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“I didn’t get your name,” Harper said, ignoring my haste. She was kneeling in front of Billy now, whose cheeks had gone bright red.
“Billy.” I saw him use the same breathing techniques I’d taught Molly for when he got anxious. I felt a little surge of pride. He looked calmer, but then he used his new-found calm for evil. “My dad is Greyson. He’s thirty-six, but he can bench press three hundred pounds. A lot of younger guys can’t even do that. He doesn’t go on dates because when he’s not working he’s spending time with us, but we’re getting older now and we can look after ourselves. How old are you?” His sentences came out rapid-fire with barely any space between to breathe.
Harper smiled and her eyes slid in my direction briefly, flicking down to my chest and then back to Billy. “I’m twenty-three.”
Thirteen years younger than me.
“Does that mean you’re old enough to marry?” Molly asked.
Harper laughed. “Yes. If I wanted to.”
“Are you married?” Billy asked.
“Are you a princess?” Molly echoed, barely giving her time to answer.
“Guys,” I said quickly, tucking the frozen peas under my arm so I could take both children by the shoulders and ease them back from Harper. They were inching closer and closer with every word. “We’ve got to go, and you don’t ask someone you just met questions like that. It’s rude.”
Billy stared up at me. “You said it’s okay to be rude to strangers.”
I had said that. But in my defense, it was when I was coffee deprived and some asshole tried to dump every last pony toy Molly wanted into his cart right before we got there.
“It’s okay,” Harper said. She had an easy smile. It was the sort of smile that probably could’ve defused bombs and solved hostage situations. I wondered why she couldn’t have tried that smile to stop the “kidnapping” before resorting to giving me a black eye.
There was an uncomfortable silence, and Harper seemed to feel it. She bounced on her toes and gave a little shrug. “Twenty-three is pretty young for marriage, though.” I wasn’t sure if she was trying to give me a warning or if she was hoping to impart some wisdom on my kids.
Molly thought about that. “What if it’s true love?”
I wanted to scoff at that. People talked about love. But I’d given my heart plenty of chances to feel love. In the end, I settled for convenience. My ex-wife and I got along well at first and it was practical. Getting our first house with two incomes was easier and we didn’t squabble. Marriage was good for my career, and it led to my kids. But love? If you asked me, love was the illusion people decided to buy. It was the false dream you used to get past the point when you got tired of your spouse and the arguments started. Because people changed, and I couldn’t imagine a scenario where that change wouldn’t drive them apart like it had with me and Katie.
But Harper looked like she was giving Molly’s question serious thought. She got down on her knees eye to eye with Molly. She was good with the kids. Really good. She lowered her voice until Molly’s mouth was hanging open and she was clinging to every word. “I believe everybody has a very special someone out there. And one day, the universe will cross your paths. Your job is to have an open heart when that time comes and take the opportunity.”
Harper really was a kid. It sounded like she still believed in fairy tales, but I had to admit it was sweet to see the effect she had on Molly. I wanted Molly to believe things like that, even if one day she’d have to find out it was all bullshit. Kids deserved happy ignorance.
Molly looked up at me, big eyes twinkling. “I don’t know what some of those words meant,” she whispered.
I chuckled, rubbing her back. I was surprised to see even Billy looked a little enchanted by Harper’s words.
Harper stood back up with a shrug and another girlish smile. “Anyway. I watch too many sappy movies. But I should let you guys go. Oh!” she reached in her purse and pulled out a coupon for a place called Halladay’s Bagels. “Take these and come by tomorrow morning.”
“You own a bagel shop?” I asked. Aren’t you a little young? Was the part I didn’t voice.
“My mom does,” she explained. “But she’s super nice and she’ll love your kids. Bring those in and the bagels will be on us. Okay?”
“Thanks,” I said.
She smiled and did a little shoulder shrug like it was no big deal.
And it wasn’t. It wasn’t a big deal that she was good with my kids. It wasn’t a big deal that she was distractingly attractive. Because I wasn’t in Fairhope to get side-tracked, and I especially wasn’t here to chase after college girls.
