Page 30 of Wishing for Love

It was almost as if he’d know if she was coming or going if she did that. She might not like that.

“I’m fine with either,” she said. “Whatever works for you.”

“Are you always this flexible?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure that is the word I’d use. Just that I’ve learned some things in life aren’t worth stressing, arguing, or even worrying about. It’s just out of your control. Though this one isn’t, it’d be stupid of me not to take it as it’d be more convenient.”

Just like what his father was trying to say.

“I should have thought of it sooner.”

“This is new to both of us,” she said. “No worries.”

He nodded at her smile. “I’ll let you get back to putting your stuff away.”

“Have a good night,” she said. “Tell Elsie I’ll see her in the morning.”

“I will,” he said. “You too.”

He returned to the living room where Elsie was ripping a page out of her coloring book. “Look, Uncle Nix. It's Goofy in a lab with safety goggles on. Did you look like this in your lab?”

He took the picture out of her hand and started to laugh. “Some would say I might have.”

“It’s funny,” Elsie said. “But is it fun?”

“It’s both. Maybe we can try some experiments.”

“I want a kit for Christmas,” Elsie said. “I’m going to add that to my wish list for Santa.”

Which reminded him he had to check in with Crystal on that as she said she was keeping a list too.

One more thing he’d have to start shopping for.

Good Lord, it’s like everything was piling up again.

He took a deep breath. “I can’t wait to see if Santa gets it for you.”

“I think he will,” Elsie said. “Then you and I can have fun like Crystal and I do with arts and crafts. I want more of them too.”

Something else to add to the list. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent himself a reminder with those two things on it. He could shop for them on the couch watching football.

“What do you want for dinner tonight?” he asked.

“Can we eat something that Carolina left for us?”

He laughed. “That had been my plan. Let’s go look in the freezer and pick.”

“Or we can close our eyes and just pull something out. Maybe it’ll be dessert. If it is, can that be dinner?”

It was the laughter in Elsie’s eyes. “You sound just like your mother right now. She loved dessert for dinner.”

Elsie giggled. “I know. I miss our ice cream sundae dinners.”

“You know what?” he said. “No need to pull out a dinner from my mother. We can make sundaes just for us.”

“Yes,” Elsie said, jumping up and down. “Because it’s Sunday. That’s the day you do it. Just like Mom used to say.”

“Just like your mom used to say,” he said, picking her up and hugging her.

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