“Zach with a kid? What a joke.”

He couldn’t shake the words. They hummed in the background, aggravated by the fact that he couldn’t even work something as simple as a car seat. On the drive to the restaurant, Sophia alternated between whining and singing and Zach was exhausted trying to anticipate her moods, fearful of another iced-tea crying jag. Tessa had been amazing about everything, but he felt like she was just waiting for him to make one major mistake that would justify denying him the right to be in Sophia’s life. He fully recognized that he only believed that because it was something he would have been doing if their situations had been reversed.

And, hell, in all honesty, he was probably angry at Kerry more because she was right than because she’d dissed Tessa and embarrassed him. He was a joke when it came to anything related to kids. And he was terrified Tessa would figure that out before long.

“Where are we going?” Sophia asked from the back.

Tessa was looking out the side window. She’d been quiet since they’d gotten in.

“The Monkeypod,” Zach said, pleased when Tessa focused on him and laughed at the name. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Sophia. “Doesn’t that sound like a fun place?”

“Monkeypod,” she said, her voice comically shocked. “What’s a monkeypod?”

“It’s a restaurant. And they have awesome shave ice. But…” he added, “all little girls have to eat their dinner before they can have any shave ice.”

She dropped her head back against the car seat and heaved a sigh. “Oh, man. That’s just not right.”

Zach barked a laugh at the unexpected comment and all its maturity beyond Sophia’s years.

Tessa sputtered a laugh too and glanced into the backseat. “What? Where did you get that?”

She shrugged her little bare shoulders. “I dunno.”

Zach propped his elbow on the window ledge and ran his hand through his damp hair. “She’s hilarious.”

“Out of the mouths of babes, as they say,” Tessa said, grinning. “Some jaw-dropping comments do come out of her mouth from time to time.”

He pulled off the two-lane highway and into the gravel parking area.

“Look,” Sophia shouted. “A monkey.”

The restaurant had a colorful sign across the front of the A-line roof over the porch sporting a goofy-looking monkey.

“You’ll see a lot of monkeys tonight,” Zach said as he parked. “Why don’t you count them?”

Tessa grin at him. “Good game, Dad.”

Dad. The word zinged him in the chest. The emotion that accompanied it felt a hell of a lot like fear. Like the burn in the pit of his stomach that came when he looked at a pipeline and knew his timing was off. Knew the wall of water was going to pound him against the sea floor so hard, it could be the very last time it ever happened.

Only, that fear dissipated in seconds. This one…this one lingered as a dull nagging sensation.

Tessa was already out of the car, pulling Sophia from the car seat when Zach finally cleared his head enough to open his door.

“One!” Sophia’s yell drew Zach’s gaze. She was pointing at the monkey on the sign, a big smile on her face.

Tessa laughed and glanced over at Zach. “You’re off to a good start.”

Zach’s brain seemed to freeze-frame the moment—Tessa and Sophia looking up at the sign, the late afternoon sun sparkling against the mountains in the distance.

“You’re better than friends. You’re my family.”

He hadn’t realized how right the words had been until he’d said them earlier. And now, in that instant, he relaxed into the idea. He’d loved the way Tessa hadn’t gotten pissy over Kerry and Candy, even though she’d had the right. He especially appreciated how patient she was with him. He was still getting his mind around his depth of gratitude over her willingness to bring him into Sophia’s life. She could have been a royal bitch about it. In fact, Zach couldn’t think of any other woman he’d ever been involved with who wouldn’t have been a royal bitch in the same situation.

Zach didn’t care much about what that said regarding his choice in women. Compassion and kindness hadn’t been qualities he’d cared much about when he was only looking for sex. But he was starting to wonder if his lack of interest in those important areas had kept him from falling for a woman over the years. Because as Tessa covered Sophia’s hand with her own and traced the letters of Monkeypod in the air, saying each letter with the little girl to help her learn, Zach felt like he might be falling. Hard.

“Zach.” His name pulled Zach from his thoughts, and he found Sophia looking at him. “Zach, look, I know the letters.”

She repeated the letters as Zach walked around the front of the car to meet them.

“Very good,” he told her. “And what does that spell?”

Sophia drove her little fists into the air over her head, scrunched up her face, and yelled, “Monkeypod!”

Both Zach and Tessa laughed. In the setting sun, he could see Tessa had gotten some color, despite her attempts at keeping her skin covered in sunscreen. She looked young and happy and vibrant, just like Sophia. A whole lot younger, happier, and more vibrant than she had when he’d first seen her in the bar. Yet even then, he’d found her attractive. Now, she looked radiant.

He wrapped his arm around Tessa’s shoulders and walked his girls inside the restaurant.

My girls.

Yeah. He liked the sound of that.

The restaurant was busy, as usual. He’d been here at least a couple of dozen times since he’d started filming the series, but this was the first time he’d noticed that the restaurant was in fact half bar, half restaurant. Literally. Funny how having a three-year-old with him could make him see things differently. His confidence where Sophia was concerned took another hit.

To Tessa’s credit, she didn’t say anything about the fact that he’d brought them to an inappropriate place for a child. She just grinned at the commotion and said, “Wow, popular place.”

Sophia was entertained with the noise and the people and the televisions for about five minutes. Once they were seated—as far away from the bar as they could get—his three-year-old turned solemn and grumpy. But it was when Sophia refused to eat anything on the menu that he realized Tessa’s idea of dinner at home would probably have been the better plan.

Once they ordered to a litany of Sophia’s “No, Mommy, I don’t want that,” “No, I don’t like chicken nuggets,” “Ew, fish,” “I just want shave ice,” Tessa settled Sophia into a comfortable lull with crayons and a coloring sheet. By which time, Zach was exhausted.

“Man,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Practice.” Picking up a crayon, she started coloring on an edge of Sophia’s paper. “Sophia, Zach and I have a surprise for you.”

We do?

Zach tried to read Tessa’s mind only to find he couldn’t even read her expression.

Sophia’s tired eyes gained a new spark as she looked between them. “What?”

“Well,” she said, “you know how I’m your mommy?”

“Yeah.”

“And you know how a lot of families have a mommy and a daddy?”

Sophia looked a little confused. Her fingers worried one of Pegasus’s ears. “Um…yeah. Or two mommies, like you and Corinne.”

Zach scraped his lower lip between his teeth. His stomach wavered a little. There was something about Sophia calling her real mother Corinne that reminded Zach why they were all here tonight, together, and guilt hit him hard. “Tessa,” he said softly, “We don’t have to—”

“No,” she said, resigned. “It’s a good idea. We don’t have a lot of time. Better now than later.”

He exhaled, hating the sound of that. Suddenly there didn’t seem to be enough time for any of this—for Sophia to get to know Zach, for Zach to understand Sophia, or for Zach and Tessa to figure out what was happening between them. And that didn’t take into account all the decisions, very big decisions, they had to make. Time suddenly felt like it was sliding through his fingers.

“We didn’t…” Tessa stumbled on her words, hesitating to the point that Sophia looked up at her. “I mean, we didn’t know who, or where…” She faltered again and cast an embarrassed look at him. “Sorry. I obviously didn’t have this very well planned out.”

He reached across the table, covered her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Sure you’re a lawyer?”

She laughed and dropped her head.

“Is it okay if I try?” he asked. “I mean, you’ve been doing all the heavy lifting up until now.”

With a sigh, she rested her head in her free hand. “Be my guest.”

He cut a look at Sophia, who was focused on coloring, then back to Tessa, and whispered, “I can’t, like, really mess her up or anything, right?”

She laughed. “From this? No.”

He nodded and looked at Sophia again. “Hey, Sophia.”

“Hmm?” she looked up and pushed a curl out of her eyes.

“What your mom was trying to say is that…” His voice caught and threw him off balance. That had never happened before. He pushed through the fear and tried again. “That I’m your dad.”

The news had no effect on Sophia. She gave him that flat, lost look people got when someone was speaking a foreign language they didn’t understand. Even though Tessa had prepared him for that possibility, the actuality still hit him like a board in the chest.

“Mommy didn’t know where I was for a while,” he went on, “but she found me, and we want you to know that you have a dad too.”

Her head tilted a little, and a spark lit her eyes. She looked at Tessa. “I have a daddy?”

Tessa’s smile wobbled a little. “You do. Zach is your daddy.”

A visible shot of excitement straightened Sophia’s spine, as if she was just now getting the message. She looked at Zach. “Are you going to live with us?”

Oh, shit. He hadn’t expected that. His gaze darted to Tessa, who didn’t look surprised at all.

“No, sweetie,” she said.

Twirling her crayon, Sophia said, “But Megan’s daddy lives with her. And Taylor’s daddy lives with her.” She looked at Zach. “Can you live with me? We can color and play in the ocean.” She gasped, looked at Tessa, and lowered her voice. “Can I paint Daddy’s nails?”

Zach burst out laughing and rubbed a hand over his face. “This isn’t how I saw this conversation going.”

“Kids are good like that,” Tessa said, sliding a hand over Sophia’s soft hair. “Always a challenge.” She turned to Sophia. “No, sweetie, he’s not going to live with us. He lives here, and we live somewhere else. Like Tara’s mommy and daddy.”

“Why can’t we live here?” Sophia’s brow furrowed, and her expression darkened with an edge of belligerence. “I like it here. It’s not cold. I don’t have to wear jackets. I spend more time with you and play in the ocean.”

Tessa seemed to pale right in front of Zach’s eyes.

He rested his elbow on the table and held his head up with his fingers at his temple. When Tessa’s gaze darted to his, he said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started this.”

Her mouth flickered into a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes before she returned her attention to Sophia. “It is nice here,” she said. “And we’ll come back and visit. But we can’t live here.”

Come back and visit.

That idea left Zach wholly unsatisfied and more than a little edgy. The occasional visit didn’t fit into his vision of being a father—a vision he hadn’t even realized he had until this very second.

Sophia turned her attention to the coloring page, a full-blown pout on her adorable face. “I’m hungry.”

The words held foot-stomping attitude, and Zach had visions of another iced-tea catastrophe.

“Dinner’s coming,” Tessa assured her, starting to color again. “Help me color this flower. It’s called a hibiscus. Can you say that?”

“I don’t want dinner,” Sophia complained, looking at Zach and moving Pegasus to the table. “I want ice.”

He sighed and glanced at Tessa. He was seriously screwing this up, and he didn’t know how to slow this downhill slide.

But Tessa kept her gaze on the coloring sheet. “Look at this hummingbird, Sophia.”

Sophia huffed. Her shoulders dropped. “I no want the hummingbird.”

She dropped her hand to the table, her crayon snapped in half, and Sophia crumbled into tears.

Jesus Christ. Zach sat back, at a total loss. But Tessa stayed calm. Not one flicker of distress crossed her face.

“Here you go.” She continued coloring with one hand and offered Sophia a new crayon with the other. “Make his wings green. Do you remember the hummingbird we saw at the Cherry Blossom festival?”

“Yeah…” Sophia’s distress eased, but her little body still rocked with quick breaths, as if on the verge of tears again.

Over a broken crayon and delayed dessert.

“Hey,” he told Tessa softly. “We don’t have to stay—”

“But I want ice,” Sophia whined, her lower lip quivering. Zach was completely lost, and that look on his baby’s face made him feel like he was coming apart at the seams.

“You’ll get ice, sweetheart,” Tessa assured her. “The hummingbird’s wings were such a pretty green.”

Sophia rubbed one fist to her eye. At least he recognized that gesture. Tessa had been right. Sophia was exhausted and needed to go home.

Zach spotted the waitress coming toward their table. Thank God. If they could get through dinner and just get Sophia her shave ice…

“Oh,” the waitress said to Sophia. “You’re doing a beautiful job.”

“Thank you,” she said, still a crayon snap away from meltdown.

The waitress set down their orders, placing Sophia’s cheese quesadilla down last, and took their glasses to refill their drinks.

Tessa moved Pegasus toward Zach and positioned Sophia’s plate closer to her, then pulled apart the quesadilla triangles. She picked up one, blew on it, and then offered it to Sophia.

“No want quesilla.” The way she’d combined the first and last half of the word quesadilla would have been freaking adorable if she hadn’t then crossed her arms on the table, dropped her head against Pegasus, and started sobbing.

Panic struck Zach’s chest like lightning. He sat forward with the instinct to comfort Sophia, but didn’t know how. When his gaze darted to Tessa, her shoulders slumped, her eyes rolled to the ceiling, and she started counting.

“One…” she said calmly even though the expression on her face was barely restrained exasperation.

“No, Mommy,” Sophia said without picking up her head. “No ‘one.’”

“Two…” Tessa continued.

Zach leaned toward her, panicked over what would happen at “three.” “We can go—”

But his whisper was cut off by Tessa’s “Three.”

Sophia was still fussing, rolling her head back and forth on her arms. Tessa sighed and looked at Zach. Zach held his breath.

“We’ll be back when Sophia calms—”

“No!” Sophia lifted her head and yelled. Her face scrunched and red with anger. “No, Mommy.”

Holy shit. Zach felt like the sky was falling.

But Tessa just gritted her teeth and smiled as she stood from the table and told Sophia, “Let’s go.”

“Mommy…” she whined.

“The longer you fuss, the longer this will take.”

“What are you doing?” Zach asked, wondering if he should go with them. “Do you want to leave?”

“Oh no,” she said, this time with knowing determination. “Her tantrums don’t dictate what we do or don’t do. Right, Sophia?”

Sophia slipped from her chair with a muttered “I no do tantums.”

“Oh yes, you do, precious.” Tessa stroked her hand over Sophia’s head as the girl started to cry again and took her hand. “You do them very well.” To Zach, she said, “Go ahead and eat. No telling how long this will take.”

What the hell? “Should I come? I can get the food to go.”

“No, no. This is just the lesson of the hour. Relax.”

She walked through the restaurant with Sophia, exiting through the front door, and Zach stared blankly at the stuffed animal abandoned at the table. He had no idea what to do. He didn’t even know what the hell was going on. He sure as heck couldn’t eat.

“Your family is beautiful.” The voice drew Zach’s attention to an older couple in the next booth. They had to be in their seventies, and both wore quiet, knowing smiles. “Your wife handled that so well.” The older woman glanced at her husband. “Didn’t she, Dick?”

The man nodded. “Nipped it in the bud. Don’t see many parents doing that nowadays. They let their kids act like mongrels in public.”

“But she was so nurturing,” the woman said, her gaze moving between Dick and Zach as if conferring. “Respectful.”

“You respect them,” Dick said, “they’ll respect you.”

“I, uh…” Zach said, “I’m not very good at this.”

“You will be,” Dick said. “Comes with experience. In the meantime, your wife is a wonderful example to follow.”

Wife. Family. Holy crap.

“That didn’t take long,” the woman said, her gaze angled toward the front door. “I bet she’s a different toddler from the one that walked out.”

When Zach refocused that direction, he could see Sophia wasn’t crying or fussing, but she still didn’t look happy.

“Oh, dear,” the older woman said with a little chuckle. “Someone’s tired.”

“Dead on her feet is more like it,” Dick commented with good nature. “Remember what Tommy was like when he got tired, Helen?”

The older woman laughed deeply, and by now, Tessa and Sophia approached the table. “Oh, please, don’t remind me. It’s a wonder he survived past the age of four.”

When Tessa reached the table, she smiled at the older couple.

“We were just telling your husband,” Helen told Tessa, “that you have a beautiful family. And you handled that like a pro.”

Tessa laughed softly. “Thank you. She’s strong-willed. I’ve had lots of practice.” When Sophia turned toward her chair, Tessa held her back. “I think you’re forgetting something.”

Sophia’s gaze lifted to Zach’s. She dropped Tessa’s hand, stepped toward him, and laid her hand on his thigh. The thumb of her other hand moved toward her mouth, but she just played with her bottom lip. “I sorry, Daddy.”

Shock gripped Zach’s heart. His throat thickened, and his chest ached. While the older couple awwed over Sophia’s sweetness, Zach lifted his gaze to Tessa, and she met it with an apologetic one of her own.

He tentatively slid his hand over Sophia’s hair. “Thank you, baby.”

She sidled closer. “Can I sit with you?”

Then she lifted her arms to him, and Zach melted.

“Of course.” He pulled her slight weight into his lap, and Sophia cuddled into his chest, making him ache even more.

She reached for her stuffed animal. “Pegsis.”

He handed it to her, and Sophia pulled it close.

“Is that sparagus?” she asked, looking at his plate.

“It is.” He glanced at Tessa and found her reseated, her chin in her hand.

“Sophia likes sparagus,” she told him.

He smiled at the way she’d used Sophia’s word and asked his daughter, “Would you like some?”

“Yes, please.”

He picked up the spear of asparagus with his fingers, then shot a look at Tessa to see if that was okay. When she nodded, he offered it to Sophia, who took it and inhaled it.

The older couple laughed and returned to their own meal, while Zach continued to hand Sophia spear after spear until it was gone.

He looked at Tessa, who was picking at her own meal. “I can’t believe how much she can eat.”

Tessa chuckled and pointed her fork at Sophia. “I think she’s done.”

Zach looked down and found Sophia sound asleep, a half-eaten asparagus spear clutched in her fist. It had to be the cutest thing he’d ever seen, and he swore his heart broke open and leaked all over his insides. “Oh my God.” He ran a hand over her hair. “Poor thing.”

“Yeah,” Tessa said with a smirk while she collected rice on her fork. “Loved on all morning. Played with all afternoon. It’s tough being Sophia.”

Zach chuckled, carefully took the asparagus from Sophia’s hand, and wiped her fingers with a napkin. She didn’t so much as flicker her long eyelashes.

He heaved a sigh. “Disaster averted.”

“For the moment. Don’t worry, there will be another dozen potential disasters tomorrow.” She put down her fork and stood, offering her arms. “Here, I’ll take her so you can eat.”

He gathered Sophia close and gave Tessa a shoulder. “No way. This is the freaking highlight of my week.”

“Zach, I know you’re starving.”

“I’ll manage.” He lifted his chin toward her dinner. “Sit. Keep your grubby hands off this sleeping angel.”

“Sleeping being the key word placed before angel when speaking of Sophia Westerly.” She sighed and sat back down. “Suit yourself.”

She continued with her dinner while smirking at him as he struggled to balance Sophia and eat. In the end, Zach kept one arm wrapped around her small form while he cut everything with the side of his fork. Once, Tessa took pity on him and reached across the table to cut his food for him, making him feel two years old. But better that than letting go of Sophia.

When he was done, he leaned back against the chair and relaxed, twirling his finger around one feather-soft curl. “There’s something very Zen about having her asleep against me.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

In the silence between them, all the drama of the night and the deeper problems it exposed overtook his thoughts. He lifted his gaze to hers and asked the impossible question. “What are we going to do?”

She grew serious and shook her head. “I don’t know. You never answered me when I asked about visiting us so you could see Sophia’s life in DC.”

A slow smile drifted over his mouth. “I believe you distracted me with—”

“I wasn’t the one doing the distracting.”

And then they were grinning at each other, locked in one of those wild moments, heavy with meaning and emotion. A moment with the potential to be a turning point. Only, he wasn’t sure what it would be a turning point for.

The older couple stood, and Helen paused beside the table. Her wrinkled hand skimmed Sophia’s head in a sweet gesture. Her eyes came up and met Zach’s, then Tessa’s, then Zach’s again. “Cherish these moments, you two. They’ll be the ones you look back on and smile over in fifty years.” She glanced over her shoulder at Dick. “Right, sweetheart?”

Dick put a hand on Helen’s shoulder and leaned in to peek at Sophia. Then he turned to his wife. “Sure are. They’ll be gone before you know it.”

They said good-bye, and silence settled between Zach and Tessa again.

The waitress set the bill on the table, and Zach worked his wallet out of his back pocket. But with only one hand free, he had to hand it to Tessa to pull out the credit card. When the waitress left the table, Zach resettled with Sophia’s weight against him.

“Tessa,” he hedged, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. “I know this is happening really fast, and we’re working against a time limit…” He stopped, insecure over the words that seemed like they might take them in the right direction, because they were words that changed life as he knew it, and his bachelor’s brain was fighting to hold on to its way of life. “What if you did move here?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

Shit, what did he mean? “I just, I don't know, if you lived here, we can both be with her. It will allow me to see her after work. Days I’m not filming, I could take her to give you a break. Then maybe we could just use the babysitter now and then and not need a full-time nanny."

Tessa was giving him that blank stare, the one Sophia used just a while ago when they told her that he was her father. She sighed, rested her head in her hand, and seemed to think about what she was going to say next. "I know it’s unsettling to think about us leaving when you just found out about her and are just beginning to get to know her. And I appreciate you wanting to be with her more and being willing to include me in that.”

“I hear a but coming.”

She smiled a little. “But…” She said the word rising on the last syllable. “Here’s the thing. Every time you make a change in Sophia’s life, you have to think about the consequences long-term. Us moving here just creates a whole new set of problems and adjustments. Sophia is established in school, she loves her teachers, she has friends—”

A little bubble of panic burst inside him. “I’ve always heard kids were adaptable. Sophia is adorable, and there are plenty of great schools here with teachers who will love her. She’ll make new friends.”

“Zach, she just lost Corinne. Hell, she still asks and talks about her. She’s been through a lot of change recently. Over the last six months, when Corinne was going downhill fast, Sophia started acting out. Tonight is an example of how that has continued. She never used to throw tantrums or fuss.”

“She’s a kid. She’s three. Did you ever think that it might be part of a stage she’s going through?”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “She needs stability. She needs to know that the things and people she loves will be there for her.”

“I can’t be there for her if I’m here and she’s there.”

“You’re not an established element in her life yet.”

“How can I become one if you take her to the other side of the country?”

Tessa sighed and closed her eyes. “I know this situation isn’t perfect, but we have to put Sophia first.”

“Are you putting Sophia first or are you putting yourself first?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Zach felt like shit for saying them.

She opened her eyes and stabbed him with a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, if you stay where you are, you don’t have to share Sophia. You don’t have to worry about sharing her attention, her affection, or her time. Your perfectly designed little world stays intact. You don’t have to alter your schedule, you don’t have to change your job.”

Her eyes narrowed and her lips firmed. “If I wasn’t willing to share Sophia, I wouldn’t be here right now. If my little world was so perfectly designed, Corinne wouldn’t be dead, and I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Zach leaned back, exhaled heavily, and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I get that you’ve made a lot of changes in your life for Corinne and Sophia. I get that you probably don’t want to make more—”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with me not wanting to make changes.” Her voice was low but deliberate, her expression intense. This was the woman who practiced law. “I’ve done nothing but make changes. I was a breath away from partnership at one of the largest law firms in DC when Corinne told me the cancer had spread and she wasn’t going to live to see Sophia off to her first day of kindergarten. I changed my entire life for Sophia. I walked away from big money, prestige, and important cases for the possibility of a junior partner’s position at the firm I’m with—all so I could work from home three days a week.”

“I’m…sorry.” Zach’s jaw went slack. His mind bent. He shook his head. “I didn’t know.”

“Well, now you know.” The fight in her tone fell away, and her expression softened into one far more familiar. “If I was to move here, I’d be starting all over. Working from home is a privilege you earn, and one not many firms offer. I’d be away from her five days a week. You’d be working sixteen-hour days, able to, what? Pop in and read her a bedtime story? Maybe? Spend part of a Sunday playing with her at the beach? Is that what you envisioned for fatherhood? And who knows where you’ll be next year? Will they keep you on for another season? If not, then what will you do? Do you really expect me and Sophia to follow you wherever you go—”

“No,” he said, too forcefully. “I just—I don’t know.”

He exhaled and sank against the chair. Closing his eyes, he pressed a kiss to Sophia’s head. He’d just met her, and now he was going to lose her. God, that twisted a knife in his gut.

Maybe he shouldn’t take the part. Only, without it, he’d have to go back to the piece work he’d been doing for years. A modeling job here, a Surfer magazine photo shoot there. He’d have to win competitions to earn sponsorships. Which meant he’d have to practice relentlessly and travel.

“I know this is impossible,” she said, voice soft. “I don’t want to make this any harder on you than it’s already been. And I don’t want to keep you out of her life. But at the end of the day, everything has to come back to doing what’s best for Sophia. That’s what I promised Corinne, what I promised myself, and it’s the unspoken promise I’ve made to Sophia.”

Zach nodded. “I get it.”

“Will you be able to come out to DC after filming here ends? Before you start the series?”

“I don’t even know if I’m going to get the job.” He forced his mind to engage and tried to remember his plans. He repositioned Sophia’s warm weight. “I’ve got a board manufacturer’s advertisement to shoot before I head to California for the Mavericks competition. I’ll be surfing there for four months. After that, I’m not sure. I need to look at my calendar, see what I can move around.” He shook his head, at a loss for an adequate remedy and bleeding inside. He couldn’t talk about this anymore. “We should get her home.”