“But it all worked, didn’t it?”
Hannah went all dreamy eyed as she thought about her husband. I mean, I could almost understand. Mason was hot, rich, and successful. What wasn’t to like? And if I didn’t see him as almost a big brother, I could understand the attraction. Well almost.
“Yeah, it did.”
Hannah plopped down on the couch beside me, before peering inside the bundle of blankets at the girl who’d stolen her heart. “Don’t analyze it, Charlotte. Just go with it. Luke seems like he’s a nice guy. A nice guy who makes you happy. Really, is there anything more you need?”
“Right now? No, I guess not,” I admitted, feeling the weight that’d been suffocating me starting to lift off.
I hung out with Hannah and Bailey for a couple of hours, talking, eating, and going a tad overboard on the online shopping with shit apparently Bailey just had to have when Luke rang and asked for a favor. Mrs. Neal had been caught up and he needed me to pick up Isla from school. I lost count of how many times he apologized for ruining my day off, but it was fine.
After one final snuggle with Bailey and the promise to try harder, I said goodbye to Hannah who was already heading toward her bedroom for her afternoon nana nap. Something that sounded like an amazing idea, if I was being honest, but instead I was headed to the school to collect Isla.
Pulling up out the front, I ignored the stares from the other parents. At least I think they were staring. Maybe I was being paranoid. Who knew if I was doing this right? I didn't think it would be that hard to pick up a kid from school, I mean, surely you just show up on time and grab your kid and take them home, but looking around, maybe I was wrong. There was one mom a couple of cars down from me, who had an arm full of drinks and healthy snacks ready. I was lost. When I got home, my mom gave me a snack, but I’d never even thought about one when she picked me up each day.
I watched as Isla bounced down the stairs, her braids that she’d insisted I do this morning, looking a little worse for wear. When she spotted me, she waved enthusiastically and I couldn’t help but grin. At least she was happy to see me. The last thing I ever wanted to be was someone’s wicked stepmom. So far, Isla and I were doing just fine being friends.
“Hey there!” I greeted her as she came over.
I was surprised by the huge hug she gave me as she wrapped her skinny arms around my waist.
“Wow! That’s a pretty awesome hug, Isla,” I told her, squeezing her back. “Did you have a good day?”
“I had the bestest day ever,” Isla exclaimed as she took off her backpack and handed it to me before climbing in the back seat of my car.
Quickly I closed the door and rounded the corner before sliding behind the wheel. “That’s great. I want to hear all about it. But how about, I take you for a milkshake and you can tell me about your day?”
“Can we have cupcakes too?” Isla asked.
I chuckled. Isla was a girl after my own heart. I was already thinking what yummy treat I wanted to go with my milkshake and now she’d suggested it, I knew just where to go.
Twenty minutes later we were skipping, yep, I was remembering how to skip and even though I was sure I looked like a fool I couldn’t help but feel on top of the world. I was quickly learning that sometimes it was the simple things that kids brought to your life that made it all worthwhile. I’d spent too many hours surrounded by kids who’d had their childhood snatched away from them because of a disease they didn’t deserve. So, if playing along and living it up with Isla was something I could do, then I was going to make the most of it.
Pushing open the bakery door, the smell of sugar hit me. Lining up, I eyed off all the deliciousness in the glass cabinet tempting me. I knew what I was getting. I always knew, but it was nice to pretend for a moment I was considering something else.
“What flavor milkshake do you want, Isla?” I asked as we stepped up to the counter.
“Can I please have banana?” She looked up at me with hope filled eyes. Honestly, she probably could’ve asked for butterscotch schnapps and I mightn’t have said no the way she was looking at me.
“Absolutely.”
While I placed our order, Isla found us a table.
“So, what made today so awesome?” I asked as I sat down, pushing the plate with her unicorn cupcake in front of her, hoping she wasn’t one of those kids who would ride the sugar high to the ultimate before crashing hard.
Sucking on the straw of my chocolate shake, I got a brain freeze as the icy cold goodness ran down my throat. They definitely didn’t skimp on the ice cream here.
Isla talked a million miles a minute and I could barely keep up with her. Instead of trying, I nodded, oohed and aahed, and hoped I got them in the right place. When she took a huge bite out from her cupcake, she ended up with pink icing all over her face.
“You’re a mess,” I told her, handing her a napkin.
“It’s so yummy!”
“Hang on a second,” I stopped her from getting cleaned up. “Let’s take a photo and send it to your dad,” I suggested.
So, with Isla’s face covered in icing and a smile you could see from space, I leaned in and snapped a quick selfie before forwarding it to Luke, hoping it’d make his afternoon a little bit better. And if it didn’t, well I had some snickerdoodle cookies in my bag just in case.
“Are you staying at our place tonight?” Isla asked out of nowhere.
