“Not yet. We’ve been talking about going to therapy.”
“That would be good,” I assured her, plucking out a lavender bra and panty set. “I am loving this color.”
“I can see that,” Liv said with a smile. “it’ll look great on you. Anyway, enough talk about Ryder, tell me about your date with Mitch.”
I told her all about our trip out to Billings and by the time I finished with the story of my dad finding us making out in the car, we were both laughing so hard we were practically crying.
“Oh my gosh, I can picture your dad … and Mitch. He must have been horrified.”
“It was a moment none of us will soon forget, that’s for sure,” I said once I caught my breath. “I’ll take all of these.”
“You got it,” she said, moving to the register.
Olivia always insisted on giving me the friends discount, even though I tried to tell her not to. It worked out, though, since I gave her a discount on all of her appointments with me as well.
“We should do dinner sometime this week,” I said as I took my bag of goodies from her.
“That sounds perfect. I’ll call you.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you, too, girl,” Liv called as I turned to the door.
Once I was back on the street, I turned my feet toward the school so I could be there to pick up Hope.
“Well, if it isn’t my partner in crime.”
I turned my head to see Mitch coming out of Java Jitters. My tummy tickled and my heart lifted at the sight of him.
“Hey, how are you?” I asked as I walked over to him.
“It’s a beautiful day,” he replied.
“Isn’t it?”
Mitch grinned and looked at the bag in my hand.
“Oh, what have you got there?” he asked, making a grab for it.
“None of your business,” I joked, keeping it out of his reach.
“Hmmm,” he murmured teasingly. “I was about to call you. I was wondering if I could take you and Hope to Sauce it Up for dinner tonight.”
“That sounds great. She’ll love that,” I replied and thought, so would I.
“Great, it’s a date. Should I pick you guys up?”
“Sure. How about six-thirty? That’ll give me enough time to get us both cleaned up and ready.”
“Sounds good.”
My phone went off in my pocket, so I pulled it out and said, “Excuse me. I just need to check this.”
Having a child meant I always had to check my phone to make sure nothing was wrong. Luckily it wasn’t the school, but it was a client in trouble.
“Oh no,” I whispered as I read the text.
“Everything okay?” Mitch asked.
“It’s a client. Her daughter took scissors to her hair and now mom’s texting me with a Mayday. Her daughter refuses to leave her room looking the way she does now.”
“You’d better go. Let me know if you need to push back the dinner.”
“Yeah, shoot, I was going to pick up Hope from school. I’ll need to call my parents and see if one of them can get her.”
“Why don’t I pick her up?” Mitch suggested.
My gaze flew to his and I asked, “Are you serious?”
He shrugged and said, “Well, yeah. We’re getting together tonight for dinner anyway, right? I can pick her up, we can go for ice cream, and then we can go back to your place and wait for you … or I could take her to mine. Whatever you need.”
“Wow, that would really help me out,” I said, my mind spinning. “I’ll call the school and let them know and Hope knows where I keep the spare key in case we get locked out. I’ll meet you both there as soon as I’m done.”
One of the perks of living in a small town … here, a phone call would suffice, but in Chicago, Mitch would have already had to be on file as allowed to pick Hope up and would have to show picture ID.
“Perfect.”
“Thanks so much,” I said, and on impulse, I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “You’re a lifesaver.”
22
Mitch
I walked into the front office of the school, greeting the staff as I passed them by. Last summer I’d repainted the interior, and in the fall, the exterior, so I pretty much recognized everyone who worked there.
“Afternoon, Sandy. I’m here to pick up Hope Evans. Faith should have called to let you know,” I said to the woman manning the desk.
“Yes, Mitch, you’re all good. The bell will ring in five minutes. Let me show you where Hope will be let out.”
We walked through the building and outside the back doors. Sandy left me standing outside near a blue dot painted on the sidewalk with a few parents.
A few moments later, the air filled with excited children’s chatter as the door opened and a bunch of first graders came spilling out. I searched the sea of messy hair and smudged faces until I saw blonde pigtails and mismatched shoes rushing toward me.
“Mr. Mitch,” Hope said excitedly, coming to such a quick stop in front of me I wouldn’t have been surprised if she left skid marks on the ground. “My teacher said you were picking me up.”
“That is correct, Ms. Hope,” I said, holding out my hand for her. “I was thinking we could go on an adventure walk, maybe stop and get some ice cream. What do you think?”
“I’ve never been on an adventure walk before,” she said, her little eyes widening at the thought.
“Then we have to do it,” I told her. “Do you have everything?”
Hope swiveled so I could see the backpack she was carrying.
“Can I take that for you?” I asked, thinking it may become cumbersome for her as we walked around town.
“Sure,” she said, shrugging it off.
I took the backpack and swung it over one shoulder. “Let’s be off.”
Hope giggled and started skipping next to me as we exited school grounds.
“Okay, so one of the most important things about adventure walks is to keep your eyes open and take in your surroundings as you walk. Look at everything … nothing is too big or too small. You never know what you may find.”
“Okay,” Hope replied, her tone serious. She stopped skipping and started moving at a snail’s pace, half bent over as she searched both sides of the sidewalk. Suddenly she stopped and said, “Look!”
I stopped next to her and crouched down.
“A ladybug,” she whispered.
“Very good. It looks like it’s going home after a busy day at work.”
“Oh, there’s a roly poly,” she said, pointing a stick she picked up a few inches away from the ladybug, closer to the grass. “Maybe they’re friends.”
“I bet you’re right. They probably work together in the ant factory, and they walk to and from work together every day,” I surmised.
“Do you think they have families?” Hope asked, her eyes never leaving the bugs.
“Absolutely. And their kids go to school together.”
“Wow.”
“Should we keep going? See what we come upon next?” I asked.
Hope nodded and stood up straight before giving the bugs a wide berth and moving farther down the sidewalk before resuming her bent-over walk.
“There,” I called out, causing her to turn and look at me, then follow the direction of my finger. “A squirrel just darted up that tree.”
We stepped onto the grass and up to the tree and both looked up to watch the squirrel climb up the trunk and onto a branch.
“How can a squirrel climb up and down like that?” Hope asked, her voice full of awe.
“Squirrels have super-flexible joints in their ankles that make it easy for it to turn and sharp claws that dig into the bark of the tree.” I wasn’t sure why I remembered that from science class, but I was fascinated by squirrels when I was younger. How they could move so quickly and go up so high and seemingly never fall or get hurt.
“I wish I could do that,” Hope said, her head still tilted back as sh
e monitored the squirrel’s movements. “I tried to climb a tree once, but I fell and hurt my knee, so my mommy told me not to do it again.”
She placed her hand in mine and we started through the grass and paused at the fountain in the middle of the square.
“What kind of birds are those?” she asked.
“That one there is a robin and those two over there drinking are mountain bluebirds.”
“They’re so pretty.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Ready for some ice cream?”
Hope nodded enthusiastically and took off at a run toward the ice cream stand on the other side of the square.
Not wanting to lose her, I jogged after her, slowing down when I was right behind her so she could get to the ice cream stand first.
“I won,” she said happily when we arrived.
“You did. You sure are fast.”
We stepped closer to get in line.
“What kind of ice cream do you like?” I asked her.
“Strawberry, please.”
“In a cone or a bowl?”
Hope looked at me like I was nuts and said, “A cone.”
I chuckled and ordered two cones, one strawberry for Hope and a butter pecan for me.
Once we had our ice cream, I looked down at her and asked, “Shall we continue our adventure walk or go sit down with our ice cream?”
“Adventure walk,” Hope said firmly.
“Your wish is my command,” I assured her, and off we went to continue our adventure on the walk to her house.
23
Faith
I opened the back door to my house and was greeted by peals of laughter.
Sounds like Hope and Mitch are getting along just fine, I thought with a pleased smile.
It was nice to hear laughter after being inundated by a flood of tears for the last few hours.
My client’s fifteen-year-old daughter had decided she’d needed bangs after watching a video and had foolishly decided to try and give them to herself. She had cut too much and too far, way past the bang stage, and had been an emotional wreck.
Now, she was rocking a stylishly cute pixie, which luckily fit her face perfectly.
I walked straight to the counter to unload everything I was carrying, then went in search of the duo I’d been wishing I was with all afternoon.
I found them in Hope’s room. They were both sitting on the floor with Hope’s large Legos spread out all around them and it looked like they were building some sort of village or compound.
Prince Alice was asleep on Hope’s bed, which was typical. He didn’t really come to life until three in the morning. Then he wanted all of your attention.
I took a few moments to watch them unnoticed. It warmed my heart to see how good he was with Hope, and it was obvious she was basking under his attention. It had been so long since Hope had had a positive male role model, other than her grandpa, and it only endeared me to Mitch that much more.
“Hey, guys,” I said, leaning against the doorjamb of the room. “What are you up to?”
“Building a zoo,” Hope said excitedly, not looking up from what she was doing.
Mitch’s head lifted and his lips curved up when his gaze met mine.
“How’d it go?” he asked, his low tone and sexy smile sending shivers down my spine.
“Crisis averted,” I told him, thinking how nice it was for someone to ask me about my day. Was this what it would always be like if Mitch and I ended up together? I couldn’t help but think it sounded nice.
“That’s good.”
“How about with you? Any issues picking up Hope?”
“Not at all. You hungry?” he asked.
“Actually, I hope you don’t mind, but I thought it may be nicer for us to eat in, so I picked up Sauce it Up on my way home. It’s in the kitchen.”
“That sounds perfect. You ready to eat dinner, princess?” he asked Hope, and my heart melted.
Hope looked up at me for the first time since I’d arrived and asked, “Did you get spaghetti?”
“Of course,” I replied easily.
Hope hopped up and rushed to me, taking my hand as she started to pull me out of her room. Prince Alice opened one eye and promptly closed it again.
“Mr. Mitch took me on an adventure walk. We saw a ladybug, a roly poly, a squirrel, and some birds, and then we had ice cream. When we were walking home, I dropped some ice cream and Mr. Wilson’s dog came and licked it up, then he pooped on the grass, but don’t worry, Mr. Wilson picked it up. I told Mr. Mitch it’s your pet pee when people don’t clean up their dogs’ poop.”
“Pet peeve,” I corrected, chuckling at her enthusiasm.
“Pet peeve,” she mimicked, before pressing on. “When we got home, we saw a spider web. I didn’t like that much, but Mr. Mitch said spiders are an important part of ec … what was it, Mr. Mitch?” she asked him as we entered the kitchen.
“Ecosystem,” he replied.
“Yeah, the ecosystem. So, it’s still outside on the front porch.”
I grabbed some plates out of the cupboard and set them out, before opening the containers and putting serving utensils in them and taking some of the spaghetti and garlic bread to put on Hope’s plate.
“Go wash up for dinner and I’ll put your plate on the table,” I told her, then looked at Mitch. “I chose a few different dishes, since I wasn’t sure what you liked. I figured we could eat family style.”
“Sounds good to me. I like it all,” he said easily.
I handed him a plate and asked, “What would you like to drink? I have beer, wine, iced tea, water, and some Coke, I believe.”
“Whatever you’re having works,” Mitch said, taking a little from each container.
I’d picked up spaghetti, carbonara, gnocchi, and chicken marsala, which was all stuff I knew we would eat and hoped there’d be something in there to satisfy Mitch. I should have known he still wasn’t picky, he never had been.
I took out a bottle of red wine and opened it, grabbed two glasses, and poured one each for Mitch and me. Then I grabbed some milk for Hope and took it, along with her plate, to the table.
Once we were all seated, Hope began telling me all about the zoo they were building, in between bites of spaghetti.
“There’s going to be a reptile habitat and a big open place where all of the big animals, like the lions and bears and gorillas, can all live together, just like they would in the wild … like in Madagascar.”
The Madagascar movies were currently her favorite.
We’d gone through the phases of Moana and Frozen, and even a few classics like Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. But once she’d seen Madagascar, with its funny lines, catchy songs, and colorful designs, she was hooked.
My Hope was an animal lover to be sure.
We ate and mostly listened to Hope talk, but Mitch and I did share a few looks over our meal. Some were filled with humor, then a bit of tension, and finally a few full of heat. It was getting harder and harder to believe I’d ever had anxiety over my relationship with Mitch and his expectations. It was obvious to me now that he liked me for who I was, imperfect or not, and the less pressure I felt from him, the less I put on myself.
I’m sure it was a combination of my medication and the sessions I still had online with my therapist back in Chicago, but it finally felt like I was giving myself permission to consider an actual future with Mitch.
I found myself hoping he’d stay until after Hope had her bath and was put to bed, so we could share a make-out session on my couch. And this time, we wouldn’t be interrupted.
24
Mitch
We were interrupted.
Again.
This time by Hope.
Things had been going great. Dinner was delicious and delightful, with Hope making me laugh over her exuberance and constant chatter.
When Faith had taken Hope to start her bath, I’d cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, refilled our wine glasses, and taken them into the
living room to wait for Faith. While I waited, I turned on the TV and found some old Seinfeld reruns.
A little while later, Hope came out to say goodnight, gave me the sweetest hugs, and went to bed, leaving Faith and me alone.
“Thanks again for picking Hope up today. It sounds like she had a blast. You’re really good with her,” Faith said as she settled back on the couch with her wine.
“She makes it easy,” I replied, smiling as I thought of all of her questions and the conversations we’d had. “She’s really special.”
“Thanks, I think so, too.”
The Seinfeld laugh track was going off in the background, but my attention was rapt on Faith. She really was more beautiful than ever, and seeing her with her daughter only made her more so. She’d always been a bright light in my life, but now I could see how the adversity she’d faced and overcome had made her shine even brighter.
“Have you thought about becoming a father?” Faith asked, leaning against the arm of the couch and turning so she could face me while bringing her legs up. When she would have kept her knees bent, I urged her to lay her legs across mine.
Once she was comfortable, I started rubbing her stocking-clad feet.
It was a familiar position, one we’d sat in a million times over the years.
“Oh my gosh, that’s good,” she murmured, her eyes drifting shut.
I chuckled and answered her question.
“Well … you know I thought about it when we were younger, because we talked about it. But after you left and time went on, I guess it didn’t really cross my mind. Oh, I guess when someone would have a baby or I’d see kids playing on a job, I’d wonder if I’d ever get the opportunity, but since I never went on more than a few dates with anyone, it just didn’t seem like it was in the cards,” I admitted, although thinking now of our high school plans, and how sure I’d been that I’d marry Faith and have a family, made me a bit sad.
Perfect Summer: Mason Creek, book 7 Page 8