Second Look (A New Beginning Book 3) (18 page)

They were still standing in the doorway, near the lobster tank.

Adam answered for her. “Definitely with a steak, medium rare please.”

“Well, let’s get you to a table, shall we? Then I can take your order,” she replied with a wink.

Jennifer asked under her breath, “Do you know her?”

Adam shook his head and grabbed her hand.

“Right this way,” the waitress said, looking at Jennifer and winking now at her.

The waitress took them to a booth, handed them menus and then brought the lobster to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she came back to take Adam’s order.

“What can I get for you?” she asked.

“I’ll take the Cuban sandwich. Fries please.”

“Anything to drink for either of you?”

“Just water.”

“Water for me, too, please.” Adam turned to Jennifer as the waitress walked away. “So, what do you want to do after this? What time do we pick up Amber from preschool again?”

“At 3:30. So we have a while. I was thinking we could go check out the antique store across from her preschool after lunch.”

“Sure. That sounds fun.”

Their conversation flowed easily, and before long they were almost done with their meals. The lobster and steak were amazing, and the Cuban sandwich, which Adam insisted she try, was delicious.

They were just paying the bill and about to walk out to Adam’s car, when Jennifer got a phone call from preschool.

“Odd. They don’t usually call during class time,” Jennifer explained.

“Hello, this is Jennifer.”

“Oh, hi Jennifer. This is Marge Johnson, Director of Playtime Preschool. I’m calling to inform you of an incident that occurred today.”

“An incident? Is Amber ok?” Her heart sped up, and she looked up at Adam with fear in her eyes.

“Oh, yes, sorry, she’s just fine.” The woman sounded apologetic.

Jennifer sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness. So what happened?”

“Well, Amber and her friend, Kayla, left the school building and were found by a teacher in the parking lot.”

Jennifer was stunned. “They did what?”

Adam whispered, “What’s going on?”

His question made her meet Adam’s eyes and she covered the phone and whispered, “Amber somehow got outside at school.”

Adam looked confused at her answer, and he whispered, “Huh?”

Mrs. Johnson was talking and she didn’t hear what she was saying. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that? Amber went outside? How did that happen?”

“Well, Amber and her friend Kayla asked to go to the bathroom and they ended up going out to the parking lot. A teacher went looking when they didn’t return from the bathroom.”

“How could that happen? Aren’t the doors locked during class time? I was told the doors were locked and students couldn’t get outside.”

“Yes, normally they are, but a teacher went outside to her car and left one door unlocked,” she paused and then said, “but we needed to make sure you were aware so you can talk to her. She said she was trying to find the bathroom, but Kayla knows where the bathroom is.”

Jennifer was shocked. “I’m sorry, what? Considering Amber is new, I’m sure she got confused.”

“Oh, well of course. I just thought you’d want to explain to her she can’t go outside.”

“Wait. Are you blaming this on a couple of five year olds?” Mrs. Johnson started to talk and Jennifer interrupted. “I think maybe you need to explain to your teachers they can’t leave a door unlocked where students can get out.”

“No, we aren’t blaming Amber. I just wanted to cover it from both ends to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“Oh, good. That sounds like a good idea. I expect you’ll be talking to the teacher, correct?”

“Yes, of course. We will be discussing this with all of the teachers after school. If you want, we can discuss this together with Amber when you get here, too.”

“I’ll talk to my daughter about it.”

“Thank you. We are really very sorry, and we will take every precaution in the future to keep Amber and all of the other kids safe.”

“I’ll be by soon to pick her up and we can talk then.”

“Okay, we’ll see you in a while.”

They both hung up the phone, and Jennifer looked at Adam. She was relieved Amber and the other little girl were okay.

Having heard her side of the conversation, Adam was shaking his head in disbelief. Jennifer was glad he didn’t think she was overreacting. In fact, he was just as upset as she was. It was comforting to know he was on her side.

Instead of going to the antique shop, they headed right over to the preschool. So much for the rest of their date.

Chapter Thirteen

Adam

This is thunder country

Most Wednesday nights Adam played games in his co-ed beer softball league. His team, Zimmerman Thunder, was an odd conglomeration of players, from an elementary teacher to a lawyer to a stay-at-home mom.

What he loved about his team was they all brought the different skills needed to make a great team and at the same time managed to make him laugh the whole time.

A couple weeks after they began dating, he asked Jennifer to attend a home game. Amber was with her new friend for the night, so he was able to talk her into joining his team for a fun night out. He couldn’t help but hope she’d love it and want to join his team.

When they first arrived at the field, they were just walking towards the beer shed when he felt someone hug him from behind.

“Hi Adam!”

It can’t be.

He attempted to turn his body around, but the arms that were still around him tightened, making it difficult. He had to lift his arms up and twist hard.

“Oh, hey, Sarah.” Adam attempted to peel her arms from around his waist. He sighed. “What are you doing here?”

Sarah was like an octopus, one arm twirling around him just as soon as he pried the other one off. He finally pried loose from her grip and took a step back, holding out his arms to keep her away.

“I guess we’re opponents today. Isn’t that fun?”

She was smiling wide, her eyes shining.

Adam shrugged, trying to look indifferent, and looked over to Jennifer. She was pretending to watch the players warming up on the field. Before he thought further, he grabbed her hand and pulled her against his body.

“Sarah, this is Jennifer, my girlfriend.”

Jennifer looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He widened his eyes, hoping he was silently conveying his need for her to play along. She gave a small nod and then turned towards Sarah.

“Hello.”

Sarah pursed her lips and looked Jennifer up and down with a bored look on her face. “
You’re
the girl Adam is seeing?”

Adam shook his head. Could it be any more awkward?

Jennifer’s eyes widened. “Uh…pardon me?”

“Adam told me the other night he couldn’t see me anymore because he’s dating someone.”

The other night?

Jennifer looked to Adam as he explained, “That was weeks ago. And if you’ll recall, I broke it off several months ago.”

Sarah shrugged and picked at her fingernails. “Whatever.”

“We’re going to go grab a beer before the game starts.”

“It was uh, nice to meet you, Sarah.”

Sarah replied, “Likewise.”

The tone of her voice implied anything but.

Adam pulled Jennifer’s hand and led her away. He turned to her and said, “I’m really sorry about that. I was…uh…seeing her for a while. I broke it off a long time ago but she hasn’t quite accepted it.”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“Yes, I do. I’m just sorry you had to deal with her and that she was so rude to you. I had no idea she’d be here tonight.”

Jennifer shrugged her shoulders and grinned at him. “Get me a tall beer, some peanuts and all will be forgiven.”

Adam laughed, relief making his shoulders relax. “You got it.”

One of Adam’s favorite things each game was how the team played
Thunderstruck
, by AC/DC, as the warmup song and to attempt to psych out the other team. They played it a couple times before the game finally began. He informed Jennifer that all of the teams in Zimmerman where Thunder, from football to baseball to softball. He loved it that she grinned and sang along to the song as they played it for the second time.

The game got underway and it didn’t take long to find out the teams were evenly matched. Adam was surprised at how well Sarah could play.

When his team-mate, Janie, ended up spraining her ankle, they needed a spare pitcher to finish out the last couple of innings. It wasn’t hard to convince Jennifer to play in Janie’s place.

Jennifer walked the first player, but then got in the swing of it and struck the next two players out, including Sarah. The last player who came up to bat hit the ball but Jennifer caught it. It was fun to watch his teammates cheering her on and congratulating her on a great inning. More than one person begged her to join their team.

The rest of the game went quickly and they ended up winning. Adam had more fun with Jennifer than he’d ever had in a previous game. He was going to work on getting her to agree to become his permanent teammate.

As they were leaving the ballpark after the game, walking back to Adam’s car, Sarah ran after them.

“Bye, Adam! I’ll call you later.”

Before he had a chance to say anything else, she ran off and jumped into her car.

Adam shook his head. He didn’t quite know what to say.

“That was really fun! I’m really glad I came tonight.”

Adam looked at her, his eyebrow raised. She was ignoring Sarah’s parting remark?

“I’m pretty sure the entire team wants you join.”

She smiled. “Oh, yeah? What about you?”

Adam grinned. “Well, that’s a given. Why do you think I brought you tonight?”

“I’ll give it some thought. I’d have to figure out who could watch Amber.” She paused and said, “How often do you practice?”

“Every other Friday. And some people bring their kids to practice, so that may make practice easier for you?”

“Oh! That’s cool. I’ll let you know, okay?”

Adam nodded and then walked her over to his car, opening the door for her. As soon as he got in to the driver’s side, he leaned across the seat and gave Jennifer a kiss.

He had a really good time that night, despite Sarah’s antics.

Adam really hoped Jennifer would decide to join the team. Not only was she a great player, but then he’d also get to spend more time with her.

He smiled. Having her on the team would be a win-win.

*****

Dating someone who had a child was never something Adam even considered in the past. To be truthful, he probably wouldn’t be open to it now for anyone other than Jennifer.

Although it made him feel selfish, he was glad he didn’t have to deal with some other guy being around, having a history with Jennifer and a relationship with Amber. But he knew Amber deserved to know who her father was.

Adam couldn’t help but fall in love with Amber a little more each time he saw her. He felt sorry for the guy who didn’t even know he had the wonderful little girl as his daughter. He still didn’t think it could be him, although he was taking the test again for Jennifer.

He was enjoying spending time with her and getting to know her better. He’d been making a point to plan dates with Jennifer where Amber would be able to join them and was hoping it would earn him some points with Jennifer.

That day, they were going to a play at the children’s theater and then over to dinner at his mom’s. She couldn’t wait to meet Amber, and finally talked him into having them over for Sunday dinner.

Adam pulled up to Jennifer’s house and was just about to get out of the car to get the girls when he saw them coming out the front door. He watched as Amber ran to his car while Jennifer locked up the house.

Adam got out of his car to grab the booster seat out from it’s place on her front step, and then helped Amber get buckled in.

“Hi, Amber! Excited for the play?”

Amber’s eyes were shining and she squealed in excitement. “I can’t wait to see
The Little Mermaid
.” She pointed to her shirt. “See? I have a shirt with Ariel on it!”

“That’s very cute. Oh, and I have a surprise for you.”

Amber’s eyes lit up. “What is it?”

Adam grinned. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

“Awww, please tell me!”

“You’ll find out when we get to the theater. You’ll love it though, I promise.”

Jennifer finally reached the car and got in.

“Hey,” she said, turning to him. “How are you?”

“I’m good.”

Adam leaned over to give her a quick kiss.

“Ewwww! Gross.”

Adam turned back in time to see Amber hide her face in her hands.

Jennifer giggled. “Oops.”

“I have a surprise for her when we get there.”

“A surprise? What is it?”

Adam raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Funny, Amber asked the exact same thing. If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

Jennifer’s pout looked exactly like Amber’s and Adam laughed again.

*****

“Oh my gosh! I love this!”

Adam laughed at the excitement in Amber’s voice and watched her jump up and down.