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“Hey, Mama! I’mhome!” Baylee called as she entered her house.
Well, a cabin really. But with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, it was perfect for her and Casey. Her mom lived down the road in her own place, but was a huge help. Baylee’s hours meant she could pick Casey up from school but being at the bakery so early, her mother came by and got him ready and off to school in the mornings.
Her mom, Jenny, was her anchor. After Baylee’s dad passed away from a heart attack, her mom was so… lost. Then Baylee got divorced and wasn’t much different. She decided to move away and her mother said a new start for her sounded about right as well. Turned out, they needed each other more than they’d realized.
Besides, Jenny wanted to help with her grandson. She flew back to Texas every few months to see Baylee’s sister and kids, but her sister understood. Baylee needed the help and it did wonders for her mom to be around Casey.
“We’re in here, sweets!” Her mom called back.
Baylee made her way through the front living room and into the kitchen. Her mom was facing the stove, her back to Baylee. Casey was propped on a barstool, a sketch book in front of him at the high counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.
Baylee ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek. He continued to draw.
“Hey, Case. I like your drawing.”
“Hello, Mama.”
“He’s been working on that one for a while now,” her mother offered. “I asked him if he wanted to help me with dinner but he said no.”
Baylee smiled. No big surprise there. Casey wasn’t big on cooking. For an almost six-year-old, he was set in stone on what he liked and didn’t like.
She watched her son as he moved his pencil along the paper with meticulous care. His ability to focus, the intensity of his concentration, continued to boggle her mind. He was her precious, treasured gift and the joy of her world. His hair was more yellow since it was mid-January. It could turn almost white in the summer sun. He was a towhead through and through, just like she had been as a kid.
Baylee moved next her mother and gave her a sideways hug. “That smells amazing, Mama. As always.”
She smiled her thanks. “Why don’t you set the table for us?”
“’Kay.”
Baylee retrieved plates and cups from the cupboard and placed them on the table. Her mom reached over and turned on the radio that sat on the counter. Not one for new technology, her mom still listened to a portable radio. “I like to hear the news in between songs, people talking mixed with the music. It’s like having friends with you all day who likes the same songs as you.”
Baylee smiled as Rascal Flatts sang about liking the sound of a full evening with a loved one. Being with a favorite person. Laughing. Hanging out. Drew’s face came to mind. There’d been only comfort being with him earlier that day. Which was strange, really. She hardly knew the man. And yet, there was a sense of being right where she was supposed to be when she sat across from him.
“Now, what in the world could you be thinking about that has the goofy grin plastered across your face?”
Baylee attempted to wipe away her smile, her mom’s words pulling her from her thoughts of Drew.
She shrugged. “Nothin…” Humming along with the song, she placed silverware on the table next to the plates.
“I’m your mother. You can’t hide things from me.”
Baylee bit back a smile as memories of all the secrets she and her sister had shared as kids came to mind. “If you only knew…” she whispered to herself.
“What’s that you’re saying?”
“Nothing, Mama.”
Her mom looked over her shoulder from the stove and narrowed her eyes. Her mouth turned up on one side though, aware of just how much she didn’t know about her daughters.
Baylee blew her mom a kiss. “Love you.”
Her mom chuckled and turned back to what she was mixing on the stove. “You better.”
Baylee laughed. The banter between them an age-old way of showing love in their family.
They finished making dinner while dancing to the music and moving around the small kitchen with ease. Once they were settled at the table and had thanked God for the food, her mother asked again.
