Page 28 of New Hope

Chapter Ten

RIVER

“What’s for dinner?” Hannah was sitting criss cross applesauce in the middle of my bed, a pile of clean towels around her. Her forehead furrowed as she carefully lined up the edges of a hand towel and folded it.

I’d always included her in the chores that needed to be done around the house. Putting her toys in the toy box when she was a toddler, matching socks when she was in preschool, and setting the table for dinner when she started kindergarten. It usually took twice as long as if I’d simply done it myself, but to me, it was important to teach her responsibility and how to care for our home.

I finished folding another towel and added it to the stack to be put in the linen closet. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to see what we have since I haven’t been to the store yet.”

My job was always busier this time of year with the colder weather moving in and kids going back to school. My being gone had caused a backup of patients waiting to see me. As soon as I’d gotten back, I’d been slammed with an influx of runny noses, strep throat, and a couple of cases of head lice. By Saturday evening, I was exhausted and in serious need of a trip to the grocery store.

We finished folding the last of the towels and put them away, then I turned to Hannah. “Come on, squirt. Let’s go see if we can find anything in the fridge or if we need to order a pizza.”

She held both hands up in front of her. “Okay, but whatever you do, no beets! Miss Hilda brought some to Nana today at the market and she made me try a bite. Sooooo grooooossss!!!”

I tried to cover my laugh with a cough as she made a wretched face and pretended to gag. “I hope you didn’t say that to Miss Hilda,” I said from behind my hand.

Hannah shook her head. “No, Daddy. I made myself swallow it even though it made my belly hurt. But then she asked if I liked it and I didn’t want to make her sad, only I’m not apposed to lie—”

“Not supposed to lie,” I corrected.

“Yeah, we’re not apposed to lie, so I told her that it was different. I figured that wouldn’t hurt her feelings because Nana always says different doesn’t mean bad. Even though her beets were bad. Really, really bad.”

A laugh slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it that time. “You’re too much sometimes, baby girl. Although, you don’t have anything to worry about. I don’t think we have a single beet in the house.”

“Thank goodness!” she exclaimed dramatically.

I ruffled a hand over her hair as we headed downstairs to search for food. We’d just stepped into the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. Hannah looked at me curiously. “Who’s that?”

I smirked at her. “Maybe it’s Miss Hilda and she’s bringing you more beets.”

Her face registered disgust. “Ewww! Don’t even joke about that, Daddy.”

I gave her a toothy grin, proud of myself. A parent had to have some fun. I walked to the door and slid it open, my smile slipping from my cheeks when I saw who it was.

“Hey,” Ford said awkwardly.

My mouth hung open as I stared back at him. Dressed in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a pair of biker boots, he looked like some sexy bad boy. Like he just rode in on a Harley with the rest of his gang. I’d spent the last few days trying to convince myself that he wasn’t as gorgeous as I’d made him out to be, but one look at him, with his dark curly hair and mocha-colored eyes, and all my hard work went right out the window.

I must have taken too long to respond because I saw him take a step back. “Sorry. Are we interrupting something?”

“No! Not at all,” I said, shaking off my stupor. “I was just surprised. What are you doing here?”

His eyes swept over the porch then held his hands up, revealing two large plastic bags. “We decided to take a chance and bring dinner over—only now, I’m realizing I should have called first. You guys probably have plans, or you already ate—”

“We don’t have any plans and you actually caught us trying to figure out what we were going to have for dinner, so your timing couldn’t be more perfect. Come on in. Hannah will be thrilled to see you, Ellie.” I stepped back, pulling the door open wide.

Ellie wore a strange expression on her face as she passed, almost like she was surprised to see me, but it morphed into a big grin the moment she and Hannah saw each other. The girls raced forward, throwing their arms around each other as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. I turned back to Ford, my smile faltering when I found him staring at me.

“Here, let me help you with these.” I took one of the bags from his hand and led him inside. “Why don’t you girls go wash up while Ford and I put dinner together.”

I laughed as they raced off, Hannah talking a mile a minute and Ellie dutifully nodding her head. In the kitchen, I set my bag on the counter and peeked inside. The tantalizing smell of Chinese food drifted up and I inhaled deeply. “Oh, my gosh! That smells so good. This is a great surprise.”

I reached into a cabinet and pulled out four plates then grabbed some forks out of the drawer, setting them all down on the table. When I turned back around, I found Ford staring at his boots, both hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Something warm and soft unfurled inside my chest. Is he nervous?

When he looked up, I could see the tension in his eyes, confirming my suspicion. His eyes darted to the doorway, but I could hear the girls still giggling in Hannah’s room. He looked back at me and then he seemed to shrink, his shoulders slumping like they’d been carrying the weight of the world on them. “Okay, here’s the deal. I didn’t just stop by to see if you and Hannah wanted to hang out tonight. I mean, I do want to hang out, but dinner was more of an excuse to get you to let me in. I came over here because I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have acted like such an ass when you told me you had to go out of town.”

I shook my head briskly. “No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. You’d just poured your heart out about your ex-wife leaving you and I turned right around and told you I was taking off. It was horrible timing, and I should have eased it into the conversation better. I wasn’t thinking.”

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