He stopped himself there, but the unasked question was clear.
Are you two back together?
“I was surprised to hear it,” Ransom said carefully. “And she was just as surprised to find out I was the one living in the A-frame.”
“Fate then,” Michael said, simply, nodding once to himself. “She was looking for paint, but I think she got overwhelmed. I took her list and let her know she could just call in finishes when she’s ready and I could prepare it for her to pick up.”
“What does she have?” Ransom asked.
“Guess she wouldn’t mind me showing you,” Michael said.
He headed behind the counter and Ransom moved to look at the sheet of note paper Michael was smoothing out.
Hailey’s neat handwriting listed rooms and colors.
“I hated to try and tell her what to do about finishes when she didn’t ask my advice,” Michael said. “Though if the house is like I remember, it’s pretty clear what she needs.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Ransom heard himself say. “It’ll be like a housewarming gift for her.”
“You sure?” Michael asked. “It’s a lot of paint.”
“I owe her one,” Ransom said.
He noted down finishes next to each item on the listand then left to carry the two bags over to the center while Michael got to work mixing paint.
It was sunny and bright outside. The cold air felt good in his lungs. People he had known since childhood waved to him from the shop windows as he walked and Jonah and Martha Kahn said hello in person as they headed toward the campus on their daily stroll.
Nearly every storefront was decked out for the holidays now, and even the apartments above were getting into the spirit. Lights hung from window frames and there were holiday clings on some of the glass.
Ransom had been so busy just trying to create normalcy for the kids that he hadn’t really gotten into the holiday spirit until now. Suddenly he felt the same excitement bubbling up in his chest that he used to feel as a small child when he saw the decorations going up in the windows.
Maybe we can do some outside decorating too…
Later that afternoon,he decided to drive the kids over to town to grab a large pepperoni pizza from Mario’s. They headed back toward the countryside, the delicious, savory scent filling the cab of the truck.
“That smellsgood,” Mae said.
“Is this our after-school snack?” Travis asked.
“I guess so,” Ransom told him. He had kind of thought it was their dinner, but there was no reason it couldn’t be both.
“We’re bringing it to Hailey?” Mae asked.
“We’ll stop by her place,” Ransom explained again. “And if she’s free, we’ll share it with her. Does that sound good?”
“Yes,”Mae said. “I want to see her belt.”
Ransom smiled at her in the rearview mirror and she grinned back at him. Every time Mae gave him that funny pirate smile his heart melted and he felt a powerful respect for her. These two kids missed their mom. He knew they did. But they faced their new life with him with such bravery.
“Look, Dad,” Travis said as they pulled into the driveway of the farm. “There’s a light on at the big house.”
“There sure is,” Ransom said. “Should we go and see if she’s there?”
“Yes,” Mae said right away.
“Definitely,” Travis added.
Ransom got out and grabbed the pizza while the kids scrambled out of the truck, then they all walked up to the porch together.
