“Yes. I’ll be sure to pop by your classroom before I leave, okay?”
“Wearing your firegirl suit?”
“I’ll be in my turnout gear. Yes.”
“Yippee!” she shouts.
Greyson and I have been assigned the fire safety visit to the third and fourth grade class assembly tomorrow. I picture his face, all stern and grumbly. If I were Cody, I would have sent Dustin instead. Greyson’s bound to scare a child or two with all that stoic, gruff staring he does. He’s harmless once you get to know him, but definitely not the man I’d choose to put in a room with a group of elementary kids.
Mia and I spend a few hours finishing unpacking her room, then we run into town to a little row of shops and pick out a few throw pillows and a bunting for the walls, which Avery and I painted a light pink earlier this week on one of my days off. When we’ve finished setting everything up, I fix us sandwiches and fruit for lunch, and then we make good use of our extra-long back yard, throwing the ball back and forth. Mia’s far better at catching and throwing than I am, but I do my best and she puts up with me because she’d rather play catch with someone who’s inept than not throw at all.
Later that afternoon, when we’re relaxing on the couchreading a book together, there’s a knock at the front door. I get up from the couch and Mia follows behind me.
When I open the door, a blonde woman around my age is standing on the porch with a girl who looks to be around Mia’s age.
“Hi,” the little girl says to Mia. “I’m Stacy. I live up the street.”
“Hi,” Mia says, standing slightly behind me and acting more bashful than I’ve ever seen her.
“I’m Stacy’s mom, Luella. Nice to meet you,” Luella says in a distinctly Southern accent. “We’ve been meanin’ to pop by, but then I heard you were the new firefighter so I was waitin’ on a day when you’d be off work and the girls could meet each other too.”
“Do you want to come in?” I ask.
Luella extends a basket I hadn’t noticed. “We don’t want to trouble you. We made some cookies and there’s some local jam and honey in there. Oh, and there’s jerky from the hog and beef farms just outside town. They smoke it right here in Waterford.”
“I made a list of our favorite places,” Stacy says to Mia. “Like the best pizza and the best ice cream.”
“We’re getting ice cream later!” Mia says, coming out of her shell in one swift explosion.
“Would you want to join us?” I ask.
“Oh, that’s just the sweetest,” Luella says. “We’d sure love to, but we’re headin’ to a family thing with my husband’s people this evening. Let’s take a rain check.”
We agree on another day. Luella gives me her phone number and address, adding, “Y’all stop by anytime. I grew up in Covington, Georgia. We don’t know a stranger. Where I’m from, people pop in on one another just because. No need for a call or, for heaven’s sake, an appointment on a calendar. We’re neighbors. That’s the way I like it.”
My smile spreads. How long has it been since I simply popped in on someone unannounced? Long enough that I can’t remember.
“Thank you,” I say. “I’ll make sure to pop in soon.”
Luella’s responding smile is soft and open.
“Well, then. We’ll be seein’ you two. Don’t be strangers, ya hear?”
“We won’t!” Mia says with her usual enthusiasm. “Bye, Stacy!”
She waves to her new neighbor friend as they walk back down our walkway to the sidewalk and turn to head up the street.
“I wonder if she’s the one with the tree house,” Mia says as I shut the door. “I sure hope so.”
We take the basket into the kitchen, unloading the goodies, and then we head out for ice cream. A little while later, Mom and Avery return from their trip back home to Maryville.
Avery calls me from the car. “We’re out front. Come help us unload.”
Mia and I step out the front door. The back of Avery’s car is loaded with boxes and laundry baskets full of Mom’s things. Mom opens the back door of the car and a dog comes bounding out.
“Mom?” I ask as the oversized white mop barrels toward me.
“That’s Henry Cavill,” she says, casually. “You can call him Daddy.”
