He nods. “Okay, I’ll be back soon. Please make yourself at home.”
He kisses me again and I watch him walk away, wondering how I got so lucky to meet such a great man.
I turn on a movie and fall asleep on Dylan’s bed. When I wake up an hour and a half later, Chloe is still sleeping, and I hear faint sounds in the kitchen.
I brush my teeth and pinch my cheeks for some color before wandering into the kitchen. Dylan is tossing diced carrots and celery in a big pot and then turns to shred a rotisserie chicken. There are bags of groceries on the island.
“Wow, who are you?” I ask.
“You asked for chicken noodle soup,” he says, with that eye-crinkling smile.
Melt, melt, melt.
“I thought you’d get a few cans of soup.”
He wrinkles his nose. “I couldn’t do it. My mom always said there were healing properties in homemade chicken noodle soup. Maybe she just said that to make me eat it.” He grins. “Plus, my brother is this crazy-famous chef. He’d kill me if I used canned soup! This is already cheating, buying the chicken already made, but hopefully this will still be soothing for Chloe.”
“That is so sweet.” It’s all I can say because I’m rendered speechless.
“I hate being sick, and this always makes me feel better,” he says, lifting his shoulder in a shrug. “I know you said she was okay on the floor, but I got her one of those things just in case.”
He points at the travel bed already set up in the living room.
“We can put it wherever you like…and she doesn’t have to use it if you think she won’t like it. But this way Bill won’t wake her up with all his sniffing.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him she’s a little big for the bed.
“Bill has thoroughly checked her out,” I say, laughing. “He’s so sweet. Dylan, I’m—I don’t know what to say. You’ve gone to so much trouble.”
He pauses the shredding. “It’s no trouble at all. Did I overstep?”
“No. It’s—I’ve just never met someone so…caring.”
“Oh. Well…thank you. I guess I can blame my parents for that. My mom took care of everyone, and my dad is the kindest man you’ll ever meet. They’re…he’s big on hospitality. This is just my way of showing you that I’m happy you’re here, and I hope it helps Chloe too.”
“Thank you. I’m happy I’m here too. So happy.” Iswallow hard, feeling a bit overcome with emotion. I don’t know what to do with all this kindness. “What can I do to help?”
“Uh…let’s see. Would you mind putting the rest of the groceries away? I think I put all the meat, yogurt, cheese, and milk in the fridge already. The rest can go in that pantry. Or you can spread it out on the island here to see what all there is.”
I laugh when I unload five different kinds of fruit snacks, four boxes of cereal, two boxes of crackers, six boxes of cookies, and three bags of popcorn.
“Oh, and there’s orange juice and grape juice,” he adds. “Both kinds of grape.”
“We are set,” I say. “For the winter.”
He laughs. “It’d be so fun to be ‘snowed in’ with you here.”
“Never gonna happen, is it?”
“No, most likely, the best we could hope for is a little sprinkle and a few clouds.” He stirs the pot of vegetables and chicken and then adds wide egg noodles.
“Smells so good.” I move closer to him and lean my head against the side of his shoulder.
He puts his arm around me and tugs me closer. I’m tall, but he makes me feel tiny.
I hear a little voice call out, “Mama?”
Dylan’s arm drops from me as I hurry toward the bedroom. Chloe’s sitting up, her curls going every which way. She’s clutching her blanket up to her face, and she smiles when she sees me walk into the room. Every day, I am jarred by how lucky I am to be her mom.
