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“I do. I think it will look like the most beautiful card she’s ever received.”
As we walked, I looked up and saw someone coming toward us. For a few seconds, I couldn’t tell anything except it was a man, but then I realized it was Nico! What could he be doing here in the woods?
“Tia, Uncle Nico is here,” Grace said in utter surprise.
Nearly stunned into silence, I mumbled, “He is. I wonder why he’s come here.”
“Do you think he’s mad we went to collect leaves?” she asked in a worried voice.
She searched out my hand and squeezed it tightly, her tiny fingers grasping mine. Clearly, she was frightened. I wanted to tell her he wouldn’t act like he used to, but I didn’t know how to say what I hoped would be true in a few seconds.
Praying I was right, I waved as we continued to walk toward him. When he didn’t wave back, my heart sank. What happened to the man I spent all those hours with last night? Why did he have to be so mean when it came to Grace?
She stopped walking, and when I looked back at her, she shook her head. “He’s going to yell at us. He’s mad.”
“No, he isn’t, and I won’t let him yell at us. We did nothing wrong by coming out here, so don’t worry. I’m sure he’s just not used to nature. He spends all his time in that office of his. He’s probably afraid of bugs or something,” I said with a smile.
That made her happy, and she nodded. “Bugs are scary. Spiders are really scary. Maybe he saw a spider.”
“Maybe. But everything’s better when there’s someone else around, so he’ll be happier when he joins us since we know our way around the woods, don’t we?”
With a confident nod, Grace began walking again. “Yes. We’re not afraid of the woods. Maybe we can show him how nice it is here.”
She loosened her hold on my hand just a little, and I held my breath, hoping he wouldn’t be that miserable man he’d been to her before. As he got closer to us, I saw not anger but almost what looked like confusion on Nico’s face.
But what could he be confused about?
Finally, I called out, “Hi! Did you decide your office needed a break and you wanted to join us in the woods?”
He simply kept walking toward us, and now I felt like I wanted to hold Grace’s hand more tightly. I had no idea what could have brought him out to this place, but nothing about his silence felt good.
Finally, when we got close enough that I could see his face clearly, I saw a tiny smile. Maybe this would be okay, after all.
“So this is where you two come when you leave the house?” he asked and then looked down at Grace. “Your grandmother used to love to spend time in the woods too when she was a little girl. She used to tell me and your mother stories about it. Did you know that?”
I turned to see Grace shaking her head. “Mommy never takes me to woods like this.”
“That’s probably because she’s too busy,” I quickly said. “Mommies can get very busy with work, you know.”
She nodded her head and then tugged on my hand to bring me down to her. In my ear, she whispered, “Can I show him my bag of leaves?”
With a smile, I answered, “I think that would be nice.”
Her face lit up with happiness, Grace held out her large plastic baggie full of leaves to show her uncle. “I got these to make a card for my mommy. Tia said I could send her one. I want to give her the big red one in the middle.”
Nico hesitated for a long moment, and concern raced through me. He didn’t know how to act with her. Would he revert to his former nastiness?
But finally, he crouched down in front of her, and dressed in his dark grey business suit, white dress shirt, and grey striped tie, he pointed at the red leaf in the middle of the baggie and smiled. “That one? I bet she’ll like it. She’ll like anything if it’s from you.”
I let out a sigh of relief, my shoulders sagging as the weight of utter fear that he’d crush her hopes again evaporated into thin air. So he could be sweet in addition to being sexy. Good to know.
“Let’s go home now so I can make her card. I can’t wait to send it to her!”
Grace yanked her hand from my hold and began running down the path. I hurried behind her, calling out, “Don’t run out onto the street. When you get to the end of the path, stop!”
Beside me, Nico took my hand in his. “Any chance you’re going to have to run after her?”
“No. She’s a good kid. She listens when I tell her not to do something. So what are you doing here?” I asked, turning to look at him.
