“Are you sure, Mom?”
“You did most of the heavy lifting already. I can finish up. You kids just get back here before dinnertime.”
I look up at Bentley. “You guys go ahead. I’ll meet you there. I want to at least help and make sure this gets into the oven.”
He pecks my lips. “Erica said she would meet us there too. She’s talking to someone on the phone. You can come over with her,” he says.
“Okay, cool. See you in a bit.”
He leans into my ear. “I miss you already. Be safe.”
“You too.”
With that, he turns to leave. I look up and find my mother and Mrs. Fran watching me. I bite my lip and try not to roll my eyes.
“You see these two?” my mother teases.
“Aren’t they the cutest?”
“Um-hm. Adorable and growing up too fast for my liking. It was just yesterday they were running around here playing with toys and fussing at each other.
“You really don’t have to stay behind, Zah. What all haven’t you done yet?”
“It’s fine, Mom. I don’t mind.”
“Don’t rush her away. I wanted to ask about the earrings and charm necklace he purchased a few months ago.”
I reach for the necklace and bring it up to my lips. I love my necklace and the earrings. I haven’t taken either of them off since he gave them to me.
“He gave me the earrings for my birthday and the necklace for our one-year anniversary,” I gush.
“You had to see them,” Erica says as she glides into the room. “They were both glowing and so stinking cute when I met them at the ski resort. I have to say, I was annoyed with them when they didn’t tell me about their relationship, but seeing them together …” She shrugs.
Then she continues. “It all makes so much sense now. Like they’ve always been together or should have been.”
“I have to say, I was tickled when he called to ask about my jeweler. I guess I took too long to get back to him because by the time I called him with the information, he informed me he had already made a purchase. He was so excited,” Bentley’s mom says.
“I’m just happy the two have been so responsible,” my dad says as he comes into the kitchen.
“Can we talk about something else? There has to be something else of interest going on around here,” I grumble as I chop at the ground meat in the pan.
“You’re my baby, the most interesting topic in the world to me,” my father says as he comes and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“I doubt that, Daddy.”
“Then you don’t know my girl. Track star, straight-A student, most beautiful girl in the world, and my entire heart,” he says and kisses my forehead as he gives me a squeeze.
“I think you’re a little biased,” I snicker.
“Nah, that’s my baby. Why don’t you come take a walk with me before you take off with the others. I wanted to talk with you, and I have a gift for you.”
“Okay, let me get this all stirred up and in the oven.”
“Didn’t I tell you I had it? Girl, if you don’t get your butt out of this kitchen.”
“All right, all right,” I relent.
My father leads me out of the Coswell home, and we begin to walk around our block. I’ve walked this path with my dad more times than I can remember. Memories of looking up at him as a little girl hit me hard suddenly.
