from the airport. Even sitting by the pond, I looked more like I was about to close so major deal than enjoy a family fishing trip.
After I fixed the boys’ bait so it actually made sense, I settled in with Rhys, with Rowan between and Evelyn, and stared at the water like I was studying it.
When I caught the first fish, Rhys jumped up and started clapping. "Wow! Dad is amazing!"
Leon’s fishing rod started moving too, and Alexis copied her brother’s excitent. "Uncle Leon is amazing!"
Rowan got one third. "Mom, I caught one!" he yelled, his face all red with excitent.
Evelyn reached over to ss up his hair, looking so proud. "My Rowan is so clever."
I didn’t an to, but my hand moved at exactly the sa ti. Our fingers touched for just a second, and whatever passed between us made her jerk her hand back like she’d been burned.
I went completely still, feeling my face get hard at the way she pulled away.
"Rowan did really well," I said instead, ruffling his hair while trying not to think about how much her reaction stung.
Rowan just ducked his head, feeling shy about all the attention but not realizing what had just happened between his parents.
After that, Leon and I basically turned it into our own private competition. Every ti he caught a fish, I made sure to catch one too. Pretty soon our buckets were almost overflowing.
Alexis was crouched down by one of the buckets, trying to count all the fish. When she stood up, she lost her balance and started falling backward toward the water.
"Mom!"
"Alex!"
"Sweetheart!"
All three of us shouted at the sa ti.
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