Humming along with Kit, Parker put her clothes away in the drawers, frowning at the state of them.A few more washes and some of her shirts would be bound for the garbage bin.Kit’s weren’t much better and some of hers were at least two sizes too small.With food and rent taken care of, maybe she could dip into their meager savings and get some new clothes for Kit’s first day of school.
Parker thought about getting something new for herself too, wondering if she would look nicer in a pair of pants that actually fit her, not that she was trying to look nice for anyone but herself.Parker rolled her eyes, not buying into her own bullshit.She knew damn well whose eye she was hoping to catch.Don’t be stupid, Parker.
Giving up the idea of ever looking halfway decent, Parker selected a perfectly acceptable outfit consisting of jean shorts and a blue t-shirt for their trip to the grocery store later.Once that was done, she stuck the only other item she had, a photo album with a few pictures she’d printed of Kit when she was little, into the nightstand drawer.Once Kit finished in the shower and was dressed, Parker made her way over to the bathroom to take her own.
“Can I watch television, Mom?”Kit’s eyes were practically begging her to say yes as they had been all day.
They hadn’t really ever had a TV before and Parker didn’t want Kit getting used to such luxuries, but she also didn’t want to deny her daughter the pleasure while she had access to it.“Go nuts, sweetheart.”Kit whooped before fiddling with the remote, glued to the images flashing across the screen not three seconds later.
Chuckling, Parker went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, smiling at the water still being hot.After she stripped her dirty clothes off and stepped into the spray, she sighed audibly as the water ran over her sore muscles and washed away the grime that had built up over the last couple of days.This was definitely better than the truck stop showers she and Kit were used to while being on the road.
Parker laughed lightly as she spread her arms from one side of the shower to the other, the doubled amount of space making the one back at their old apartment seem like a sick joke.It had been like trying to shower in an old phone booth, but of course they’d made due.As she washed up, taking care of the curls that were in desperate need of attention, Parker gave herself the reminder she’d refrained from giving her daughter.Don’t get used to it.
The words might as well have been a bucket of cold water to the face, making Parker’s spirits drop.Good things like this happening to them had been few and far between.In fact, they’d never experienced anything as amazing as the offer from the Kemps before and probably never would again once they were gone.Travis said he would help her find more work, but what if there was none to be found?
Swallowing her dread at the uncertainty of the future, Parker finished up in the shower, toweled off, and got dressed.She may not know what would happen once they left, but at least for the time being they were safe and taken care of, so she tried to focus on that.
Stepping out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, Parker scrunched her damp curls with her fingers when a knocking sound hit her ears.Peering over and seeing Kit still enthralled with whatever cartoon was on the screen, she walked over to the door and opened it slowly.Standing on the other side was a gorgeous brunette with her hair tied up in a blue scarf.Parker took in her clothes, marveling at the high-waist shorts and sleeveless blouse that looked old-fashioned but miraculously brand new at the same time.In her arms, she carried a large basket.On her pretty face was the biggest smile Parker had seen in a long time.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” the woman said.She balanced the basket in her left hand before sticking out the right.“I’m Lottie.You can think of me as the unofficial Applewood Welcoming Committee.”
Parker shook the woman’s hand, wishing her own skin felt that soft, and waved her inside.“Parker.It’s nice to meet you.”Lottie placed the basket on the small dining table and started to pull out a few items.Parker shuffled on her feet, a little leery of having a stranger in her space and also making her wonder how the woman had known about her to begin with.“Um, I know small towns work a little differently than other places, but how exactly did you come to find out we were here?”
Lottie looked up at Parker, her smile reassuring.“Oh, I got a text from Felix.”Parker shook her head when that name didn’t ring a bell.“Felix is Travis’s brother.Well, one of them anyway.”
Parker walked closer to the table, looking at what Lottie was placing there.It looked like a series of cards, some specialty foods like chocolates and muffins, and different kinds of lotions.“I didn’t realize he had brothers.”The Kemps had mentioned their other children in passing, but Travis had been so good with Kit that Parker had assumed the rest had been girls.
Lottie chuckled, passing a bottle of something called bath milk over to Parker.“Oh yeah, a whole slew of them.”She continued to pass over item after item, ending with a group of gift cards.“Now, these are all from shops downtown.There’s the clothing boutique, the toy store, the book store, and a few for the coffee shop as well as the market.If you’d rather shop at a big box store, there’s one a couple of towns over and I would be happy to give you a ride.”
Kit wandered into the kitchen, her jaw dropping to the hardwood floor when she saw the box of chocolates on the table.“Wow.”Ripping off the top, Kit dove into the first truffle she found, chewing it loudly and making it very apparent that Parker had been a little too lax in teaching her daughter table manners.“This is delicious,” she mumbled, spraying crumbs everywhere.
“And who is this?”Lottie said, smiling down at Kit.“Are you the little girl I’ve heard so much about?”
Kit nodded.“I’m Kit.What’s your name?”
Parker watched as Kit spoke with Lottie for all of two seconds before launching into the story of how they’d come to be there and all about how she was going to be in charge of feeding the chickens.It was a good thing Parker wasn’t that ashamed of their circumstances because it seemed as though everyone and their mother was going to hear about it eventually from her own daughter.
Lottie chuckled at Kit and chucked her on the chin.“I like you already, Kit.”Pulling out her phone, Lottie passed it over to Parker.“If you want to put your number in there, I’ll text you so that you have mine.Oh, and I can send you the link to my town newsletter.It’s not much, but it will give you a chance to get to know the area and the activities we have going on.”
Parker did as Lottie asked, smiling when she felt her own phone buzz immediately with a text from the woman.“Thank you, Lottie.”Parker looked at all the stuff she’d brought and wasn’t sure what else to say to express how grateful she was while also knowing it wouldn’t feel right to take advantage of the woman’s kind offering, “I appreciate the gesture, but I can’t imagine any of this was cheap and I can’t accept a gift like this.”She already felt a bit like a charity case at the moment, but at least she was working at the farm in exchange for the room and board.
Lottie nodded, touching Parker’s arm lightly.“I get that, and if you really want I can take all this back, but it was donated by the business owners.I didn’t do anything other than go around to a few places and ask if they’d be willing to help me out.It’s all just anonymous generosity.”
Parker let loose a watery laugh, the good feelings she was experiencing threatening to overwhelm her.“Sorry,” she choked out.Waving her hands in front of her face, she smiled shakily.“I feel like I’m in a fairytale, but there must be some evil stepmother around here somewhere.”Though Parker would take that over the uncertainty of traveling through dark forests completely alone like they had been any day of the week.
Lottie chuckled and shook her head.“Not that I know of, and I know every person in this town.”
Parker picked up a box of cinnamon rolls, her mouth starting to water as she breathed in the smell of the sweet bread.“Well, thank you very much.I guess I’m not used to such kindness.”
Lottie nodded.“Well, if you’re living at the Kemp Farm, you’d better get used to it.”Lottie patted Kit on the head, a move the girl normally detested but didn’t seem to mind coming from Lottie or anyone else that wasn’t her mother.“I’ve known them my whole life and they are just about the best people you’ll ever meet.”
Comprehension finally dawned on Parker as it became obvious who Lottie was.There was no ring on her left finger, so she must be the girlfriend Parker knew would be hanging around somewhere.She was a beautiful woman with curves Parker would kill for, and it made sense the handsome, muscled farm manager would go for someone like that.
“Well, thank you again.”A little bit of the sadness she was feeling at Travis being taken slipped into her voice, and she tried her best to swallow it back down.He wasn’t for her anyway.“Travis is a lucky guy.”
Lottie stared at her for a minute with a furrowed brow before her eyes widened and she barked a laugh.“Oh, no honey.He is a lucky man to have such a wonderful family, but he is not for me.Travis is as single as they come,” she said with a wink.
Parker started to sputter a little and was rescued from her half-assed attempt to save face when a stomping sound came from near the open doorway.A few moments later, Travis appeared, looking just as good as he had a couple of hours ago.He smiled shyly when his eyes hit hers before they moved over to Lottie.Coughing into his fist, Travis stepped further into the room.
