Echoes of Summer by Laura D. Bastian Page A

leaned down to wave to Milo. “See you tomorrow.”
    “Bye, Dad.”
    Madison’s heart froze. Milo had taken to him immediately and, without any prompting or hesitance whatsoever, had completely accepted him as his father.
    She glanced at Stephen to see if he’d been affected by it at all and frowned to see the shock and surprise in his face.
    Oh, Milo would sure make this interesting. Question was, could she survive it?

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Fourteen
     
    Madison opened the door to her office, surprised to see a bouquet of flowers on her desk. She smiled at the variety of colors, all of the same flower. Snapdragons. Her favorite growing up. Her mother had a huge flower garden reserved just for snapdragons, and Madison and her sisters had always pulled off the petals and pinched the corners to make the mouth open.
    She looked for a card and wasn’t surprised to see it was from Stephen. It only said a simple Thank You , but she smiled anyway. Nothing romantic, which was good, but the flowers were a sweet reminder of their childhood. They had had some good times each summer, and she let herself remember them for a moment. She rubbed her fingers across the soft lips of one flower, then not even hesitating, she pulled it from the stem and pinched the corners just like she used to do at home.
    As the mouth opened, she smiled as she thought of what the flowers would have to say. She squeezed it a couple times making the mouth open and close. Just before she began speaking for it, a knock on her door made her turn around. Stephen stood there, a soft smile on his face. She lifted the flower petal up and pressed the lips. “Thank you.”
    He smiled wider and stepped inside. “You’re welcome. Thanks for letting me meet Milo. Would it be okay if I gave him something today?” He took another step toward her but stopped and fidgeted with his hands. “Something to make up for all the birthdays I missed.”
    Madison raised her eyebrow. “Like what?”
    “A Lego set?” Stephen smiled. “I found one he said he didn’t have and wanted to save up for.”
    Madison thought for a moment, wondering if that would give Milo the wrong impression, that he would be getting gifts from Stephen all the time. Or did Stephen think he needed to buy his way into Milo’s affections? “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
    Stephen’s smile disappeared. “Do you mind telling me why?”
    Madison rubbed her finger across the petal of the snapdragon she still held. “Well, because you just met, and I don’t want him to think you’ll be bringing him toys all the time. It’s not his birthday and I’ve tried to be careful to not make him think he can have whatever he wants. He’s been saving his money for that, and if you just give it to him, he won’t learn anything. Besides, Lego sets are huge and expensive, and I don’t think that will set a good precedent for your interactions with each other.”
    Stephen nodded slowly, but she could tell he didn’t agree with her. “What about a smaller set then? I can save this one for his birthday later.” He tilted his head to the side. “When is his birthday anyway?”
    “May 4th.”
    Stephen grinned. “He’s a Star Wars baby?”
    Madison furrowed her brow. “A what?”
    “ Star Wars. May the fourth. May the fourth be with you?”
    Madison chuckled. “I’ve never heard of that.”
    “You’ve seen Star Wars. I know you have. We watched it together.”
    Stephen smiled, and Madison nodded. From what she could remember, they’d made out a lot during those movies though, so was it any wonder she hadn’t paid much attention to the show?
    “I think saving the big set for a birthday would be better, if you don’t mind. The smaller one would be fine, but I don’t want you to buy him stuff all the time. He has lots of toys, and he doesn’t need you to buy your way into his life.”
    Stephen frowned. “I wasn’t trying to buy my way in. I just wanted to do something nice for