Marcia.
âHey, there,â Jen said by way of greeting.
âHello. Where are you guys? Your car is here but you arenât.â
âWe are at the park playing catch.â
âCatch? You stink at that.â
âHa, thatâs what you know. Iâm much better today.â
âIs Nate with you?â
âYes, he came for lunch and then took Riley here to play.â
âReally? That doesnât seem like the man I met last night,â Marcia said.
âThereâs more to him than meets the eye,â Jen said, watching Riley and Nate toss the ball back and forth. âWeâll be home in a little while.â
âOkay. Thanks for watching Riley this afternoon,â Marcia said.
âI enjoy it. I love him.â
âI know, but thanks all the same.â
âItâs no biggie,â Jen said, hanging up the phone.
Nate led the way back over to her. âWas that your sister?â
âYes. Mommyâs home, Riley, you ready to go and see her?â
âYes! I canât wait to show her how I can throw.â
âIâm sure she will be very impressed,â Jen said.
âWill you stay and throw with me, Mr. Nate? I donât think Auntie Jen will be a good partner for that,â Riley said looking up at Nate.
âIâd love to, bud. I canât stay long, though. Iâve got a busy night ahead of me.â
Riley tipped his head to the side. âDo you work at night?â
âThatâs when the club is open.â
âYou work with Auntie Jen?â he asked. âAre you a dancer?â
Nate laughed. âNo. I own the club with my brothers.â
Riley nodded. âSounds like a good job.â
Nate patted the little boy on the shoulder. âItâs pretty good but there isnât enough time for baseball or fishing.â
âBut you are the boss,â Riley said. âYou should change the rules.â
Jen laughed at the way Riley said it. That made perfect sense to him, but sheâd love to see Nate tell Justin and Cam that they needed more time for fun. She was pretty sure those two would think heâd gone off the deep end since Nateâs life was already one big party.
âI should do that,â Nate agreed. When they got back to the house Nate walked them to the door.
Jen watched her nephew go inside, then turned to Nate. She couldnât read his expression but heâd kept his keys in his hand and had almost turned to walk back to his car. It was as if he couldnât wait to get away from here.
âNate?â
âHmm?â
âThanks for everything you did with Riley today.â
âNo problem. I think heâs the first kid Iâve been around since I was a child.â
âMy life is so different than yours,â she said. But hadnât she truly known that from the beginning? They came from different worlds and that was part of why she liked him so much.
âYes, it is. Well, Iâve got to go,â he said.
âBye.â
She watched him walk away, realizing how good Nate was at making himself fit into whatever the situation was. Because it was only as he drove away that sherealized heâd been the perfect uncle figure to Riley the way heâd been the perfect date to her last night.
She thought he was multifaceted but now she was afraid he was simply a chameleon used to changing his colors wherever he was. No matter how kind he was to Riley, Nate hadnât really wanted to spend time with her nephew and that, more than anything else, should serve as a reminder that he wasnât the settling-down kind.
Eight
âH ello, boys, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with me,â Cam said as he joined Justin and Nate in the VIP lounge at the back of the club on the first floor.
The place was empty except for staff as they had an hour before it opened.
âNot a problem. Whatâs up?â
âWe need to start