Do I want to ask?” Anna asked. She’d laugh if Ethan hadn’t been so upset. The sirens and lights had started blaring and flashing while she was in the restroom with Toby, so she knew something had happened, but she’d never imagined that Matt could be in the thick of it.
“I’m not sure.”
A balding man in a uniform walked up behind her. He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back while jabbing a pair of silver salad tongs at Matt. “Ma’am, you need to get away from the dangerous criminal.”
“Dangerous criminal?” she asked, tugging free then squatting in front of Matt. “What did you do?”
Matt opened his mouth to answer then shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Matt,” Ethan sobbed. “I’m sorry.”
Matt held him tighter. “It’s okay, big guy. It’s going to be okay.”
A giant mouse lay on the floor rocking back and forth, saying, “Please, don’t hurt me. I want to live. I haven’t even been to Comic Con.”
“You can get up now,” a teenage girl said in a disgusted tone, standing behind the manager. “The toddler stopped kicking you.”
“Ethan kicked Chuck E. Cheese?” Toby asked, sounding distressed.
Ethan stopped sobbing and shot him a defensive look. “He was going to kill Uncle Matt. Wesley said Chuck E. Cheese is a murderer.”
Matt rolled his eyes and helped Ethan to his feet. “Wesley is wrong. Chuck E. Cheese isn’t capable of murdering anyone.”
“That’s not true,” the mouse said, holding up his arms and trying to flex. “I’ve been working out. I knocked you flat on your ass, and if you’d just held still, I could have wrapped my legs around your neck and snapped you in two.”
Several children watching them began to scream.
“Chuck E. Cheese said a bad word!”
“Chuck E. Cheese is a killer!”
“Wesley’s right!” Ethan shouted then pointed to the mouse. “He is a murderer.”
“He’s not a murderer.” Matt got to his feet and shot the mascot a look of disgust. “He got in a lucky potshot.” He picked the still crying Ethan up and set him on his hip. The boy wrapped his legs around Matt’s waist and buried his face into the curve of his neck.
The man behind Anna leaped forward and jabbed toward Matt with the salad tongs. “Get back on the floor. The police are on their way.”
“Police?” Anna gasped.
“He was kidnapping that boy.”
“His nephew?” she asked in disbelief.
The balding man blinked. “What?”
“That’s his nephew.”
“But their numbers didn’t match.” He turned to a teenage boy wearing a uniform. “You said the numbers didn’t match.”
“They didn’t match,” he said defensively.
“See?” the manager said with attitude. “They didn’t match.”
“Of course they didn’t match. Ethan came with Toby and me and his uncle came later. I was watching Ethan until Matt came to pick him up.”
“But the boy said he wasn’t his dad!” the teen boy shouted.
Anna put her hands on her hips. “Because Matt is his uncle.”
“But,” the boy said, sounding less sure of himself. “He said he didn’t want to go with him.”
Anna dropped her hands to her sides. “Because Ethan was having fun and didn’t want to leave. I assure you nothing underhanded was going on. You’ll see that his stamp matches mine.”
“But he ran past me,” the manager said. “Why’d he do that if he wasn’t guilty?”
Matt sighed. “Ethan was scared and mad and no one was watching him when he took off. I was terrified he’d run out the back door.”
“See?” Anna said. “It’s just a huge misunderstanding. So cancel the police and let the man take his traumatized nephew home.”
The manager’s face waffled between determination and concession until he finally said, “If the boy’s numbers match yours, he can take him home, but”—his voice turned stern—“tell your nephew we take safety seriously around here so he can’t make us think he’s being kidnapped.”
Anna offered him a warm smile. “And we very much appreciate that you do, don’t we, Matt?”
Matt didn’t look totally convinced, probably because of the giant knot that was growing on his forehead, but he said, “Yes. Thank for your diligence.”
Anna pried her terrified son from her legs and took his hand. “Let’s go, Toby.”
His feet remained in place. “Is the giant rat going to tackle me, too?”
“No,” she said, trying not to laugh. “And if he did, I think Matt would take him out for you.”
Matt met Toby’s gaze. “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
While he might be doing it to protect Toby, Anna was sure there was a bit of vindictiveness in his declaration.
“Let’s go,” Anna said. Matt nodded and she lowered her voice. “There are a couple of ways we can take this walk of shame. We can hang our heads and walk out with our tails between our legs, or we can go out with style.” She grinned. “Personally, I prefer the second, but it takes a lot of attitude. Which do you prefer?”
“This isn’t a walk of shame, so the attitude for sure.”
She bent at the knees and picked up Toby, setting him on her hip. “Good. Then let’s do it.”
Something in Matt’s eyes shifted, and they started walking to the exit while Toby clung to Anna and Ethan remained firmly attached to Matt’s side. She leaned closer to Matt and whispered, “Are you ready to make a run for it when my number doesn’t match Ethan’s?”
Matt stopped in is tracks, terror filling his eyes.
She grinned. “I’m teasing. Too soon?”
He started to protest then amusement filled his eyes. “You always knew how to make a terrible experience better.”
“I’m not sure about that,” she said, lifting a hand and giving a parade wave to the crowd. “But I’ll be sure to let you know when I figure it out.”
He grinned and his eyes lit up like they had back when they were together, and she realized how much she missed him.
They reached the rope blocking their escape, the lights still flashing and the sirens still screeching. Anna lifted her hand, waiting for one of the employees to catch up. The manager reluctantly picked up the black light and shined it on Anna’s hand and then on Ethan’s and Toby’s. He unhooked the rope and said, “It might be best if you don’t come back for a while.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Matt said gruffly as he headed for the exit. Anna followed then gave one last wave before she walked out the open door.
Anna tried to put Toby down when they reached the parking lot, but he locked his ankles around her waist and refused to budge.
“My car’s over there,” she said, pointing to it.
“I know. My truck’s next to it. It seemed easier that way.” He grinned. “In theory.”
“Best-laid plans…” she said. “Life never works out as you planned.”
He stopped next to her car and looked down at her, his nephew wrapped tight around him. “No. It doesn’t.”
She regretted saying it, reminding him of what she’d done, but his anger seemed to have faded, and melancholy had taken its place. Could he sense her sadness, too?
“Matt, when I showed up early to your house…”
He glanced down at Toby as if to remind her they had an audience.
“I’d still like to meet with you next week. I’d like to explain some things.”
His body tensed and Ethan shifted. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Actually, I do, but it’s not out of obligation.” She looked up into his guarded brown eyes. “You have every right to tell me no, and I won’t press you on it. But I hope you say yes.” She paused. “I’m not looking for anything from you. Your only job is to listen to my reasoning back then and ask questions. I just want to try to make this whole situation with the kids easier.”
“Ask questions?”
She nodded. “I’ll answer anything.”
His chest expanded as he sucked in a breath, and she remembered what it was like to snuggle into him and have him hold her, but she reminded herself that wasn’t what this was about. She wanted to help him see that he hadn’t misunderstood her. That she’d given him mixed signals.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “My mom takes Ethan to church on Wednesday nights. Can you get away then?”
She’d have to figure out what do to with Toby, but that was her problem. “I can make it work.”
Matt handed her the car keys, and she unlocked the passenger door. “Old school,” he said, pulling Ethan free and setting him on the pavement in front of Anna.
“It’s my dad’s car.”
“What happened to your old PT Cruiser?” he asked as he opened the back door and climbed in to grab the booster.
“My dad sold it.”
“You loved that car.”
She shrugged and gave him a pained smile. “We both know it was a piece of crap. It was always breaking down.” She’d been upset because at that point she’d still planned on coming back. She’d paid for the used car herself with money she’d earned working at McDonald’s during high school. She’d scraped together every penny she could until she could pay cash, and then the stupid thing had broken down more times than she could count. But if she were honest, she knew part of her was upset because it was where she and Matt had their first kiss.
Matt set the booster on top of the car and lifted Toby out of her arms. “Let me help you get buckled, okay, Tob?”
He nodded and released his hold on Anna and let Matt take him. Once he was settled on his booster seat, Matt grabbed the seat belt and pulled it over Toby’s chest.
“What you saw in there was pretty scary, huh?” Matt asked, keeping his gaze on his task.
“Yes,” Toby said quietly.
Anna heard the click of the buckle before Matt lifted up his face. “It’s important that you know that your safety and Ethan’s safety are the most important thing. When you are with me, I will always make sure you are safe. Okay?”
“Okay, Matt.”
Tears filled Anna’s eyes. Within seconds, Matt had driven home how badly she’d screwed up everything. Phillip had never been the man that Matt was, and it was obvious he would never be. Why had she been stupid enough to fall for Phillip’s charm? How could she have been so careless that she got pregnant? Now her son was stuck with an irresponsible father who didn’t give a crap about him when he could have had someone as wonderful as Matt. But she reminded herself that Matt wouldn’t have been Toby’s father, and she couldn’t imagine her life without her son. She may have made countless errors getting to him, but she would never regret him.
Matt watched Toby’s face for a moment longer, then got out of the car and shut the door.
“Thank you,” Anna said in a whisper when he stopped in front of her.
“You’re lucky to have him, Anna.”
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “I know.”