Page 2 of Happy Trails & Honey Pots

Walter was not happy about my decision. He huffed and puffed and gave me a hard time, saying he didn’t want a fleabag living in his house. I promised him I would only keep her until I found a good family for her. By the next day, he told me not to bother because “AJ was too attached to her.” He was also the one who named the “fleabag” after she destroyed Mrs. Klein’s daisies next door.

Mrs. Klein and Walter had a fifty-year-long feud regarding property lines and lemon trees. I didn’t know the full extent of the issue, but suffice to say, he got a real kick out of the fact that Daisy had trampled on her flower bed. I had a sneaking suspicion he named Daisy after the flower so that each time myself, AJ, or Walter called Daisy, Mrs. Klein would be reminded of her destroyed landscaping.

“Kids these days and their apps.” Walter shook his head, referring to Ashley’s dating apps, as he and Daisy headed into the front room to watch their morning shows.

As he grumbled about meeting someone the ‘old-fashioned way,’ I filled my insulated mug with coffee, went to the calendar and marked an X on yesterday, then checked to see if AJ had practice tonight. He didn’t. Then, I closed my eyes, and I took a deep breath as a number appeared in my head.

3571

That was how many days Austin had been gone. I’d made it three thousand, five hundred and seventy-one days without himbeing with me. When I lost him, I didn’t even know how I would make it one…so I guess that was pretty good.

My phone vibrated on the counter again. This time, it was the alarm that I had set for the time we needed to be out the door.

“AJ! We have to go!” I grabbed my purse and travel mug and looked around to see if there was anything I was forgetting. I felt like there was, but then again, I always felt like I was forgetting something.

I walked into the front room as AJ was coming down the stairs. Every day, he looked more and more like his dad. He was going to be twelve in a few months. Which was around the same age Austin was when we got together, but he was already taller than his dad was at that age. It was strange that I could see so much of his dad in him, but he was a totally different person.

His head was down, watching something on his phone. He had his AirPods in so I couldn’t hear it, but when he passed me to go to the front door, I saw what was playing on his screen. It was a YouTube clip of the girl he liked, Kendall French. She moved to town a few months ago from New York, where she’d done two Broadway shows and been in several commercials and had a few guest-starring roles on procedurals. He was watching a commercial she was in for a clothing campaign.

When I opened the front door, I waved. “Bye, Walter, bye Daisy-daze.”

“See ya later, alligators!” Walter lifted his hand.

AJ walked straight out to the car. The older he got, the moodier he got. Thankfully, Walter didn’t take it personally. He’d raised Austin’s mom and then Austin when his mom left him with Walter when he was three, and she ran off with her boyfriend. Walter always reminded me to pick my battles, and saying goodbye was not a battle I felt like fighting this morning.

I clicked the fob to my four-door sedan. As soon as I got in, I turned the engine on, and as I started to back out, I glancedin the rearview mirror and realized I wasn’t wearing my lanyard with my ID on it.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath and pulled up the emergency brake. “I’ll be right back.”

I put the car in park and ran back into the house.

“Forget somethin’?” Walter asked from his seat.

“My ID,” I explained as I rushed up the stairs and into my room. My lanyard was hanging on the hook in my bathroom; you know where I would see it and not forget it.

After Austin and I got married when we were teenagers, Walter moved down to the en-suite bedroom on the first floor and gave us the entire upstairs since we were expecting AJ. He said it would be easier so we could be close to the baby’s room. After Austin died, I tried to give him his room back. I told him I could share a room with AJ, but he insisted on us keeping everything as it was. He said nothing had changed, even though we both knew everything had.

I said goodbye again, and when I got back out to the car, I heard my phone ringing as I reached for the door handle. It was synced to my Bluetooth, and I saw AJ reaching out to answer it when I opened the door, which made me assume he knew the caller. I assumed wrong.

“Hello,” AJ said.

“Hi, this is Braxton Davis; I’m Miles Ford's assistant. I was calling to see if?—”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw AJ’s face light up with excitement at the mention of Miles Ford as I sat down in the driver’s seat.

“This isn’t a good time,” I abruptly cut her off.

“Okay, then I could just set up a time for a phone call. Miles is very interested in speaking to you?—”

“I’m not interested in a call. I’m sorry. I have to go.” I reached out and disconnected the call.

“Mom!” AJ turned to me. “Why did you do that? It’sMiles Ford.”

“We’ve talked about this, AJ.”

“No, you talked about it. I don’t understand why you don’t want them to make a movie about Dad.Miles Fordwants to talk to you. He’s gonna play,Dad. Why can’t you just talk to him?”

I took a deep breath in through my nose and exhaled. This was why my week had been so bad. This was why my friends had wanted to kidnap me. A movie was going to be made about my late husband, and Miles Ford had just been announced as the actor who was going to be playing him.

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