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“No. Not at all. I wish I had something I was so passionate about.”
“What did you do for work back in…” I trail off, trying to remember if she’d told me where she lived before coming here. “I’m not sure I know where you were before here.”
“Kansas.”
“Wow. That is a long drive.”
She laughs. “Yeah, it was. I was relieved to see theWelcome to Armstrongsign, I can tell you.” She brings her glass to her lips and swallows down a mouthful of wine. “I mainly did barista work, to answer your question. I didn’t need to work when I was married, but I wanted to. I couldn’t sit around all day doing nothing. I wanted my life to have purpose. I was never going to change anyone’s life being a barista, but doing nothing didn’t sit well with me.”
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. I can’t function most mornings without a coffee.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s hardly life-changing.”
“Well, what did you want to do? What’s your dream job?”
Her fingers fiddle with the stem of her wineglass. “It doesn’t matter. It’s never going to happen. Especially now.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m a single mom, living in a run-down rental with no job. I’m pretty sure the time for dreaming is over.”
“Everyone needs to dream, Melody. Tell me what you wanted to do.”
She takes another mouthful of wine. “I wanted to be a pediatric nurse.” She smiles sadly. “See. Never going to happen. It would be years of study, and I can’t do that when I have to provide for Roman.”
“Never say never. Promise me you won’t give up on your dreams.”
She flashes me a small smile. “I promise.” She gestures to the beer in my hand. “Do you want another one?”
“Are you having one? A wine, I mean.”
“Just a small one. I’m a bit of a lightweight, and I don’t want to be nursing a hangover in the morning. A hangover and a four-year-old isnotfun.”
I laugh. “No. I can imagine.” I reach across and pluck the empty glass from her hand. “I’ll get the drinks.”
I walk the short distance to the kitchen and make quick work of filling her glass and grabbing another beer. When I get back to the sofa, I hand her the glass.
“That’s not small! Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“What? No!” I exclaim.
She chuckles and places her free hand on my arm. “I’m joking, Lucas, but I will be sending Roman over when he wakes at six tomorrow morning.” Her voice is laced with humor, and I breathe a sigh of relief that I haven’t offended her.
I grin. “I’d be fine with that. We can watchCarsagain.”
She smiles and reaches for her phone. “Would you mind sending me the photos you took in the fire truck?”
“Is this your way of getting my number?” I tease, pulling my phone from my pocket. Her cheeks flush pink. “I’m the one joking now, Melody. Of course I can send you the pictures.”
We exchange numbers, and I send her the handful of photos I took of her and Roman in the fire truck.
“He’s going to love these. Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“So, tell me about Lucas Reed.”
I laugh. “What do you want to know?”
