Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
“Mr. Sawyer’s here, Mommy!” she says.
I crouch, careful not to drop the flowers, and hold up my hand. “Hey, Junie. How ya doin’?”
“I’m good.” She gives me a high five. I notice her hand is covered almost entirely in purple marker.
“Ella says hello. She can’t wait to play with you again.”
Junie nods. “Yella is my friend.”
“She loves being your friend. Thanks for being so kind to her.”
“Ella has been the best guide to preschool. Isn’t that right, Bug?”
I look up to see Ava at the top of the steps that dead-end at the door. Her apartment is on the second floor while the garage is on the first, so the front door opens right onto the stairs.
“Yeah,” June agrees. “She’s the most special.”
Meanwhile, I’m struggling to breathe as I watch Ava descend the stairs. She’s in a pair of jeans and an oversize sweater that’s the color of sunset on a summer day. Her long hair is loose over her shoulders and back, and today she’s styled it in waves that frame her pretty face. Her lips are glossy and her eyes are bright, and I feel her excitement—her happiness—as a wallop to the chest.
“Hey, cowboy.” She smiles.
I notice she’s wearing a pair of new boots.
Bellamy Brooks boots. My heart skips several beats when I remember Mollie telling me how excited Ava was to buy a pair for our date.
This is happening, isn’t it?
When I look into Ava’s eyes, the realization hits home—we’re both really, really into this. Into each other.
I should be scared. Cautious.
Instead, I stand up and hold the flowers aside so I can kiss her cheek, flattening my palm on the small of her back so I can press her hips into mine. “Hey, pretty girl.”
Tucking her face into my neck, she takes a deep inhale. “You smell delicious. What’re these?” She nods at the flowers.
“Two dozen roses.”
Ava blinks, pulling back to get a better look. She glances up at me, her lips curving into a pretty grin. “That’s the song we danced to at the Blue Stallion.”
“And at the barn.” I hold them out to her. “Thought that’d make you smile.”
“Mr. Sawyer?” June tugs on my jeans. “Will you play duck duck goose with us?”
Ava blinks again before taking the flowers. “They’re beautiful. Thank you, Sawyer. And listen, Bug, Mr. Sawyer and I have to get going. You’re going to stay here and play with Miss Lee, okay?”
“Really, Ava, I’m not in a rush.” I smile down at June. “I could totally go for a round or two of duck duck goose.”
Junie jumps up and down. “Yes yes yes! Please, Mommy, let him stay. Just for one game.”
I love how excited she gets. Three is not an easy age, but it’s fun to witness how thrilling the world is to these kids. It’s a nice reminder that I wasn’t always a tired, overwhelmed parent.
I won’t always be that guy.
Ava looks at me. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.” Taking off my hat, I hang it on one of the hooks beside the door. Only polite to take off your hat when you’re indoors, especially when you’re visiting your date’s home for the first time.
I don’t miss the way Ava watches me run a hand through my hair, her eyes flashing with heat as I shoulder out of my jacket.
I follow them up the stairs. The apartment is beautiful, with a gabled beamed ceiling and newly refurbished finishes. The soaring living room opens up into a kitchen and dining area. Down a narrow hallway I can just glimpse a pair of doors, which I assume are the bedrooms.
It smells like Ava inside, girlie shampoo and that perfume of hers. I see her touches everywhere: the pink paisley kitchen towels hanging on the lip of the sink, the oversize couch piled with far too many pillows, and the bold, colorful art on the walls.
Ava sets the flowers on the kitchen counter. Junie immediately heads in the direction of the baskets of toys lined up on the living room wall. An older woman is already sitting on the rug there, and Ava introduces her as Miss Lee, her nanny.
I bite back a smile when Lee gives me a once-over. She does it again, and again, her blush apparent as I sit cross-legged on the rug beside her.
“You know, I dated a cowboy or two in my day.” She sighs. “Those were good times.”
Ava sits across from me, the three of us forming a little circle. “Uh-oh, Lee. Were you trouble?”
“Only the good kind.”
I laugh. “Funny, but Ava’s that kind of trouble too.”
“I am,” Ava says, giving her shoulders a wiggle.
“Okay, I’m it.” Junie stands beside me. “Mr. Sawyer, do you know how to play duck duck goose?”
“I sure do. Ella taught me well.”
“Good. Okay, I’ll start.” June plops her hand onto my head. “Duck. That means you don’t get up and chase me yet.”