“Not yet,” Ella told her. “But soon, I’ll bet. It’s been snowier than usual in December the last few years.”
“Will I have a snow day?” Dove asked. “I’m going to make a snowman.”
“Well, we’re used to dealing with snow around here,” Ella told her. “So it would take a pretty big storm for them to cancel school. But you never know.”
“You never know,” Dove echoed dreamily.
“Do you like going to school?” Ella asked as they piled into the car. She had thought Dove was having a good experience with school in Trinity Falls, but the question about snow days was worrisome.
“Oh yes,” Dove told her. “I love my school.”
“That’s good,” Ella said, relieved. “So a snow day just sounds fun?”
“It would besuper fun,” Dove said.
Ella smiled as she pulled down the driveway. Dove was so much more outgoing and open these days. She used to be quieter, and Ella took it to heart that the child had spent her first two years of life by a sickbed, and then been brought up around her grandparents, one of whom was in near-constant pain.
But these days, she seemed to be letting her natural exuberance out, and it was a blessing to see her shine.
There was a certain someone who Ella suspected had played a part in that.
“You’re glad to have Dalton with us, aren’t you?” Ella asked Dove as lightly as she could.
“Oh yeah,” Dove said. “He’s funny.”
Ella was still amazed that anyone could describe her solemn soldier as funny, but it was true that Dove and Dalton seemed to bring out a silly side in each other.
“I know you said the other day that you were glad that he lives with us,” Ella said carefully. “But you know that’s not forever, right? Just as long as he wants to stay?”
“Okay,” Dove said, sounding a little disappointed.
“He’ll definitely stay for a while though,” Ella said. “He’s helping with the barn and some other things.”
“That’s good,” Dove said firmly.
Ella took a deep breath, unsure how in the world she was supposed to broach the next subject.
“How would you feel if Dalton and I went out to dinner one night?” Ella asked, figuring it was best to pull the Band-Aid off quickly.
“And me?” Dove asked.
Well, that was a fair assumption. Ella hadn’t been on a single date since losing Lee. And she didn’t go out with friends either.
“I’m sure the three of us will go do lots of fun things together,” Ella said carefully. “But Dalton told me he would like to go out to dinner, just the two of us.”
“Like a boyfriend-girlfriend thing,” Dove said wisely.
“Um…,” Ella said, desperately trying to figure out how to answer.
“You like him, right?” Dove asked. “If you like him and he likes you back, then he’s your boyfriend.”
“Is that all it takes?” Ella asked, suddenly curious about what kind of ideas her daughter had about romance.
“Arnold asked me to be his girlfriend,” Dove said nonchalantly. “But I said no.”
“What does it mean to be someone’s girlfriend?” Ella asked.
“It means you hold hands on the swings,” Dove sighed, as if that should be obvious, and her mother was being deliberately slow. “But Arnold likes to swing too high.”
