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To be honest, the next few days kind of suck.
We get a notice that our rent is going up, which puts worry in my stomach. It’s going to leave us even less money for essentials and my portion of Rae’s daycare payment. Plus, I’d already started thinking maybe I could find a way to splurge and get her a really nice dress for the dance, and now I don’t think that would be smart. Maybe I could use my work discount on something at Monroe’s.
Speaking of Monroe’s: I’m on salary there because I’m a department head, so I used paid time off to take care of Rae last week and didn’t miss out on money. However, I did fall behind on actual work. This week, I don’t have a free minute outside of breaks to so much asthinkabout something that isn’t Juniors. Even when I’m watching the register so cashiers can take their own breaks, I’m messing with tables and racks at the edge of my department until customers need to be rung up.
Rae missed an awful lot of work, too, for being in the damn second grade. We both want to hang out with Landon in the evenings, but she’s got too many assignments to catch up on: last week’s classwork, last week’shomework, andthisweek’s homework. Her backpack is heavy for the first time ever—I swear, the stack of stuff she needs help with is five inches thick.
It’s not until Thursday that we finally have enough time to eat dinner with Landon. She’s excited as can be, and I can’t pretend I’m not right there with her on it.
We’ve been invited to his apartment this time, and when he opens the door and sees us, the look that comes onto his cutely unshaven face is justglowing.
At least, that’s a fitting description until Rae throws a hug around him and bursts out, “I love you, I love you, I love you!”
Thatis when his expression turns glowing.
No, brilliant.
No,radiant.
He kneels, hugs her back, and replies in a tone that’s full of the happiest surprise, “You love me? Wow! I love you, too!”
Hearing him say that makes breathing a little difficult for me.
Thankfully, I’m quickly able to distract myself with quiet chuckles, because she starts explaining the uncle stuff she and I talked about.
But when his eyes scroll up to me, looking lighter than I’ve ever seen them, I go a little breathless again—especially because he pairs the look with a heart-stopping smile.
Then his attention is back on her. He eases out of their hug so he can pat at the sides of her hair and look at her straight.
“You’re precious to me,” he tells her. “You and Annie both are.”
Thank God he didn’t look at me as he said the last part, else I’d be suffocating.
She gives him what might be the most genuine smile I’ve ever seen, her blue eyes so big, and it puts a sweet pang in my chest. She thinks the world of him. She really does.
It kind of makes my eyes sting.
Hell, what’s going to happen to me when she brings up the daddy/daughter dance? I talked to her about it this morning on the way to school since she finally had some free space in her head for thinking about it. Not that sheneededto think about it—just as I told him she would, she jumped all over the idea of them going together.
I actually find out within the next five seconds what’s going to happen to me at that time, because she bites down on her bottom lip and peeks at me with the same excitement from this morning. We decided she should officially invite him to the dance tonight; she even made something special for him. Although she asked me for spelling help a time or two, I wasn’t allowed to know what exactly she wrote, but she gave it to me to hold until she’s ready. And I can tell she’s silently asking if now is a good time to talk about the dance. She’s readynow.
Despite my concern that I’m going to have a mini fall-apart like I did when I spoke to Landon about it, I smile at her and nod. If this is the moment for her, who am I to make her wait?
She takes a big breath and looks at him again.
“Um,” she says as she clasps her little hands together, “I have something really, really important to ask you.”
The way my very heart seems to be trembling, you’d think we were springing this on him. I mean, she doesn’t know I talked to him about it already, butIknow I did.
I hope I haven’t crumpled up the paper I’m holding behind my back.
He clasps his hands together, too, and dangles one arm off his knee. “Okay. Please ask me this really, really important thing.” He does a good job of keeping his tone level, like he doesn’t know what this is about; the expressive glance he flicks to me says he does.
What he didn’t expect, though, was the card Rae made for him. She holds her hands out to me and I pass it to her, and his mouth falls open as she presents it to him.
He takes it, wide eyes moving over the colorful front, on which she’s written his name. “Oh my….”
Real astonishment has him trailing off.
