Mommy Wanted

by Renee Andrews

  “For a couple of weeks, while she tries to find a rental house,” he said.

  “Cool,” Hannah said. “I’m looking forward to meeting her. Why don’t you see if she wants to come over so I can?”

  “Hey, Daddy, look! It’s Miss Kate!” Dee yelled, as Kate climbed out of her car. “Miss Kate, come see our new prizes from the beach!”

  Mitch’s smile grew as he watched Kate start heading their way. “I think Dee’s taken care of that for us.”

  * * *

  Kate had clearly been shaken up at the community college when she learned Chad was still gone, because she’d honestly thought she would drive to the B and B, walk across the street and divulge the truth about her first marriage and child to Mitch. She wasn’t thinking that he’d be involved with taking care of his girls this afternoon. And she also didn’t consider the fact that he might have company.

  But he was taking care of the girls and he did have company, a pretty brunette sitting on his front porch step beside him, and Kate would simply have to wait until another time to tell her secrets. Disappointment washed through her, but she took a deep breath and hoped it wasn’t visible as she crossed the street. Dee had called her over, and there was no way she’d let the girls down by ignoring them.

  Another girl, maybe eight or nine years old, called to Dee to watch for the ball. Dee waved to Kate and then turned her attention back to the game the two were playing, while Emmie sat on the grass nearby, laughing as she attempted to kick her own ball.

  “Hey, Miss Kate,” Dee said. “Did you see how I catched it? Autumn throws me the ball and it sticks right here!” She pointed to the neon green Velcro-covered paddle. “See?”

  “Wow, that’s really neat, Dee,” she said.

  “You want to catch with it?” she asked, already starting to undo the strap securing the paddle to her hand.

  “No, sweetie, that’s okay. You play with Autumn today while she’s here, and you can teach me how to play another day.”

  Kate bit her lower lip. Autumn was Matt and Hannah Graham’s little girl, and she hesitated a step before moving closer to the porch. The woman next to Mitch was Hannah, his sister-in-law, and the one person in town who’d actually spent a moment of time with Kate before she left Chad.

  “I brought y’all a chicken casserole, some green beans from Daddy’s garden and fresh corn.” Kate remembered Hannah placing the dishes in their kitchen while Lainey had been crying on Kate’s hip. Hannah had been so friendly, so welcoming, and Kate had ushered her out of the house as quickly as possible, because she was already planning how she could leave the clingy husband and screaming baby and get back to Atlanta.

  God, please, help me.

  “Hey, I’m Hannah. I spoke to you on the phone earlier,” Hannah said as Kate neared. “I’m glad Mitch found someone to help him in the office.”

  Kate smiled, took a step forward and tripped over the edge of her dress. “Oh,” she said, teetering and ending up a little closer to the porch steps than she’d planned. If Hannah were going to recognize her from before, Kate had just made it even easier.

  Back when she’d met Hannah the first time, Kate’s wardrobe had consisted of sleeveless halter tops, shorts and miniskirts. Now she consistently wore dresses that covered the majority of her thin legs and concealed her pale skin, partly because she was self-conscious about her pallor but even more because she simply wanted to dress modestly. However, today’s long dress had nearly landed her in their laps.

  Hannah and Mitch both jumped up from their seats in an effort to catch Kate before she fell right into them, but she righted herself and forced an embarrassed smile. “Trust me, I type better than I walk.”

  Mitch and Hannah both laughed, sat back down and then motioned for Kate to do the same.

  “Can you visit with us for a sec?” Hannah asked.

  Once she’d seen Mitch had company, Kate hadn’t planned to do much more than say hello, but she didn’t want to seem rude, so she sat down and thanked God that Hannah didn’t appear to have any recollection of meeting her three years ago. “Sure.”

  “So, where did you live before?” Hannah asked.

  “I was in Atlanta. I’ve spent the majority of my life there, actually,” Kate answered, but didn’t elaborate.

  “And Mitch mentioned you have amazing office-management skills. Where did you work?”

  “At a doctor’s office in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta,” Kate said. She’d actually worked for three different doctors over the past few years, and she’d had affairs with all of them but the last one, for whom she’d started working after the cancer took hold. He was nearing retirement and had a sweet wife whom Kate adored. They were strong Christians and had encouraged her to turn to God instead of giving up. She would forever be grateful to them for that, and she was also grateful for the glowing reference he’d provided to Mitch that allowed her to get the new job.

  “Well, I think it’s great that Mitch found someone with office-management experience. It’s not easy to find anyone in Claremont like that because it’s such a small town, and there aren’t that many places that even need an office manager.” Hannah paused, tilted her head as she studied Kate. “You know, something about you seems so familiar....”

  Kate swallowed. “Maybe I have one of those faces, the kind that it seems like you’ve seen before.” She managed a laugh. “Common features.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Mitch said softly, and Kate found herself turning from Hannah to Mitch, who’d been quietly listening to every word she’d said and had, at some point, scooted a little closer to her on the step.

  “Thanks,” she whispered, losing herself in the blueness of his eyes and the reddish-blond lashes surrounding them. He was such a unique, interesting man, and he made her feel calm.

  Hannah cleared her throat loudly, and Kate blinked, then turned her attention back to the lady still studying her intently but now with a little bit of a smile. “So...what brought you to Claremont?”

  Kate noticed Mitch straighten beside her, as though he didn’t want Hannah asking this particular question, but Kate didn’t mind. She’d give her the same answer she gave him...for now. Later, whenever she got the opportunity to talk to Mitch alone, she’d explain everything. But now she only said, “I wanted to experience small-town living.”

  Hannah nodded but then squinted at Kate. “You really do seem familiar. Did you do any modeling at some point? We have a store on the square called Consigning Women, where the owner, Maribeth Walton, matches outfits of models and celebrities with the items she has in her store. She’ll put the pictures up of the models on the board beside the outfits. Maybe I saw you there?” Her tone was as friendly and inviting as Kate remembered, even if it did feel as if she was getting pleasantly interrogated.

  “No, I’ve never modeled,” she said. Then, ready to get away before Hannah put her finger on exactly why she seemed so familiar, Kate stood. “Well, I’m going to get over to the B and B and let y’all continue your visit. It was a pleasure to meet you, Hannah.”

  “You, too.”

  Mitch reached for her hand and held it a moment. “I’m glad you came over,” he said.

  Kate enjoyed the momentary contact, palm to palm, flesh to flesh, the warmth of his hand cloaking hers and making her feel as if everything would somehow be okay. “I’m glad, too,” she said.

  Still holding her hand, he added, “I’ll see you at work in the morning.”

  “Yes, I’ll see you there,” she said, then noticed Hannah staring at their joined hands...and smiling.

  “In case anyone’s wondering, I’m glad you came over, too,” she said.

  Mitch’s low laugh caused a sweet tingle along Kate’s spine, and she felt her cheeks blush as she quickly released his hand. “Thanks, Hannah,” she said, and then gave each of the girls a hug before walking back to the B and B.

  She was nearly to the opposite sidewalk when she clearly heard Hannah’s next four words to her brother-in-
law.

  “I like her, Mitch.”

  Kate entered the B and B, closed the door and leaned against it. Then she let her tears of happiness fall, and she prayed that she wouldn’t shed tears of sadness when Hannah learned who she was.

  Chapter Nine

  Kate drove down I-20 from Atlanta toward Claremont thinking about how she couldn’t wait for the results of today’s checkup to come in. Her oncologist had said if everything came back good again, she could start scheduling her appointments for every six months instead of every three. And then, if she continued having clear reports for another year, her exam would occur annually. The anxiety that she developed for each of these appointments nearly made her as sick as she’d been the days after chemo. This morning she hadn’t been able to eat breakfast, and at lunch she hadn’t felt any better, so she’d skipped that, too.

  She’d been so anxious that she’d hardly said anything to Mitch today beyond answering his questions about work. She’d wanted to ask him more about his visit with Hannah and Autumn, and she’d wondered what he’d thought of Hannah’s comment that she liked Kate.

  Kate desperately wanted the Claremont community to like her. Maybe it’d be easier to forgive her when they learned who she was if they’d grown to like the new Kate. But Hannah’s approval meant even more because she was so close to Mitch.

  Kate’s stomach growled loudly, obviously ready to make up for that missed breakfast and lunch. She exited the interstate at the next town to pick up something from one of the fast-food restaurants. A cheeseburger sounded really good and should take care of her hunger.

  But as she pulled into the Wendy’s parking lot, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the display, she saw Mitch’s name, so she ignored the drive-through lane and pulled into one of the parking spaces to talk.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hey, how did your appointment go?” he asked.

  She still hadn’t told him what kind of appointment it was, but she did have a positive feeling about today’s checkup, so she answered, “It went good.”

  “That’s great,” he said, then he cleared his throat, and the line went silent.

  Kate waited, wondering if this was the extent of the conversation. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning?” she finally asked, and hoped he’d say that he wanted her to come over and spend time with him and the girls tonight. Even though she’d been gone only this afternoon, she’d missed him, and she’d missed Dee and Emmie, too.

  She wondered, if she were able to have a relationship with Lainey, whether this was the type of longing she’d feel toward wanting to see her little girl. Oh, she longed to see her now, but she didn’t “know” her like she knew Dee and Emmie. And she wanted to know her. Maybe if her prayers were answered with a yes, she would know her daughter very well, very soon.

  A couple of cars went through the parking lot to line up at the drive-through while Kate continued waiting for Mitch to say something. Finally, he said, “I’m not all that used to this, but I’m going to give it my best shot here. So bear with me.”

  He sounded nervous, not like the confident man she’d become so familiar with over the past week, and Kate pressed the phone closer to her ear. “What is it, Mitch?”

  “Hannah offered to let the girls stay at their place tonight so they could spend some time with Autumn, since they missed the beach trip. And she thought—or actually, I thought—well, I wondered if you might be hungry and want to have some dinner with me?”

  Kate’s stomach growled again, loud enough that she thought he might have heard it over the line, and she placed a hand over her mouth because her smile was so broad it hurt. Tears slipped free. Mitch was asking her on a date. A real date. Dinner. Over the past few years, she’d never been the kind of girl a guy took out in public. Harrison Tinsdale was divorced when he and Kate got together, so there was no reason for him to feel the need to keep from taking her out, but once the cancer hit and her weight fell off and she lost her hair, the renowned plastic surgeon opted out of a relationship with a girl who no longer fit his standard for perfection.

  “Kate?” Mitch continued, and she realized that now she’d been the one to keep him waiting on the other end.

  But she wouldn’t keep him waiting any longer. And she wouldn’t get that cheeseburger. Dinner with Mitch would be worth the wait. Anything that involved spending time with Mitch would be worth the wait. Tonight, they’d have their first date, and then she’d tell him the truth about Chad and Lainey. For her entire life, she’d done the wrong thing; now she was doing what was right. She could feel it in her soul, and it was a very wonderful, amazingly good feeling. Mitch would forgive her for her past. He would. She’d prayed for it, and she knew her prayers would be answered. Tonight. “Yes, I’d love to go to dinner with you. I should be back to Claremont in about an hour.”

  “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty, then,” he said. “And, Kate...”

  “Yes?”

  “This is my first date in about three years, so I might be a bit rusty.”

  Kate’s heart melted. He was so nervous about starting over again, but little did he know, so was she. “That’s okay. It’s been that long since I’ve been on a real date, too, so we’ll be rusty together.”

  * * *

  Mitch opened the door of the B and B and waited in the foyer, as nervous as a high schooler picking up a girl for their first date and fretting about meeting the parents. But there were no parents to meet.

  Then he heard someone bustling down the hall and realized he’d been wrong. She wasn’t a parent, but he had no doubt Annette Tingle had already taken on a motherly type role in Kate’s world, and the way she looked at him now, her eyes expectant and inquisitive, Mitch prepared for something akin to the high school drilling. Where are you going? When will you be back? What are you planning to do while you’re gone?

  Mrs. Tingle said, “Kate is still getting ready. She’ll be down in a moment. Why don’t we wait on the porch?”

  “Okay,” Mitch said, thinking there was probably a reason she ushered him outside and then closed the door instead of allowing him to wait in the foyer.

  His suspicions proved true when she lowered her voice and said, “This means a lot to Kate, you asking her to dinner this evening, and I wanted you to know I think it’s a good thing, too, for her and for you.” Then she glanced back toward the door, still closed, and added in a whisper, “She’s been hurt in the past, and she’s hurt folks in the past. I don’t know the specifics, but I know that that sweet girl has been through a lot and that she’s trying to find her way again. And I honestly think God sent her here to do that.”

  “She’s talked to you?” he asked, curious as to whether Annette knew about the child or about whatever else had happened in Kate’s past.

  “Like I said, nothing specific, only to say that she’s not sure she deserves forgiveness for what she’s done. Breaks my heart, let me tell you.”

  Mitch hurt for Kate, feeling so terrible about letting her baby go. He wanted to help her find the forgiveness she needed and learn to live again. Maybe even learn to love again, if that was where this relationship headed. Because Mitch had started to think that it might be possible for him again...with Kate. Tonight was merely the first step in seeing if that possibility could become probability and then ultimately reality.

  The door opened, Kate stepped out and Mitch was momentarily speechless. She wore a long royal-blue dress, more classy than any of the dresses she’d worn to the office or to church. Tiny spaghetti straps held it in place on her slender shoulders, and a layer of lace, the same hue as the dress, covered the fabric and hung a little lower than the hem, drawing attention to her gold sandals and pink-painted toes. Her dark curls were pinned up on the sides with gold barrettes, and that gold locket that she often wore dangled beneath her neck. She looked so feminine, so beautiful.

  And Mitch had to tell her. “You look...stunning.”

  The spot between her neck and that locket blush
ed pink. “Thank you,” she said, touching that very place as if she could feel her heated skin. “I’m sorry you had to wait, but I had a hard time picking what to wear.”

  “I like what you chose,” he said. “That color matches your eyes, makes them even bluer, I think.”

  Mrs. Tingle nodded her agreement. “I think so, too.” Then she smiled at Mitch, gave Kate a hug and kissed her cheek. “Y’all have a good time,” she said, still smiling as she went back into the house.

  And then the two of them stood on the porch, alone and anxious. Mitch cleared his throat. “So, you ready to go?”

  She nodded. “I am.”

  Mitch stepped toward her and thought about putting his arm around her as he walked her to the car, but it didn’t seem the right thing to do, at least not yet. So he walked beside her, holding out a hand to help her as they went down the porch steps, since she used one hand to hold up the lacy hem of her dress. It felt good to help her, felt right to hold her hand, so when they reached the bottom of the steps, Mitch didn’t let go. And she didn’t pull away.

  A tiny measure of success trickled through him, and he found himself feeling a bit of ease at this first-date thing. He opened the passenger door and watched her gather the blue fabric to puddle around her legs as she climbed in. She was so graceful. So...fragile, his mind whispered. Fragile. Why did he get that impression? Maybe because of Mrs. Tingle’s comments that Kate had been hurt and that she also felt the pain of having hurt others. Mitch assumed that had something to do with when she gave up her child. He wanted to help her through those pains, but he’d have to wait until she trusted him enough to open up. Maybe she would start tonight.

  He circled the car and got in the driver’s seat to find Kate holding up a tiny pink Hello Kitty bag.

  “I’m thinking this isn’t for me?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Hannah called to say the girls forgot their toothbrushes, so I thought we’d drop them off at their place before we go to the restaurant, if that’s okay.”