“This place is fantastic,” I tell her. “I want to move in.”
She laughs, and I remind myself to not let this dream room influence my report. I need to consider all the factors, dot all my i’s and cross all my t’s.
We climb our way back down a little awkwardly.
When we finally get back to the main floor, I see that the kids are back, schoolbags strewn about. They’re both in the kitchen, heads buried in the refrigerator and the cupboards. Colleen rolls her eyes. “They do this everyday,” she tells me. “They only eat half their lunches, and when they get home, they’re ravenous.” She kisses the top of their heads. “How was today?”
“Same old,” Natasha says and shoots me a small grin.
“Guys, this is Mrs. Cooper. She’s here about Madison. Remember, I told you all about her?”
“Natasha, a younger version of her mother, offers me her hand politely. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cooper.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
I shake Nathan’s hand too. He seems more introverted than his sister. They both sit down at the table with snacks; carrots and dip and crackers, and we chat for quite a while. I go over all the questions I’ve prepared, and after about an hour, Greg finally makes an appearance, apologizing profusely for his tardiness. He apparently got caught up at work. Colleen tells me this is typical. So we have a workaholic father-figure, but Colleen and the kids more than make up for what he lacks.
They all seem to love Madison, and seem to genuinely be looking forward to having her join their family. Finances definitely check in. They can afford to house her, dress her, and even take her along everywhere they go; ski getaways and winter trips to the Caribbean.
“And Scooter is welcome too, I assume,” I say.
Faces fall all around, and Colleen stares at her area rug. “Unfortunately we can’t take Scooter because Nathan and my husband both have bad allergies.”
My heart sinks. Madison loves that dog. He’s all she has. He’s her best friend.
I jot this new finding in my notes, emphasizing how important the dog is to Madison.
“We can bring her back home as often as she likes to visit him,” Colleen is quick to add.
I jot down a few final remarks. “Sure. Don’t feel bad. It’s completely understandable.”
It’s almost five o’clock when we’re finally done. “I better let you nice folks have your dinner,” I say as I tuck away my notes and folders. “It was really nice to meet you all.”
Colleen offers me a hand. “The pleasure was ours.”
She walks me to the door, and I have a really good feeling about it all. It’s really too bad about Scooter though.
I’m still thinkingabout Madison as I step into the elevator. Every time the doors pop open, a small part of me hopes to see Noah. The elevator is empty and my heart sinks a little. As I walk past his place, I hear a beautiful tune from his piano. We haven’t seen each other in over a week, and I wonder if he’s purposely avoiding me.
I hope not.
* * *
Weeks following our kiss,my heart was still broken. I tried to get close to him again, but Gavin kept pushing me away, not letting me in, even refusing my baked goods. He kept telling me that I shouldn’t be there, that I should be hanging with kids my own age.
So that’s what I started to do. I tried to forget all about him and get on with my life. Izzie was happy to have me back.
“I missed you.” Her hands were buried in a bag of Doritos. “You want one?”
“Sure…” I dug in eagerly, grabbed two and popped them into my mouth. I’d just gotten my appetite back. Who new that heartbreak was such an excellent diet.
“Where have you been these days anyway?” she asked. “I don’t like it when you go AWOL.”
“I’ve been feeling kind of low lately,” I confessed. “Been taking lots of walks and stuff.”
She barely registered my confidences. “This guy is so fucking good.”
We were watching Pete play this old James Bond 007 pinball game. There were four pinball games at the small arcade attached to the convenience store, and about six 80s video games,Ms Pac Manwas my favorite.Froggerwas Izzie’s.
