“Sammy, if you want to play for a little while, I can help Providence,” Miranda said.
Sammy scampered into the family room. Miranda kept her in her sights while she set the table.
“Are you okay?” Miranda asked.
That caught her off guard. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seemed off earlier. I thought maybe it was because Dakota was out of town.”
While she had thought about him, she had every confidence he would be okay. She poured the sauce into a pan. “Thanks. I’m good, really. I appreciate your concern.”
During dinner, Providence watched how loving Miranda was with Sammy. And so patient. Sammy loved to talk and talk, and Miranda was an active listener. After dinner, they each had a brownie.
Afterwards, Sammy suggested a game. Which she did not win. The smile Sammy wore so well was replaced by an angry child who stomped her foot. Samantha Luck was not a good loser, but then again, she was four years old.
“I want to play again and I want to win!”
“Sammy, it’s time for your bath,” Miranda said. “You have school tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to go to school.”
“You know the best part about losing,” Providence said.
“Nothing,” Sammy said with a glare that reminded her of Dakota.
“It’s an opportunity to congratulate someone else on their win,” Providence pushed on. “It’s a chance to have a good attitude even when we think we deserved to win and the other players didn’t.”
“I don’t want to say ‘good job’ to Mrs. Morris.”
“Congratulations, Mrs. Morris,” Providence said. “You did a great job and I had the best time playing with you. Maybe we can play again sometime.”
“That’s stupid talk,” Sammy said.
“I’ve never won that game, Sammy,” Miranda said. “Not even once. You always win whenever we play.”
Silence.
“Never?” Sammy asked.
Miranda shook her head. “You’re such a great player and I can never beat you.”
Sammy looked at Providence. Then, at Miranda. “I wanted to win, but you did a good job.”
“Thank you,” Miranda replied with a smile.
“Can Provi give me my bath tonight?” Sammy asked.
“Sure,” Miranda replied. “Do you think you should ask Providence if she wants to?”
“Provi, can you give me a bath tonight, please?”
“I’d love to.”
“I’ll leave the monitor on,” Miranda said. “I’ll be down here cleaning up if you need anything.”
“Thank you for a fun party,” Providence said to Miranda.
Miranda offered a warm smile
