Good Girl Gone Plaid(48)
“Emily, don’t be rude.”
Even while grateful for Ana’s intervention, Ian still couldn’t help but be amused by Emily.
“I’m not rude, Grandma. I was just telling him.” Emily rolled her eyes, before glancing curiously at the house. “Was this my great-grandma’s house?”
“Yes,” Ian answered before Ana could.
Emily’s attention slid to the yard that circled the entire house. “Grandma, is that grass part of the house?”
“Yes.”
“Woo whoo!”
Ian watched as she kicked off her flip-flops and sprinted toward the stretch of grass that was the widest.
“Emily.” Ana sighed and shook her head, but it was the only effort she made to stop her granddaughter as she launched into a handspring.
Just like her mama.
Somewhat alarmed that she was going to break something, Ian clenched his hands into fists and held his breath until Emily landed safely on her feet.
“She nearly gives me a heart attack every time she does that,” Ana muttered. “She’s just like her mother was. Gymnastics is in her blood.”
He watched as Emily grabbed her sunglasses, which had fallen off, from the ground and slid them back on.
“I remember Sarah loved it as well. Emily’s quite good for being so young, aye?”
“I suppose.” Ana gave him a considering, sidelong glance. “So Sarah’s gone on a walk?”
“She and Kenzie are at the wharf having a bite to eat. I could walk you both down there and we could meet them?”
Now why had he offered that? He knew that Ana had lived on the island for at least eight years while her husband was stationed in the navy. She probably knew exactly where the wharf was.
“That’d be great. Thanks, Ian. I desperately need to run inside and use the bathroom first, though.” She paused. “Do you mind keeping an eye on Emily?”
Alarm slid through him and his mouth flapped a bit. She was trusting him with a child? As in babysitting?
“I, well—”
“Five minutes.” Ana laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. She’ll probably keep doing flips the whole time I’m gone.”
And then Ana disappeared into the house, leaving him alone with Emily.
But instead of doing flips and keeping her distance, Emily approached. Then, just feet from him, she kicked herself into a handstand.
“So how do you know my mom?” she asked, from upside down.
Oh boy. Not going there. “We were friends when she lived on the island.”
“Were you her boyfriend?”
He mumbled something she wouldn’t hear. Shite, man, change the topic.
“So how long have you been doing gymnastics, Emily?”
“Four years. I love it.” She fixed her ponytail, which was falling down. “This is a great yard. We don’t have a yard right now. We live in an apartment and there’s nowhere to practice my gymnastics. I hate it.”
“I’m sorry.” And he was. Emily was obviously an energetic kid who needed lots of space to run around.
“It’s okay. Mom says with the money we get from selling this house we can maybe buy a new one.” She glanced around. “But I like this house. I wonder if we could live here.”
That nearly had him guffawing out loud. Sarah moving to the island permanently? Not likely. She’d probably faint at the idea.
“You seem nice,” Emily said lightly.
Nice wasn’t generally a word that people described him with, but all right.
“Uh, well, thank you?”
“You’re welcome.”
“Neil was a real asshat.”
Ian blinked, nearly choking on a reply. Had this child had just referred to her father—in third person at that—as an asshat?
“An asshat, you say? Do you even know what that means, Emily?”
“No. But I heard some teenagers call a mean guy it at the mall once.” She came out of the handstand and landed back on her feet.
Damn, she really was good. And she amused him. He almost found himself eager to hear what she’d say next, because there sure didn’t seem to be any boundaries.
“I think that’s why my mom divorced him. Because he was so mean. He made her cry.” She strode forward, closer to him. “Do you make girls cry?”
Ouch. He struggled with the guilt over having made Sarah cry in the past, and the brewing fury that her husband also brought her to tears.
“Not intentionally,” he finally answered cautiously.
“Intentionally? Does that mean like on purpose?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good then.” She spun away and did a series of cartwheels. “And you shouldn’t hit girls either.”