Page 62 of Before It's Too Late

“Oh. Hi, Marleigh.” It turned out the voice belonged to one of the teachers from Taylor’s daycare.

Adjusting her blonde ponytail, Marleigh casually wandered toward him and Taylor. “Hey. You here with them?” she asked, cocking her head in the direction of the guys.

“Yeah. Just hanging out, getting some fresh air.”

Marleigh put her hands on her narrow hips, swaying on her feet. “Same here. You coming down here tomorrow night for the festival and fireworks over the lake?” She sat down on the bench, keeping a friendly, if not a little too close, distance between them.

“We are.” Zach couldn’t help but smile as he thought about the plans he and Cael had for tomorrow evening. Chloe didn’t have plans, so she’d offered to babysit Taylor for several hours. They’d already picked a spot from which to watch the fireworks and planned on fried chicken, beer, and otherwise, just hanging out, with maybe a little cuddling. He couldn’t wait.

“Just you and Taylor?”

“Actually, no. Gotta a friend babysitting her so my boyfriend and I can have a night out alone.” He watched as Taylor planted her hands on the ground and got to her feet.

Marleigh’s enthusiasm dimmed. “Oh. So, not single anymore.”

“Nope.”

“Darn.” She chuckled. “And here I was about to ask you out.”

Zach scrunched his face a little. “Sorry.”

What was it about this park and him always bumping into women who wanted a date?

“Oh, don’t be,” Marleigh said, giving him a dismissive wave.

Taylor grabbed and held on to Zach’s leg, smacking his knee. “Zaa.”

“Whatcha need, munchkin?”

“Juush,” she garbled around her binky.

“You want your juice?” He reached into the diaper bag and pulled out a sippy cup. Taylor squealed and reached for it with both hands. Leaning against the side of his leg, Taylor let her binky fall out, the strap keeping it from hitting the ground, and happily sucked the apple juice from her cup.

Marleigh brushed a few loose, blonde strands of hair away from her eyes. “So, is he out there playing?” she asked, looking toward the group of guys playing football.

Zach looked up. “Is who?”

“Your boyfriend.”

“Oh. Yeah. His name’s Cael. He’s the guy in the orange T-shirt.”

“That’s your boyfriend? Wow. He’s a hottie. I’ve seen him out here before.”

“He’s here just about every Sunday. All of them are.”

“He’s dropped Taylor off a few mornings, hasn’t he?”

“Yep.”

“You been together long?”

“Well. Yes and no.”

“Let me guess. You’ve been friends forever but had an unexpected moment where you kissed and now you’re dating?”

“Almost, but not quite. Cael’s been my best friend for years. After my sister’s accident—” Zach paused, pressing his lips together.

Talking about Abbey wasn’t something he did often. Talking to other people at all wasn’t something he did in general, but he’d warmed up to Marleigh over the weeks. Every morning, when he’d drop Taylor off at the daycare, she’d been there with a warm smile and friendly conversation, and now that he thought about it, maybe she’d been a little flirtatious, but with the stress from his breakup with Megan and Abbey’s accident, he hadn’t noticed.Huh.