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“How do you find these places?” I asked incredulously.
“I saw it this morning when I went to get you Starbucks. Soooo? What do you say?”
I frowned. I didn’t really want to sing. But the jerk was pouting and giving me puppy dog eyes. Besides, I had agreed the other night.
“Fine,” I tossed my hands in the air. “I’ll sing.”
“That didn’t take much convincing,” he smiled, pleased with himself.
“Yeah, well, don’t make me regret it,” I crossed my arms over my chest, taking in the small town as we drove through. It was cute and quaint, kind of reminding me of home. “Are we going back to the hotel?”
“Nah,” he shook his head. “Thought we’d drive around for a bit. Get some lunch. See the sights.”
“What sights?” I replied sarcastically.
“There are unique things in any place,” he poked my cheek to annoy me. “You just have to know where to look.”
“And somehow you know how to find these places? Does Dora teach you how to find them?”
He threw his head back in laughter. “First off, Dora is highly educational and I like to brush up on my Spanish. Secondly, I can sing the backpack song better than anyone. Thirdly,” he held up three fingers, “I happen to be a very awesome explorer.”
“You—ugh,” I groaned, at a loss for words. Trace truly was one of a kind. When we had kids one day, they were going to have the coolest dad ever.
“Have I rendered you speechless?” He scratched his stubbly jaw. “It’s okay. It happens to a lot of people. They don’t know how to handle all of this,” he motioned a hand to his body. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a minute to compose yourself,” he smiled boyishly.
I put my hand over my mouth to hide my smile.
A few minutes later he found a parking spot along the street and parked the car. He hopped out, rifling through the pocket of his ratty jeans for some change to put in the meter.
When the meter was full, he took my hand and we started down the street, ambling in and out of the little shops.
“Let’s go in there,” I pointed to a unique looking little store that had quote plaques in the window and handmade paper stars.
When we stepped inside, I looked up in awe. More paper stars, in varying sizes and color, adorned the ceiling. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. My neck began to hurt with the craning I was doing but I couldn’t stop looking. They were mesmerizing.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” A voice said, snapping me back to reality.
I straightened my neck and found myself gazing at a kind older lady. Her gray hair hung to her shoulders and her blue eyes were kind with crinkles at the corners. Laugh lines wrinkled her mouth. She smiled sweetly at me, waiting for me to reply.
“Amazing,” I gasped when I finally found my voice.
“My son and I made every single one of those. He’s gone now though,” she said sadly. “I find origami very relaxing. Have you ever tried?” She asked, clasping her hands together.
“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t think I’d have the patience. And I’m sorry about your son,” I added.
She waved her hand in dismissal. “Ah, but maybe it would teach you to have some,” she laughed quietly. “I could teach you, if you’d like. Or I have some instruction books and starter kits,” she pointed to a far corner of the room. “The starter kits have precut strips of paper to make it easier.”
“I’m not sure,” I frowned.
“We’ll take one,” Trace said, appearing at my side, draping an arm over my shoulder. “I think Olivia would be good at origami.”
The woman’s smile widened. “What a pretty name. I always liked that name.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m Margaret,” she held out her hand. “My husband and I own this store.”
“Well, it’s lovely. You already know I’m Olivia, and this is my husband, Trace.” My heart stopped beating for a moment when I said ‘husband’. It was strange to think that I was actually married, but wonderful at the same time.
