Page 36 of Mia Amata

“You need to stop apologizing. You are not inconveniencing me at all. I am happy to help you. I have to leave now, to take a shower then get to work. Will you be OK?”

“Yes, I will be fine.”

“I’ll stop by after work tonight to hang those planters for you if that works for you.”

“I have plans with Randy tonight, we are going out to eat.”

He smiled. “Have a good time. How about Thursday night? Or are you busy that night too?”

“I’ll have to check my social calendar,” I said with a little smile. “Thursday night will be fine. I really do appreciate your help.”

“Six o’clock Thursday,” Jacob said.

“I’ll see you then,” I replied.

He reached out, running his fingers over my cheek, “Bye Mia Amata.”

I closed the door behind him and leaned against it myself.

I climbed back into bed to get some more rest; this time Lucky was lying back on his blanket next to me. My phone went off. “I’m glad you are OK. I’ll see you Thursday night.”

I smiled and sent a reply of ‘Thank you’.

Chapter 16

I was awakened later that morning by another text from Jacob. “Morning Mia. How are you feeling.”

I replied, “I’m fine. See you tomorrow.”

The day went as usual, Randy joined me for coffee in the morning, and we finalized our plans for the evening, she would pick me up at about 5:00 when she was off work. I did some more studying of protocols and processes for the new job on Monday and was pretty ready for the training. Spent some time sunning on the deck for a little bit while Lucky ran around. I was getting a pretty nice tan, which I felt looked good on me. Having been locked in the house for five years made me look really pale.

I was all dressed, ready for supper out with Randy a little early, so I took Lucky out back again, letting him run around the yard for a little bit, wearing off some puppy energy. I walked down to the pier, sitting on the bench for a little bit. The loons were back swimming, diving for food for the baby. I enjoyed watching them. Lucky soon got tired of running around the yard, came and lay down at my feet. We sat there for a little while, losing track of time. I heard Randy holler from the backyard by the house. I stood up, waving at her.

“Hey,” she said as she walked onto the pier. “You didn’t answer the door, so I figured you were out here.” She gave me a hug, then we sat back down on the bench.

“Yes, I’m just enjoying the gorgeous view with Lucky here,” Randy said hi to Lucky, scratching him behind the ears. “Sorry about that,” I said. “I meant to be back up to the house before you got here. Nature interfered.”

Randy laughed, “Yeah, it has a way of doing that. I love it here. I could get lost for hours just sitting outside enjoying nature.” I agreed. We sat in quiet for a few moments watching the loons on the lake. I turned to Randy, “I’m ready to go if you are.”

“I am,” Randy said. “I’m going to take you to my favorite restaurant in town.”

“Sounds good,” I replied as we walked back up to the house. We went in through the French doors with Lucky at our heels.

“Before we go,” I said, “would you like a tour of the house?”

“I was hoping you would ask!” Randy exclaimed.

I first took her down to the basement, showing her the office with the play area. She looked around, exclaiming it to be adorable, but kind of giving the play area a funny look. I then took her back upstairs, showing her the master, then down the hall to the nursery. She walked into the nursery and stopped, turning to me in surprise.

“Are you pregnant?” she asked. I nodded my head, and she came over to me and gave me a hug. “That is so wonderful! I am so happy for you… it is happy right?” I laughed, assuring her it was a happy occasion. She linked her arm to mine, leading me out. “Let’s go for supper. Then you can tell me whatever details you want. I am so excited for you.”

We gave Lucky some scratches, I told him to go lie down. He lay down in his bed as we walked out the front door. I set the alarm before joining Randy at her car. She had a questioning look on her face, which I decided to ignore. I opened the passenger door, saying said, “Let’s go, I’m hungry!”

While Randy drove us into town, we chatted about her job and my job. We talked about how Josh was doing. She pulled into the parking lot of a tiny little pub. I glanced at her, and she said, “Don’t judge it by its appearance. It doesn’t look like much, but you will be surprised by how good the food is. It is also very reasonable pricewise.”

I looked at the small pub and said, “If you say so.”

“I do,” she replied with a smile. We climbed out of the car and walked into the pub. It looked like what some people refer to as a ‘dive bar’. Randy was welcomed by a lady behind the bar. She introduced her to me as Marie, asking her if they had a table for us.

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