Anna was widowed before Harri had been born.In fact, she’d not know she was going to have a baby when her husband of five months had died.With the grief that she was dealing with and finding out she was going to have a baby, she had not taken care of herself as well as she should have, and bloomed up to nearly two hundred and twenty-five pounds.On her small frame, she looked sickly.Getting her job back working for the post office, she shed those extra pounds and had trimmed up nicely by walking miles upon miles every day.
Picking up her daughter was a treat that she loved.She was always excited to see her, and Harri would make such a big deal about her being on time, too.She’d never been late to pick her up, but figured that she’d heard one of the others say something, and that was why she was forever praised for her punctuality.After hugs and kisses and a quick word with her teachers, they were on their way.
“I was wondering if we could have pancakes for dinner.”Harri usually had something in mind that she wanted to eat when she picked her up.“I want bacon with mine.I had to wash the dishes at school today, and that was Jimmy’s fault.”
“Why?”She was only about half paying attention as driving was taking all her attention at the moment.“Why is it Jimmy’s fault that you had to wash the dishes?I thought that everyone had to help clean up the toys.”
“He said a bad word today and had to sit in a time-out.I never say bad words, but because he did, I had to wash his dishes.”She told her that was kind of her.“No, it’s not.He said a bad word.Did you not hear me?”
“I heard you.But you doing his dishes because he wasn’t able to was nice of you.”She mumbled something about the teacher making her do them.“Remember what I told you.We all have to carry our weight when we work together.”
“I’m only four years old.I don’t know what that means.”She didn’t talk for a few minutes, and Anna tried not to laugh.“I don’t want pancakes now.I want to go to the burger place that has the big toys.”
“All right, but then we can’t get pizza tomorrow night.We can only eat out once a week.You know the rules.”She heard what she would swear was a huff and glanced in the little mirror that showed Harri in the back seat.“It’s up to you.But once we get home without eating, then it’s going to be pancakes.”
“All right.I want pizza tomorrow, so pancakes tonight.Sometimes you’re just hard to deal with.”She wanted to tell her that she was the same, but kept her mouth shut.There was no point in poking the bear tonight.“How was your walking today, Mommy?Did you get your route done?”
“I did.It has a lot more hills than my normal route, but I got through it.”Harri nodded and looked out the window.“How was your day at school—other than having to wash Jimmy’s dishes?”
They talked about her papers in her backpack and how she had a note from the teacher.It wasabout Jimmy saying a bad word so that all the parents would know what had happened.She did wonder what the bad word was, but didn’t ask.She might just say it more often if she let her say it now.As soon as they got home, Harri helped her bring in her things, and Anna picked up her own mail.It was nothing but advertisements, and she was all right with that.
After pancakes for supper, it was time for reading.Harri couldn’t read as yet, but Anna enjoyed reading to her.They were supposed to read to the children for twenty minutes, but there were times when even half an hour wasn’t enough.Harri loved books.Looking through her backpack, she found the note from the teacher and several drawings that Harri had done in class.Her coloring was getting much better all the time.
The note didn’t say what the bad word was, but it did make it sound like it had been ‘fuck’.He’d been asked to wash the dishes as Harri had pointed out, but thought that he had more important things to do.So he told the teacher to @!#$ off.Anna got a good kick out of that and wondered what his parents would have to say about that, and decided that Harri might not want to hang out with Jimmy anymore.
Getting their clothing ready for the next morning, she bathed her daughter, then took a shower herself.It was nice to be able to do that nowadays, as she didn’t worry all that much about Harri getting into things.As she was turning off her light at ten to go to sleep, she thought of Ms.Reynolds and how she was lonely.Anna knew that feeling.She’d been alone for five years now, and it didn’t get any better day after day.But she’d not trade her lonely days for time spent with Harri for all the money in the world.
They were running late the next morning.Harri was having a meltdown because she couldn’t find her paperwork in her backpack.Then one of her laces broke on her favorite pair of shoes, so she couldn’t wear those.Out the door only ten minutes behind, she hurriedly got into the car and sat there for several minutes to calm herself down.
“Mommy, I’m sorry.”She told her that it was all right, they got things taken care of.“Will you really buy me laces tonight?Them’s my favorite shoes.”
“I think that it’s about time for you to have a new pair.Those are starting to look bad.But you can keep them.”She hoped that she wasn’t just setting herself up for another meltdown when she talked about new shoes.“We’ll see if we can find some sandals so you will have something to wear this summer.How about that?”
“That sounds good.”Letting out a long breath that she’d not realized that she’d been holding, Anna started the car and put it into gear.They might be late to school and work, but they’d be safe while they were doing it.Pulling out into the traffic that was rarely much, they were on their way.
Dropping Harri off at the school, she was on her way a few minutes later.Now she was only a couple of minutes behind as Harri didn’t need as much in the way of reassurances as she usually did.Driving to the new post office that she was working from this week and next, she had her things loaded up and ready to go exactly when she needed to leave.Feeling good about herself, she thought that she might well have a better day today simply because she felt like the fates were with her, and that was it.
Until lunch time, she was going at a good clip.It had been a while since she’d had to walk up and down hills, not to mention the number of stairs that were in the new area.Sure that she was going to be ahead all day, she nearly sobbed when Ms.Reynolds was waiting for her at the end of her day.
Chapter 4
Alaric was ready when Ms.Reynolds started after the new delivery person.He’d been hoping for another chance to see the woman and was thrilled when he knew that he was going to have another encounter today.Begging to drive the route he’d done yesterday had got him teased, but he didn’t care; she was beautiful, and he wanted to see her again.
“Ms.Reynolds, I have your mail right here.I’ve not put it in the box yet.You tell me which pieces are giving you trouble, and I’ll have a look for them in the future.”He took a step back when it looked like the postal worker had things under control.“I know how frustrating it is to get your mail messed up.Even though I work for the service, they still, on occasion, mess mine up as well.”
“Let me see what you got there.”She handed over the flyers for the new pizza place in town, as well as a couple of pieces of mail he couldn’t see.“This is mine.See how it has my name on it, but the wrong address.Are you going to fix it?”
“I am.Right now.I’ll slide them into your mailbox or hand them to you.Whichever you prefer.”She put out her hand, and Alaric could see that Ms.Reynolds was a little shocked and put off by the help.“Good.Tomorrow, if you want to meet me right here, I’ll hand over your things that go to you, and that’ll be the end of it.”
“I can’t be out here every day, you know.I have things to do in town.You just make sure you get them right.”She said that she would for as long as she was on the route.“Good girl.That’s all I wanted in the first place.”She turned to him.“See?All you have to do is be nice, and that’s the way to handle things.We don’t need you today.You can go on about your business, officer, and we’ll be just fine.”
“I’m glad to see that.”He stood closer to the postal worker and smiled.“I was wanting to talk to the young lady anyway.I was thinking about asking her out.”Ms.Reynolds laughed, and the postal worker stood there.“I didn’t introduce myself to you yesterday.My name is Alaric Dresden.You are…?”
“Anna Gibson.I don’t date.I have a little girl.”He smiled at her and said he didn’t mind if they went together.“I mean, I’m not available to date.I’m a widow.”
“I didn’t think you were married.I didn’t see any ring.But I’d really like to take you out to dinner sometime.I’m supposed to be something of a catch to some people around town.You can ask anyone about me.”She looked nervous, and he backed away.“I didn’t mean anything by it.I just thought you were beautiful and thought it might be fun to have some pizza together.You can even bring your daughter.”
“I don’t know.”She looked around, and he did too.“I don’t date.I haven’t been on a date since my husband died.”
