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Sitting on the ground, she pulled her sock up high then gently shoved her foot into the boot with ease. Standing, she walked around and the smile that broke out on her face would be something I tucked away forever.
“They fit!”
I beamed, and then Seraphina jumped up and down in her all-black boots.
“I like these better than the ones Dad got me with thebutterflieson them.”
Seraph didn’t seem to like many typical girly things, which was endearing and something I needed to note.
“I want Elsa or Anna on mine,” Mila sniffed, standing in a pair that were each on the wrong foot.
“What if we settle for the colors fromFrozen? These are blue and white.”
I handed her the pair I found that had white fur on the inside and light blue coloring on the outside.
With a resigned sigh, she finally accepted them. Once we got the boots, I took the girls to pick out new coats. It was another hour before we finally left.
* * *
“Okay,girls, where is your favorite park?”
I watched in the rearview mirror for some general directions, or a name. The town wasn’t that big, surely there were only a few for them to choose from.
“The one over by the water,” Mila yelled from her little car seat in the back.
Maddy was back there, too—begrudgingly. But the visor on my car has all the airbag warnings on it, and it says she should be twelve if she’s going to sit in the front. It made me feel better to have her in the back.
“There’s one by our school. It’s fun in the snow if you have sleds and stuff,” Maddy offered, looking out her window.
We didn’t have sleds. Did that mean they wouldn’t have fun?
“What about you Seraph, do you have one you like?” I inched up to catch her expression in the mirror.
“I like Hayden Park. It has a tower.”
Finally, a park with a name that I could locate on my maps. Pulling over for a brief second allowed me the opportunity to pull it up. Thankfully it was just a few blocks away from where we were.
Once we rolled along the curb, I could see why Seraphina liked the park. It sprawled out along the expanse of the large square it was built within. Tall wooden towers and spires mimicked a castle. The girls unbuckled, and I exited to help them get out near the park and away from the road.
“Okay, let’s only stay here until you guys get cold.”
I was already cold, but they needed fresh air, so I wanted them to have the chance to play.
As we walked toward the center of the park, I noticed a few other cars parked along the opposite end, and near the basketball court were three people talking. Two were smoking. There was a woman who kept laughing while taking a puff in between jokes. It sent a shiver of unease through me, but there were also a few other parents on the playground, their kids laughing and playing in their winter gear.
Maddy held Mila’s hand as they crawled up the steps to get to the wiggly bridge. Seraphina had already taken off, running down it at a breakneck speed, and now she was tucked away in one of the towers.
I watched with my arms crossed over my chest. Every move Mila and Maddy made, my gaze tracked and then bounced up to ensure I still had Seraph in my sights. How did parents do this? My brain was in overdrive trying to ensure I didn’t lose track of anyone. It was terrifying. After about ten minutes passed, the smoking woman with dirty blonde hair made her way closer to the play equipment. Her eyes bounced around the place like she was looking for someone. That greasy, uneasy feeling intensified.
Taking several steps closer to the stairs, so I was right next to where the girls were, I gauged the woman’s movements. When Mila slid down the slide, I relocated around the edge to be there when she finished.
Right as I reached her, I saw that the woman had walked over too.
“Mila, is that you, baby doll?”
My heart suddenly burst into a rapid rhythm in my chest.
Oh my God.
