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“Yes,” she said. “Carter is coming and he’s bringing Dopey and Doc.”
“Of course he is,” Josie said. “Betty needs to play with them.”
Oh boy. Maybe she was wrong in her thinking. She shouldn’t have listened to Melody. It could be more about the dogs than Carter.
But she’d come this far and couldn’t stop now.
“Betty does like to play with them. And she should get used to them more so that Carter can come over often and bring them.”
Josie stopped moving around the room and paused to look at her. “Is Carter your boyfriend?”
“What do you know about boyfriends?” she asked.
“Ryan says that boys and girls hold hands and kiss and that makes them boyfriend and girlfriend. You had a boyfriend before I came along. Kurt. But then he left after me. Was it my fault?”
Oh shit. It never occurred to her this would happen. “Kurt was my boyfriend and the reason he and I aren’t together anymore had nothing to do with you, Josie. Believe me. Sometimes in life things don’t work out and that was one of them.”
“Okay,” Josie said. “But you didn’t say about Carter.”
“Would you be upset if Carter was my boyfriend?” she asked.
“No!” Josie shouted. “Then he could be here all the time and he could help you when you needed it so you didn’t do everything yourself.”
“Whoa,” she said, holding her hand up. “Having a boyfriend doesn’t mean they are doing things for you. One thing I want you to know and understand is that you can be strong on your own. You don’t need to rely on other people.”
“My mom did it all and she was always tired,” Josie said quietly. “She was upset at times too. I know it, but she never wanted to tell me. Maybe if I had a father or she had a boyfriend like other kids’ mothers have, it wouldn’t have been so hard.”
Avery hadn’t expected this to turn into a life lesson and knew she’d have to address it all another time.
Some of what Josie was saying was a wakeup call though. That kids see things you wished they didn’t.
“Everyone gets tired in life,” she said. “That isn’t a bad thing. And yes, we should be open to accepting help from other people if the time is right, but not to rely on it. Does that sound better?”
“I guess,” Josie said. “When is Carter coming so I can tell him I’m excited he’s your boyfriend?”
Thankfully it didn’t take long for Josie to be distracted from this conversation. She’d have to deal with the other topics another day.
“He’ll be here with Dopey and Doc within an hour. Time enough for us to make brownies for him.”
“Yay!” Josie said, running to the kitchen. “Do you need to change? Should I change? I’ve got old jeans and a shirt on. Maybe we need to dress up more.”
She burst out laughing. “You are so much like your mother at times, it’s wonderful.”
Josie laughed and hugged her again. “I miss my mom all the time. It’s nice you think I’m like her.”
“You always will be, Josie. Keep her strong in your heart like you are.”
“I can because you help me,” Josie said and then ran to get the brownie mixture. She didn’t want to start bawling, so she blew her nose and they got to work on the brownies.
The time flew by now and it wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door.
Josie ran to get it before her and she let the little girl go.
“Hi, Josie,” Carter said.
“Avery said you’re her boyfriend. I’m so happy,” Josie said, launching herself at Carter’s waist for a hug. Avery hadn’t been expecting that move and saw he wasn’t either.
But his hand went down to the top of Josie’s head, almost like he was going to pet her as he would his dogs.
