Parked watched the procession, a trace of fear on his sweet face. “Um, yeah. I’m ready.”
He climbed out of the parked car, and I walked him to the door. I’d registered him the week before, and we’d met his teacher, who I saw standing near the door with a growing group of children around her. I stopped and knelt beside him.
“You see your teacher?” I asked, pointing. He nodded. “Remember her name?”
“Ms. Trammel.”
“That’s right, and remember how nice she was the other day?” He nodded again, a little smile on his face when she noticed us and waved at him. He lifted his little hand and returned the wave, and I couldn’t help myself. I opened my arms and pulled him into a tight hug.
“M-om!” he squealed, squirming out of my grip.
I gave him one more squeeze before letting him go. “Love you, buddy,” I said. “I’ll be here to pick you up at three, okay?”
He looked back at me and smiled sweetly. “Okay. Love you, too.” He turned and went toward the entrance, disappearing among the crowds of kids surrounding Ms. Trammel.
The moment I lost sight of him, cold fingers wrapped themselves around my heart. I knew he was in good hands, but that didn’t make it any easier. Tears formed in my eyes. As quickly as I could while still being safe, I hurried to my car and pulled away from the school. I parked on the side of the road and started to cry.
I couldn’t help it. Starting new, just Parker and me in a place I hadn’t been in years and doing it without Michael…it was hard. So freaking hard. But if I was going to cry, I had to do it away from Parker. If I was going to hurt, that was one thing. However, I had to be strong for him.
I checked my phone when a text from Lizzie popped on the screen.
Slow morning! Come by! And bring donuts!
Her text put a smile on my face. My new life wasn’t all rough, of course. I had my best friend and my mom in town.
Just dropped Parker off. Be there in a few.
When I was ready, I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath, checking my reflection in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t too obvious that’d I’d been crying. Then I pulled off and drove into town.
Lizzie’s store, The Little Shop on the Corner, was, as the name suggested, on the corner of Main Street and one of the other larger roads in town. Paul’s, the donut shop, was right next to it. I parked, went into Paul’s and ordered a dozen donuts and some coffees, and carried them to Lizzie’s.
The bell chimed as I stepped into the store. I’d only been to Lizzie’s shop once before, but I loved it. It was a general knick-knack shop specializing in antiques and old furniture. It was quaint and cozy and exactly the sort of shop you missed in big cities like San Diego.
And she was totally in the Halloween spirit. Skeletons and witches and pumpkins were everywhere. Lizzie had always loved Halloween, ever since we were kids.
“Is that you?” Lizzie asked, her voice carrying through the winding aisles of antiques.
“It’s me! Where are you?”
“Looking for Marlon!”
I didn’t get a chance to ask who Marlon was before a big, fat, orange cat zipped across my feet. He let out a quick meow as he did, as if trying to tell me to get the heck out of his way. I nearly launched the donuts and coffee out of my hands.
Lizzie stuck her head out from behind a fancy lamp, an expression of pure determination on her face. “Was that him? Did you see him?”
“I saw him, alright.”
Lizzie flew past me, also nearly knocking over my donuts and coffee. “There you are!” she cried once she was around the next corner. “Come here, fatty!”
A feline snarl echoed through the store, and then Lizzie appeared with Marlon in her arms. The big, fluffy cat did not want to be held.
“Come on,” Lizzie said to me. “Have to do something first. Bring those.”
She glanced at the donuts as she hurried past. Moments later I was with her at the counter. Marlon was still in her arms yowling as if she were squeezing the life out of him. Lizzie opened a pill bottle, then flipped open the donut box and snatched up a glazed. The two things in hand, she ripped off a chunk of the glazed donut and held it in front of Marlon.
To my surprise, the cat calmed down instantly, opening his mouth and chomping down on the donut – pill inside.
“Alright,” she said, watching him eat. “Not so bad, right?”
Once the food was down the hatch, Marlon started purring. Lizzie set the cat down, and he disappeared among the wares.
“When I got a store cat, I thought it’d be cute, you know? And he is, sure. But man, nothing like spending an hour chasing him down for his heartworm medication.”
“What’s with the donuts?” I asked, smiling.
“Paul’s Famous Glazed,” she announced, picking up the donut she’d torn a chunk out of and popping the rest in her mouth. “They don’t just work on humans.”
I took a long john and bit into it, moaning. “God, these are just as good as I remember when I was a kid.”
“No kidding,” Lizzie agreed with a full mouth. She turned on the nearby stereo, 70’s R&B wafting from the speakers. “Anyway, how was Parker this morning? Everything go okay at drop off?”
“It was good,” I said. “I mean…”
“You miss him,” she sympathized. “I can tell.”
“Of course, I do,” I said, wiping off my fingers and picking up my coffee cup. “The kid’s the reason I get up in the morning.”
“Well, you’re not making it any easier for yourself by not having a job. I know you’ve got Michael’s insurance and his investments to live off, but you don’t need me to tell you that it’s not going to be good for your brain to bum around that cabin all day, checking the clock for when it’s time to pick up Parker.”
“I mean…I’ve got plenty of stuff to do around there.”
She smiled. “Come on – only so much streaming TV you can watch. And I don’t even want to guess what kind of internet reception you get up there.”
“That was kind of the whole point,” I said. “To be cut off from the world.”
Her smile faded. “I get that,” she said. “I really do. But you’re back home, remember? This isn’t just about you starting fresh. It’s about reconnecting with your past, being part of the town you left behind.”
“So, what are you saying?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
She grinned, sweeping her hand toward the store and nearly knocking over the antique lamp on her counter. “Oops,” she said, grabbing and steadying it. “Come work here!”
“Are you serious? Work here?” I scoffed. “I don’t know anything about antiques.”
Lizzie waved her hand through the air and let out a pssh. “You don’t need to know about anything like that. You’ve got good taste, and that’s what matters. All you’d be doing is manning the register and going over the books – I know you’ve got an eye for numbers.”
I shifted my weight from foot to foot, not sure what to say. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be around people all the time.”
“You’ll be fine. Just a part-time gig while you get your feet on the ground. And you don’t have to work here forever.”