Free Love at Last by Darlene Panzera Page A

couldn’t help but smile. “My son has done so many kick-flips he broke his board in half. Tomorrow is his thirteenth birthday, and I bought him a new one, except I can’t get the wheels on, and I was wondering…”
    “As a matter of fact,” he said, his tone filled with sympathetic warmth, “I can build skateboards. My son, Kyle, is twelve and he’s also a skater.”
    Sarah tried to look past him into the house. “I didn’t realize you had a family.”  
    “I have a son,” he clarified, “but he’s only here on weekends. I pick him up from his mom’s later tonight.”
    Oh. Her breath caught in her chest. He was single.
    “Maybe you could bring your son over to Tommy’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon so he can meet the other boys in the neighborhood?”
    “That would be great.” 
    His gaze dipped toward her left hand, and she realized he was checking to see if she wore a wedding ring. She didn’t. Not for several months. And at the moment, she was glad.
    Back in her garage, Sarah pointed to the diagram on the directions. “I got to step five and realized I did something wrong.”
    “I think you just had it backwards.” Matt retrieved the wrench she’d thrown across the floor and readjusted the screws to attach the wheels.
    “Backwards?” She leaned in close to peer over his shoulder.
    “You’re better at this than you think.”
    “No, I’m not. If you only knew how long it took me to put the grip tape on the top of the board-”
    Matt laughed, a deep throaty laugh, the kind that makes you automatically want to join in even if you don’t get the joke.
    “Please don’t tell anyone I said that,” she pleaded. Heat flooded her cheeks once again. “It would ruin my reputation.”
    “Why? Are you expected to be a skateboard specialist?”
    “In a way, yes,” she admitted. “Since my husband passed away, a year and a half ago, I’ve tried to be both mom and dad to Tommy.”
    “Whoever said you had to fill the shoes of both?”
    “I did, I guess.” She shrugged and gave him a slight, nervous nod. “I’m afraid if I ask for help too often people will think I’m needy.” 
    “Everyone needs help,” he said with a grin, “even Snow White. Do you think she’d be able to clean up after all those dwarves if her animal friends didn’t help her?”
    Sarah smiled. “Thanks, Matt.”
    “No problem. That’s what neighbors are for, right?”
    Matt felt like he was the one who needed help as his son Kyle stared at the TV and refused to acknowledge him. He tried to initiate conversation once again during a commercial break. “How was school this week?”
    Kyle shrugged. “Boring.”
    Well, at least he’d answered this time.
    Kyle’s reaction to his new house hadn’t been what Matt had expected. His new room didn’t impress him either.
    Matt had stood in the doorway as his son dropped his backpack in the middle of the floor and looked around.
    “I built shelves for your CDs, and installed surround sound for your iPod dock. I screwed in the hooks over there so you can hang your skateboards on the wall.” He waited for Kyle’s reaction. “What do you think?”
    “It’s okay.”
    “If you want I can move your bed over against the far side of the room to give you more space.”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    Matt struggled to hide his disappointment. He’d hoped Kyle would be excited. Or at the very least, show some interest. Instead, his son had retreated to the living room and stationed himself in front of the TV.
    Matt never thought he’d want to be a homeowner again, but he didn’t like to see his hard-earned money being sucked up in rent, either. Then when he was installing a deck for a family up the street, he’d seen this house for sale and it was love at first sight. “Don’t you want to see the rest of the house?”
    “Later.”
    Matt nodded and the silence stretched between them.
    “So what would you like to do tomorrow?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “I met the