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“But that doesn’t mean you can’t help me out. Just want you to show me what’s so special about this boring ass town that you seem to love so much. If I have to be here then I might as well make the best of it.”
She raked her teeth across her bottom lip before digging her phone out of her back pocket and unlocking the screen. “Give me your number.”
“You gonna give me yours?”
“No, I haven’t decided if like you yet.”
I chuckled, nodding. “That’s fucked up.”
“That’s me making sure I don’t make an impulsive decision just because you’re cute and smell good.”
“Aight, I fucks with that.” I rattled off my number and she made no promises to use it before sliding into the seat of an old BWM that had seen better days.
I didn’t return to my Jeep until she had completely cleared the parking lot and I knew one thing for sure, if she didn’t use my number, I would be back here at this shitty ass bar until she felt comfortable enough to trust me enough to use it.
four
Cadence.
I’d been up since six, curled up on the porch of my childhood home. It was small and quaint. Not much to brag about but it was mine and gave me a sense of comfort.
There were days when I would swear to hearing my mother’s voice. Mostly when I was in the kitchen or out here on this porch. As a little girl I’d loved to sit out here with her on early mornings, watching the sun rise.
We would do it together while she clutched a mug full of coffee in her hands and my tiny ones were wrapped around one filled with hot chocolate or warm milk.
I missed her so much it hurt sometimes and that pain doubled when my thoughts drifted to how she was missing the best part of my life. No matter how she’d gotten here, she was my world and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Gracie.
Exhaling a sigh, I tucked my legs so that I could get my day started. I had been back and forth in my head about the man I couldn’t seem to shake from my thoughts knowing that I had no business getting anywhere near him.
He was trouble. The kind of trouble that was almost impossible to recover from. I had that once and it completely wrecked me.
Maybe I was a glutton for punishment because here I was again, wanting to give my time to a man who seemed to view me as a place where he could escape his own troubles. And he had a lot of them.
There was a darkness that hid behind those multi-hued brown eyes that should have scared me away. Instead I found the opposite effect, I wanted to know what his demons were, to see if they compared to mine.
I had a feeling he and I had a lot more in common than we should have because we lived in two different worlds. Mine had a little bundle of energy which was the center of my orbit while his likely had frivolous things that he could stand to lose. I didn’t have any room for error. There was too much at stake.
Gracie.
After rinsing my mug, I traveled down the hall to the room across from mine. It looked like the sun had exploded, leaving behind remnants of yellow. My little ray of sunshine.
I sat on the edge of the twin sized bed brushing my hands over the sea of chaotic coils that were gathered into a loose ponytail before peppering kisses on her chubby cheeks. She frowned, wiggling in an effort to ease away from me.
“You don’t want my kisses, Gracie?”
“Mommy, it’s early,” she whined with a little tiny voice that sounded like the best kind of joy.
“I know but you have to get up and get dressed so that you can have your girls’ day with Auntie Val.”
Slowly she sat up, extending little arms over her head before she climbed from beneath a bright yellow comforter that was littered with sunflowers and found her way into my lap.
Her head rested against my chest and I swore my heart instantly connected to the rhythm of hers.
“I’m not having agulsday with Auntie Val. I’m posed to be your ’sistant today, ’member?”
I felt terrible for changing the plans but knew that she would have much more fun shopping and being pampered with Val than she would driving around the city all day while I took pictures.
