But it seemed impossible.She might as well wish for a magic genie to appear.
Even moving to Seattle seemed impossible.Every rental she’d found would take up most of her monthly salary.She was on a waitlist for eleven daycares, and most of them had told her it was hopeless unless she’d gotten on the list when she was first pregnant.
Still, that weekend, Margie and Sheila decided they were taking Annie dress shopping on the mainland, and she was going to tour the one daycare that said they might have space for them in two months.
Maybe she could find a higher paying job, she could move to Seattle, she could make it work.The twins would see Roy more, they’d settle into a smooth routine.
Maybe not all hope was lost for her little family.Even if she had messed it up from the start.
Eighteen
He dumped a pile of blankets next to the overstuffed picnic basket.They were ready for a night of stargazing.Miles could not wait to take Bella out to the beach.It was going to be a clear, albeit cold, night, and supposedly the best meteor shower of the year.
“Are you ready?”he yelled.
He stood in the kitchen, screwing the lid onto the thermos of hot chocolate he’d just made.A thermos of soup was already in the basket, along with sandwiches and cookies.
Bella came downstairs in a pink, shifty dress that hit above her knee.
Miles did a double take.“You’re going to freeze in that.”
Bella stared at him for a beat.“I have good news, and bad news, and more good news.”
It slowly dawned on him that Bella was not dressed for stargazing.
“What’s the bad news?”he asked wearily.
“The bad news is I can’t go with you tonight.”
He tossed the hot chocolate into the pile of blankets.“Okay,” he said slowly.“What’s up?”
“That’s the good news!You know Olivia?That girl I told you about from my English class?”
“Yes…” he said, trying to recall all the information she’d told him about Olivia.“You’re trying to get her to join the babysitters club.”
Bella waved a hand.“Oh no, she was joking about joining.But she does have this big group of friends who watch old movies together, and I didn’t think they were going to invite me, but they did.And it’s tonight – we’re watchingCasablancaand going out for dinner after.”
“Casablanca,” he repeated.
This wasn’t what he had expected, but how long had Miles really thought his daughter would want to spend her Saturday nights with him?
He didn’t want to make her feel guilty, nor make her feel like she had to hang out with her pathetic old dad.
“Are you mad?”she asked, face tense.
“No, of course not!”he said cheerfully.“That sounds like fun.We’ll catch the next meteor shower,” he said, reaching to unpack the picnic basket.
“I have more good news, though,” Bella said brightly.“I called Annie and told her we were going stargazing.She said she’d love to come.”
Miles laughed.“Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious!So you can still go,” she said.“I know you were really looking forward to it.”
He set the hot chocolate thermos on the table, carefully weighing his words.“I was looking forward to going with you.I don’t need a replacement.”
Bella groaned.“Don’t make me feel bad, Dad.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel bad.You don’t need to feel responsible to find a stand-in.”
