As Trinity spun around, Spencer realized they were standing much closer than before. He hadn’t intended to encroach on her personal space, but now they were face to face, their breaths mingling in the cool evening air. Trinity looked up at him, surprise flickering in her eyes, mirroring his own astonishment.
“Oh.” She took a step back.
“I…” His hand found the back of his neck and squeezed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be standing right on top of you like that.”
“It’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “We should. Um…we should look around. It would be helpful to check out the space before I help with paint colors.” She blinked away before lifting her eyes to his again. “I mean, that’s why I’m here, right?”
Thatwaswhy she was there. The picnic was just an added bonus, and yet it had become the best part of Spencer’s day by far.
“You still want to look around?” he asked.
“I do. I think it will help with paint selection if I get a better sense of the overall layout and design of the house,” she suggested. “Oh, and that bouquet I brought—it’s made of all the different shades of white flowers we have at the shop. I think in the daylight it might be fun to take a closer look and see if any stand out to you. That might be a good jumping off point.”
He’d wondered what the bouquet had been for. But in reality, it was a rare occasion when he saw Trinity without a vase of flowers in hand.
“Genius.”
She laughed. “Hardly but thank you.”
Spencer held out his hand to usher her back into the house. “I’ll give you a tour, but you’ll have to overlook the sheetrock and the exposed wires and all of the loose four by fours. It’ll take some creativity to envision the final product.”
“Good thing I happen to make my living by being creative.”
CHAPTER 6
Trinity pressed the back of her hand against her son’s forehead, even though it wasn’t necessary. Just looking at his tomato-red cheeks was enough to diagnose the low-grade fever. That, coupled with his uncharacteristic silence and lack of appetite during breakfast easily clued her in. Liam was sick.
The maternal side of Trinity ached for her child. It was never fun to see your little one under the weather. But the business owner portion of her sighed internally. She would have to fire off a text to Rachel to let her know she wouldn’t be in today. They had a stack of orders to fulfill, and a delivery of flowers and filler coming in around noon that would need to go straight into the cooler. Typically, that was a two-person job. But Rachel could handle it. She’d been working at Joyful Blooms just shy of two years now. Still, Trinity never liked to leave her coworker in a lurch like this—shorthanded and overwhelmed.
But sometimes, there were things you just couldn’t plan for, and a sick kiddo was one of those unfortunate occurrences.
“Grandpa’s coming by in ten minutes to take you to school, Mia!” Trinity hollered down the hall toward her daughter’s room, her hands cupped around her mouth to project her voice.More like fifteen minutes, but Mia was notoriously slow in the morning, taking her precious time to dress, brush her teeth, tie her shoes and all the other tasks that went into their school routine. “I’ll get your backpack ready.”
Leading Liam away from the breakfast table where his scrambled eggs and toast remained largely untouched, Trinity settled him on the couch with his beloved blanket and a morning cartoon. As she pulled the fabric up under his chin, she noticed his flushed face and decided against covering him completely. “Let me grab a cool washcloth for your forehead, honey.”
Washcloth. Backpack. Tidy up the mess in the kitchen.She made a mental list of her tasks, interrupting herself to send that text to Rachel before she got too caught up in her chores.
But before she could tap the button on her phone, Mia burst into the living room.
“I can’t find it!” she screamed, a wild look in her eyes that reminded Trinity so much of Calvin. The man was far from even-tempered; his emotions were always intense, and life was very big for him. Sometimes, Trinity wondered if that was the reason she could still feel him so strongly, because he’d lived so passionately.
“Can’t find what?” Trinity’s eyes flashed toward Liam when he barked out a single cough.
Pick up cough syrup from the store, she added to her mental tally.
“I can’t find the best friend’s necklace Brynne gave me.”
“We can look for it after school.”
What was I about to do?Trinity couldn’t remember why she was suddenly standing in front of the linen closet. It was like her feet had taken her there without her brain prompting her movements.
“I have to wear ittoday!” Mia’s eyes welled with tears that looked like they could spill at any moment. She was barelyholding it together. “She’ll think I don’t want to be her best friend if I don’t wear it. She’ll find another.”
“I’m sure you can just explain to her that you misplaced it and that you’ll wear it tomorrow.” Reaching out, Trinity opened the cupboard, hoping the items inside might jog her memory.That’s right—the washcloth.
“This is terrible!” Mia’s hands shot into the air and the tears began to tumble down her cheeks, rolling down her quivering chin. “I’m not going to school. I can’t.” She sniffed at the same time Liam let out another jarring cough.
“Yes.” Taking her daughter’s small shoulders into her hands, Trinity swiveled Mia toward the chair where her sneakers were already positioned, ready for her to slip her feet inside and tie on. “Youaregoing to school.”
